LISTEN by Rene Gutteridge takes place in a small town called Marlo. Marlo is a well maintained town with citizens who, on the surface, get on well together. Nothing really bad has ever happened in Marlo. The main characters are Damien Underwood, his wife Kay, and their children Jenna and Hunter. Damien really loves words, and feels they are an important part of life. He works for a newspaper making crosswords and other word games. He feels he wants to make more of a difference and asks to become an investigative reporter. His best friend is Frank, a divorced police detective who is still in love with his ex-wife. He is a good friend to the whole Underwood family, and an unofficial uncle to the children. Jenna and Hunter have always been close to one another and to their parents, but since becoming teenagers they have drifted off into their own worlds. This worries Damien and Kay, and they wonder where they could have gone wrong as parents. There is a definite theme running through the book on the relationships of teenagers with their parents.
The peace is destroyed in Marlo when private conversations are posted on the internet. These conversations are very derogatory and lead to broken friendships and even riots. This listening device, whatever it is and whoever is using it, leads to exposing the underlying evil in the town. We see the hypocrisy of nominal churchgoers worshipping with those they really despise. They are suddenly shocked by having the bad things they have said about their "friends" broadcast on the net!
The disasters in Marlo make a big difference in everyone's lives and relationships. The Underwood family turn to the Lord and make big changes in their lifestyle.
This book makes it very clear that there is indeed "life and death in the tongue"!
0 comments:
Post a Comment