Speak What We Feel – Not What We Ought to Say
Reflections on Literature and Faith  
By Frederick Buechner

     Many readers look to books and literature as a way of finding meaning in all of the things life presents them, particularly when things are looking bleak. In Speak What We Feel, Frederick Buechner, a prolific writer and Presbyterian minister, takes a look at four writers and how they dealt with the frustration in their own lives and how it then translated onto the page. Buechner lauds these four writers – G.K. Chesteron, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Mark Twain and William Shakespeare – for their courage to share their feelings and emotions in their work.

       Most readers will probably best identify with the essays that pertain to Twain and Shakespeare, as Chesterton and Hopkins will be unfamiliar to many. The essays on Chesterton and Hopkins lack resonance simply because their work is lesser known to most than Twain’s novels or the plays of Shakespeare.

       The essays on Twain and Shakespeare, however, make up for whatever is lacking in the other two. Much of the Twain essay focuses on how the turmoil in Twain’s life shaped the majority of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Buechner’s thoughts on Shakespeare boil down to Shakespeare’s apparent view of the world as tragic or comic or sometimes a little of both. There is nothing that is terribly brand new or overly insightful in either of these essays, but Buechner’s obvious admiration for the men and their famous work makes for some enjoyable reading.

      This is not a book for everyone, but for those that are curious about the writing process and how the tough times in a writer’s life may influence their work, Speak What We Feel is a satisfying read.