Synopsis: Here is a vivid, poetic, and evocative story of the
painter Vincent van Gogh's struggle to become his true self. The
author listens in on Vincent's most intimate, frequently startling
thoughts on a host of topics, drawn from three volumes of his
correspondence and his 900 extant paintings. What emerges is the
portrait of an artist whose spiritual vision was borne of an
agonizingly prolonged experience of the "dark night of the soul"
through which his art dared to envisionthe triumph of joy over
sorrow, of resurrection over suffering and death. Readers will
discover that in many ways Vincent's story is as much about us as
about him. Tracing van Gogh's pilgrimage from being an apprentice
art dealer to being called to minister, in self-renunciation and
misery, among destitute coal miners, the narrative follows his
winding, tortuous path into adulthood as he struggles with family,
associates, lovers--and with himself. Constantly evidenced in
Vincent's own eloquent words and paintings is his tussle with the
mysterious presence and maddening absence of God. Vocation unveils
as a process of summoning and birthing his own self, through an
attempt to imitate Christ, calling forth van Gogh's extraordinary
creative powers from deep within. Adding choice supplies from other
observers, Davidson here weaves his own exact, artful tapestry of
interpretation, producing a suspenseful excursion into the life of
van Gogh that offers profound meaning at every turn. Endorsements:
"This richly detailed and deeply felt account of van Gogh's
tormented and self-tormenting life, together with many telling
quotations from his correspondence with his faithful brother Theo,
will be essential reading for all who see him as one of the
geniuses of the nineteenth century." --Frederick Buechner author of
Secrets in the Dark and The Yellow Leaves "Charles Davidson's book
viewing Vincent van Gogh's life and work is an excellent
contribution to ways we might best understand the artist's struggle
and spirituality. The flow of the narrative and the presence of
theological and psychological motifs help us re-vision the artist
in a postmodern framework that opens new and creative channels for
understanding." --Cliff Edwards author of Van Gogh and God, The
Shoes of Van Gogh, and Mystery of the Night Cafe "This work of
supreme art unveils Vincent van Gogh's own great art--in life,
work, and death. It accomplishes this in amazingly varied fashion
and unpretentious, religious depth. It is remarkably attuned to,
and mostly uses, Vincent's own strikingly honest, poetic statements
in company with some of Vincent's paintings. In the process, it
interprets both with every conceivably appropriate tool, drawing in
others' profoundly insightful responses to Vincent with the
author's own. From beginning to end, Charles Davidson--pastor,
teacher, clinician, poet, musician, and scholar--has created,
reflectively, a rare, simply magnificent portrayal. Any attentive
reader who has known either deprivation or struggle in life can
find here a healing love and joy." --Terrence N. Tice editor of
Hermann Peiter's collected essays, Christian Ethics According to
Schleiermacher, and translator of Friederich Schleiermacher's
Christmas Eve Celebration "Bone Dead, and Rising is a
psychologically and theologically incisive analysis of the life and
work, the psyche and spirituality of Vincent Van Gogh. It is
difficult to imagine that the artist himself would have missed the
magnitude and worthiness of this verbally artistic rendering."
--Lallene J. Rector co-editor of Psychological Perspectives and the
Religious Quest Author Biography: Charles Davidson, a Presbyterian
minister and psychotherapist, was the Darrel Rollins Professor of
Holistic Ministry in Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling at
Virginia University of Lynchburg, until retiring to Black Mountain,
North Carolina, where he lives with his wife, dog, cats, saxophone,
and clarinet.
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