I am not sure when or how it started, but for years, I have had a very negative attitude toward books on bestseller lists. In my rather uneducated view, I thought that good novels were not on bestseller lists, and that novels on bestseller lists were not good novels. Admitting this embarrasses me. I am not certain how often I communicated that negative outlook to my students and to others.
Having recently read the excellent novel “Theo of Golden,” which was on The New York Times bestseller list, my attitude has changed dramatically.’ “Theo of Golden” is one of the best novels I have ever read, and I strongly encourage readers of this column to read it. It is exceptionally good. Everyone I know who has read “Theo of Golden” has a response similar to mine.
After reading “Theo in Golden,” I was curious to discover information about the novel and its author, and so I Googled the title. This is the statement I found by checking Google:
“ ‘Theo of Golden’ is a bestselling debut novel by Allen Levy about a mysterious, kind, elderly man named Theo who arrives in the fictional Southern town of Golden, Georgia, and anonymously performs acts of generosity, primarily by buying portraits from a local coffeehouse and returning them to their subjects, sparking stories and connections. The book explores themes of creative generosity, wonder, and the invisible threads of kindness that connect people, becoming a surprise hit after its self-publication in 2023.”
I love the phrase “invisible threads of kindness that connect people,” and I think Levy’s novel beautifully reveals those threads. Reading the novel helped me think about those threads in my life, and I am thrilled at the prospect of recommending a bestseller to help readers become more aware of those threads in their own lives.
Often, contemporary news can be disturbing and discouraging. There seem to be so many problems in the world. Several times while reading “Theo of Golden” I took encouragement knowing that the novel had a large audience. Recently, I have read in several places that novels are meant to change our lives. That so many people have read and are reading this novel is really good news. That many have been and are being exposed to the deeply moving insights in “Theo of Golden” helps me to hope and trust in the basic goodness of many people.
It also strengthens my belief in the power of ideas to influence people. I have heard from several friends how much they loved the book. With this column, I am trying to convey my enthusiasm for the novel, and I am certain that I will be doing that in many future conversations with friends and others.
Reflecting on Levy’s novel, I decided to refresh my memory by re-reading sections of Flannery O’Connor’s wonderful collection of essays, “Mystery and Manners.” I think Flannery has some deep insights into the power of novels to influence readers. Responding to a lady who claimed that she only read books that improved her mind, Flannery wrote the following:
“People without hope not only don’t write novels, but what is more to the point, they don’t read them. They don’t take long looks at anything because they lack the courage. The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience. The lady who only read books that improved her mind was taking a safe course- and a hopeless one. She’ll never know whether her mind is improved or not, but should she ever, by some mistake, read a great novel, she’ll know mighty well that something is happening to her. …
“The type of mind that can understand good fiction is not necessarily the educated mind, but it is at all times the kind of mind that is willing to have its sense of mystery deepened by its contact with reality, and its sense of reality deepened by its contact with mystery” (pp. 78-79).
I think everything that Flannery has written about novels could be illustrated by reference to “Theo of Golden.” Recently, I was recommending Levy’s novel to a friend, and he asked what it was about. For a few seconds, I was speechless and couldn’t answer him. Eventually, I think the best answer I could give him would have been “the mystery of life.”
I don’t think that I am exaggerating about the positive effect that a novel like “Theo of Golden” can have on readers.
Every person whom I have spoken to who has read the novel reacts enthusiastically to my question, “How did you like it?” Everyone starts responding with the words “I loved it!” Everyone!
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.