The Call, by
author Derald Hamilton, is written as actually two discrete books in one;
connected only by the commonality of the main character, Ishmael
O’Donnell. For example, the first one
hundred or so pages of the book tells the first person story of Ishmael
O’Donnell’s upbringing. Born a twin but
losing his sibling at the age of three, Ishmael tells of the spiritual
assimilation of his brother’s dying soul into his body at the moment of
death. Words, at his age then of 3, were
not known to him at the time, so for years he dwelled on just the feelings,
bringing it into his story first hand to the reader in a very powerful way. He was a son to a military father, whose authoritative
and terse ways dealing with discipline and expectations of performance stressed
his home life to such a degree that his father ailed from ulcers while he and
his mother were sheepishly subordinated to the tyrant’s dominant role. Although I felt some of the stories contained
in this first part of The Call could
have been abridged, it did create the mental spring of tension to the point
where the reader would clearly empathize with Ishmael’s desire to, once of age,
get out of there as soon as he could and go as far away as possible.
This sets the scene for part II of the book, subtitled Parkins University – Seminary. The
Call from God goes out to many people in ways for them to seek fulfillment in the
service of His mission. For Ishmael, it was after a few failed attempts to
blend into the culture of a changing society, not having acceptance of his
peers, at a time of social turmoil during the Vietnam War era.
Derald Hamilton commences to introduce characters at the
seminary like people passing through a revolving door at a hotel lobby. All types of students enroll, for each their
own reasons, “called” to seek the seminary for their spiritual edification to
become ministers within the hierarchy of the Christian faith-based system. Ishmael learns from a friend that it’s all politics. It’s about who you know, how well established
your family is with families in your congregation
and with other congregations within the vicinity; and it’s all about how many people you can bring
into church on any given Sunday.
What caught me at times are the characters; so realistic that the novel reads more as if
it were an autobiography. It
nevertheless captivated my attention with the colorful characters and antics of
seminary life. The Call has a very whimsical and airy way of bouncing around,
sometimes a bit discombobulated with irrelevant (and also irreverent) stories,
but always coming back to what I would call “The world as viewed by Ishmael;” a
person you come to trust and love throughout this book. A truly honest and revealing first novel,
Derald Hamilton has much more to offer in his writing career with his wholesome
and respectful manner of writing, clever characters, and having been “Called”
to tell his story. I recommend this for
young adult reading, especially if someone is seeking theological studies at
the college or post-graduate level, or a career within organized religion. The
Call will be especially helpful for people at crossroads of life, career or
at important life stages.
