Douglas Feavel

I got a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

After reading the forward, I was excited about reading the book. I hadn't expected the Christian emphasis based on the description I had been provided, but I appreciate books that have a moral backbone. I was disappointed with the execution. The first story left me asking, "Who is she?" for too long because Feavel spent more time talking about her impact on him instead of introducing her to the reader.

I was interested in meeting the show more influential characters, but Feavel spent more time preaching about how we should feel about them instead of letting us reach our own conclusions. I would have preferred less telling and more showing. show less

I received this eBook through Library Thing’s Early reviewer program.

I am sure there is a market for Feavel’s collection of inspiring stories, but I would not fit into that demographic. I think he is looking for American, conservative, Christian readers, and I fail on at least two of those counts.

After reading the first couple of entries, and not knowing before beginning the book that this was an exercise in Christian evangelism, I headed to the (very lengthy) appendices to find out more show more about the author and his motivation. And these appendices are very revealing with regard to Feavel’s politics and beliefs about what is right and wrong with the world, or at least specifically with the USA.

While many of the stories are of outstanding and inspirational individuals, I found it grating that every story was topped and tailed with Biblical quotes, as these stories are well enough told to stand without the added scripture. Now, I understand that Feavel was trying to make a point, but for this reader that aspect was too much.
My criticism of this anthology is this:
1) The stories are generally well-written, but I would have edited some of them a bit (as is explained in point 2 below)
2) The stories don’t need the inclusion of the author’s personal politics to make them any better
3) Nor do they need the inclusion of Biblical references to make them better.

I was puzzled by the arguments and logic the author used in a number of his stories. For example, his discussion of George Washington, a great American. Not only as the first president of the USA, but had a lengthy and distinguished military career, and is a fine historical role model. But I fear some of the stories used may be apocryphal – I am happy to be convinced otherwise. The problem with that is that Feavel explicitly takes Washington’s good fortune in apparently escaping any injury in conflict to mean that he was “…preserved in order to see God’s plans completed through his life.” Well, that was good for him, but bad news for all the soldiers on either side who were simply collateral damage that God had no use or plan for (apart from emphasizing Washington’s greatness). The author’s personal faith and politics intervene here: does God have specific plans for the USA? Is that exceptional? Does he have plans for New Zealand? Or Bangladesh? Or Zimbabwe? As a non-American this politico-religious intrusion in the story was off-putting.

‘Uncommon Character’ may find a home in the libraries of preachers and Christian schools. I don’t think it will be successful in proselytizing, but it will give comfort and affirmation to conservative Christians. show less

This was a book that admittedly took me some time to get through as the number of biographical stories was quite dense. I found that this book could almost be divided into two books, with the appendix having enough material to constitute its own title. I appreciated getting to know a lot of the people throughout history whose stories may not be as familiar to readers today; however, many of the people selected are not necessarily adherents of the Christian faith. I would say that this book show more focuses more primarily on attributes that build up character in the forms of values and virtues over the fruits of the Spirit and Christlike godliness. With this in mind, I found that there was plenty to learn from individuals who exemplified sheer resilience and persistent determination in their lives. It would have been interesting to group some of the stories together under certain headings, such as those involved in the Second World War and others throughout history who stood up to menacing forces, as I found that those were the tenacious characters I couldn't get out of my mind.

In reading the appendix, it makes sense that this book is mostly told from a storytelling perspective where the author delivered oral presentations that were then captured in a written format. As a result, each chapter needs to almost be approached as a lecture where a great person from history is being visited. I liked that the author took the time to add accompanying notes as this made the stories come to life even further. Readers who are students of history will find a lot to mine in this book and Christians will enjoy how this book wraps up, culminating in the best story about finishing well and an uncommon character that is worth emulating. show less

Take the stories from inspirational lives, insert political one-liners, stir in simplistic religiosity, and focus on the lessons learned by the author instead of the inspiring lives, and you have this book. Sad, frustrating, and disappointing it is to have such a collection of lives in one volume and come away with so little of the character in those lives that is indeed uncommon.