Review: Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber

Release Date: August 9, 2011
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages/Format: 480 (Paperback)
Genre: Nonfiction, Christian Memoir
Source: Publisher/Booksneeze
My Rating: A+ (View Scale)
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When Carolyn arrived at Oxford for her graduate studies, she felt no need for God. Her childhood in a broken but loving family taught her to rely on reason and intellect–not faith–for survival. Eager and expectant, Carolyn set out to study Romantic literature in one of the most inspiring and beautiful academic environments in the world. She had no idea that she was about to embark on a love story of her own–one much deeper, more colorful, and more surprisingly God-shaped than any she’d read before.

Documented over the course of her first school year and organized according to the Oxford liturgical academic calendar, Surprised by Oxford tells the real-life tale of a young woman’s search for–and eventual discovery of–purpose, identity, and what it really means to be human.

One Sentence Review: Surprised by Oxford is a delightful memoir that reads more like a novel and will have you engrossed from start to finish.

In-Depth Review

Surprised by Oxford opens with an encounter Weber had with her seventeenth-century poetry professor while pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario. She went to ask what he thought of her presentation on John Donne’s sonnet XIV which she “thought was a brilliant analysis of the domination of rape imagery” and “classic subversion by the dominant patriarchy” in the poem. (Pages 2-3)

Dr. Deveaux paused, looked thoughtful, and then resumed walking. I kept pace beside him, expectant. Without missing a step, he said quietly, “It is an interesting reading of the poem, Miss Drake. And you obviously have command of the language. But you didn’t seem to get the point. To really get at the essential grappling. You didn’t untie that ‘subtle knot which makes us man,’ so central to Donne’s spiritual pilgrimage.”

He quickened his stride: “The truth is in the paradox, Miss Drake. Anything not done in submission to God, anything not done to the glory of God, is doomed to failure, frailty, and futility. This is the unholy trinity we humans fear most. And we should, for we entertain it all the time at the pain and expense of not knowing the real one.”

“Huh?” I managed to puff, for Dr. Deveaux was a hard person to keep up with, physically and mentally.

Dr. Deveaux stopped and looked at me hard. He leaned in and whispered, “The rest is bullshit, Miss Drake. It’s as simple as that. Your purpose here in life is to discern the real thing from the bullshit, and then to choose the non-bullshit. Think of the opportunity that God has given you to study as a means by which to attain your own personal bullshit detector. Sometimes that will be particularly difficult, because those who proclaim to know the truth, well intentioned or not, are spewing the most bullshit. But you will know when you have been properly ravished. And then you’ll see, then you’ll see, how the entire world is eyeball deep in it and that we choose it, and that we choose it every day. But the good news is that, although we struggle with it, there is a way out. Yes, there is a very worthy antidote to all the bullshit.”

-Pages 3-4

This is only the first in a series of divine appointments Weber had with scholarly believers who spit out more eloquently phrased nuggets of wisdom than I could ever hope to proffer. One might think that sort of thing (plus the fact that the author is a through-and-through academic) would make this book inaccessible to common folk like myself, but I found it to be quite the opposite. Though most of us will never visit, much less study at such a prestigious institution as Oxford, Weber’s journey to faith is relatable because she struggled with the same doubts, fears, and anger that we all grapple with on the road to faith.

One issue in particular that she wrestles with throughout the book is how the doctrines of Christianity impact women.

How was Jesus as a He relevant to me as a she? . . . being a feminist and a Christian seemed like a no-win scenario. If Jesus has been a woman, feminists would have seen her as just another woman in subordination to a man. Even worse, to the Man.

All of this seemed to be the worst kind of paradox: a feminist Christian, or a Christian feminist. It’s an implosion of such difficult terms. Again, so messy!

-Page 200

Later, Weber describes one solitary stretch of a morning run in early spring:

Anytime I jogged this part alone, I felt nervous. A woman does not have the luxury of obliviousness in a parking lot late at night; a similar threat blemishes an otherwise carefree jog along a secluded path. Fear is at the core of what it means to be a woman, I thought with a twinge of that familiar anger. It is far more empowering to be angry than sad.

. . .

I picked up my pace yet again, motivated by my uneasiness. Were those footsteps behind me?

. . .

Moving my hand to my pocket, I wove my keys through my fingers, just in case.

Running completely on adrenaline now, I heard breathing that was not my own coming up behind me. heavy breathing. I ran clenched, every nerve and every tissue tight.

I stopped breathing. The other breathing was rightthere.

Suddenly it passed me. A fellow runner, focused, steady, gave me a nod over his shoulder as he flew by. I felt his wind on my face like a spirit from the woods. My fear imploded against it. The shards then dissipated in the wake of comprehending the bold black words on the back of his plain white shirt: GOT GOD?

My knees almost collapsed with relief.

-Pages 257-258

Reading the passage above, I thought of the countless times the exact same thing has happened to me while out walking–footsteps growing louder, keys clutched in my sweaty palm, scurrying towards home just as fast as my legs will carry me and wishing my hundred pound frame looked more intimidating. This brand of instinctive fear that is unique to womankind affects how we respond to an all-powerful, distinctly male Deity, whether we’d like to admit it or not. How many women have read Scriptures like Numbers 31:17-18 or Deuteronomy 22:28-29 and not been angered by them? You can spin it any way you want; it’s still messy. So while I see the overarching gospel narrative as empowering to women, I still get hung up on the fine print, which is why I so appreciate Weber’s exploration of this issue and her ultimate acceptance of Christianity despite unresolved emotions and unanswered questions.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this book. Weber is a master wordsmith and she addresses her reader with warmth, wit, and charm. In many ways her writing reminds me of C.S. Lewis (which should come as no surprise since they have a similar educational background), though she possesses a style that is all her own.

I also like how the narrative is split into sections corresponding with the Oxford liturgical calendar and further divided into easily digestible chapters. It’s clear that great care was taken to come up with fitting and creative chapter titles and each chapter begins with a quote by a different literary great, from Blake and Dickinson to Tolstoy and Milton. The literary references aren’t confined to chapter introductions. This book is a treasure-trove for quotation collectors like me (index cards at the ready!).

Surprised by Oxford reads much like an intricately plotted fairy tale, which I theorize has something to do with the fact that a) Weber has been steeped in romantic literature for many years and b) God has a funny way of writing stories that are more remarkable than any fiction. Part romance, part philosophical musing, part celebration of classic literature, Surprised by Oxford will keep you guessing, laughing, thinking, and seeing the gospel through new eyes ‘til the very last page.

About Carolyn Weber:

Carolyn Weber holds her BA from the University of Western Ontario and her MPhil and DPhil degrees from Oxford University. She has been Associate Professor of Romantic Literature at Seattle University. Carolyn and her husband share the joy of parenting three spirited children in Santa Barbara, CA, and London, Canada.

Other Reviews: Books & Culture | Bookwi.se | Challies.com | Gently Mad | The Lord God Exists

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