Title: The Call
Author: Derald Hamilton
Publisher: D Hamilton Books
ISBN: 9780984619207
Pages: 348, Paperback/Kindle
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
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.
