Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware or Illumination **** 1/2

An awesome illustration of the value of browsing in used book stores. I'd never heard of Harold Frederic nor of this novel, by I found a copy of a Modern Library edition at Moe's in Berkeley. The premise sounded interesting, and the cover copy called it "one of the four or five best novels by an American in the 19th century."

The Damnation of Theron Ware tells the story of an up-and-coming Methodist minister in upstate New York. Due to some church politics, he is assigned to a small town with a conservative set of church trustees, who don't care for his fancy preaching and fashionable wife. While laboring under the burden of their austere religious vision, he comes under the sway of the local Catholic priest and his rationalist doctor friend. They open Theron's eyes to his provincial ways, and he slowly abandons his beliefs. As the title indicates, the result is not positive.

The book gives a good sense of everyday small-town life and the role of religion in late 19th century America. It takes Theron's religiosity and ambitions seriously, and questions the goodness of adopting a scientific-rationalist view. I empathized with Theron and believed in his sincerity; the author does not stretch him to turn him into a comic character. I loved it!