I recently completed the book Buried in the Snow by Franz Hoffman; part of the Lamplighter series of Christian literature. This is the first one of these books that I’ve read and found it to be really good. Written in 1879, it is a gripping tale that teaches great truths of the Bible and reliance upon God no matter the circumstance and to do it all without murmuring about your present trials.

The first three chapters are hard to get through. Hoffman’s use of sentences as long as a mid-summer’s day as he sets up the story made it hard to read (especially when doing it out loud for family reading time) but chapter four begins the tension and the story really unfolds from that point and becomes much easier to read. I’ve reprinted two separate book descriptions below along with a reader review comparing this book to the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away:

A boy and his grandfather come face to face with their own mortality within a tomb of snow. Reliance upon God is their only option as escape is impossible. But the story does not hinge upon the question of their rescue; what captivates is the response that each has to the circumstances that God has placed them in. When death is a constant companion, how does one view life? The ebb and flow of emotions are captivating as the boy and his grandfather fight off predators and the terror produced by the uncertainties of their snowy grave. I know of no other book that so delicately prepares children to face the death of a loved one than ‘Buried in the Snow.’

Full of twists, turns and unsuspected dangers, this book will cause you to see life from a different perspective. You will be blessed by the gentle wisdom of an old grandfather and the unconditional love of his grandson as they come face to face with one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. From the depths of despair to the pinnacle of blessing, this dramatic encounter will surely elicit a full spectrum of emotional responses.

Reader Review:

Buried in the Snow vs. Cast Away

After I read Buried In the Snow, which I greatly enjoyed, I watched the movie Cast Away starring Tom Hanks. It is a very powerful contrast. Both stories are about individual survival under desperate circumstances but the world view between them is diametrically opposed. In Buried In the Snow, Jacques becomes completely dependent on Jesus. He learns from his trials and is made stronger by the experience. Through his grandfather’s instruction and through his faith, he has the ability to deal with his grandfather’s death and burial, receiving solace in the fact that his grandfather goes knowingly and willingly to a better place. Contrast this to the “god-less” movie Cast Away in which Tom Hanks repeatedly demonstrates the humanist’s view that self is all there is – we only have our personal faculties on which to survive. Hanks never even alludes to a “highter [sic] power.” When the body of a dead pilot washes up on shore, he buries the body, then steps back and you assume he is about to give some type of blessing, but no, he simply brushes the sand from his hands and says “Well, that’s that.” Wow! Life is tough and then you die – that’s that – a worldview absent of God. I had never noticed how intentionally “absent of God” this movie was until I read Buried In the Snow. Insight is the power of well written Christian literature, always confirming that Jesus Christ is the difference between light and dark, hope and despair, truth and falsehood, life and death – just as he told us. Another note about this contrast is that Hanks has to talk to a volleyball to keep his sanity.
Jacque and his grandfather talk to a Saviour.