House of Cards: Love, Faith, and other Social Expressions

House of Cards is a a little bit of a tough book to talk about, because while I heartily enjoyed reading it and loved so very much about it, I know there is also a lot in it that would be very offensive to a lot of people. So, take this recommendation with a few reservations.

The story is about David - the author of the book – and the highjinks and quirks that he experienced while working at Hallmark Cards. But it’s also a love story and a spiritual story. It’s a story about poetry, writing and words. It’s about emotion, loneliness, pain, jokes, social behavior, and human absurdity. It’s a journey of discovery – discovery of, well, love, faith, life-calling, and sure, social expressions.

And while we’re talking about love, why not talk about sex? While it’s written very frankly and somewhat graphically, it’s not written in a way that is meant to arouse. He’s alternatively funny/awkward/ecstatic about it, so all those honest emotions make it a bit easier to handle. So that’s my cautionary note about the book. Also there is quite a few four-letter words. But again, it’s written so honestly and humorously that it doesn’t feel gratuitous. So, if you think you might be offended by these things, you might want to steer clear.

But it’s so beautifully written! It was pure joy to read something crafted by someone who obviously finds pleasure in words and language. I could hardly put it down.

One interesting arc of the story is his spiritual journey. Growing up fundamentalist Christian, he converted to Catholicism when he got engaged to a Catholic girl in college. This creates a rift in his family. After he moves to Kansas City to work for Hallmark, it’s like he can’t handle the spiritual questions in his heart, and gradually fades into an atheist. Which is unbelievably sad that he would come to that kind of conclusion. It hurts my heart to see someone do that.

In fact, by the end of the book (I’m not spoiling anything; they say this much in the dust jacket), he’s broken up with his longtime fiance, he’s renounced God and the church, and he’s left his job at Hallmark to go back to school to earn a Ph.D. But there is still hope in him: hope that he has found something, learned something, and that the best is yet to come. He’s coming into his own.

And along the way, you get an eye-opening look at how Hallmark does its thing and the crazies who worked there at the time. It made me kind of not want to buy Hallmark cards. Mostly, it made me infinitely grateful for my own job, where I don’t work in a cube, don’t have a boss that yells at me, and don’t have to practically sell my soul to do what I love to do.

I just hope David’s journey leads him back to Jesus.