Rating: 
Summary: An alternate story of Christ
Review: This is a book swirling with sub-plots, all of them ultimately intertwined in the story. We have a clandestine love affair in Rome during 1943, an illicit love affair in the near present in Rome, a kind of love affair a bit later than the second one, also in Rome, and the discovery of an ancient papyrus that just might bring the Christian religion to a crashing end. Ultimately, however, this is a book about words, and every sub-plots abounds in them; words of love, loss, hope, despair, faith and disbelief. The author manages to keep all of his balls in the air while he juggles them, although at times you wonder if he's going to be able to continue. The writing just sweeps you along, and even though the book closes fairly satisfactorily, you find yourself wishing to know even more about the characters, and their subsequent lives. That's the ultimate test of a book worth reading, and this one passes the test with flying colors!
Rating: 
Summary: A Novel That Explores Themes of Faith and Betrayal.
Review: This is a well-written, intelligent and sensitive work of the imagination in which issues of fidelity and faith are examined by a close analysis of several interlocking stories.
The overarching narrative of betrayal by Judas of Jesus, frames the story of betrayals by Gretchen of her husband; by Madeleine of hers; by Leo Newman of his vows as a priest. Francesco (Gretchen's Jewish lover), is tortured and probably killed -- pretty much as Jesus was in ancient Judea. The theme of Christian anti-semitism is delicately placed on the table and left for the reader to pick up.
Leo Newman is an aging priest and scholar, undergoing a crisis of faith, as he meets the middle-aged wife of Jack, an American diplomat, who is named Madeleine (the reference to "the beloved apostle," Mary Magdaleine, of the scriptures is obvious) -- who has a history of infidelity and suicide attempts. The results are predictably tragic. This occurs as a new discovery of a "Gospel by Judas," predating the synoptic gospels, is made in Israel.
The issues raised have to do with whether the "new man" who is Leo Newman, besotted and without faith, can cope with loss, the pains of love, suffering and come to terms with his own complicity in evil and mortality. The result is ambiguous.
The text suggests that a first century account claiming that Jesus did not rise physically from the grave would somehow defeat the Christian faith. I disagree. Although I am not a believer, many sophisticated Christians today read the resurrection story symbolically. Others might question the veracity of a witness who was hardly unbiased.
Christianity, or any of the great religions, cannot be undermined by such a text.
The novel is ambitious and brave, but fails to make the most of all of its materials, which would have required several books. Mr. Mawer was got himself a reader, anyway, for making the effort. I look forward to reading his other books, especially his novel about Mendel, since Mr. Mawer is both a geneticist and a writer, which alone may be a curious genetic mutation.
Rating: 
Summary: The Temptation of Fr. Leo
Review: This is quite a disappointing tale, more about the trials and tribulations of a Catholic priest and his relationships with two women - his deceased mother and a married woman, than it is about any lost gospel.
Rating:
Summary: 'Who is worthy to open the scroll?'
Review: This question echoes in the mind of Father Leo Newman when he realizes the content of the scroll he has been called upon to examine and translate, found near the dead sea, and apparently dating from the first century -- older than any existing basis for any of the gospels. As he translates the first few lines, he realizes that the scroll is claimed as the work of none other than Judas -- and as might be expected, it presents a version of events very much at odds with those upon which Christianity has been based for nearly two thousand years.Father Newman is called upon to be a part of the team examining this important artifact -- which has the potential to turn the church (and, indeed, the world) upside down -- at a time in his life when he is wrestling with his own crises, of faith, of doubt, of morality. He has recently become involved in an affair with a married woman, the wife of a diplomat. The story unfolds basically on three levels. The main plot line takes place just a few years in the past, and involves Newman's work on the scroll and his affair with Madeleine Brewer. In vivid flashbacks, we are also given glimpses into his family's past -- in Italy, during 1943, when his mother was married to a German officer, and engages in an forbidden affair of her own, with a Jewish instructor hired to educate the couple's son. The third is set in the present day, and shows Newman living in the company of a young woman named Magda, come from Moravia to Rome to learn English so that she might eventually go to America -- destination of so many seeking to start a new life. She is an artist, and we are given evocative glimpses of the world through her eyes. Mawer brings all of these plots into play nicely, weaving them into this well-constructed novel in such a way as to slowly open them like blossoms, revealing the interconnections and implications of each in due time. By the time the novel reaches its climax, they are inextricably tied together -- aspects from each are seen as connected solidly, in both a physical and a psycological sense. The torments experienced by Leo Newman -- what to do with his life and his emotions (being a priest), and the implications of the release of the information contained in the scroll, are very relevant and real. He holds within his power a revelation that could bring down his church. Is is a true account of events of two thousand years ago, or is it merely the earliest known piece of anti-Christian propaganda ever discovered? The struggles he makes, emotionally, spiritually and physically, to chart the path of his life, make for some compelling reading. Mawer is an incredibly talented writer -- this novel, as well as his amazing MENDEL'S DWARF, attest well to that fact.
Rating:
Summary: An annoying book
Review: This was a very annoying book. The title is misleading, since the Gospel of Judas plays only a small role in the narrative. Instead, this is the story of how Father Leo Newman and his mother before him, passively drift along mired in doubt, regrets and pity. The author behaves like a capricious god, trying to see how much pain he can pain he can inflict upon his characters. Any time a character is built up to more than two dimensional status, he or she is killed off, leaving the survivors to wallow in guilt. The method of story-telling is annoying as well. The author tells his inter-generational saga through a series of flash-backs, flash-forwards and present tense. It is not clear whether the past story-line is supposed to set the stage for the present or whether it is an independent story in itself. The flash forwards telegraph the ending of the book. However, at the beginning they are merely confusing. The story lines also step on each other. The reader not only views the story of Father Newman's mother through her eyes, but gets to listen to Father Newman talk about it ad nauseum. The central message is one of resignation. Even if you lose your faith, your love and your hope for the future, if you just muddle along, you will reach a plateau of bearably tolerable existence.
|
