The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene

I have finally finished reading, not only one book but two, in a relatively short period of time. I selected these books while browsing through my local public library.


THE SECRET GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE - Michele Roberts

I chose this book for several reasons: the first is the obvious religious and historical relationship. I really enjoyed The Red Tent with Diamant’s ficticious, yet plausible account of the female perspective in the old testament. The book flap suggested that this novel would provide a similar account.

In, The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Roberts creates a beautiful prose that gives way to a totally unexpected history of Mary Magdalene and her time with Christ. The beginning of the text draws the reader in with compassion for Mary and with interest to see how she explains her personal relationship with the King of the Jews.

As the novel progresses Mary experiences an awakening due to the acceptance of Christ in her heart and Jesus as her savior. After that the lines between Jesus as lover and Christ are strangely twisted and disfigured to the point where I was sure what Roberts through Mary was trying to say.

Mary came to express herself through these visions or dreams that she had. The controversy arose inevitably because she was a female and a self-proclaimed disciple. While I enjoyed the prose aspect of these visions, I feel Roberts did not place enough thought into what they meant.

Also, as a Christian, I have a hard time accepting the fact that Mary and Jesus were never really married, but lovers. The beginning of the text opens the reader’s eyes to the life of a woman in such times. Compassion is immediately given to Mary for the life that befell her and ultimately, how she came to be the sole breadwinner for her immediate family.

While, I really wanted to like this book, since it contains several of the qualities that I generally like in novels, the wishy washy-ness was too much to continue my desire to read. Even though I did finish the text, it just was not a book that I couldn’t put down. Again, I complement Roberts on his fantastic writing style, but critique the direction the novel end up taking.

A LITTE RESPITE

Well, I'm still between books. Fiction that is. While, for the time being, I don't have as much time to read something seriously I have not abandoned books altogether.

I have looked at stacks of crochet books. Learned new patters, stitches, etc. 

I found an old Spanish 3 high school text book at the jail library and have been using it for a little refresher in my spare time at work. 

Gotta go, more later.

Dispirited Dilemma

It has happened once again. I have been lost in an alternate universe and now that the journey has ended I cannot find anything else to make up for it. I have recently finished the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. While A Breath of Snow and Ashes will never live up to Gabaldon's freshman masterpiece, I am still feeling very dejected at finishing this latest installment. I love the world of Jamie and Claire Fraser. In a sick way I yearn for the life that they lived, the hardships 17th century America and the rest of the world required. Their's was a busy, labor enduced society with war and fighting being second nature, as was working for every luxury needed to survive. Gabaldon paints a much realer picture than is often thought of when looking back on civilization. It is through her books that I see how hard and precious life really is. Disease could take out a whole community in several days. Crops don't grow and the family starves. Drunken bandits kill a family for a few animals or possessions to trade. These are worries I have never thought of and yet, this world Gabaldon created is a part of me.

What I find equally disappointing is that I have not yet moved on. For the time being, no other books are quite as good. Nothing can hold my attention quite as well as, and I find myself day-dreaming about past Fraser adventures and checking Gabaldon's web page for more news of her next installment.

I even tried reading Gabaldon's Lord John and the Private Matter mystery in hopes that the story would be equally stimulating. But, to no avail. It just does not capture my attention the same.

So, I will keep searching for that next great book to read. Unfortunately, I might be passing up some goods one's while my temperament readjusts. In time I will move, but I will never forget Jamie Fraser.

Angels and Demons, oh no!!

While I was driving home from work the other morning, I heard on the radio that Dan Brown’s first conspiracy theory flop, Angels and Demons, is being filmed. Apparently there is some controversy because several churches/cathedrals are not allowing them to film in their holy buildings. The funny part is that while I did enjoy reading The Da Vinci Code, the movie absolutely stunk. The radio DJ’s, who I don’t normally appreciate, hit the head on the nail with similar claims. Rightly so, Tom Hanks’ hair piece usually ends up being the brunt of most jokes. Along with the question of why wasn’t "Angels and Demons" filmed first since it came before "The Da Vinci Code"?

Continuing that question, why make a sequel, or prequel in this case, if the first movie stunk? What or who decides that more time should be invested in another potential flop? "Angels and Demons" barely got read until after the success of The Da Vinci Code, and some critics would say that was totally lucky also. While I’m not denying the appeal factor of the latter, I am sick of being inundated by Hollywood’s feeble attempts at movie making in the 21st century. Also, why would Tom Hanks, a well-known, reputable actor, sign on for another round of poorly scripted confusion when he clearly did not need to. Where are our standards?

While it is no doubt, hard for movies to live up to their written counterparts, could the directors at least try to make the movie good? Do I need mention Harry Potter movies 3 - 5 ? If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand time, they should have kept Chris Columbus as the director for all the movies. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll rent it from the Public library when it finally comes out on DVD, but until then, I’ll keep searching for another good book.

P.S. By the way, I have read Angels and Demons, and for me, it just didn't have that fast-pased drive that I was looking for. Sorry Dan.

I Will Persevere !!

This is just a quick update to let you know that I  am still alive. I haven't posted any new reviews in a while and I wanted to share the reason why:  I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and that book is slowly killing me. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it. It's lengthy, some 900+ pages, detailed and has multiple plot lines to play around with, yet it is some of the slowest reading I have subjected myself to in a long time. So, I just wanted to say that I will get through the book eventually. However, when a story and the actual reading moves that slowly, I often read a couple other books  at the same time, as well. I may have diverted slightly, but I will return to Anna shortly and hopefully I can finish it before the summer is over. 

Anna... is supposed to be one of the greatest love stories of our time. I will see her through.