The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, Jose Saramago
Primary observations: interesting, compelling, one of those incidents of taking a story that most people know and retelling it from a fresh perspective, though the aim is not only the direction of the view, but also to challenge our notions of what the original story was, and if challenge is too strong or inapplicable then perhaps to question, probe, affirm our doubts, give tooth to contradiction. But some of these words are trite and easily found in on the back of the book cover or in a newspaper fiction review.
It is, perhaps obviously, an examination of religion and the hypocrisy of religion and a god without ethics. It examines sexuality in a repressed society, the repression of women, and morality versus ethics.
The book is sensitive in an irreverent way. It has the elements of religion, the whole son of God story and Judaism and the beginning of Christianity, but rather than merely recounting these elements, the psalms and prayers and events with which some of us, most I guess, are familiar, Saramago pushes it and shows the hypocrisy of religion the infatuation with the supreme being. He creates a psychological portrait of Jesus, as some critics have pointed out and is described on the book cover; he also creates a psychological portrait of Judaism, all its prejudices and the “pagan” nature of its practice some 2000 years ago.
It is this portrait that is most captivating. Jesus must move from the world he inherited, of praising God 30 times a day for taking a piss, having all the answers to life provided by the Talmud, every crippling illness explained by a lack of faith and as a punishment, apathy and bitterness, women restricted from Temple because of original sin, women not being seen capable of having a conversation with men because they lack the intelligence, he must move from this world of ignorance and repression, not only by the roman soldiers, but also his religion, to become what the book describes him as, what history claims him to be.
In form, Saramago uses the 3rd person plural voice at times, saying “we must be mindful” or “it is not our place to question” to elicit the readers participation in this work as a “Gospel” as it is so entitled. Through this use of voice the reader remembers the nature of a “gospel” is to be read and interpreted only by those ordained by class or education and blindly accepted by all others, but never questioned. The gospels are the original morality tales, a Chilton guide for the soul. Saramago implies this form, though without drawing it out to the greatest possible extent, and once this reader/author relationship is established, he is able to critique religion’s (and of course authoritarian figures in religion) use of such materials.
The narrative also serves as a critique for power play and how modern politicians (and ancient ones for that matter)and leaders of various sorts go about manipulating public opinion through marketing. God, in this reading, may be recast in the role of a president leading his country to an unjustified war, a CEO (whose company makes egregious offenses not only to the environment, but also to public safety, lives and health) making a pitch for the latest product that will devastate beyond repair.
Saramago seeks to subvert traditional notions of the all powerful, all benevolent and all judicious God. The devil is recast, deliciously so, as an opposite to a god who demands sacrifice for his honor, beyond cruel deaths for his followers for the sake of empire building. The Pastor/devils reverence for life, his moodiness and attentiveness to the natural order of life is a gorgeous relief in the way walking ten miles uphill to eat and collapse in a soft warm bed is gorgeous and something to relish.
I won’t say the book is without problems, but since it is a book in translation it is hard to pinpoint if it’s a matter of translation or not. The dialogue, while difficult to follow because the speakers are run together, separated only by a comma, also has benefits in terms of a large aim, that of equating all life, that we are all similar and made of the same stuff, from the Romans, to the Chosen People, from God to the devil, from Jesus to Mary Magdelene.
There are parts were I feel the narrator/author is bored with the story, which transfers to the reading of it. The language mostly works, subtle. He is very subtle.
It is, perhaps obviously, an examination of religion and the hypocrisy of religion and a god without ethics. It examines sexuality in a repressed society, the repression of women, and morality versus ethics.
The book is sensitive in an irreverent way. It has the elements of religion, the whole son of God story and Judaism and the beginning of Christianity, but rather than merely recounting these elements, the psalms and prayers and events with which some of us, most I guess, are familiar, Saramago pushes it and shows the hypocrisy of religion the infatuation with the supreme being. He creates a psychological portrait of Jesus, as some critics have pointed out and is described on the book cover; he also creates a psychological portrait of Judaism, all its prejudices and the “pagan” nature of its practice some 2000 years ago.
It is this portrait that is most captivating. Jesus must move from the world he inherited, of praising God 30 times a day for taking a piss, having all the answers to life provided by the Talmud, every crippling illness explained by a lack of faith and as a punishment, apathy and bitterness, women restricted from Temple because of original sin, women not being seen capable of having a conversation with men because they lack the intelligence, he must move from this world of ignorance and repression, not only by the roman soldiers, but also his religion, to become what the book describes him as, what history claims him to be.
In form, Saramago uses the 3rd person plural voice at times, saying “we must be mindful” or “it is not our place to question” to elicit the readers participation in this work as a “Gospel” as it is so entitled. Through this use of voice the reader remembers the nature of a “gospel” is to be read and interpreted only by those ordained by class or education and blindly accepted by all others, but never questioned. The gospels are the original morality tales, a Chilton guide for the soul. Saramago implies this form, though without drawing it out to the greatest possible extent, and once this reader/author relationship is established, he is able to critique religion’s (and of course authoritarian figures in religion) use of such materials.
The narrative also serves as a critique for power play and how modern politicians (and ancient ones for that matter)and leaders of various sorts go about manipulating public opinion through marketing. God, in this reading, may be recast in the role of a president leading his country to an unjustified war, a CEO (whose company makes egregious offenses not only to the environment, but also to public safety, lives and health) making a pitch for the latest product that will devastate beyond repair.
Saramago seeks to subvert traditional notions of the all powerful, all benevolent and all judicious God. The devil is recast, deliciously so, as an opposite to a god who demands sacrifice for his honor, beyond cruel deaths for his followers for the sake of empire building. The Pastor/devils reverence for life, his moodiness and attentiveness to the natural order of life is a gorgeous relief in the way walking ten miles uphill to eat and collapse in a soft warm bed is gorgeous and something to relish.
I won’t say the book is without problems, but since it is a book in translation it is hard to pinpoint if it’s a matter of translation or not. The dialogue, while difficult to follow because the speakers are run together, separated only by a comma, also has benefits in terms of a large aim, that of equating all life, that we are all similar and made of the same stuff, from the Romans, to the Chosen People, from God to the devil, from Jesus to Mary Magdelene.
There are parts were I feel the narrator/author is bored with the story, which transfers to the reading of it. The language mostly works, subtle. He is very subtle.
Labels: Book Review
posted by InkSpot | 3:16 AM
1 Comments:
Last night one of the network news magazines had a guy from Cuba who had some sort of an Epiphany and then declared himself the second coming of Jesus Christ. He had been a fairly amoral individual, caught for DUI, theft, has had 2 wives.
He has a remarkable number of followers in the hispanic culture and they give him lots of money. Thing is they believe there is no sin, no devil, no hell, therefore we have nothing for which to repent.
A part of me was like charlatan, stealing money, but he does not ask for money...not like the televangelist do. He surrounds himself with beautiful women but is believed to be faithful to his wife (and reminds the interviewer that Jesus DID have prostitutes around him. They beieve that what gives pleasure here is ok because God does not want people to be unhappy. When asked about murder and such he says...that is law not religion. It was interesting.
The interviewer drew attention to the fact that he looked very much like the charismatic Jim Jones. Jesus said, "why would God ask for the life he gave, what good would be done by having people jump out of a tall building?"
mom
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