Letters to the Editor
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What is Rice thinking?
Has Rice gone kuku? I watched her on Tv being interviewed by NBC-Todays Matt-- & she looked pretty ODD.First the way she was dressed was out of place.She dresses almost like Diane Keaton--Only Keaton is cute & adorable.Rice who seems 'saved' or 'born again' --comes off a little bit-- 'out there'! Am i the only one to note?
Bashir
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Christ The Lord
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Christ The Lord
I'm reading "Christ the Lord" right now,
and I have to admit that it's not bad at all. Rice knows how to move the tale along, and she does well with the characterizations. This works as well,say, as HBO's miniseries "Rome", in that what seems like impressive amounts of research have been digested and are used to create a narrative ,not constructed like a big and bleak Frank Gehry building. This is risky territory to wander into, the attempt to bring something fresh to The Greatest Story Over Told, but Rice's repatriation with the Catholic Church seems to have fired her imagination, which is good for her art. What I dread , though, is that this Jesus project might become an interminable series as the vampire novels became, Christ the Long winded. For that reason I prefer Norman Mailer's compact "The Gospel According to the Son", a brief and elliptical telling of the same story from Christ's own author-imagined words. These are the spare musings you would expect from history's best known carpenter.
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Good for Anne Rice
I enjoyed her erotica over 25 years ago, but I have always found vampires silly and have therefore missed most of Rice's literary output. Now I am a mature Christian woman and she has written a well-received novel about Jesus-- how nice for me! My copy is reserved at the library.
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Once upon a time in Bethlehem...
I used to be a fan of the Anne Rice vampire novels, but lost interest as the series dragged on (and on, and on...). The first couple of them were great, but arguably "jumped the shark" after Queen of the Damned. I am one of many who lost patience with her overly-poetic and self indulgent prose. Consequently, I'm curious to see her take on the good ol' bible, especially if she has stripped down her style a bit and focuses more on her storytelling, which has always been her strong suit IMHO. (I suppose we should be grateful that her reconversion to Catholicism didn't inspire her to write Christ vs. the Undead novels.)
I wanted to note that for those who are interested in alternate versions of the "greatest story" I strongly recommend the Christopher Moore book Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Fundamentalist christians may not react well to the irreverant tone and story, but anyone else who is passably familiar with the New Testament and who can take their theology with a dose of humor will likely enjoy it. Moore's book is most definitely NOT a well-researched account of life in the biblical age, but it is a hoot to read.
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What if it flops?
If Anne Rice's Jesus novel fails to attract a multitude of readers (as she did with her corny vampire stories) how far into the series before she gives us an overwritten, florrid and mind-numbingly sumptuous description of Jesus and John "the Apostle He Loved" going at like dogs in heat? By this point Ms Rice is pretty much looked upon as a literary joke. She had to do some major scrambling to revive herself. There's a real whiff of P.T. Barnum about this. Its seems as genuine as...well the Christian right in general.
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Interview with Jesus
Without a doubt this novel will be the beginning of a lengthy parade of paper turds, which, not unlike the "Left Behind" series, will prove once again that most Americans are suckers.
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Chaostician is right
I just have to second Chaostician's recommendation of Christopher Moore's Lamb. How can you resist a book wherein Jesus learns kung fu? It's hilarious regardless of your religious beliefs. It might be funnier if you have some familiarity with Christianity, but Moore himself is not a Christian.
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It's NOT good - it's God-awful boring!
That Anne Rice has discovered the Catholic Church offers something else besides vampires, auto-de-feys, and black magic, leaps out from page one in this tired story of magical powers and 'gee whiz' earnest dialogue. It is so poorly written it is totally boring. Since they were not cited, I guess she didn�t bother to read any of John Dominick Crossan�s books. Her research into the life and times of Jesus could have gone a little further than reading up on the Catholic party line. It's just bad writing, obvious story line and worst of all, boring.
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A Couple of Thoughts from an Ex-Catholic American Ex-Pat in Britian
It strikes me as odd that the Religious Right does not take offence at authors speaking in the first person as the voice of Christ. One would think that there would be major objection to a woman putting words into the mouth of "the son of god", let alone a woman who formerly has written books about the homoerotic sexcapades of the undead. As someone who grew up in the Catholic tradition, (no surprise that I am now happily uninvolved in all matters religiously affiliated) I am absolutely shocked that the faithful collectively have not taken up the cause, rosaries in hand, of demanding the removal of this book from the shelves of Walmart. I wonder how many Hail Mary's one has to recite to be absolved of using the lord's name in a vein attempt to revive a wilting literary career?