Intelligently imagined.
Alone among the 12 disciples, Jesus of Nazareth called Judas “friend,” but it was Judas who betrayed Christ.
Lee (Mortal, 2012, etc.) imagines herself into the heart of Judas Iscariot, rendering witness to the manifestation of God incarnate in first person. Judas bar Simon was born in a troubled Jerusalem that saw the Roman boot firmly on the neck of Israel. Viewing the lost apostle through a modern lens, Judas is revealed as a narcissist, neurotically guilt-ridden and intent on bearing the weight of every perceived wrong. This mindset is examplified in his family’s fleeing the holy city after rumors of Herod’s death sparked a bloody rebellion. There is an eclipse, and young Judas believes his violation of the Sabbath fast has sparked the world’s end. Judas also loves and envies his brilliant older brother, Joshua. But as Romans rage across Israel, Joshua disappears from their refuge in Sepphoris while their father is captured and crucified. Judas and his mother escape, surviving only because his mother sacrifices herself to prostitution. A half brother, Nathan, is born. Later, with the help of relatives, Judas becomes a scribe and a clerk. He's then recruited by the Sons of the Teacher, a rebel group. Soon, Judas becomes entranced by the frenzy wrought by John the Baptizer. It's then that Judas meets Jesus, glimpsing “within those sunken eyes mystery and pain to match my own.” Focusing through Judas, Lee writes movingly of Jesus’ mission: the healing of lepers and the lame; the raising of Lazarus; of Christ's utter disregard for Hebrew Law in the face of want and suffering. Relying on other disciples only as reference points, Lee dissects Judas’ evolution, “The Israel of my dreams was gone, replaced only by lepers who needed healing, the sick and the hungry.” Judas expects revolution. Jesus offers spiritual salvation. Judas’ love for Jesus compels him to bargain with the Pharisees Zadok and Caiaphas in an attempt to preserve Jesus’ life. The Son of Man is charged with mesith, leading Israel astray, and crucified.
Intelligently imagined.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4516-8376-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Howard Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it...
Harris, creator of grand, symphonic thrillers from Fatherland (1992) to An Officer and a Spy (2014), scores with a chamber piece of a novel set in the Vatican in the days after a fictional pope dies.
Fictional, yes, but the nameless pontiff has a lot in common with our own Francis: he’s famously humble, shunning the lavish Apostolic Palace for a small apartment, and he is committed to leading a church that engages with the world and its problems. In the aftermath of his sudden death, rumors circulate about the pope’s intention to fire certain cardinals. At the center of the action is Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose job it is to manage the conclave that will elect a new pope. He believes it is also his duty to uncover what the pope knew before he died because some of the cardinals in question are in the running to succeed him. “In the running” is an apt phrase because, as described by Harris, the papal conclave is the ultimate political backroom—albeit a room, the Sistine Chapel, covered with Michelangelo frescoes. Vying for the papal crown are an African cardinal whom many want to see as the first black pope, a press-savvy Canadian, an Italian arch-conservative (think Cardinal Scalia), and an Italian liberal who wants to continue the late pope’s campaign to modernize the church. The novel glories in the ancient rituals that constitute the election process while still grounding that process in the real world: the Sistine Chapel is fitted with jamming devices to thwart electronic eavesdropping, and the pressure to act quickly is increased because “rumours that the pope is dead are already trending on social media.”
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it is pure temptation.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-49344-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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