Yesterday, I picked up Anne Rice's book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and ended up skimming most of the text, hoping to find something to grab me. I found Rice's post-script more interesting to read than the novel. I was a fan of her writing throughout my teenage years, but after awhile, the hopelessness got to me. It's not that I needed books with happy endings so much as stories that celebrated a new world order.For a livelier imaginative account of Christ's "lost years," I enjoy Christopher Moore's novel, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. While Moore often lets his narrative escape beyond his control, there are quite a few moments in which I laughed so hard I practically cried. Of course, humor is subjective, and I am fond of material that is simultaneously respectful and irreverant. Some may argue that "respectful" is not a word they'd apply to Lamb, but then, I don't recommend the book to everyone I meet. This is not a proper book review a la Wordswordswords, but an informal book recommendation that doesn't want to ruin any of the jokes by repeating them out of context.
For the rest of the week, I'm going to take some time off to read other people's creative efforts without feeling the need to post my own. As far as blogging goes, I won't be inactive. Quite the contrary: I will take the time to read your archives, comment if I have anything to say, and probably end up inspired to write again.
Thank you, everyone who's taken the time to read Saints and Spinners. I do appreciate you.
6 comments:
I just recently read Lamb at your recommendation, Alkelda, and I also found it both respectful and irreverent in a good way. I had to hide it when my more literal-interpretation-necessary aunt was visiting, but I enjoyed it! Thanks for recommending it!
Irreverent? I'm so there! I also use to enjoy Anne Rice quite a bit but then found her writing to become a bit tedious and over-romanticized (if there is such a thing).
Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the shout out!
I've been considering dumping the whole book review thing for the sake of reading nothing but Shakespeare, but who knows...especially now that my book reviews have been deemed "proper."
Nonny--
My college English professor said that writing from the Gothic tradition (a la Mary Shelly, Lord Byron, et al.) was "Romanticism gone ripe." Rice's early writing reminds me of the scent of lilacs or hyacinths: it's great to catch whiffs of them when you're outside, but when you're cooped up in a dorm room, those flowers plants are overwhelming.
Lady Hearteater--
Let me know if you get into Christopher Moore and like his other books. I haven't read them, but that's been due more to my skittery attention span than anything else. May you recover from your pneumonia soon, by the way. I'm impressed that you're even up enough to write comments, though I can imagine that part of you (the part that isn't just miserable) is stir-crazy about now.
Lone Star Ma and Galetea--I'm so glad that LAMB is up your alley(s). Please let me know if you find other books of that ilk that you enjoy, too. The only other one I've really liked enough to buy has been Julius Lester's book, When the Beginning Began.
I'll have to check that out. A gentler, more kid-friendly sort of funny midrashim we've been enjoying with the First Day School kids can be found in a book called Does God Have A Big Toe? The author's name escapes me at present. It is also really meant to make you think, rather than entertain, but they are still funny.
Okay, I just went and read the reviews of that book you recommend and now I must-have-it. It sounds great! I see a trip to the bookstore in my new year...
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