Customer Reviews

Fire Gospel (Myths S.)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Featuring a splendidly observed chapter, "Judges," which shows an eager if rather callow, previously unknown, scholar on his book tour checking his Amazon rating, mulling over his reviews, Faber as a bestselling author (the deservedly successful "The Crimson Petal & the White") knows his subject. He revamps the myth of Prometheus for "The Myths" series from Canongate; this story of the hapless mortal who steals fire from the gods enriches the manic, wry, and entertaining story comprising this brief, fast-paced, witty novel, readable in a sitting or two.

Theo finds nine scrolls written by Malchus, Caiaphas' spy who had his ear severed by an angry Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. Malchus watches a less than edifying crucifixion of Jesus and renders an alternative account of the Deposition (removal of the body of Christ) which challenges the gospel accounts of any bodily Resurrection. He converts to follow Jesus after an ironic, yet movingly told, inversion of baptism.

Malchus writes his report in the language Jesus and his disciples spoke, Aramaic. The scrolls are dated circa AD 40, long before any Gospel. They predate Paul's letters. They relate the last hours of Jesus in the vernacular of Roman Palestine, therefore "the oldest surviving piece of Christian literature," from a witness on Calvary.

Naturally, when Theo, a flabby youngish Toronto-based academic, spirits these documents back from their hiding place-- revealed after the museum in Mosul he visited was bombed-- he begins to study them. Well-preserved, they represent a dramatic statement. Not for their polished prose, but for their fiery power to undermine what the churches and preachers control. Understandably, in the wake of "The Da Vinci Code," he's excited by their potentially lucrative contents.

He's also bored. Their literary quality lacking, their narrator a tiresome nebbish, they're still a truly eyewitness telling of the good news that, fifty years prior to Matthew or John, appears (according to expert Theo) verifiable. The early portions prove as dull as most real-life apocryphal texts. However, I must admit the section in the chapter "Acts" overcame tedium and ends movingly. A clever salesman of his own text, Faber lets the story Malchus tells unfold gradually as his narrative of Theo's impetuous promotion of this "oldest Christian gospel" continues.

It's a credit to Faber that he manages to imitate both the awkward quality of Dead Sea Scrolls-types of scriptures, and the sporadically poetic verses of Gnostics. While parts of the storyline of Theo's promotional forays veered into welcome if tangential satire of the book world, the main structure elaborates intriguingly upon Prometheus, whom Theo will come to recall as his adventure escalates. (I recommend Wilton Barnhardt's "Gospel," by the way, as another novel on this general theme.)

Ultimately, as with fire, the power of what's marketed as "The Fifth Gospel" lies more in how Malchus' handwritten documents are interpreted, rather than their inherent value. Of course, this could be said of any religious writings.

But, the set of manuscripts maxes out at thirty pages with ample margins and large font. Theo has to expand these complaints and anecdotes of Malchus (Faber's little novel earns 213 generously formatted pages but Amazon lists it at a meager 184!) with his own tale of how he came to find them in Iraq and how he got them home.

Like the text that Theo Griepenkerl finds literally dropped at his feet, this adaptation of an ancient story that holds appeal thousands of years later, despite translation and shifts in faith, has found its critics for some padding of a slight plot. I do think a few pages could have been sharpened; the plot for a significant stretch does follow not very surprising directions after its red-hot first half. And, I don't know what to make of Jennifer anymore than Theo apparently did.

Yet, Faber wraps it up in the last few pages with aplomb; Faber shows again how his skewed perspective aligns with his graceful humanity and his vision of meaning. Advance reviewers appear to be let down by the second half. I was not, for he makes a comeback in the very last section, as he has before. A longtime admirer, I'm as delighted by Faber as I have been with his fiction. You can find his shorter stories packaged as "Vanilla Bright Like Eminem."

(That anthology was tellingly retitled for the American market from "The Fahrenheit Twins;" also find novellas collected as "The Courage Consort" a.k.a. in Britain as "The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps"-- I reviewed both books on Amazon US. I also enjoyed his daring novel "Under the Skin" along with that triple-decker "Crimson Petal"-- my wife loved the latter's CD-audio version. By the way: why isn't "The Apple," further "Crimson" stories, in print outside of Britain? Faber earns his right to satirize the fickle book business here.)

Faber's prose shines. A few early examples? As he's kicked out of their flat, telling his suddenly ex-girlfriend about his escape from death in Iraq: "Meredith was unimpressed by his little display of sublimated joy in the dismemberment of a female." (13) Soon after: "The cold bed was waiting for him, there was half a pound of salami-encrusted, Pepsi-marinated mozzarella lodged in his stomach, and Meredith probably had her legs wrapped around the neck of the wildlife photographer by now." (38-39) To a publisher: "'My book isn't about teaching dogs geometry,' Theo reminded him." (48: this passage makes bemused sense in context!)

And, speaking of misspellers, hacks, ill-informed or pedantic audiences, Faber's chapter dramatizing Amazon's rating and reviewing system from an author's perspective deserves applause. (I recall one fictional predecessor applying a plot-point through this review process, a brief episode in Jonathan Raban's novel "Surveillance," also reviewed by me on Amazon!) Only one of the reviewers quoted takes time to thoughtfully critique Theo's work in a balanced, scholarly, and complete manner. Yet, the odds are stacked. "Twenty-three of fifty-nine people apparently found Frank Felperin's review 'helpful', which, given the trouble Frank had gone to, seemed a tad ungenerous." (85). I know that feeling!

Regarding the debased ravings-- and Faber glories bitterly in their typos, rants, and boilerplate-- that get posted on this very medium: "He wished there was a more dignified, alternative version of Amazon that well-educated people could access, an Amazon where such trash was automatically filtered out. He felt like a classical conductor forced to share a stage with a bunch of simpering pop babes." (79) (I add that many classical CD's feature cover shots of only the most luscious divas or prodigies, if female at least; savvy marketing works to hawk higher culture as well as middlebrow wares.)

Back to Theo's dilemmas after he captures the divine spark: are those goods stolen if the museum had no idea they had been hidden-- in the statue that falls apart in the bombing as Theo cowers inside a museum chamber? Are they Iraqi patrimony? How will true believers react to this obscure atheist on talk shows hawking his wares? Can he assert his claim to them vs. those on the Net ready to pounce on the "fire gospel" he translates, as public domain, once the book-- complete with silver-foil embossed title and cut-away double cover-- draws the attention Theo craves along with the profits and luxuries? Will he be able to handle the leap from linguist to sybarite?

I will not reveal anything beyond the exact mid-portion of the plot. Enjoy this fable yourself, especially as an Amazon scanner of reviews. Yet, one hint: at the apex of his powers, a lissome publicist warns Theo, at number one on the New York Times list. "'Go easy on the hubris, lover,' she cooed." (105)

(P.S. Christian Griepenkerl [1838-1912] painted "The Theft of Fire.")

First Sentence: The museum curator swung open another antique door and, as if on cue, a lion's head fell off its body.

Theo Griepenkerl, an expert in Aramaic, is visiting a war-looted museum in Iraq, when a bomb explodes leaving him alone in the museum. While looking for safety, he passes a newly damaged artifact and finds it housed nine papyrus scrolls.
These two thousand year old scrolls were written by Malchus, and eyewitness to Jesus' betrayal by Judas and the crucifixion. Theo translates the scrolls and turns them into a book, thinking only of the money he'll receive but not the reaction to the text.

This book is one of a collection of novelettes written by various authors each loosely based on a myth; in this case being Prometheus. The humor is wonderful and did, at times, make me laugh out loud. There is a chapter where Theo is reading the Amazon reviews of his books, which were very representational of real reviews; everything from the sublime to the absurd.

There is little character development. The story jumps from one scene to the next with little cohesion, introducing but never developing characters. The premise was interesting but it could have been so much more than it was. The group most outraged at the contents of the book, which contradicts the existing gospels, is not the one I've have expected or that really made sense to me.

It is a quick read and interesting, but rather pointless except as an exercise in creating a story loosely based upon a myth.

Michel Faber ("Under the Skin," "The Crimson Petal and the White") presents us this time with a slender satire that makes fun of book publishing, religion, and the modern mass media.

The first half is wicked, but it loses focus toward the end, and the conclusion is weak. It's supposed to be based on the Prometheus legend--and, yeah, his hero Theo Griepenkerl, steals the fire(gospel) from hades (Iraq), and is eventually bound; but it's a very tenuous connection indeed.

Maybe for Amazonians, the best part is the satire of Amazon book reviewers, many of whom are way better than Mr. Faber would have it.

"The Fire Gospel" is a tour de force that succeeds on more than one level. The volume is part of Canongate's series of short novels with mythological themes by established writers. For his part, Michael Faber manages to satirize contemporary culture and academics through an adventure based on early Christian history and turn it into a rereading of the Prometheus myth.

While in war-torn Iraq seeking artifacts for a Toronto institute, bored academic Theo Griepenkril survives a suicide bomber attack on the museum he is visiting. He escapes with an accidental find of Aramaic scrolls that have spilled from a statue destroyed in the attack. His discovery is of a fifth unknown gospel by Malchus, a kvetching eye witness to the crucifixion, that puts a spin on the Biblical version. His goal is purely cynical, to produce a highly profitable translation that will enrich his reputation, not to mention his pockets. The wooing of publishers and ultimately disappointing negotiations make for great satire surpassed only by what happens next: the publicity tour and the dead-on hilarious rendering of Amazon.com reviews (c'mon, we all need a sense of humor about ourselves). Reminiscent of the reception of "The Da Vinci Code," Theo's book attracts a passionate religious response, one that inspires a critic to call it "The Fire Gospel."

Brush up on the Prometheus story to guess what happens next, or just read this book (a night's entertainment, perhaps two) for a refresher of the consequences of stealing something big and taking it public. This book is slight, and Theo not the most sympathetic man on earth, but this is too well done to quibble.

This is a daring novel that imagines what it would be like if a new Gospel is discovered in this day and age. What kind of impact would it have on Christianity, the other religious beliefs, especially when it throws into doubt the apostles' accounts about what actually happened at Jesus's crucifixion on Golgotha, and ultimately the Resurrection.

The narrative traces how the lost scrolls by an undocumented disciple, Malchus, (formerly Capahaias' spy involved in Judas's betrayal of Jesus) is discovered by accident in a looted Iraqi museum by a Canadian academic, Theo Griepenkerl, who's something of an Aramaic scholar. What Theo eventually does with the scrolls would lead to what Faber hopes to convey as catastrophic events both for Theo, as well as the larger world. However, the effect I got from this was a little subdued.

Following rabid sales of 'The Fifth Gospel', Theo embarks on a book tour across the American cities and enjoys the glamour and adulation, which is soon undercut by the knowledge that his name is as popular as it is infamous, especially when his life is threatened.

Faber tries to weave in some plausible motivation for Theo's translating the scrolls and unleashing them on the world with these lines, a little late, I thought, in the novel:

"...he had been forced under relentless probing to uncover the illicit idealism hidden inside him: he wanted to help the human race evolve...to give them the means to break this addiction to religion, to stop worshipping the dead and start solving the problems of the living"

However, they ring hollow for this reader because there was no character build-up of Theo in the novel to lead the reader to this lofty image.

Faber is adept at name-dropping pop-culture references, and they are every bit as illuminating and entertaining as cult favourites like Chuck Palahniuk and Douglas Coupland. The customer reviews Theo finds on Amazon.com are humorous in the way they come across as authentic, ranging from the deeply effusive contributions from readers who have yet to read the book, to the scholarly dissertations on the text.

Structurally, Faber starts off titling the chapters in order of the Bible; Genesis and Exodus, then he follows it up with Malchus, and then scrambling the order with Numbers and Judges, but the biblical titles become sporadic, disappears, and reappears later. One suspects Faber had a good idea but he couldn't get it going, and ended up with what appeared to be a half-hearted attempt at creating some structure, which greatly lessened the intended impact.

I would like to think that Faber had been fulfilling a contractual obligation to 'The Myths" series published by Canongate to deliver this stopgap novel. This is nowhere near his other brilliant works like 'The Crimson Petal and the White', 'Under the Skin' and the excellent short story collection 'The Fahrenheit Twins'. However, what remains intact is Faber's delicious prose, and I look forward to a more fulfilling work next time.

This is a short novel said to be based upon the myth of Prometheus -- the Greek god who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the mortals. Faber's book has the main character, Theo Griepenkerl, stealing nine papyrus scrolls that were secreted inside a wall mounted bas-relief and hidden for two thousand years from a war-torn museum in Iraq, writing a translation of them into a bestselling book, and the resultant consequences of his act of perfidy.

At times satirical and always sardonic, THE FIRE GOSPEL is often humorous and very clever. Theo muses on this academic coup as he translates the scrolls from Aramaic into the novel that will be his undoing. He finally finds a publisher for his work and soon the book shoots to number one on the bestseller lists. Theo does that requisite madcap book tour and, during fits of anxiety, sneaks down into the lobby of his hotel to read the reviews posted on amazon (that part alone was the most hilarious in the book - I laughed out loud). The book Theo wrote is often called "incendiary" by reviewers as it sets Christianity on fire -- the papyrus scrolls come to be known as the Fifth Gospel. Written by a purported eyewitness to the crucifixion, a bystander and former scribe to Caiaphas, Malchus' revelations cause the faithful to examine and question closely held beliefs. Amidst demonstrations and book burnings, Theo is referred to as the "minion of Satan" and finds himself at the mercy of fanatics.

The book jumps around and seems disjointed and not fully developed. I did enjoy it, but not nearly as much as I loved The Crimson Petal and the White. It definitely will provide an evening of entertainment and most likely cause some rumination or reflection on the topics of faith, the Bible, and religion.

Essential reading for all Christians. Newly translated from the Aramaic scrolls discovered in Mosul in 2006 and dated to 38/40 A.D. The testament of Malchus (not a disciple but a Christian convert and eyewitness to the crucifixion) stands beside the Gospels in shedding light on the events in the final days of our Savior. The translation by Theo Griepenkerl and the intoduction and commentary by Michael Faber are exciting reading. The only reservation I have is the title, this is not a Gospel as we have come to use the term but the account of a man who by his own admission envied the silver coins delivered to Judas for the betrayal of our Lord.