Customer Reviews

The Hidden Passion - A Novel of the Gnostic Christ Based on the Nag Hammadi Texts

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I have to say that this book is a work of genius. Mr. Caruana did an unbelievable amount of research to pull this story off in such a magnificent manner. I am always suspect of authors who write on gnosticism, as it is often times merely a cover for their new age or feminist agenda. However, this book is none of that. It goes strait to the heart of gnosticism. Mr. Caruana weaves a truely beatiful tale of Christ and the disciples around the texts of the Nag Hamadi Library. The charachter development and use of visionary sequences displays a true depth of understanding by the author of the gnostic gospels and the communities from which they came.

This is a book which should be read at least twice by someone who is interested in the subject. Once before they read the Nag Hamadi Library as an itroduction to the material, and at least once after so the reader may appreciate the material even more.

I've checked out other novels supposedly based on Gnosticism. They never seem worth reading. Many writers about Gnosticism have idiosyncratic agendas, trying to project their own ideas back onto an ancient religion.

I took a chance on this book and have been more than satisfied. He is a good writer and I feel he gets at the heart of Gnosticism. I really appreciate that he quotes so thoroughly from Gnostic texts and brings those quotes alive with his storytelling.

I've found it very difficult to get into many of the Gnostic scriptures. Much of the meaning has been lost to the past, but there is a core message to Gnosticism that can still be understood even now. I've been reading this book while referencing the texts he quotes. It gives a deeper experience to both the novel and the Gnostic texts.

I think even someone who hadn't read any Gnostic texts could still enjoy this book. I suspect this might even be a good introduction to Gnosticism. It's certainly more accessible than many of the scholarly books on the subject. Anyways, it's an entertaining story... as long as you don't mind thinking deeply about heretical ideas.

This book isn't the easiest to review. In certain ways, it has some similarities to other novels even though the technique of stringing direct quotes together with narrative is inventive. He writes about this technique in his Preface. He was forced to use short quotes because of copyright laws. I was shocked that one isn't allowed to freely quote ancient scripture. What has become of the world!?! With appropriate irony, the author says: "If Matthew and Luke were to publish their gospels today, Mark would surely sue them for copyright violation..."

Anywho, let me mention the similar novels that come to my mind.

The obvious comparison is the novel The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. The similarity is that Jesus doesn't immediately realize the role he is to play. I like this way of portraying Jesus because it makes him more human and hence more real.

The other novel I'm reminded of is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. The relationship between Siddhartha and his friend Govinda is somewhat like that between Jesus and Judas in this novel. The relationship serves the purpose of showing divergent paths as alternative choices.