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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DARING MASTERPIECE!!!,
By Michael Stephens (Ft.Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Man Who Died (Hardcover)
Anyone who has a passing interest or knowledge of the origins of Christian Myth will recognize those roots in this final masterpiece by D.H. Lawrence. It is amazing how prescient Lawrence was here. Remember, this was written some 20 years before the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels at Nag Hammadi. Although gnosticism was known of, and to some degree what some of the gnostics believed about Christ, it was rarely acknowledged beyond the study of heresy within the Catholic and Protestant seminaries. Laypeople knew almost nothing of the origins of Christianity. That most original Christians had very different ideas about their Savior, and that indeed many believed that He was a sexual creature (and some even a homosexual), was blasphemy of the highest degree. And that many also equated Christ and Mary with the myth of pagan Isis and Horas (which many today believe is the real precusor of Chritianity), would have been unthinkable even as late as the 1930s.But Lawrence was an autodidact when it came to religion, and like many autodidactics, had some very strange and original ideas about that and Christianity in particular. Essentially a mystical deist, he found much to despise in organized, modern Christianity. Like so many of his generation, he blamed it, correctly, as one of the main causes of the First World War and the ills of the modern world. He also had an abiding interest in pagan religions of all types (read his The Plumed Serpent), but especially Roman/Etruscan paganism. How much he knew of the Egyptian Isis-Horas/Mary-Jesus connection I have no idea, but it was probably intuitive: Isis was one of the most popular godesses of late-pagan Rome, which Lawrence was very familiar. Did he know that certain early Christians also worshipped Isis and, indeed, believed in a sexual union between the two? I can't say. But knowing of Lawrence's interest in "mystical" sexuality, mixed with his other interests, it was probably natural that he would combine these into one of the most daring novels of all time. While simple-minded, prejudice readers might find this work blasphemous, it is in fact one of the most original and exciting novels written about Christ. This has none of the nonsense of Kazantzakis'Last Temptation of Christ, which was essentially a reverent and wholly orthodox work (but which also has an element of original Christian philosophy -- and thus the unjust controversy). Lawrence dispenses with all that, and somehow discovered and revealed the pagan heart at the core of much Christian philosophy. In his tale of a Christ who "survives" the crucifixion, has a sexual relationship with a priestess of Isis, and then renounces aesthetism for the wordly pleasures of the flesh, Lawrence typically and bravely went for the jugular, while also retaining his elegant, inimitable style. What emerges is one of his most profound and poetic works, and not surprisingly, as he was to die a year later, also pretty much sums up his philosophies in one, neat little package. If you have the chance to read this small, but rich and powerful work, you will have discovered one of the true masterpieces of one of the greatest writers of all time.
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Allegory still relevant?,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Man Who Died (Paperback)
Lawrence's last novel describes a resuscitated Christ carrying his wounds and meeting old friends. He does not want them to touch him. He needs to move away from this life. He wanders onto the property of a priestess of Isis. She believes him to be Osiris and she is to heal his wounds and bear a child with him. This is how Christ leaves behind his body and blood. The erotic interplay between Christ and the priestess evokes in him a revelation that this is the mystery of life that the Father has not allowed him to experience. In Lawrence's day, the demythologizing of Christ and the erotic interplay underline incarnation. Today it seems a bit much. Forcing Christ into sexual liaisions betrays an emphasis on an erotic gnosticism apparent in contemporary "spiritual" movements. But at the time this novel was written, it may have had some relevance in challenging mystical applications of the Christ myth. The writing is beautiful.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Short Story,
By Mr. Rogers "Books Are Good For You" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Man Who Died (Dodo Press) (Paperback)
A lovely short story from one of my favorite writers. The language is beautiful. The story is an intriguing take on Jesus. Highly recommend.
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