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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In Simon Mawer's remarkably poised and poignant novel, the small moment is as significant as the large, and "the detail dictat[es] to the whole." Biblical scholar Father Leo Newman has spent a lifetime deciphering meaning from evanescent fragments of papyrus; he is much less accustomed to descrying the metamorphosis of a relationship writ large ("a mysterious thing, much too mysterious for a simple naming"). How unlikely, then, that he should fall in love with Madeleine Brewer, the vibrant but unbalanced wife of a bureaucrat. How unlikely, too, that he should be confronted with an ancient scroll whose details are radically incendiary rather than dustily abstruse: an apparent account of Jesus' life from Judas's point of view. But how marvelously likely that Mawer should take these elements and create a haunting narrative of doubt and faith, "the thin wash of immediacy" and memory, passion and the fragile remains of its absence. Madeleine and the Judas scroll thrust themselves, uninvited and unexpected, into Leo's quiet life in Rome, their very presence a counterpoint to his isolation and vulnerability. Asked by Madeleine to compromise a lifetime, asked by his colleagues to verify or deny the scroll's authenticity, Leo is a profoundly Prufrockian figure, "No Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be." Does he dare disturb the universe?
From Publishers Weekly
A crisis of faith is at the heart of this fascinating, thoughtful literary thriller revolving around the discovery of a manuscript written by the historical Judas. Father Leo Newman, close to middle age, is a scholar living in Rome, teaching English to make ends meet, when he is sent fragments of some first-century A.D. scrolls to decipher. The text seems to be the earliest version so far of the New Testament, the first eyewitness accounts of Jesus's life to be discovered. But Newman is distracted from his studies by his growing attachment to a married woman, Madeleine Brewer, and by mounting doubts about his vocation. A family tragedy in the distant past haunts him, too, and flashbacks to his mother's experiences in Rome during WWII alternate with the present-day narrative. Summoned suddenly to Jerusalem when a particularly exciting papyrus is unearthed, Newman finds himself confronted with what seems to be a text written by Judas, denying that Christ rose from the dead. It's only when this Gospel of Judas makes its first appearance, like a metaphor come alive, that the whole idea of what it means to be a Judas becomes the subject of the book. It's a hook that Mawer (Mendel's Dwarf, etc.) uses to stunning effect. What Newman, already shaken by the end of his affair with Madeline Brewer, does to that ancient manuscript is the ultimate betrayal in the novel, but as in so many modern interpretations of the crime of Judas, the betrayal is really the outward evidence of an affirmation of faith. Discerning readers will relish Mawer's excellent writing and subtle treatment of potentially over-the-top subject matter. National advertising; 5-city author tour.
See all Editorial Reviews
In Simon Mawer's remarkably poised and poignant novel, the small moment is as significant as the large, and "the detail dictat[es] to the whole." Biblical scholar Father Leo Newman has spent a lifetime deciphering meaning from evanescent fragments of papyrus; he is much less accustomed to descrying the metamorphosis of a relationship writ large ("a mysterious thing, much too mysterious for a simple naming"). How unlikely, then, that he should fall in love with Madeleine Brewer, the vibrant but unbalanced wife of a bureaucrat. How unlikely, too, that he should be confronted with an ancient scroll whose details are radically incendiary rather than dustily abstruse: an apparent account of Jesus' life from Judas's point of view. But how marvelously likely that Mawer should take these elements and create a haunting narrative of doubt and faith, "the thin wash of immediacy" and memory, passion and the fragile remains of its absence. Madeleine and the Judas scroll thrust themselves, uninvited and unexpected, into Leo's quiet life in Rome, their very presence a counterpoint to his isolation and vulnerability. Asked by Madeleine to compromise a lifetime, asked by his colleagues to verify or deny the scroll's authenticity, Leo is a profoundly Prufrockian figure, "No Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be." Does he dare disturb the universe?
Mawer skillfully interleaves three narratives: the story of Leo's German mother's life in Rome during World War II, a woman who was herself forced to choose between principle and passion; the unsettling story of Leo's relationship with Madeleine and the scroll; and a circumspect "present," in which Leo is still "a hermit in a cave, a hermit who was hoarding the few fragments of his faith lest they too be swept away by circumstance."
The novel represents a solemn quest, striving back toward half-forgotten origins in an attempt to bring order to a present and future spinning out of control. Its most poignant irony is that Leo is at once creator and destroyer--as he pieces together the story of the scroll, he is simultaneously unraveling his own faith, his own raison d'être:
A dun-colored fibrous fragment hung there behind the glass, a fragment of papyrus the color of biscuit, inscribed with the most perfect letters ever man devised, words wrought in the lean and ragged language of the eastern Mediterranean, the workaday language of the streets, the meaning half apprehended, half grasped, half heard through the noise of all that lies between us and them, the shouting, roaring centuries of darkness and enlightenment. How was it possible to communicate to her the pure, organic thrill?The thrill, thanks to Mawer, is ours. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
A crisis of faith is at the heart of this fascinating, thoughtful literary thriller revolving around the discovery of a manuscript written by the historical Judas. Father Leo Newman, close to middle age, is a scholar living in Rome, teaching English to make ends meet, when he is sent fragments of some first-century A.D. scrolls to decipher. The text seems to be the earliest version so far of the New Testament, the first eyewitness accounts of Jesus's life to be discovered. But Newman is distracted from his studies by his growing attachment to a married woman, Madeleine Brewer, and by mounting doubts about his vocation. A family tragedy in the distant past haunts him, too, and flashbacks to his mother's experiences in Rome during WWII alternate with the present-day narrative. Summoned suddenly to Jerusalem when a particularly exciting papyrus is unearthed, Newman finds himself confronted with what seems to be a text written by Judas, denying that Christ rose from the dead. It's only when this Gospel of Judas makes its first appearance, like a metaphor come alive, that the whole idea of what it means to be a Judas becomes the subject of the book. It's a hook that Mawer (Mendel's Dwarf, etc.) uses to stunning effect. What Newman, already shaken by the end of his affair with Madeline Brewer, does to that ancient manuscript is the ultimate betrayal in the novel, but as in so many modern interpretations of the crime of Judas, the betrayal is really the outward evidence of an affirmation of faith. Discerning readers will relish Mawer's excellent writing and subtle treatment of potentially over-the-top subject matter. National advertising; 5-city author tour.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
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