The Gospel of Judas

De: Simon Mawer

Narrado por: Graeme Malcolm

A priest experiencing a crisis of faith and the married woman to whom he is attracted. A scroll newly discovered near Jerusalem that, if authentic, could open Christianity to a complete reinterpretation. A tragic love affair unfolding in Fascist-dominated Rome during World War II.

These are the elements of a magnificent literary entertainment -- a novel that resonates with tales of love and betrayal as it deals profoundly with questions of faith and what it means to believe. It is at once a love story, a thriller, and a rich novel of ideas.

Less than promised

Fiction about archaelogical discoveries is fascinating, but you won't find a good example here. This book is very short of archaelogical detail and loaded with characters' trivial pursuits along a thin plot line. Pass on this one. There is less here than meets the eye.

Fragments work in this novel

For someone who doesn’t know much about the New Testament (such as myself), you will be better served by reading the book. However the fragmented style of the narrative - alternating between various pasts and present—perfectly fits the saga of the discovery of ancient parchment and the protagonist-priest’s crisis of faith and body. Mawer’s prose are richly imagistic to portray the life of the mind, sultry Italian climate, ruins and topography and the same of Israel’s Mediterranean vistas.

Promised much, delivered little

The first thought that I had when this book ended was that I had wasted my time. I read it a few weeks ago, and actually, other than the fact that I didn't care for it,I remember very little about it. If it had a plot it eluded me. I wanted the reader to get some serious insight to what kind of man Judas was, be we never get to delve into the "Gospel of Judas" at all; there is just this milling around of people, poor character development, and everything goes nowhere very slowly.

I once read a similar book; I wish I could remember it's name, which told a fascinating story about Judas, showing him as one of Christ's most passionate followers and not a traitor at all. Judas' idea of the Savior was a militant one, rather than the peaceful teacher of "love thy neighbor", and thought he was actually helping Christ achieve his goals by turning him in. It made me look at Judas the man in a different light.

Unfortunately, "The Gospel of Judas" does not give us any insight into the man himself. It is just a loosely woven tangle of characters who don't seem to be interested in much of anything.

Booring

After an hour+ of listening to this poorly written soap opera of a book, it is all that I can do to make myself listen to anymore of it.
If you have not bought it yet, don't bother.
A waste of memory on my ipod. I actually rate it 0.01 star.