Mary is just plain annoying, almost a parody of the Jewish mother found in books and movies. Nothing like the rugged, forthright and intentional man I find in the scriptures.
Peter is characterized as a lommox of a man, a big bumbling buffoon (sorry for the alliteration) - at least that is what I took from the book. Kudos for his take on John, the Beloved Disciple - beautifully done. I am not crazy about Wangerin’s characterizations of Christ, Peter, Mary (mother of Christ), Judas Iscariot or Mary Magdalene (called Maryam of Magdala in the book). Of course I got a little weepy when I imagined John, old and alone and almost blind, remembering his dead friends and trying to write a book about them but for some reason when Jesus said to Mary Magadelene "I am going to my father and your father, to my God and your God," I cried and cried and prayed and prayed for myself and my friends for one friend in particular.
When I woke up this morning I made breakfast and ate it and then sat down to finish this book and got surprisingly emotional. Last night I read about Jesus and Judas dying and didn't care very much and went to sleep.
In this book he just seems quiet and grumpy and frustrated with everyone. Maybe I've just made him into what I want him to be, but in the gospels Jesus seems to be full of jokes and strange stories, feeding and teasing and hugging and healing strangers and his friends, making a mockery of every empire and economy and priest and power structure. I don't need to like Paul, it's easy for me to not like Paul, and not liking him feels fun and righteous and rebellious and heretical. I loved Wangerin's novel about Paul, but here he does the same thing to Jesus that he did to Paul: makes him unlikeable. I downloaded this one night when I got lonely a few days before Christmas. Well, again, as usual but not on purpose, the first book I finished in the new year was about Jesus.
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