Mary of Nazareth - a novel - by Marek Halter, 2008.
I didn’t actually read this one. I listened to it on CDs as I drove to and
from my parent’s house for a few days of vacation after Christmas. I picked it out from the library as something
to listen to – mostly as a concession to my wife. I thought it would be something she’d enjoy.
I was wrong. It bored her.
But I was interested. At least a little.
For me, it was a mixed bag. There were some things that I really liked about this novel by Marek Halter, but there were also several that I didn’t.
I was wrong. It bored her.
But I was interested. At least a little.
For me, it was a mixed bag. There were some things that I really liked about this novel by Marek Halter, but there were also several that I didn’t.
One thing I didn’t like – and this really has nothing to do
with the book itself: I did not care for the reader for the audio-book. The voices that she gave to many of the
characters reminded me too often of the kids on the old Superbook
cartoon. I nearly turned it off a number of times. But I persisted.
What I liked – really liked – about this book was the way
that Halter grounded the story in the political and economic desperation of the
time. It’s very easy to read and re-read
the stories of the bible and to become so familiar with them that we forget the
background. The people of Israel during
the time of Mary of Nazareth were, for the most part, poor. They were oppressed. They were hungry. They were tired. They were
desperate. They lived in fear – fear of
the Roman soldiers, fear of the mercenaries hired by the wicked king Herod.
Halter brings to life their anger and frustration and their
paranoia and distrust. The Jewish people
were divided into numerous groups – Pharisees, Sadducees, ascetic Essenes,
revolutionary Zealots – each with a dream and a plan to change the world. But
instead of coming together and uniting against their common foe, these groups
distrusted and even despised each other.
Halter also emphasizes in his novel the ‘am ha’aretz
– “the people of the land.” These were
poor, illiterate, unrefined peasants of Israel . The Pharisees despised them because they were
illiterate and thus unable to study and adhere to the torah. They were, as the poor are everywhere, cursed
and maligned.
And these are the people among whom Halter’s Mary
lives. She is one of them. This is a Mary who could sing of God turning away the rich and filling the hungry with good things.
I also like that Halter has allowed me to shift my thinking
by a little bit concerning Barabbas. In
the past I have been quite content to accept the picture of Barabbas as thief,
as a murder, as a violent revolutionary.
(And no doubt, he was those things.)
But I have allowed the contrast between Barabbas (whose full name according to some early Greek sources was Jesus Barabbas) to be that of polar opposites: Pilate offers to release either the very evil and murderous Barabbas (booo!) or the quite obviously innocent Jesus of Nazareth (hurray!). I have, in my mind, allowed it to be a contrast between the totally reprehensible and the totally wonderful, between pure evil and pure good.
And, I think, I missed the point.
If we understand Barabbas (Jesus Barabbas) to be a revolutionary leader – committed to setting the people ofIsrael
free from their foreign oppressors, as one who stole from the rich and powerful
to feed and free the poor and lowly – he almost becomes heroic. He is Robin Hood and George Wallace fighting
for “our freedom!” Why would the people at Pilate’s courtyard clamor for
Barabbas’ release? Because he was fighting for them.
But I have allowed the contrast between Barabbas (whose full name according to some early Greek sources was Jesus Barabbas) to be that of polar opposites: Pilate offers to release either the very evil and murderous Barabbas (booo!) or the quite obviously innocent Jesus of Nazareth (hurray!). I have, in my mind, allowed it to be a contrast between the totally reprehensible and the totally wonderful, between pure evil and pure good.
And, I think, I missed the point.
If we understand Barabbas (Jesus Barabbas) to be a revolutionary leader – committed to setting the people of
And thus the choice between Jesus Barabbas (Jesus Son of the
Father) – the bandit and Jesus Barabbas (Jesus Son of the Father) - the Messiah
isn’t a choice between pure evil and pure good, but rather a choice between
good and better. The difference between
them is the difference between man’s attempt to impose Righteousness on the
world by force (Might makes Right!) and God’s creation of Righteousness within
his people.
I have more respect and sympathy for Barabbas after this novel (though no more support or admiration for his banditry.)
I have more respect and sympathy for Barabbas after this novel (though no more support or admiration for his banditry.)
But wait… Barabbas?
In a novel about Mary?
Yep. Barabbas. This is something that I didn’t like so much about the novel.
It is, quite obviously, a novel. A fictionalization. It is a romance in the classical definition of the word. It is a story of adventure and passion (though not much “romantic love” though there does seem to be some romance between Mary and Barabbas). Halter’s novel puts Mary of Nazareth at the center of intrigues and adventures and tales of daring do. In this novel she meets nearly everyone from the New Testament before her son is even conceived.
Yep. Barabbas. This is something that I didn’t like so much about the novel.
It is, quite obviously, a novel. A fictionalization. It is a romance in the classical definition of the word. It is a story of adventure and passion (though not much “romantic love” though there does seem to be some romance between Mary and Barabbas). Halter’s novel puts Mary of Nazareth at the center of intrigues and adventures and tales of daring do. In this novel she meets nearly everyone from the New Testament before her son is even conceived.
It’s forgivable, I suppose. It is a novel, and novelists are free to craft a story however they please – but I found it increasingly implausible that Mary could be at the center of so much. She’s on one hand joining Barabbas in a midnight raid on a Roman fort, and then studying the Greek language and philosophy with Mary Magdalene. Then she’s with the Essenes studying medicine with Joseph of Arimathea.
It seemed to me that the Mary of this story would hardly
need her miraculous son. In fact, the whole novel seemed to supplant the son
with his mother – even the title Mary of Nazareth seems to put Mary into
a messianic role. That she conceives the
infant messiah by a divine overshadowing doesn’t come as a shock or surprise to
her. She asked for it.
She isn’t quite the Mary, Queen of Heaven as in some of the
more extreme Roman Catholic teachings, but neither is she the humble handmaiden
of God.
And this is where I thought my book ended…
Halter brings his story of Mary of Nazareth to a conclusion
with her arrival with Joseph in Bethlehem
for the census. But that isn’t the end
of the book. As a sort of epilogue he has
tagged on a contemporary account of his return to Warsaw , Poland
–the city of his birth – and how he was given a copy of an ancient document
which is, purportedly, a Gospel of Mary.
This gospel then continues the story (switching to a 1st
person voice for the first time in the book) as Mary tells of the ministry of
her son… but still it seems more about the mother than the son.
It was a strange break in the narrative. I’m not sure why Halter did this. Perhaps he worried that the book was getting
too long and wanted a way to short cut to the end. This was the weakest part of the book and I
really didn’t like it. It felt like a
cheat.
Especially as it denies the central point of the faith based on Mary's son- his resurrection. Mary is, in this novel, part of a plot to fake Jesus' death on the cross and then to secret away his body from the tomb.
Especially as it denies the central point of the faith based on Mary's son- his resurrection. Mary is, in this novel, part of a plot to fake Jesus' death on the cross and then to secret away his body from the tomb.
Overall I wasn’t terribly impressed by the book. It wasn’t terrible, and it did have some fine
parts. I’m grateful that I’ve read (listened to) it. I’m glad to have had the chance to re-think
some things. But it wasn’t a great
book. And not one I’m likely to
recommend.
Mary of Nazareth
by Marek Halter, 2008
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