*The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ -Nikos Kazantzakis
This book recalls to me a word that I once loved and have since semantically abandoned. Deed. The difference between deed, endeavor, and aesthetics. The endeavor of Kazantzakis is, exemplified by his bio and this opus, large. Though I’ve never seen a picture of the author, I imagine him looking very much like his artistic Judas, gargantuan, resolute, red-bearded (at least in essence), unwavering, fat-fingered, muscle-faithed, but still with a sensitivity-- a big man who can cry. The deed, then, of this man is the novel. Deed, however, not as a stamp, but as a vector. This vectordeed then is beautiful and human. The aesthetic, though I am addressing a translation, is where the opus stumbles. In theory The Last Temptation is beautiful. Christ and the Gospels supercede theory.
The Last Temptation begins before Jesus came out of the closet. He was a young carpenter/crossmaker, still living with his parent, plagued by dreams of angels and allusions of the greatest grandeur. He had memories of childhood love for Magdalene and reluctantly, very reluctantly, heeded his own coming of age. Gathering up the sons of Zebedee and tethering ardent-hearted Judas to a life of love was the adventure. For a few-hundred pages meandering through the Gospels. Ugly, half-shunned ex-publican Matthew was the most interesting character, staying up nights to scribble his prosody, all the other disciples scorning the writer. Not until we find nailed to the cross and hailing God, “Eloi, Eloi…” are we swooped into the aesthetic of Kazantzakis. The alternative end of Jesus, if he were to submit to his powers and descend from the cross, robust and vital, to couple with Magdalene and then live a life as a father, husband, a consummate man. Hunchbacked old Paul is the new thorn in his side, proclaiming, “I don’t need you anymore, Jesus,” the idea of crucifixion and rising again and ascension is enough for Paul to construct a church and a religion. But then staple-hearted Judas maunders by Jesus’ door and reminds him of the “sacrifice of the betrayal” and, soon enough, we are transported back to the moment of the cross, “… Lama Sabachtani!” the scream is complete, “It is finished.”
Three quotes from Magdalene:
“If you’re not hanging on to your mother’s apron strings, you’re hanging onto mine, or God’s.”
and my favorite: “It’s coming down in buckets, Jesus.”
“If you are a holy saint and a woman requests a kiss of you, descend from your sanctity in order to give it to her. Otherwise you cannot be saved.”
And then another gem:
“First came the wings and then the angel.”
This book recalls to me a word that I once loved and have since semantically abandoned. Deed. The difference between deed, endeavor, and aesthetics. The endeavor of Kazantzakis is, exemplified by his bio and this opus, large. Though I’ve never seen a picture of the author, I imagine him looking very much like his artistic Judas, gargantuan, resolute, red-bearded (at least in essence), unwavering, fat-fingered, muscle-faithed, but still with a sensitivity-- a big man who can cry. The deed, then, of this man is the novel. Deed, however, not as a stamp, but as a vector. This vectordeed then is beautiful and human. The aesthetic, though I am addressing a translation, is where the opus stumbles. In theory The Last Temptation is beautiful. Christ and the Gospels supercede theory.
The Last Temptation begins before Jesus came out of the closet. He was a young carpenter/crossmaker, still living with his parent, plagued by dreams of angels and allusions of the greatest grandeur. He had memories of childhood love for Magdalene and reluctantly, very reluctantly, heeded his own coming of age. Gathering up the sons of Zebedee and tethering ardent-hearted Judas to a life of love was the adventure. For a few-hundred pages meandering through the Gospels. Ugly, half-shunned ex-publican Matthew was the most interesting character, staying up nights to scribble his prosody, all the other disciples scorning the writer. Not until we find nailed to the cross and hailing God, “Eloi, Eloi…” are we swooped into the aesthetic of Kazantzakis. The alternative end of Jesus, if he were to submit to his powers and descend from the cross, robust and vital, to couple with Magdalene and then live a life as a father, husband, a consummate man. Hunchbacked old Paul is the new thorn in his side, proclaiming, “I don’t need you anymore, Jesus,” the idea of crucifixion and rising again and ascension is enough for Paul to construct a church and a religion. But then staple-hearted Judas maunders by Jesus’ door and reminds him of the “sacrifice of the betrayal” and, soon enough, we are transported back to the moment of the cross, “… Lama Sabachtani!” the scream is complete, “It is finished.”
Three quotes from Magdalene:
“If you’re not hanging on to your mother’s apron strings, you’re hanging onto mine, or God’s.”
and my favorite: “It’s coming down in buckets, Jesus.”
“If you are a holy saint and a woman requests a kiss of you, descend from your sanctity in order to give it to her. Otherwise you cannot be saved.”
And then another gem:
“First came the wings and then the angel.”
posted by JohnWashington at 2:21 PM
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