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by Minerva Waters
Requiem, by Graham Joyce. Tor Books, October 1996.
After the death of his wife in a tragic freak accident, Tom quits
his teaching job to travel to Jerusalem in hopes that an old
friend can help him find a reason to keep living.
Upon his arrival, he finds that not only is the city of Jerusalem
haunted by ghosts, commercialism, and war, but Tom himself is
haunted by the strange, vaguely sinister spirit of a veiled woman
who sends him messages either in visions or during flashbacks. One
interesting aspect of the book is that it is never made clear who
the spirit is: Mary Magdelene or Tom's wife, who compares herself
to Mary Magdalene during one flashback. It is also never clear
which of Tom's visions are real and which are mere fantasy, adding
greatly to the plot.
While attempting to escape the shadows of his past wandering around
Jerusalem, he encounters a dying Jewish scholar who bequeaths to
Tom fragments of a Dead Sea Scroll. Tom's friend Sharon refers him
to a translator haunted by his own demons (a djinn, enhanced by
hashish), who discovers the Scroll to have been written by Mary
Magdalene.
The Scroll itself provides a fascinating alternative to the traditional
crucifixion story, explaining how Jesus was to have taken a potion of
snake poison that would simulate death and allow him to rise again
without actually dying once an antidote of aloes and myrrh was applied.
The death and ressurection of Lazurus was the trial run of the potion,
ensuring it would work as planned. However, the plan was sabotaged by
Saul (later St. Paul), who established his own following and edited
Jesus' teachings to suit his prejudices against woman. He marginalized
Mary Magdalene (the wife of Jesus) and took over the movement, to be
driven forth by a truce between Mary and Jesus' brother James. Saul
went forth to Ephesus, and the rest is history.
This is certainly an intriguing novel for those interested in exploring
an alternative version of the origins of Christianity.
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