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Summary: An unusual heroine in Mary Magdalene
Review: I first saw "Mary, Called Magdalene" on the shelves of a local bookstore and was immediately intrigued. I was not familiar with Margaret George's previous biographies, but I was immediately impressed with her ease of storytelling and the depth of her research. Although not groundbreaking, "Mary, Called Magdalene" is an enjoyable read. George sticks to safe ground, not really radically reinventing much of the familiar story of Jesus and his disciples, but some episodes raise red flags: Mary travels with and sleeps next to men (including Jesus), something that no respectable Jewish woman of her time would have done. Also, during her possession, Mary conceives by a pagan goddess after turning her back on God, then wavering between the pull of the pagan goddess and God, yet later she becomes a pillar of the Church? The characters and dialogue are memorable and generally well developed, and George manages to make familiar material (the Gospels and the story of Mary Magdalene) fresh and raise some interesting questions.
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Summary: Another excellent read!
Review: I read an article in Time Magazine recently on suppositions that the Catholic Church had suppressed other "gospels" written by Jesus' disciples. One of them claimed to be "Gospel of Mary" ~~ and since I have read "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, I then became more intrigued with the one follower of Jesus, Mary. This book satisfies my curiousity without imposing on my religious beliefs. There isn't much known about Mary, faithful follower of Jesus and George did a wonderful job drawing my imagination to life in the early years of Jesus' ministry. The beginning of the book starts with Mary at the age of 7 and finding an idol. Over the years, she becomes possessed by demons and when it seemed to be the bleakest, Jesus drove the demons out from her. Then Mary became one of his closest followers. This novel is of her journey and doubts, joys and trimuphs as a woman in extraordinary times. She is an ordinary woman caught up in the world's greatest mystery unrivaled by all time ~~ and blessed as well. It is written beautifully and with intricate details I like to see in my historical fiction novels. It draws more of an interest in life then and makes me realize how much have changed since then as well as what has not been changed. It is a thought-provoking novel as well. It's a great addition for anyone interested in reading about strong women of different times. 1-27-04
Rating: 
Summary: 300 pages too long
Review: I started this book because it was selected for our book club and that is why I finished it. The most exciting part was when Jesus went to Jeruselum. The rest was fairly tedious. Our group really had a problem with the Mary Mother of Jesus character. She was visited by an angel before Jesus' birth, people worshiped her baby after his birth - yet she is surprised and doesn't initially believe in Jesus' mission! This book could have told the same story and have been a much more interesting read in 300 pages instead of 600.
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Summary: Disappointing Showing for An Excellent Author
Review: Having read Ms. George's three previous historical novels, I waited eagerly for the release of her fourth effort. Being a huge historical novel fan, especially of people and events occuring in ancient times, I was extremely excited at the prospect of Ms. George's take on Mary of Magdala. However, I was also extremely disappointed once I began reading this new novel. In the past, I had found Ms. George to be very accurate in her research and her special talent for being able to recreate historical times entralled me. Her writing style in all three of her previous novels pulled me in and held me until I finally finished her epic length books. In Mary Called Magdalene Ms. George writes in a style much more suited to "young adults" or persons of an age 12-15. Her dialog is stilted and unrealistic. She fails miserably to recreate the mood or setting of an Israel in Roman times. The characters, especially her main characters of Mary of Magdala and Jesus himself were one dimensional at best and the pivotal characters in any story about the life of Jesus Christ might as well have been deleted. Without a bible at hand, I had a hard time keeping straight which disciple was which! Their characters were all paper doll cut outs of each other as was their dialog. I have read numerous fictional "biographies" and this was by far the worst. To have come from such an accomplished author as Margaret George who accomplished great historical writing in the Memoirs of Cleopatria" it was doubly disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like it...
Review: ...but it breaks the cardinal rule of fiction writing: "Show, don't tell." Being told that Mary was possessed by demons and heard terrifying voices saying obscene and horrible things does not exactly make my heart tremble in terror. (Can you imagine how dull The Excorcist would have been if Blatty had written, "And then the demon said terrible things and made Regan perform disgusting acts"? Come on!) It's dull and slow and bloated, the descriptions go on and on, the dialogue is just silly, and I'm not impressed with the research this time: ripping off the same demon (BY NAME--Pazuzu) from The Exorcist is just plain cheating. As if there's only one evil spirit in ancient middle eastern religion. It seems to me that the whole point of writing a novel about Mary/Jesus/the disciples would be to put some kind of spin on it, provide an interpretation that differs somewhat from the mainstream. Well, guess what: the gospels are more exciting, and at least there you have a fighting chance of telling the characters apart. Very few of them are consistent or interesting. First the Virgin Mary doesn't believe in Jesus's mission, and then around page 500 she's "always known" what his calling was... Mary Magdalene misses her daughter terribly, for about 5 pages, and then we hear very little of her emotional anguish after that. Et cetera. It was fortunate for George's sales that this book came along not long after The DaVinci Code. Otherwise I think there would be even more of them left on the shelves. Read anything else by George, but not this one.
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Summary: A VERY CREDIBLE STORY
Review: I absolutely loved this book. It started quite slowly but I was quickly swept up in the storyline of Mary's possession by demons and her introduction to the young Jesus. The author's depiction of Jewish life during that time is very believable and exhaustively researched. It is particularly fascinating to think of Mary Magdalen as carrying on Jesus' teachings after the crucifixion. I highly recommend this story and especially to those who loved The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.
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Summary: I Loved it
Review: Excellent book..........
The imagination of a Mary story, based on facts of the history of that era.........mixed in with Bible stories.
Great book.......I loved it.
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Summary: Disappointing aspects
Review: While I have great respect for the talent of this author and loved her portrayals of Henry VIII and Cleopatra, I was disappointed in this novel. Mary Magdalene's life has already received enough misunderstanding (having been portrayed as a harlot by others, etc.) and there comes a point where you think it is better to just let her be. Any attempt at historical fiction on this topic has to be 90% conjecture, but given that, this work has a tone of frustration about the role or women in history and an agenda to set it right. Many of us feel distress over the past and current discrimination against women, but an essay may have fulfilled the purpose of expressing these views, rather than historical fiction with its inherent expectations for accuracy. This book is useful to tell of life in Roman Palestine among the Jews and gives a vivid impression of demonic possession. What is disturbing is the notion that Mary Magdalene would have preached & would have been made a disciple. It is impossible to imagine that a woman in that place and time period would have been given such a role, and surely Margaret George must know that. Even if she had tried to preach her audience would have shunned a woman. The message was radical enough to hear from Jesus--a man with authority. It was also disappointing to hear Jesus tell Mary Magdalene that he felt a romantic attraction to her. It is time to put this absurd myth to rest--not revive it yet again. Jesus would not have chosen one woman to love--how would he choose? This idea also reflects a common misunderstanding of the celibate life--a life that Jesus was undoubtedly called to & would not have strayed from, even in words. The prayerful, God-centered, celibate soul (as countless saints & devout monks & nuns have described) feels a love for God that mere love for a human being cannot compete with. Therefore, romantic love falls from first place in their hearts. If mere human beings with this call feel loyal to it, Jesus must have as well. If his intention was to marry, he would have married. Are we saying that Jesus was confused about his purpose? It is believable to say that Mary Magdalene was a devout and holy woman who supported Jesus to the best of her ability as a woman in that time--by telling others about him--but not as a public figure. It was her faith that made her a model, her ability to believe in his message to the end, to his death, when many of the disciples fell into doubt. Yet, in this novel she is shown as confused on her way to the cross. It is highly unlikely that Mary Magdalene, and especially her, would have tried to stop Jesus from completing his mission--one that he clearly know involved his public death. It was vital to him to do this, and she would have known and trusted that. This is what makes her a model of faith--continuing to trust even if she did not understand the full meaning behind the crucifixion at this point. The disciple who fell into doubt was not at the cross, but she was. If the author wanted to show a strong Christian woman & press home her agenda of giving women a role in the church, I wish she had chosen a figure like Hildegard of Bingen or Catherine of Sienna. More is known about these women and there would not have been the danger of tarnishing their memory with a lot of very hard to swallow conjecture.
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Summary: Unsure...
Review: I bought this book hoping that it would be a good read for Lent. Being Catholic, I hoped it would stay true to the gospels while offering other insights into the life of Mary. It was a nice story on the whole. I mean, I wasn't bored to tears or anything. I just couldn't swallow some of the parts that contradicted what I was brought up to believe, mainly: that Jesus had siblings (I personally believe that he was an only child), 2) that Jesus and Mary Magdalene met when they were children, 3) Mary (Jesus' mother) was initially against Jesus' ministry, and 4) Mary was never a prostitute. I know Margaret was fusing the written tradition with historical evidence, and I respect that, but I'm still a little biased against those parts of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Slow 1st chapter, but kicks in after that.
Review: I can't explain, but at first, I was thinking, I don't really like this book. That was only during the first chapter. I really enjoyed the "closeup" look at Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and many others from the Bible from the point of view of the author. She pictures Jesus very much like I have always thought He would be if I met Him physically. I want to read more books by the same author.
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