Mary, Called Magdalene

Rating:
Summary: Dull, plodding...
Review: I learned a lot about dried fish, ritual washing and exocism. Sigh.

I have loved all of Margaret George's previous novels, my personal favorite is the Autobiography of Henry VIII. This book is so earnest. It wants the characters to be human, but refuses to take the risks. Instead of passion, the apostles are reduced to juvenille bickering. All the disciples are jealous whiners. How much time can be spent by Mary wondering if Jesus likes the other formerly possessed chick better than her?

Maybe I was expecting something more shocking, less pious...Maybe I was expecting something better.

I borrowed this one from the library. Glad I resisted the temptation to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing "Mary Magdalene Superstar"
Review: I was a big fan of Margaret George's other books, but they were about truly central figures in history like Henry the Eighth and Cleopatra. By choosing to write about the relatively obscure Mary of Magdala, Ms. George paints herself into a corner--she has to make her subject seem more important than it really is. So Mary, implausibly, becomes the center of every single important event, while -- most regrettably -- Our Lord Jesus Christ fades into the background as little more than a cheesy faith healer who changes Mary's life. This book is a sad disservice to the devout as well as to students of history.

Rating:
Summary: This god is too small
Review: I was excited to find this book featured by the door of an interesting bookstore in St. Simons, GA. The excitement faded fast. (Reading the book actually goes fast, too.) Initially I was struck by how easily the author sketches a life for the child Mary that feels so much like middle class children of today, minus some technology. The first of many red flags sprang up when the little ivory idol begins speaking - eventually it will "cause" Mary's pregnancy when God, as the book seems fond of pointing out, fails. I was surprised that seemingly conservative reviewers thought the identifying of Mary's demons as living, powerful gods worshipped throughout the ancient world could pass muster.
Jesus is introduced early - a slightly older boy who discusses lizards. I noticed that reviewers, professional and nonprofessional, spoke generously of the author's research; some even suggested that she followed the Bible carefully. I didn't think the research that astounding, nor did I think her weaving in and out of the Gospels particularly accurate - minimizing, even distorting, would be better descriptions of her treatment of Scripture. As for the customs of the age, she prefers something more like Hollywood in her insistent modernizing of Mary. She has Mary repeatedly traveling with men (often just Mary and one other man - even Jesus gets to do this, sleeping cozily in the field, albeit chastely, with Mary) something which no respectable Jewish man or woman of the time could condone.
Jesus comes across as an amiable, somewhat (only somewhat) mysterious man with a rather unclear sense of his mission, even its beginning point. Mary becomes insufferable in her role as equal apostle, wisest and most visionary.
I regret the purchase of this book and the time spent "giving it a chance." It doesn't deserve one. To do a little twisting myself of a famous work, the god portrayed here is too small.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story!
Review: We read this book in our book club and all loved it! I really felt like I got to know the personality of each of the players in this story. The detail about the world that Mary lived in, beginning when she was seven years old, helped me gain a new perspective on these times. This was my first Margaret George experience and it won't be my last.

Rating:
Summary: A total disappointment...
Review: When I first heard Margaret George had another novel coming out, I was excited. I had just read "The Memoirs of Cleopatra," an excellent novel full of vivid descriptions that seem to transport the reader to the world of Cleopatra. Unfortunately, I found "Mary, Called Magdalene" to be a total disappointment.

The writing is minimal and bland, and the descriptions fail to bring the setting and characters to life. The one-dimensional, undeveloped characters were not interesting, and I did not care about them in any way. The episodes of demonic posession, which were supposed to be a time of terror in Mary's life, were poorly written, and almost laughable.

I gave up after about 200 pages, not thinking I could stand to endure another 400 or so. I only hope George's next book is as good as "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" was, and that "Mary Called Magdalene" was only a fluke...

Rating:
Summary: Can you get by the religion?
Review: George takes a leap with this project and almost certainly opened herself up for criticism from both the believers and the non believers. As you might expect with any project such as this there is lots of room for an agenda by the author. I however found none or at least minimal. I found the book to be a delightful view of the time of Christ through the eyes of a woman. There is of course a huge amount of artistic license taken since we have such minimal information about Mary. If you can read the book objectively and not try to overlay it with your own "doctrine" I think you will find it well written and very enjoyable. It does cover much ground that most people already know from the story of Jesus, but for me it was a wonderful, personal view of the lifestyle that might have been experienced by a Jewish woman who lived in the time of Christ. As a bonus we got to see the story of Jesus and his apostles through her eyes. I would highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Falls way short
Review: Since I loved George's other books, I made the false assumption that this one would be as interesting and well written. No such luck. The dialogue was stilted and boring. None of the characters were likeable. I would not have followed anyone of them based on the what George has written. As egalitarian as Jesus supposedly was, this character of the Magalene would have never existed in that time and place. Projecting modern values left this book practically void of history.

Of course, this "story" is based for the most part on faith rather than historical fact unlike George's other books and apparently George's faith interpretation is uniquely her own. She might as well have called it Mary Magdalene the Superhero. Totally unbelieveable and void of feeling. Don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: For true believers only
Review: Was Mary M. a prostitute? Apparently not, or at least not in this earnest, PG-rated version of her life. Ms. George spends most of her time trying to prove that Mary was not only a good girl but the best disciple Jesus ever had. The question is whether you care.

If the answer is "yes", you might like this long rather boring book. Unfortunately, if you want to see the people of the Bible brought to life as believable human beings, you won't find that here, where everyone talks in sermons. There's too much preaching and not enough storytelling; the whole thing reads like a Sunday School lesson that goes on forever.

Rating:
Summary: A great case for early discipleship
Review: I am totally impressed by George's research and heart for her subject matter. Much of the early part of the book explains about her family and how she slowly becomes possessed by demons. The reality of her character is brought out when George gives her a flaw: her secretiveness. She doesn't want to explain what is happening to herself, even after she gets married and has a child.
Just as importantly the book explains how difficult early discipleship was. All of Jesus' followers are shunned by their families, and Mary's situation is most difficult: she can't even visit her own daughter, even after her husband dies.
This book does a good job explaining how the disciples gained new members to their community, and how it changed after Jesus was crucified. As the other disciples die, one by one, the remaining ones are revered, almost deified: is this right?
The book suggests questions for modern Christianity as well. The early disciples revealed the power of God through healing power, and Jesus gave this power to all who believed in him. So why is healing and the casting out of demons virtually ignored among Christians today-and throughout the history of Christianity after the first century?

Rating:
Summary: Too Many Problems With This Disappointing Book
Review: Problem No. 1: The characters,including Mary,are surprisingly flat. In spite of sharing Mary's inner thoughts and feelings,I never felt I really got to know her.
Problem No. 2: Too many important incidents are either downplayed or completely ignored. The raising of Lazarus from the dead is never mentioned,while other incidents,such as Jesus turning the water into wine and the feeding of the multitudes,are dismissed by Mary as having never happened. Worst of all,the miracle of Jesus's divine conception and birth are never mentioned. His mother admits to having had visions of his importance when he was a child, but never once says anything about the visitation from the angel telling her she has been chosen to give birth to the Messiah, the immaculate conception,or any of the miracles and signs at his birth. By it's very ommision,it leads the reader to conclude that Jesus was the biological child of Joseph,not divinely concieved by a virgin mother.
Problem No. 3: Mary seems to be instrumental in far too many places. After Mary and Joanna discover the Garden of Gethsemane,it is Mary who tells Jesus about it when He expresses a desire to find a quiet,peaceful place to meditate. Mary and Joanna also sneak into Herod's palace and disguise themselves as serving women in order to spy on Herod,and thus are there to witness Judas accepting the bribe from Caiphas and Annas to betray Jesus. Once again,it is Mary who tells Jesus of Judas's betrayal, even though in the bible it seems rather clear that Judas's betrayal was foretold to Jesus by God in a divine revelation instead. When Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs, Mary is paired with John.When John attempts to heal a woman and fails,once again it's Mary to the rescue,and not only does she heal the woman,she is also able to cast the demons out of Joanna,while poor, ineffective John stands by. And there are many other places where this type of scenario plays out. Rather than coming across as an every day woman, she seems to be some sort of latter day Wonder Woman, while the rest of the disciples are rather weak and ineffective. It is this biased slant in Mary's favor that makes this book hard to swallow. A more balanced view,letting the other disciples shine, would have been much more believable. While I am glad to see women of the bible and their contributions being made known and applauded, it should not be done by diminishing the men around them, and I felt that this is what this book does,with the exception of Jesus.
All in all this is a very disappointing book. I am quite surprised at this since I read George's Memoirs of Cleopatra,and found it to be rich and vibrant,giving me the feeling I was there and really knew Cleopatra. Sadly,this is not the case here. As long as this book is, I should feel I really know Mary, but instead I come away feeling cheated by a book that has one dimensional characters and a heroine who, far from being an average,everyday woman who finds herself living in an extraordinary time and place, seems instead to be a Super Woman who one ups almost everyone. It is neither realistic or believeable.