Margery Kempe

Rating:
Summary: Arbitrarily juxtaposed narratives
Review: Although I think it was supposed to, the book didn't shock me. If Christian mystics knew about it, it might enrage some of them, though others think MK was a hysteric. The counterpoint of Bob's passion for L, who has other needs than to be consumed by Bob's needs, is more interesting to me, but is very sketchy. Neither Bob, presumably the author, nor L is much developed as a character, alas. What is distinctive about this particular reluctant beloved and passionate lover? Religion and class, yeah. Don't they all say they show love in different ways (than the lover wants, needs, and, above all, demands)? And L is an eager bottom (which I thought Glück was from ecstasies described in Jack, the Modernist-so perhaps he is Margery rather than Bob here?

Rating:
Summary: Margery Kempe is a stunning piece of fiction
Review: Margery Kempe deserves to be seen by a readership that responds to the same stunning language that characterizes Joyce' best work, and the profound sense of longing that hasn't been rendered since McCullers. There aren't many works of fiction today that take such risk, and this risk has little to do with the sense of erotic in the portrayal of Jesus. Rather, the risk is in the completely raw characterization of Margery and her unabashed expressions of abandon that symbolize desire at its most powerful and destructive. Here is a female protagonist that loves what she loves and is not concerned with forming a humble or pretty picture. She is a "failed saint" because she is a raw, real character. Gluck has built an incredible story around both Kempe and her modern, parallel "brother."