Blameless in Abaddon

Rating:
Summary: The Trilogy Continues
Review: "Blameless in Abaddon" picks up a few years after "Towing Jehovah," the first book in James Morrow's Jehovah Trilogy, left off. God's body has drifted free of its icy tomb and has drifted south. The Vatican, strapped for cash, sold it to the Baptists so they could use it as the centerpiece of a new theme park, Celestial City, USA. Meanwhile, Martin Candle, a small-time judge in Pennsylvania, learns that he has cancer. Lured by the Baptists' promise of healing (which, not surprisingly, turns out to be a ruse to make money), Candle goes to Celestial City to be with God's body. Needless to say, he's not healed. In fact, his wife dies shortly after his return and, like Job, Candle wonders what he's done to deserve this. A lifelong conservative and all-around good guy, Candle sees no reason that he should suffer - in fact, he sees no reason why anyone should suffer under a kind and loving God.

What to do? Simple: do what Job could not. Put God on trail before the International Court in The Hague for Crimes Against Humanity.

Again, Morrow presents readers with a premise that sounds self-serving and overly-clever, and again, nothing could be further from the truth. Candle's complaint is a very real theological question - if God was all-loving, how could he allow bad things to happen? If God couldn't stop them, He couldn't be all-powerful. Therefore, God must know that bad things happen, God must be able to stop them if he's all-powerful, so for some reason, he does not. Why?

Theologies have wrestled with the notion of evil for as long as there has been a belief in an all-powerful deity. Candle compares himself to Job and Augustine, and those are reasonable conclusions. But the answer "Blameless" offers isn't unique - Nietzsche posited the same notion in "Beyond Good and Evil" - but again, it's presented in a way that makes sense to the reader. Dualistic thinking does not serve humankind; it never has.

Morrow's book, perhaps the most compelling of the trilogy, is absolute pleasure to read. He's finally found his voice, and manages to make the reader care more about the characters - instead of eccentric weirdoes, as per "Towing Jehovah," these characters could be our neighbors - or even ourselves. The story is told effortlessly, and the inclusion of The Devil answers another welcome question in his cosmological ponderings. It's an accessible joy of a book, and if you had to pick one out of the trilogy, go with "Blameless."

Rating:
Summary: The Trilogy Continues
Review: "Blameless in Abaddon" picks up a few years after "Towing Jehovah," the first book in James Morrow's Jehovah Trilogy, left off. God's body has drifted free of its icy tomb and has drifted south. The Vatican, strapped for cash, sold it to the Baptists so they could use it as the centerpiece of a new theme park, Celestial City, USA. Meanwhile, Martin Candle, a small-time judge in Pennsylvania, learns that he has cancer. Lured by the Baptists' promise of healing (which, not surprisingly, turns out to be a ruse to make money), Candle goes to Celestial City to be with God's body. Needless to say, he's not healed. In fact, his wife dies shortly after his return and, like Job, Candle wonders what he's done to deserve this. A lifelong conservative and all-around good guy, Candle sees no reason that he should suffer - in fact, he sees no reason why anyone should suffer under a kind and loving God.

What to do? Simple: do what Job could not. Put God on trail before the International Court in The Hague for Crimes Against Humanity.

Again, Morrow presents readers with a premise that sounds self-serving and overly-clever, and again, nothing could be further from the truth. Candle's complaint is a very real theological question - if God was all-loving, how could he allow bad things to happen? If God couldn't stop them, He couldn't be all-powerful. Therefore, God must know that bad things happen, God must be able to stop them if he's all-powerful, so for some reason, he does not. Why?

Theologies have wrestled with the notion of evil for as long as there has been a belief in an all-powerful deity. Candle compares himself to Job and Augustine, and those are reasonable conclusions. But the answer "Blameless" offers isn't unique - Nietzsche posited the same notion in "Beyond Good and Evil" - but again, it's presented in a way that makes sense to the reader. Dualistic thinking does not serve humankind; it never has.

Morrow's book, perhaps the most compelling of the trilogy, is absolute pleasure to read. He's finally found his voice, and manages to make the reader care more about the characters - instead of eccentric weirdoes, as per "Towing Jehovah," these characters could be our neighbors - or even ourselves. The story is told effortlessly, and the inclusion of The Devil answers another welcome question in his cosmological ponderings. It's an accessible joy of a book, and if you had to pick one out of the trilogy, go with "Blameless."

Rating:
Summary: A fun continuation
Review: "Blameless in Abaddon" continues the merry mayhem wrought by the Corpus Dei introduced in "Towing Jehovah." My favorite parts of the book involved the interruptions by Jonathan Sarkos, and the surprising turn that character takes in the last 2 chapters. Morrow is a true craftsman of the fictional form.

The ironies abound in this volume. The hero is a man who would by all appearances be comfortable with the Religious Right, though perhaps a bit too freewheeling for conservative comfort. It seemed to me the obverse of that cliche "A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged."

My only quibble with this book was the exhaustive nature of Candle's defense. I found myself skimming through a lot of the writing through the trial itself. But the thing that I really appreciate about Morrow is that he creates worthy foils for his characters to parry their assaults. God's kindly defense attorney is an immensely likable fellow, and seemingly a reminder of C.S. Lewis.

While this won't please any Xians, it will stimulate people regarding theistic questions regardless of whatever their faith situation might be.

Rating:
Summary: A fun continuation
Review: "Blameless in Abaddon" continues the merry mayhem wrought by the Corpus Dei introduced in "Towing Jehovah." My favorite parts of the book involved the interruptions by Jonathan Sarkos, and the surprising turn that character takes in the last 2 chapters. Morrow is a true craftsman of the fictional form.

The ironies abound in this volume. The hero is a man who would by all appearances be comfortable with the Religious Right, though perhaps a bit too freewheeling for conservative comfort. It seemed to me the obverse of that cliche "A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged."

My only quibble with this book was the exhaustive nature of Candle's defense. I found myself skimming through a lot of the writing through the trial itself. But the thing that I really appreciate about Morrow is that he creates worthy foils for his characters to parry their assaults. God's kindly defense attorney is an immensely likable fellow, and seemingly a reminder of C.S. Lewis.

While this won't please any Xians, it will stimulate people regarding theistic questions regardless of whatever their faith situation might be.

Rating:
Summary: Gullivers Travels & Fantastic Voyage......!!
Review: ..make for a whopping good read! Our intrepid hero, a Justice of the Peace/ Magistrate in the Philly Suburbs, gets cancer, and his wife, a professional pet-lover, dies while avoiding a dog on a termite infested bridge. He decides he's had enough, he wishes to take on God, 2 miles long and recently comatosely discovered, to Court, at the Hagues' International Court of Justice. At first, this seems too large a task, until he is assisted by a strange Harvard professor who made millions writing children's books. This same professor takes on the "Not Guilty" side, and this begins our journey through on a hallunicatory, fanatastic, trip through good and evil. Journeying through the Body and Mind of God Himself, we meet the "platonic/ideal" visions of Adam, Even, Lot's Wife, St. Augustine, the Devil, and many others. At the trial, we witness some very serious discussions on the nature of good and evil, as some expert witnesses are brought along. This is a real mesmorizer,a book that should last a very long time! The ending may be a slight disappointment, but given the circumstances, is as fair as one could expect.

Rating:
Summary: "Blameless" Is a True Modern Satire
Review:

You don't have to have read "Towing Jehovah" to enjoy this sequel, though that's an equally good book I'd recommend. Here you'll find what Swift and other great satirists may have written had they been children of the latter 20th century. Just as those writers were able to comment on current affairs and the human condition while keeping tongue firmly in cheek, so does Morrow. Martin Candle, Justice of the Peace of Abaddon, PA, follows in the footsteps of Job and decides to put God on trial at the World Court, though getting there is more than half the battle. Though many will object to the treatment of religious ideas and beliefs in this book, I think Morrow has written an insightful story about humanity and what motivates and sustains us all, be we atheist or religious zealot or the middle-of-the-road individual who wants to believe, but doesn't see much reason to. This is a book that serious philosophers will enjoy as much as the casual reader who wants to be merely entertained. Pick it up and remember that satire is not all fun and games.

Rating:
Summary: "Blameless" Is a True Modern Satire
Review:

You don't have to have read "Towing Jehovah" to enjoy this sequel, though that's an equally good book I'd recommend. Here you'll find what Swift and other great satirists may have written had they been children of the latter 20th century. Just as those writers were able to comment on current affairs and the human condition while keeping tongue firmly in cheek, so does Morrow. Martin Candle, Justice of the Peace of Abaddon, PA, follows in the footsteps of Job and decides to put God on trial at the World Court, though getting there is more than half the battle. Though many will object to the treatment of religious ideas and beliefs in this book, I think Morrow has written an insightful story about humanity and what motivates and sustains us all, be we atheist or religious zealot or the middle-of-the-road individual who wants to believe, but doesn't see much reason to. This is a book that serious philosophers will enjoy as much as the casual reader who wants to be merely entertained. Pick it up and remember that satire is not all fun and games.

Rating:
Summary: Satire of the highest order
Review: Although I had not read Towing Jehovah beforehand (I have since), Blameless in Abaddon was recieved by me a great work of humor. Martin Candle's performance was great, and the realism (despite the irrationality of God) was strong and unique. This book makes one think in a different way than any other story before has. Morrow is well-versed in the theological debate of the ages, from the Free Will argument to Dualism (oops, did I give it away? :)) A well-written response to the human condition before the eyes of an angry god and a fed-up justice system.

The narration was original; the point of view of the devil, Jonathan Sarkos, was unique and also thought-provoking. He told Martin's story in an imaginative and interesting manner.

The humor of the novel was what struck me. Morrow uses satire to his advantage, coming up with crazy ideas about Bible stories that could have happened, knowing how depraved man (and God) is. "Any society that can create the 20th century has no need of a Prince of Darkness."

I loved this book.

Rating:
Summary: duality? worst defense ever.
Review: As a narrative, this is a very imaginative book. It has it's humorous moments, but it's not as humorous as it has been made out to be in other reviews.

What I found most humorous were the arguments that Morrow puts forth throughout the narrative. They are the same lame arguments that atheists have been using for centuries to try and discount the existence of a good God. The arguments fall "flat" and are so easily discounted. Also, I found it hilarious that Morrow thinks He could write about what the mind of God is like. That kind of speculation has got to be some of the best science-fiction ever penned. He spends so much time deluding himself into thinking that He knows what God is thinking.

Also, Morrow must have some infactuation with trying to prove C.S. Lewis wrong. It's too bad Lewis is not alive today to be able to join Morrow in this debate. Morrow would soon find out that he is way out of his league.

One thing I always find very interesting is that atheists claim to not believe in God, and yet they are always shaking their fists at Him. Doesn't this contradict themselves?

All in all, the book is a very entertaining look at the atheists' mind through narrative. However, I don't think that was what the writer's motive was. Yes, he comes off as arrogant and self-righteous and he misses the Truth entirely.

Rating:
Summary: One Trip too many to the God-Well
Review: During my five years of isolation in Northern Japan, I happened to stumble over a small book named Only Begotten Daughter. I knew halfway through the book that I had found something special. James Morrow has been my favorite living author since. I always check the M section of any new library I might be exploring, just in case of a rare find.
In OBD, it was a classic battle of innocence (Julie Katz) against bad (the devil and his earthly minions.) In the prequel to Blameless, Towing Jehovah, it was the not-so-innocent (Capt Van Horne) against the not-so-good religious zealots (swing a cat) of Earth. Blameless in Abaddon starts out as a battle between Martin Candle (the just if I must) against God (the un-just). As it rolls along, it becomes Martin versus the "God" that his father created within him. Unfortunely, the middle of the book throws so much academia-related paragraphs, I felt that I would have to obtain a Theology degree to make it through. Add to that the devil (Jonathon Sarkos the tailor) stealing chapter and chapter, I struggled to make it to the end. Morrow continues to be at the top of the prose game, but his heavy use of obscure references and that overbearing and boring devil made this read a chore.