Month: May 2006

Gospel of Judas, The

[rating:5/5]

This book was, simply put, absolutely fascinating. It contains the recently re-discovered Gospel of Judas Iscariot and consists of the gospel; along with three well-written and accessible essays by the researchers who brought this document back to life.

To be honest, I’m amazed that there are those who criticize this book based upon their beliefs as to whether or not this book, or shall I say, the Gospel of Judas, has merit as historical fact. The authors; themselves, do not display such bias and approach the work from a clearly scholarly angle.

My only criticism is that the editors need to do a better job with proofing the text prior to printing as there are numerous errors (and rather sloppy ones, at that) throughout the book. Even so, the Gospel of Judas should appeal to anyone with a serious interest in early Christian writings.

Secret Supper: A Novel

The Secret Supper: A Novel[rating:4/5]

I found this book to be a rather intriguing read. While it seems that reviewers on Amazon either love it or hate it, I suspect that this may be due to several factors:

1. It’s not the easiest book to follow due to the large number of characters and their “foreign” (mostly Italian) names. I found myself having to read and reread much of the material just to keep take of the characters.

2. The book was originally written in Spanish. My gut feeling is that the person(s) who translated this novel into English may not have done justice to the book.

3. The topic of the book; itself, requires a certain amount of background knowledge prior to reading it. If this is the case, some may have found it to be dry and boring.

Personally, I found the book quite interesting – especially once I got into the story.

Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land

Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land[rating:5/5]

Just finished this fascinating book. Arguably, it appears to be the most honest (i.e., authentic) book on Tibet that I’ve yet read. The author shares his journey into modern Tibet and provides interviews the numerous people he mets. He examines the evils of the communist takeover, including the horrors perpetrated upon millions of innocent souls by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other monsters.

Consistent with ethical authors who are concerned with reporting facts, rather the create propaganda to support their own view, French tells it like it is – including such things as the flawed policies of the American government to support the communists in pursuit of the almighty dollar, rather than standing up for the freedom of those (i.e., Tibetans) oppressed by the communists. Richard Nixon’s visits to China were discussed and Henry Kissinger’s vile actions were simply unconscionable.

While it is clearly evident that the author has a long history of supporting the Tibetan cause, he also discusses problems inherent with the Tibetan government-in-exile that have aggravated their own cause. Sadly, the author maintains that the mistakes that have already been made will not be resolved until the massive problems within the Chinese (not Tibetan) regime are toppled.

I would highly recommend this book to those interested in this topic.