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Το ευαγγέλιο του Ιούδα
Ανάμεσα στους αρχαίους παπύρους της Νεκράς Θάλασσας ανακαλύπτεται ένας μοναδικός κύλινδρος. Γραμμένος τον 1ο αιώνα, ο πάπυρος αυτός είναι πιθανότατα η βιογραφία του Ιησού όπως την κατέγραψε ο Ιούδας. Αν και είναι αυθεντικός, περιέχει ένα από τα πιο εμπρηστικά κείμενα στην ιστορία της ανθρωπότητας. Το έργο της εξακρίβωσης της γνησιότητας ή της πλαστότητας του εξαιρετικού ευρήματος ανατίθεται στον πατέρα Λίο Νιούμαν, που ταξιδεύει στην Ιερουσαλήμ για να αποκρυπτογραφήσει το κείμενο. Όμως αυτό συμβαίνει στη χειρότερη στιγμή της προσωπικής του ζωής: έχει ερωτευτεί μια παντρεμένη γυναίκα και κατατρύχεται από μυστικά του οικογενειακού του παρελθόντος. «Το Ευαγγέλιο του Ιούδα» είναι μια συναρπαστική και πολυεπίπεδη ιστορία με θέμα τη σημασία της πίστης και την απώλειά της, ένας πνευματώδης γρίφος, αριστοτεχνικά πλεγμένος και διάστικτος με κωδικούς και σύμβολα. Γεμάτο διανοητικούς αιφνιδιασμούς και προορισμένο να προβληματίσει βαθιά τον αναγνώστη, «Το Ευαγγέλιο του Ιούδα» είναι ένα βιβλίο που τον καθηλώνει ως την τελευταία του σελίδα. Ένα σαγηνευτικό λογοτεχνικό θρίλερ αγωνίας και μια ερωτική ιστορία με φόντο τη Ρώμη και τη Μέση Ανατολή.
456 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
26 people are currently reading
564 people want to read
About the author
Simon Mawer
39 books340 followersSimon Mawer was a British author who lived in Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
August 10, 2008
Started this book a couple years ago and now am starting to remember why I never finished it.
I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to finish it. A priest has an affair with what appears to be a flibbertygibbit, he gets an interesting scroll in the course of his research, and then as a fallen priest he takes up with a woman who doesn't speak English but models for porn and paints on the side. In both attempts to read this I have yet to get to anything to do with the Gospel of Judas in the manner the book cover suggests, unless it is some oblique symbol of all the betrayals going on in this priest's life. And I haven't the time nor inclination to plough through this to get to it so that the light dawns on me and I understand what all this initial tedium was about.
If I want to read about priests having affairs with social twits then I'd go for some bodice rippers who make no pretense about it. As for the GoJ, there were no redeeming aspects to any of the characters, which rendered absolutely no interest in their lives and therefore the book.
Others may find different, I wish them well.
I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to finish it. A priest has an affair with what appears to be a flibbertygibbit, he gets an interesting scroll in the course of his research, and then as a fallen priest he takes up with a woman who doesn't speak English but models for porn and paints on the side. In both attempts to read this I have yet to get to anything to do with the Gospel of Judas in the manner the book cover suggests, unless it is some oblique symbol of all the betrayals going on in this priest's life. And I haven't the time nor inclination to plough through this to get to it so that the light dawns on me and I understand what all this initial tedium was about.
If I want to read about priests having affairs with social twits then I'd go for some bodice rippers who make no pretense about it. As for the GoJ, there were no redeeming aspects to any of the characters, which rendered absolutely no interest in their lives and therefore the book.
Others may find different, I wish them well.
January 19, 2025
I wanted to give this book three stars, but then I removed a star for the least sexy consensual sex scene I’ve ever read. She called his penis a “big, shiny fish” as she gave him a handjob, and he thought her body smelled faintly of feces. Then he thought her looked butt “awkward” as she walked naked to the bathroom.
Yeah.
In “The Gospel of Judas,” a Catholic priest having an affair with a married woman is asked to translate a first-century text written by Judas Iscariot that claims Jesus was never resurrected (and therefore isn’t the Messiah). That’s an interesting concept, and I would have liked this novel a lot more if the entire story was about that — except, there are two other parallel storylines: in one, Leo’s mother, who has Jewish heritage and is married to a Nazi, has an affair with her son’s Jewish tutor in 1943; in the second, Leo cohabitates with *another* married woman years in the future. We’ve got three, count ‘em, *three* stories about adultery on our hands here, folks.
Simon Mawer is one of those authors who writes a lot of pretty-sounding words about infidelity and calls it literature. “The Gospel of Judas” doesn’t really say anything about marriage, except that you’ll get bored of it eventually and that it’s okay to sleep with another man’s wife even if she sort of smells like poop because Jesus of Nazareth might not have been the Messiah.
The infidelity-fest might not have been such a slog if the characters had halfway sympathetic motivations — if, say, they were cheating on cruel, abusive spouses with good people who made them genuinely happy. That’s not the case. All the characters are just as miserable and unlikeable after sleeping around than they were before, and even though they recognize this, they continue to do it. I guess that was the point of the novel, but why would I want to read 330 pages about characters I’m not supposed to sympathize with?
The character I liked the most was Madeleine, but I soured on her by the end, too. She talks about abandoning her young kids for Leo — “The children take second place. Does that sound dreadful? But it’s true. Underneath it all there’s you and there’s only you.” — even though he doesn’t even like her! He never calls her beautiful, he thinks her smile is awkward on her face and keeps pointing out that her boobs sag, and even thinks at one point that “she was almost ugly.”
The rest of the story is so-so. The prose is pretty but vain — Simon Mawer knows a lot about etymology and *really* wants you to know — and there are a couple inconsequential plot twists. Oh, and the dialogue frustrated me. Leo often repeats words as a way of asking what the other person means (you know, the thing writers do in first drafts?). For instance:
“Do you still believe?”
“Believe?”
Cast iron pan, meet face.
“The Gospel of Judas” taught me that midlife crisis literature doesn’t read very differently than whiny YA literature. The former just uses bigger words you have to look up every few minutes.
“Only two stars? What, did it punch you in the face?” — My boyfriend
Yeah.
In “The Gospel of Judas,” a Catholic priest having an affair with a married woman is asked to translate a first-century text written by Judas Iscariot that claims Jesus was never resurrected (and therefore isn’t the Messiah). That’s an interesting concept, and I would have liked this novel a lot more if the entire story was about that — except, there are two other parallel storylines: in one, Leo’s mother, who has Jewish heritage and is married to a Nazi, has an affair with her son’s Jewish tutor in 1943; in the second, Leo cohabitates with *another* married woman years in the future. We’ve got three, count ‘em, *three* stories about adultery on our hands here, folks.
Simon Mawer is one of those authors who writes a lot of pretty-sounding words about infidelity and calls it literature. “The Gospel of Judas” doesn’t really say anything about marriage, except that you’ll get bored of it eventually and that it’s okay to sleep with another man’s wife even if she sort of smells like poop because Jesus of Nazareth might not have been the Messiah.
The infidelity-fest might not have been such a slog if the characters had halfway sympathetic motivations — if, say, they were cheating on cruel, abusive spouses with good people who made them genuinely happy. That’s not the case. All the characters are just as miserable and unlikeable after sleeping around than they were before, and even though they recognize this, they continue to do it. I guess that was the point of the novel, but why would I want to read 330 pages about characters I’m not supposed to sympathize with?
The character I liked the most was Madeleine, but I soured on her by the end, too. She talks about abandoning her young kids for Leo — “The children take second place. Does that sound dreadful? But it’s true. Underneath it all there’s you and there’s only you.” — even though he doesn’t even like her! He never calls her beautiful, he thinks her smile is awkward on her face and keeps pointing out that her boobs sag, and even thinks at one point that “she was almost ugly.”
The rest of the story is so-so. The prose is pretty but vain — Simon Mawer knows a lot about etymology and *really* wants you to know — and there are a couple inconsequential plot twists. Oh, and the dialogue frustrated me. Leo often repeats words as a way of asking what the other person means (you know, the thing writers do in first drafts?). For instance:
“Do you still believe?”
“Believe?”
Cast iron pan, meet face.
“The Gospel of Judas” taught me that midlife crisis literature doesn’t read very differently than whiny YA literature. The former just uses bigger words you have to look up every few minutes.
“Only two stars? What, did it punch you in the face?” — My boyfriend
March 31, 2017
Interesting story on the origin of Christianity. Simon Mawer's prose is gorgeous.
August 5, 2007
This tells the story of two generations in the 20th century, centered around a Catholic priest and scholar, who is translating a scroll purporting to be the Gospel of Judas. It is not the gnostic gospel of Judas that has actually been found, but rather a scroll that may really date from Judas himself (which the gnostic one does not). It's fictional, well-researched, and rather dark in all time periods that are dealt with. It's really good, but intense and not the easiest read due to some difficult subject matter.
Read
December 12, 2019DNF.
August 17, 2012
Each novel Simon Mawer writes is completely different. I really enjoyed this one but felt it had a touch of Dan Brown about it, albeit with a far superior level of writing. The characters are not all likeable but they are intriguing and yet again, he has written a book that I found hard to put down.
June 10, 2010
If there were an option for 3.5 stars, I would use it for this book.
It was a very well-written story woven through multiple levels of time and character development. The theme of betrayal was returned to again and again, in ways that seemed simultaneously inevitable but also deeply unexpected.
The main character, Father Leo Newman, comes from a lineage of betrayal. We see his mother betray her husband with her lover, her lover to the Nazis, and her own identity in order to obtain a new life. The themes of Leo's own role as a betrayer are fascinating. He betrays almost every character, every institution, every principle of belief that he seems to hold. And others betray him in ways large and small. But throughout the entire plot, it never becomes hackneyed; it never seems forced. The plot twists and turns in ways that are still surprising, no matter how well you feel you know the characters and their limits. This is all extremely well done, and very apt.
The only reason that I am not rating the book higher is because of the confusing time jumps throughout the narrative. I could not, no matter how hard I tried, get a sense of how much time had elapsed between Leo's affair with Madeline, his time at the World Bible Institute, and his later relationship with Magda. It was disorienting and also distracting every time the story jumped to the (presumably) later frame of time. This section was also the least interesting, the least compelling, portion of the narrative. And the ending of the book, overall, left me wanting. More explanation and less ambiguity as a literary device would have made the conclusion of the novel much more satisfying.
It was a very well-written story woven through multiple levels of time and character development. The theme of betrayal was returned to again and again, in ways that seemed simultaneously inevitable but also deeply unexpected.
The main character, Father Leo Newman, comes from a lineage of betrayal. We see his mother betray her husband with her lover, her lover to the Nazis, and her own identity in order to obtain a new life. The themes of Leo's own role as a betrayer are fascinating. He betrays almost every character, every institution, every principle of belief that he seems to hold. And others betray him in ways large and small. But throughout the entire plot, it never becomes hackneyed; it never seems forced. The plot twists and turns in ways that are still surprising, no matter how well you feel you know the characters and their limits. This is all extremely well done, and very apt.
The only reason that I am not rating the book higher is because of the confusing time jumps throughout the narrative. I could not, no matter how hard I tried, get a sense of how much time had elapsed between Leo's affair with Madeline, his time at the World Bible Institute, and his later relationship with Magda. It was disorienting and also distracting every time the story jumped to the (presumably) later frame of time. This section was also the least interesting, the least compelling, portion of the narrative. And the ending of the book, overall, left me wanting. More explanation and less ambiguity as a literary device would have made the conclusion of the novel much more satisfying.
October 2, 2018
A beautiful, intelligent, and moving novel.
It's important to remember that this book is a work of fiction. That should be an obvious statement, but I've read several ignorant reviews that indicate that some readers forget what "fiction" means.
The Gospel of Judas is the story of a Roman priest, Leo Newman, who experiences a crisis of faith at the same time he meets and eventually falls in love with an intriguing yet unstable married woman, Madeleine. Leo is also a scholar who is called to investigate a mysterious papyrus document which could be a firsthand account of Jesus' disciple and betrayer, Judas. It is to this fictional document that the title refers, not to a gnostic gospel that would date much more recently. There are two other storylines: Leo Newman as an older man, embarking on an affair with a strange young student, and a seemingly unrelated story of an extramarital affair between a diplomat's wife and her son's tutor in WWII-era Italy.
This novel has been referred to "The Da Vinci Code for smart people" which is accurate in a way but not the whole story. The Gospel of Judas is a profound psychological novel that explores the collusion of religious ecstasy and romantic and sexual love and its devastating consequences.
It's important to remember that this book is a work of fiction. That should be an obvious statement, but I've read several ignorant reviews that indicate that some readers forget what "fiction" means.
The Gospel of Judas is the story of a Roman priest, Leo Newman, who experiences a crisis of faith at the same time he meets and eventually falls in love with an intriguing yet unstable married woman, Madeleine. Leo is also a scholar who is called to investigate a mysterious papyrus document which could be a firsthand account of Jesus' disciple and betrayer, Judas. It is to this fictional document that the title refers, not to a gnostic gospel that would date much more recently. There are two other storylines: Leo Newman as an older man, embarking on an affair with a strange young student, and a seemingly unrelated story of an extramarital affair between a diplomat's wife and her son's tutor in WWII-era Italy.
This novel has been referred to "The Da Vinci Code for smart people" which is accurate in a way but not the whole story. The Gospel of Judas is a profound psychological novel that explores the collusion of religious ecstasy and romantic and sexual love and its devastating consequences.
April 21, 2017
Two stars are only there because of the way the story is structured. Otherwise it’s bland and colorless.
The “scandalous” love affairs are boring and the author is probably mildly obsessed with pubic hair. Character development is kinda there if you really really really want to look for it and convince yourself that it’s happening. The “gospel of Judas” shouldn’t be mentioned in neither the title nor any summaries as it’s barely mentioned in the book itself.
The three (sort of separate) main plotlines are mixed up very well in a way that it’s unclear for a long time which happened first and how it influenced the others.
The idea was probably to show a man losing his faith but he is neither convincingly religious to begin with nor his attitude towards religion changed much throughout the book.
The “scandalous” love affairs are boring and the author is probably mildly obsessed with pubic hair. Character development is kinda there if you really really really want to look for it and convince yourself that it’s happening. The “gospel of Judas” shouldn’t be mentioned in neither the title nor any summaries as it’s barely mentioned in the book itself.
The three (sort of separate) main plotlines are mixed up very well in a way that it’s unclear for a long time which happened first and how it influenced the others.
The idea was probably to show a man losing his faith but he is neither convincingly religious to begin with nor his attitude towards religion changed much throughout the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2008
I read this because I'm interested in Judas as dramatic character- think about it! Fascinating! There's nothing which adds up about him in the Biblical account. The more you think about it the more complex and dramatically profound it gets.
This is just goofy, pretentious, clammy-handed hogwash. I don't know anything about the author in question but he is trying SO HARD to be suave, sarcastic, erudite and worldly and he is just flailing badly throughout the story.
The title suggests that someone with my precise interest in the subject would find this book kind of interesting, no? A modern adaptation or reverie on the eponymous idea...
Not an idea, image, character or insight to take away.
Blegh. Chucked!@
July 5, 2009
Didn't finish this book. It was awful. Gave up about halfway through & if you know me, you know that NEVER happens. I will normally finish any book I start. I never could get into this one, it really never made sense. So unless there is something huge that happens during the second half, this was a major bore.
November 27, 2020
Книга за катарзиса във вярата на един католически свещеник.
Животът на Лео е праволинеен и еднообразен до срещата му с Маделин, съпруга на дипломат в Рим. Тя го изкушава и съблазнява. Двамата изживяват любовта си, но тя е нестабилна, а Лео е отлъчен от църквата за постъпката си.
В същото време в Израел е открит свитък с древен текст от Юда, предателят на Исус, който може да преобърне християнската догматика. Лео е учен и е извикан да преведе текста, а смисълът му е толкова еретичен, че той е принуден да вземе решение и да направи своя избор.
Това е един психологически роман, в който никой не е съвършен. С малко думи и уж набързо щрихирани портрети, авторът разкрива слабостите, характерите и потайните мисли на героите. Нишките на сюжета ни водят ту назад към произхода на Лео и тайните на неговата майка, ту напред, където той е вече поостарял и живее с Магда, емигрантка в Рим. Но в мислите му завинаги ще остане Маделин и любовта им. Цялата книга е с препратки към Библията и вярата, но това е и роман за любовта и нейните последици. Повдигнати са много морални въпроси, а стилът на автора е стегнат и образен.
Животът на Лео е праволинеен и еднообразен до срещата му с Маделин, съпруга на дипломат в Рим. Тя го изкушава и съблазнява. Двамата изживяват любовта си, но тя е нестабилна, а Лео е отлъчен от църквата за постъпката си.
В същото време в Израел е открит свитък с древен текст от Юда, предателят на Исус, който може да преобърне християнската догматика. Лео е учен и е извикан да преведе текста, а смисълът му е толкова еретичен, че той е принуден да вземе решение и да направи своя избор.
Това е един психологически роман, в който никой не е съвършен. С малко думи и уж набързо щрихирани портрети, авторът разкрива слабостите, характерите и потайните мисли на героите. Нишките на сюжета ни водят ту назад към произхода на Лео и тайните на неговата майка, ту напред, където той е вече поостарял и живее с Магда, емигрантка в Рим. Но в мислите му завинаги ще остане Маделин и любовта им. Цялата книга е с препратки към Библията и вярата, но това е и роман за любовта и нейните последици. Повдигнати са много морални въпроси, а стилът на автора е стегнат и образен.
July 23, 2025
SUPERRRRRR cool premise but I literally just hated the writing so bad—and also jump scare: it was about fascist europe all along and guess what it is a biblical reimagining of fascist europe? okay I guess. this is what I get for trying to get into male literature.
September 19, 2018
What a horrible book! What a load of crock! I'm surprised that I persevered and finished it. The story is fictional - not even based on real historical elements, the writing is so bad, that during the first 100 pages I either kept falling asleep or didn't even know what the hell I was reading, what on earth was the purpose of it all, where the hell I was, given that the timeline kept changing.
I think the first 100 pages could have easily been left out, it still would have made more sense. The story of a priest who seemed to have major psychological issues regarding his faith, his attraction to a married woman, his ramblings about how all of these feelings of his are sin, quoting disturbing pieces from the Bible, irritated me to no end.
Given the synopsis of the book, I thought this will be interesting since I am drawn towards such subjects. But the book is so badly written that it is hard to read, it only picks up a bit after 100 pages, which is when he finds the scroll. Now this part would be interesting, even theoretically, but the cold writing just ruins it all. It's like reading a running commentary. There is no depth to any of the characters, nothing likable about them, the writing is seriously flawed, primitve, ordinary and vulgar. Either the writer has some issues with women in general or he has no idea how to write with literary excellence. I think both, actually.
So, if you are thinking about reading this, think hard. You could find many more appealing books on the subject that are brillinatly written. Give yourself a break and don't bother with this one. What a waste of my time!
I think the first 100 pages could have easily been left out, it still would have made more sense. The story of a priest who seemed to have major psychological issues regarding his faith, his attraction to a married woman, his ramblings about how all of these feelings of his are sin, quoting disturbing pieces from the Bible, irritated me to no end.
Given the synopsis of the book, I thought this will be interesting since I am drawn towards such subjects. But the book is so badly written that it is hard to read, it only picks up a bit after 100 pages, which is when he finds the scroll. Now this part would be interesting, even theoretically, but the cold writing just ruins it all. It's like reading a running commentary. There is no depth to any of the characters, nothing likable about them, the writing is seriously flawed, primitve, ordinary and vulgar. Either the writer has some issues with women in general or he has no idea how to write with literary excellence. I think both, actually.
So, if you are thinking about reading this, think hard. You could find many more appealing books on the subject that are brillinatly written. Give yourself a break and don't bother with this one. What a waste of my time!
April 7, 2008
Not a great read. Flipped back and forth through too many periods. A little confusing at first. Was never really drawn to any of the characters.
August 11, 2025
Tohle mě nezaujalo. Nějaká červená knihovna, ale ani ty erotické scény se mi nelíbily. Takové nějak odpudivé... nevím.
December 10, 2019
Pro mě zatím nejslabší Mawerova kniha. I když oproti zpracování podobného tématu Brownem stále daleko lepší. I tak jsem měla pocit, že autor pluje po povrchu, nevyužívá dostatečně téma ani zápletku. Chybělo mi hlubší psychologické vypracování postav a vadila mi místy nelogičnost nebo neuvěřitelnost jejich činů. Přesto oceňuji, že se autor do zajímavého tématu pustil a pokouší se ho na základě historických faktů uchopit.
October 30, 2014
Simon Mawer se stal pro české čtenáře známým především díky románu Skleněný pokoj. Kniha inspirovaná příběhem brněnské vily Tugendhat vyvolala nejrůznější reakce – od těch nadšených až po ty, které knihu téměř zavrhovaly. V každém případě snad každý, kdo román četl, zaujal nějaké stanovisko, nenechával své čtenáře lhostejnými...
To myslím platí pro všechny Mawerovy knihy, včetně pátého titulu, který v Nakladatelství Kniha Zlín vychází. Tím je právě Evangelium podle Jidáše. Stejně jako bylo zajímavé prostředí vily Tugendhat, jsou zajímavá a pro čtenáře atraktivní i prostředí, do kterých je zasazeno Evangelium podle Jidáše.
Ovšem možná ještě atraktivnější a zajímavější než prostředí, v kterých se vše odehrává, je vzájemné prolínání se jednotlivých linií. Podle některých kritiků střídání ich a er formy může čtenáře mást, činit jim četbu obtížnější. Můj názor je ten, že ji činí zajímavější a mnohovrstevnější.
U Černého moře byly objeveny tajuplné Kumránské svitky. Církev stojí před hrozbou, která může zničit to, na čem již více než dva tisíce let staví a existuje. Hlavní hrdina knihy, kněz Leo Newman, má pomáhat s rozluštěním svitků, s posouzením, jsou-li všechny pravé, má informovat Vatikán a především má napomoct při zjišťování, jestli je pravý svitek, jehož autorem by měl být Jidáš Iškariotský, nebo zda se jedná o podvrh... A nejedná-li se o podvrh, jak tuto skutečnost zvládne církev? Jak se s ní vyrovná sám Leo Newman?
Na první pohled se může zdát, že Simon Mawer maličko fušuje do řemesla Danu Brownovi. Už po pár stránkách je ale jasné, že se jedná o dva zcela odlišné styly i o dva velmi odlišné úhly pohledu. Svitky vlastně nejsou hlavní linií celé knihy, tou jsou příběhy o víře, lásce, nenávisti a v neposlední řadě i o zradě... v různých časových rovinách se prolínají... Prozrazovat více by už znamenalo prozrazovat samotný děj.
Evangelium podle Jidáše nepochybně stojí za pozornost i díky literárnímu stylu. Místy se sice může zdát, že je maličko zdlouhavý a autor zbytečně mnohoslovný, v závěru ale pochopíme, že vše mělo svůj smysl a své místo.
Knihu vydalo nakladatelství Kniha Zlín.
www.z-kultury-i-nekultury.blogspot.com
To myslím platí pro všechny Mawerovy knihy, včetně pátého titulu, který v Nakladatelství Kniha Zlín vychází. Tím je právě Evangelium podle Jidáše. Stejně jako bylo zajímavé prostředí vily Tugendhat, jsou zajímavá a pro čtenáře atraktivní i prostředí, do kterých je zasazeno Evangelium podle Jidáše.
Ovšem možná ještě atraktivnější a zajímavější než prostředí, v kterých se vše odehrává, je vzájemné prolínání se jednotlivých linií. Podle některých kritiků střídání ich a er formy může čtenáře mást, činit jim četbu obtížnější. Můj názor je ten, že ji činí zajímavější a mnohovrstevnější.
U Černého moře byly objeveny tajuplné Kumránské svitky. Církev stojí před hrozbou, která může zničit to, na čem již více než dva tisíce let staví a existuje. Hlavní hrdina knihy, kněz Leo Newman, má pomáhat s rozluštěním svitků, s posouzením, jsou-li všechny pravé, má informovat Vatikán a především má napomoct při zjišťování, jestli je pravý svitek, jehož autorem by měl být Jidáš Iškariotský, nebo zda se jedná o podvrh... A nejedná-li se o podvrh, jak tuto skutečnost zvládne církev? Jak se s ní vyrovná sám Leo Newman?
Na první pohled se může zdát, že Simon Mawer maličko fušuje do řemesla Danu Brownovi. Už po pár stránkách je ale jasné, že se jedná o dva zcela odlišné styly i o dva velmi odlišné úhly pohledu. Svitky vlastně nejsou hlavní linií celé knihy, tou jsou příběhy o víře, lásce, nenávisti a v neposlední řadě i o zradě... v různých časových rovinách se prolínají... Prozrazovat více by už znamenalo prozrazovat samotný děj.
Evangelium podle Jidáše nepochybně stojí za pozornost i díky literárnímu stylu. Místy se sice může zdát, že je maličko zdlouhavý a autor zbytečně mnohoslovný, v závěru ale pochopíme, že vše mělo svůj smysl a své místo.
Knihu vydalo nakladatelství Kniha Zlín.
www.z-kultury-i-nekultury.blogspot.com
January 26, 2022
'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen . . .'
Simon Mawer weaves a compelling story, using the premise of a conventional "Da Vinci Code"-type thriller to tell a more introspective tale of guilt and betrayal in which a priest burdened with secrets of his own wrestles with a crisis of faith.
At the heart of "The Gospel of Judas", there is a controversial scroll allegedly authored by the disgraced disciple himself, the contents of which could have explosive consequences for the Christian Church. However, those expecting a conventional thriller with a high-stakes race against the clock are likely to be disappointed. Instead, Mawer is more concerned with how such a scenario might play out more plausibly, with political agendas, petty intrigues and plain human cynicism shaping the outcome. In this sense, Mawer seems to be thumbing his nose at the religious-thriller genre, preferring to show us how everyday human drama eclipses even a potentially diabolical revelation.
As someone who really enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" when it first came out, I also completely recognize how implausible Robert Langdon and his escapades are. So I appreciate and understand what Mawer is trying to do here. However, despite its many cliches and somewhat illogical twists, "The Da Vinci Code" was great fun to read. And while Mawer's novel is decidedly more believable in its conclusion, it also is a great deal more grim and anti-climactic.
However, even though it all ends on something of a whimper, Mawer's prose is nonetheless hypnotic and layered. And it is the reason I was compelled to finish this novel, entranced by his ability to conjure a vivid picture with uncanny ease, whether he is unspooling a tormented memory for the protagonist or describing a wife's conflicted desire for another man or simply recreating the sunlight over a Roman cityscape or a clandestine drive across the Judean desert.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
Simon Mawer weaves a compelling story, using the premise of a conventional "Da Vinci Code"-type thriller to tell a more introspective tale of guilt and betrayal in which a priest burdened with secrets of his own wrestles with a crisis of faith.
At the heart of "The Gospel of Judas", there is a controversial scroll allegedly authored by the disgraced disciple himself, the contents of which could have explosive consequences for the Christian Church. However, those expecting a conventional thriller with a high-stakes race against the clock are likely to be disappointed. Instead, Mawer is more concerned with how such a scenario might play out more plausibly, with political agendas, petty intrigues and plain human cynicism shaping the outcome. In this sense, Mawer seems to be thumbing his nose at the religious-thriller genre, preferring to show us how everyday human drama eclipses even a potentially diabolical revelation.
As someone who really enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" when it first came out, I also completely recognize how implausible Robert Langdon and his escapades are. So I appreciate and understand what Mawer is trying to do here. However, despite its many cliches and somewhat illogical twists, "The Da Vinci Code" was great fun to read. And while Mawer's novel is decidedly more believable in its conclusion, it also is a great deal more grim and anti-climactic.
However, even though it all ends on something of a whimper, Mawer's prose is nonetheless hypnotic and layered. And it is the reason I was compelled to finish this novel, entranced by his ability to conjure a vivid picture with uncanny ease, whether he is unspooling a tormented memory for the protagonist or describing a wife's conflicted desire for another man or simply recreating the sunlight over a Roman cityscape or a clandestine drive across the Judean desert.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
March 24, 2014
This novel is extraordinary in the way it combines different themes and different time periods together. A scroll written by the biblical Judas is discovered near the Dead Sea, while on the other hand, Leo Newman, a Catholic priest, is going through the greatest dilemma in his life. He needs to choose between having faith in God and falling in love with a married woman, Madeleine. What will he eventually choose and in whom will he seek comfort? Will his decision be the end of him or the end of her? Will Catholic faith come to an end with the discovery of the gospel of Judas? The novel is very intriguing and thought-provoking because the crisis and the transformation that Leo Newman goes through, reflects how people may react if the Biblical story of Jesus is told from a different viewpoint. The irony is that while studying the newly-discovered gospel of Judas, Leo could become the new Judas of his time.
May 18, 2015
Asi jsem zklamaná. Nebyl to ten Mawer, kterého bych čekala. Příběh byl zajímavý jen z tak z poloviny, maličko se to tváří jako brownovina, ale vlastně ani trochu, když se začtete. Hlavní hrdina mi moc nepřirostl k srdci, jeho věčné potácení se kolem osobních problémů mě nebavilo a vlastně mi bylo jedno, co se mu odehrávalo v hlavě a životě. Potíže duchovního s přikázáními, hlavně s tím, které káže nesesmilníš, židovské jméno a pochybný původ vedoucí až do nacistického Německa, k tomu navrch podivné dětství. A do toho objev svitku s Jidášovým svědectvím, které má křesťanskou víru obrátit vzhůru nohama... blah. Některé pasáže byly tak špatně čitelné a blbě formulované, že to možná bylo maličko i překladem.
May 17, 2007
A fantastic, three-tiered novel about the conflict between duty and passion -- all this unfolding amidst the discovery of the oldest text in christian history that may just make the entire religion irrelevant. Although Mawer would most likely cringe at hearing this, think of it as The Da Vinci Code for the more invested fiction-reader and with much more grandiose socio-political implications (if it were true, which it is not).
November 12, 2012
Some really poor reviews of this which had me worried but I don't know what they are on! Perhaps they were hoping for a Da Vinci Code - which of course this is not.
To me this was great - combining a pacy and thrilling adventure with plenty of depth and well-handled reflection. And nice to see some of Mawer's preoccupations getting attention. He can do no wrong for me, I shall track down the other titles I haven't yet read.
To me this was great - combining a pacy and thrilling adventure with plenty of depth and well-handled reflection. And nice to see some of Mawer's preoccupations getting attention. He can do no wrong for me, I shall track down the other titles I haven't yet read.
December 8, 2009
I didn't like this. It wasn't dreadful but honestly I couldn't decide between a 2 and a 3. Since it was readable enough, I erred on the 3 side. The time jumps didn't work for me. The love affairs didn't have any reality to them kind of like when you're watching a movie in which the two romantic leads have no chemistry.
October 2, 2021
This isn’t the actual copy that I read, but it’s the closest in page numbers, so…
A good but ultimately disappointing book because of how good it could’ve been. This is actually three different major plot lines in one, which is the European rage, but not always successful. It wasn’t here because it was too pedantic and too distant. The writing tone is one of distance.
A priest is fighting with his faith long before he meets an unbalanced wife of a friend. Their relationship tips him, and her, over. Plus there’s a plot about the supposedly earth-shattering (it isn’t) Book of Judas, which supposedly could shake Christianity to its core (it didn’t, and it won’t). And there’s the story of the priest’s mother's love affair, and yet another of the priest, post-Judas deciphering. This last resonates with the main plot line of the scroll and the priest’s affair, and would’ve been more than enough.
Another big problem is that the real Book of Judas simply isn’t explosive. It’s a Gnostic text, a little earlier than many, so it’s older than maybe most of the Nag Hammaddi scrolls, and maybe a hundred years after the gospels. This book says the Book of Judas is older than the gospels, and therefore a more accurate firsthand account, but sadly this isn’t so. The excerpts threaded into the novel are interesting enough, and maybe would’ve been more explosive had they been all the Book of Judas was. But they’re not. Like most Gnostic stuff, the real Book of Judas uses the biblical personage as a character, and is not meant to be believed to be literally written by Judas. It also describes the Jesus that mirrors a lot of the Gnostic stuff: Jesus as comic book superhero, who can fly and punch out the bad guys, etc. Jesus is also second fiddle to Seth, from the OT, and Jesus is seen to be more of a spirit being, more of a pnuema, more of a flower child, hippie culture figure. Plainly put, the Book of Judas is not meant to be canonical, nor is it meant to refute the canon. It’s an apple to those oranges.
The woman the priest tosses aside his celibacy for is another problem. Frankly, she ain’t nice, and is not described as physically alluring, though the priest does lust after her. His belief had already been on such loose ground that the reader feels she was just the one at the time to finish its unraveling. That would’ve happened anyway. His relationship with Magda, which is really a long epilogue interspersed in the narrative, feels like a more honest love, though he seems like such a different character by then that it doesn’t quite work. Of course, the point is that he is a different guy by then, but again he seems that way without her. He doesn’t become a different guy, the redeemed, because of her. He kinda already is. This part works the best of any of the subplots, so that the illicit affair, the bomb of the Book of Judas (literally and figuratively) and the redeeming relationship with Magda would’ve done well enough here.
The subplot of the mother of the priest, Newman (the name is not subtle), is as much of an interspersed prologue as his relationship with Magda was interspersed epilogue. It’s too much. (Caveat: my job has been stressful this week and I’m fighting an allergy or cold situation, so my focus isn’t what it normally is. But still…) I get the mirroring the story tries to create, but it doesn’t work and it’s too much. Maybe all of these could’ve worked with a better organization of the chapters, but I’m thinking No. Just too much.
And can an excommunicated priest still be the only Christian scholar of such a possibly explosive text? And what’s he doing working alone at all? I’ve read a lot of, and a lot about, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and it seems that there should be a dozen or more people, elbow-to-elbow, researching that scroll.
So, ultimately, the writing tone is too distant, too dispassionate. The overall story is too busy and sometimes muddled. And yet it was a good read. It just could’ve been, and should’ve been, so much better.
A good but ultimately disappointing book because of how good it could’ve been. This is actually three different major plot lines in one, which is the European rage, but not always successful. It wasn’t here because it was too pedantic and too distant. The writing tone is one of distance.
A priest is fighting with his faith long before he meets an unbalanced wife of a friend. Their relationship tips him, and her, over. Plus there’s a plot about the supposedly earth-shattering (it isn’t) Book of Judas, which supposedly could shake Christianity to its core (it didn’t, and it won’t). And there’s the story of the priest’s mother's love affair, and yet another of the priest, post-Judas deciphering. This last resonates with the main plot line of the scroll and the priest’s affair, and would’ve been more than enough.
Another big problem is that the real Book of Judas simply isn’t explosive. It’s a Gnostic text, a little earlier than many, so it’s older than maybe most of the Nag Hammaddi scrolls, and maybe a hundred years after the gospels. This book says the Book of Judas is older than the gospels, and therefore a more accurate firsthand account, but sadly this isn’t so. The excerpts threaded into the novel are interesting enough, and maybe would’ve been more explosive had they been all the Book of Judas was. But they’re not. Like most Gnostic stuff, the real Book of Judas uses the biblical personage as a character, and is not meant to be believed to be literally written by Judas. It also describes the Jesus that mirrors a lot of the Gnostic stuff: Jesus as comic book superhero, who can fly and punch out the bad guys, etc. Jesus is also second fiddle to Seth, from the OT, and Jesus is seen to be more of a spirit being, more of a pnuema, more of a flower child, hippie culture figure. Plainly put, the Book of Judas is not meant to be canonical, nor is it meant to refute the canon. It’s an apple to those oranges.
The woman the priest tosses aside his celibacy for is another problem. Frankly, she ain’t nice, and is not described as physically alluring, though the priest does lust after her. His belief had already been on such loose ground that the reader feels she was just the one at the time to finish its unraveling. That would’ve happened anyway. His relationship with Magda, which is really a long epilogue interspersed in the narrative, feels like a more honest love, though he seems like such a different character by then that it doesn’t quite work. Of course, the point is that he is a different guy by then, but again he seems that way without her. He doesn’t become a different guy, the redeemed, because of her. He kinda already is. This part works the best of any of the subplots, so that the illicit affair, the bomb of the Book of Judas (literally and figuratively) and the redeeming relationship with Magda would’ve done well enough here.
The subplot of the mother of the priest, Newman (the name is not subtle), is as much of an interspersed prologue as his relationship with Magda was interspersed epilogue. It’s too much. (Caveat: my job has been stressful this week and I’m fighting an allergy or cold situation, so my focus isn’t what it normally is. But still…) I get the mirroring the story tries to create, but it doesn’t work and it’s too much. Maybe all of these could’ve worked with a better organization of the chapters, but I’m thinking No. Just too much.
And can an excommunicated priest still be the only Christian scholar of such a possibly explosive text? And what’s he doing working alone at all? I’ve read a lot of, and a lot about, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and it seems that there should be a dozen or more people, elbow-to-elbow, researching that scroll.
So, ultimately, the writing tone is too distant, too dispassionate. The overall story is too busy and sometimes muddled. And yet it was a good read. It just could’ve been, and should’ve been, so much better.
January 10, 2021
This was a truly great story that takes place between Rome, Jerusalem and a bit in London. What a page-turner -- I can't remember when I last read 330 pages in less than 2 days. The narrator, a fallen priest, is a very sympathetic character with struggles that draw you in as he grapples with loneliness as he manages the past to continue living. The two main women characters (both lovers of his) were for me much less compelling, though Madaleine's sheer intensity is grippingly described.
Even more evocative, however, are the passages revealing his own origins as an illegitimate child, and the horrifying and tragic choices his mother made as she ended the liaison with her Italian lover during wartime. These flashback chapters were for me, perhaps more enjoyable even than the other threads of the book, and the memories of outings to various Roman sites (i.e. the Palatine) were brilliantly described in feeling and splendor.
Amid this maze of feelings and inner geography a mysterious scroll recently unearthed, purportedly written by Judas Iscariot. The question hanging throughout the painstaking study of the scroll's meaning is... what would become of Christianity if Jesus had not risen on the third day, as accepted scriptures dictate? An intriguing but haunting question that hangs like a mist over the story.
A few fragments of the extraordinary beauty of Mawer's writing:
The metamorphosis of a relationship is a mysterious thing, much too mysterious for a simple naming. One may interpret it in retrospect... but at the time, in time, there is no thread, is there? And whereas acquaintance may be shared with others, friendship is an exclusive thing, with its own cryptic dimensions, its own assonance. p. 42
It's the hope that is so distressing. A fait accompli, a certainty, the inexorable and contingent hand of fate, that's easier to deal with. Hope is the destroyer of things. p. 190
The city of the dead lies behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura... and has a street map and bylaws... quarters, districts, zones names for the inhabitants... She crossed herself at the gates of the city... she is an artist and she understands such places. The place will live again under her pen and ink and brushes and pain: the dead will awaken... p.193
He watched the light fade and the stars begin to come out of the hills and the city, stars whose names he did not know cast in patterns he could only half recognize. Rigel, Sirius, Antares; the pagan past still riding high over the present. He felt the solitude of the stars and the awful emptiness of space. p.262
Even more evocative, however, are the passages revealing his own origins as an illegitimate child, and the horrifying and tragic choices his mother made as she ended the liaison with her Italian lover during wartime. These flashback chapters were for me, perhaps more enjoyable even than the other threads of the book, and the memories of outings to various Roman sites (i.e. the Palatine) were brilliantly described in feeling and splendor.
Amid this maze of feelings and inner geography a mysterious scroll recently unearthed, purportedly written by Judas Iscariot. The question hanging throughout the painstaking study of the scroll's meaning is... what would become of Christianity if Jesus had not risen on the third day, as accepted scriptures dictate? An intriguing but haunting question that hangs like a mist over the story.
A few fragments of the extraordinary beauty of Mawer's writing:
The metamorphosis of a relationship is a mysterious thing, much too mysterious for a simple naming. One may interpret it in retrospect... but at the time, in time, there is no thread, is there? And whereas acquaintance may be shared with others, friendship is an exclusive thing, with its own cryptic dimensions, its own assonance. p. 42
It's the hope that is so distressing. A fait accompli, a certainty, the inexorable and contingent hand of fate, that's easier to deal with. Hope is the destroyer of things. p. 190
The city of the dead lies behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura... and has a street map and bylaws... quarters, districts, zones names for the inhabitants... She crossed herself at the gates of the city... she is an artist and she understands such places. The place will live again under her pen and ink and brushes and pain: the dead will awaken... p.193
He watched the light fade and the stars begin to come out of the hills and the city, stars whose names he did not know cast in patterns he could only half recognize. Rigel, Sirius, Antares; the pagan past still riding high over the present. He felt the solitude of the stars and the awful emptiness of space. p.262
December 17, 2022
When I first came across this book, my immediate impression was "It's just another copy-cat, Dan-Brownish, Christianity-debunking, conspiracy thriller".
Boy, was I wrong!
Yes, there are Da Vinci Code elements (with the atmosphere and theme of the Antonio Banderas movie, 'The Body'), but there is so much more beneath its stereotypical surface.
It begins in the stuffy confines of a Vatican confessional, where Father Leo Newman listens to the awkward, giggly confession of an anonymous woman. Little does he know that this random encounter will be one of two radically life-changing episodes for him. The other is the discovery, and his subsequent translation of, a first century scroll pertaining to be the eye-witness account of the infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot: a "Gospel" that claims the Resurrection never occurred. Mixed into this scenario are flashbacks of a Nazi diplomat's wife having an affair with her son's mentor, a young Jewish Italian man. To make it more intriguing and a little discombobulating, there are flashfowards of Leo Newman's future/present life narrated in First Person. All these at-first-glance unrelated threads are eventually knitted together into an open-ended, cliff-hanger-like finale. A climax that offers what the fictional eponymous gospel denies, "a kind of resurrection... atonement".
History, language, etymology, archaeology, religion, politics... The vast and unfathomable human existential experience of love, adultery, betrayal, truth, identity, faith, doubt, guilt, death, grief, memory, loss and loneliness are all played out superbly in Simon Mawer's mellifluous, magnificently phrased prose.
Lyrical, life-attuned, splendidly researched, this convincingly-written, exceptionally atmospheric, impressionistic and engrossing novel was slightly confusing and slow-burning in the first half; but picked up steam and held my reading interest and intrigue captive all the way to the bitterly withheld end. I grew to be fond of and attached to the tragic figure of Leo Newman, sharing in and being absorbed by the pathos of his thoughts and emotions as his fate followed its seemingly nihilistic path/pilgrimage (back and forth between Rome and Jerusalem, and a stint in London).
This book (even with it's unfortunate, occasional typos) truly made an impression on me; so much so that I didn't want the book to end and took my sweet time to finish it. I hope my 2nd Mawer novel won't be a let down after this 5 star-rated one.
Boy, was I wrong!
Yes, there are Da Vinci Code elements (with the atmosphere and theme of the Antonio Banderas movie, 'The Body'), but there is so much more beneath its stereotypical surface.
It begins in the stuffy confines of a Vatican confessional, where Father Leo Newman listens to the awkward, giggly confession of an anonymous woman. Little does he know that this random encounter will be one of two radically life-changing episodes for him. The other is the discovery, and his subsequent translation of, a first century scroll pertaining to be the eye-witness account of the infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot: a "Gospel" that claims the Resurrection never occurred. Mixed into this scenario are flashbacks of a Nazi diplomat's wife having an affair with her son's mentor, a young Jewish Italian man. To make it more intriguing and a little discombobulating, there are flashfowards of Leo Newman's future/present life narrated in First Person. All these at-first-glance unrelated threads are eventually knitted together into an open-ended, cliff-hanger-like finale. A climax that offers what the fictional eponymous gospel denies, "a kind of resurrection... atonement".
History, language, etymology, archaeology, religion, politics... The vast and unfathomable human existential experience of love, adultery, betrayal, truth, identity, faith, doubt, guilt, death, grief, memory, loss and loneliness are all played out superbly in Simon Mawer's mellifluous, magnificently phrased prose.
Lyrical, life-attuned, splendidly researched, this convincingly-written, exceptionally atmospheric, impressionistic and engrossing novel was slightly confusing and slow-burning in the first half; but picked up steam and held my reading interest and intrigue captive all the way to the bitterly withheld end. I grew to be fond of and attached to the tragic figure of Leo Newman, sharing in and being absorbed by the pathos of his thoughts and emotions as his fate followed its seemingly nihilistic path/pilgrimage (back and forth between Rome and Jerusalem, and a stint in London).
This book (even with it's unfortunate, occasional typos) truly made an impression on me; so much so that I didn't want the book to end and took my sweet time to finish it. I hope my 2nd Mawer novel won't be a let down after this 5 star-rated one.
March 7, 2019
The Gospel of Judas felt like dream fragments of emotionally crippled characters. I had to let go of knowing and drop into sensing who, what, when, and how. Reading Mawer is always a very good experience for me, the terrain different in each with the prevailing WWII background. The attraction and culmination between women and men reminded me of DH Lawrence, albeit Lawrence Light.
Knowing his later books, Judas is a compilation of seedlings dropped to grow into his full blossomed books during the following twenty years. It's a sense of small plates not the main course, yet satisfying. Mawer is gifted in presenting emotionally bankrupt characters who create emotion in the reader. If we are willing to express/experience the emotions for them.
He subtly shows the very fragile foundaton/structure of Christianity, the unsteady vagaries of romantic and maternal love, and the disappointments of human souls. I repeatedly remembered Nietzsche: "Hope is the greatest evil of mankind."
Knowing his later books, Judas is a compilation of seedlings dropped to grow into his full blossomed books during the following twenty years. It's a sense of small plates not the main course, yet satisfying. Mawer is gifted in presenting emotionally bankrupt characters who create emotion in the reader. If we are willing to express/experience the emotions for them.
He subtly shows the very fragile foundaton/structure of Christianity, the unsteady vagaries of romantic and maternal love, and the disappointments of human souls. I repeatedly remembered Nietzsche: "Hope is the greatest evil of mankind."
November 16, 2020
Este livro é algo complexo e confesso que cheguei a sentir-me um pouco confuso quando dava início a cada uma das 3 linhas narrativas... No entanto, obviamente que à medida que vamos avançando nas diferentes
Não consegui entender o porquê de juntar a linha narrativa de 1943 à história como um conjunto... Penso que Simon Mawer a quis incorporar para criar um efeito surpresa que acaba por acontecer mais à frente... No entanto, a verdade é que não me parece que essa linha narrativa faça grande diferença nas restantes. Está bem escrita e não deixa de ter o seu interesse . Desnecessariamente complexo...
Em todo o caso, gostei bastante de ler este livro. Não me desiludiu. Li-o porque anteriormente tinha lido A Sala de Vidro e gostara bastante do estilo do autor. Este livro não desiludiu.
Não consegui entender o porquê de juntar a linha narrativa de 1943 à história como um conjunto... Penso que Simon Mawer a quis incorporar para criar um efeito surpresa que acaba por acontecer mais à frente... No entanto, a verdade é que não me parece que essa linha narrativa faça grande diferença nas restantes. Está bem escrita e não deixa de ter o seu interesse . Desnecessariamente complexo...
Em todo o caso, gostei bastante de ler este livro. Não me desiludiu. Li-o porque anteriormente tinha lido A Sala de Vidro e gostara bastante do estilo do autor. Este livro não desiludiu.
August 16, 2022
Different
Surprisingly I did enjoy this book despite the fact that the themes contained copious details of religion, Egyptology, depression and suicide. The main protagonist is a priest who is battling with his conscience over an illicit love affair and at the same time a crisis of faith, both of which have a profound effect on him and throw him into utter turmoil. Parallel to his present day story is the one of his haunting childhood which continually haunts him. The writing is, as always, wonderfully insightful which kept me in suspense and totally absorbed. I don’t imagine for one minute that Simon Mawer was once a lapsed catholic priest, or an expert on ancient Egyptian scrolls so his depth of knowledge and research is amazing. It is a book of love and loss and one I won’t forget.
Surprisingly I did enjoy this book despite the fact that the themes contained copious details of religion, Egyptology, depression and suicide. The main protagonist is a priest who is battling with his conscience over an illicit love affair and at the same time a crisis of faith, both of which have a profound effect on him and throw him into utter turmoil. Parallel to his present day story is the one of his haunting childhood which continually haunts him. The writing is, as always, wonderfully insightful which kept me in suspense and totally absorbed. I don’t imagine for one minute that Simon Mawer was once a lapsed catholic priest, or an expert on ancient Egyptian scrolls so his depth of knowledge and research is amazing. It is a book of love and loss and one I won’t forget.
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