Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by moon110581
The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber
3.0
In the list of the Canongate Myths (this is #12), The Fire Gospel is listed as a story of Prometheus. In a very weird modern way I guess it is, but it also delves into Christianity and Judaism, the crucifixion, the intensity of people's faiths and beliefs, amazon reviews, and the publishing industry.
I like Michael Faber as a writer and am very fond of his Victorian epic the Crimson Petal and the White. I found this story very engaging. The protagonist, however, was the worst. It was a very masculine story, centered around a self - involved, mansplaining, jazz - listening, misogynist who stole ancient scrolls from a destroyed Iraqi museum and translated them into a book, The Fifth Gospel. The book challenged people's beliefs, their views on the crucifixion, and stirred up fanatics and extremists who inevitably kidnap him and tie him to a chair.
The knowledge in this new gospel that's presented to the world would be the fire Prometheus gave to humanity, and the chair the protagonist is tied to is the rock Prometheus is chained to. The rest is a bit of a hard sell, and there's something about the story that doesn't work as well as it should. Maybe I just hated the hyper - toxic-masculinity of the protagonist that influenced the feel of the whole story.
I like Michael Faber as a writer and am very fond of his Victorian epic the Crimson Petal and the White. I found this story very engaging. The protagonist, however, was the worst. It was a very masculine story, centered around a self - involved, mansplaining, jazz - listening, misogynist who stole ancient scrolls from a destroyed Iraqi museum and translated them into a book, The Fifth Gospel. The book challenged people's beliefs, their views on the crucifixion, and stirred up fanatics and extremists who inevitably kidnap him and tie him to a chair.
The knowledge in this new gospel that's presented to the world would be the fire Prometheus gave to humanity, and the chair the protagonist is tied to is the rock Prometheus is chained to. The rest is a bit of a hard sell, and there's something about the story that doesn't work as well as it should. Maybe I just hated the hyper - toxic-masculinity of the protagonist that influenced the feel of the whole story.