Bought a book today...

[avevale_intelligencer]

...which might appeal to some of my friends. It's called the Gospel Of The Second Coming, the authors' names are Freke and Gandy, and it's apparently a follow-up to several more serious works in which they disprove the existence of the historical Jesus. Since the world has signally failed, in the wake of these other volumes, to abandon the false doctrine of Literalist Christianity, they seem to have decided to have another go, and this time play it for laughs.

Unfortunately, within the first few pages they manage to come across as smug gits of the first water, with many a gleeful gibe at "people who don't think" and "people who have no sense of humour," i.e. the ordinary religious person. You all know how I feel about that kind of thing. The fact that they also can't write dialogue, don't know what a joke is, and have sadly fallen victim to what one might call Atheling's Syndrome*--the reflexive and obsessive avoidance of the word "said"--just adds that little extra fillip of irritation to a book that was already going to be irritating enough.

The book was remaindered at £3.99 in Superbookdeals in Trowbridge. If you're interested, it's a hardback with a bright orange cover and a matching cloth bookmark, and is printed in a nice readable font of a size that even the Countess could manage. Shame really. I know of dozens of better books that would have benefited from that kind of treatment.

Guess I'll be reading something else.

*Named, of course, for the critic who identified it, rather than the first sufferer, who is probably lost in the mists of Tim.

Comments

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Smugness is inexcusable in people who revel in their own lack of intelligence. It's objectionable enough in others, but these...

Probably had big print to disguise the fact they had nothing of worth to say.

And you're right - it's a shame that things which are worth publishing aren't treated so well.

[gingicat]

Clearly they've never read the Talmud, where Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph, that dangerous radical, does indeed get mentioned...

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

No, they think your religion's history is all myth as well. I did actually get through to the end of it, and it seems to be an ineptly subversive attempt to disguise atheism as Gnosticism and thus appeal to people who want the religious experience without all that tiresome belief business. With bad jokes.