And so I am insisting on my right to imagine how she might have spoken on a given day. And also, I am a citizen of the European Union and indeed I am in the United States at the moment where the freedom to imagine and publish is one of the things we have all worked for over a number of centuries. “On the other hand, a book is closed you have to open it to read it. “I do realize that this is not ideal if you pray to the Virgin Mary, as a lot of people do, or if you worship her,” he says. That said, Toibin knows his Mary may not sit well with some Christians. I’m concentrating entirely on the tone and texture of this woman’s voice on this particular day.” But those large questions over what’s right or wrong, or over should things have happened one way or the other really don’t interest me. “I am interested only in her voice and what somebody like her might have said had the time arisen 20 years after the Crucifixion to speak for once. Toibin leaves the most important questions unanswered: Did he cure the sick? Raise the dead? Turn water into wine? Mary only hears stories. Instead, Mary calls him “my son” or “him” or even “the one who was here.” Part of this is her pain - she cannot bear to say the name - but part of it is also a refusal to contribute to the narrative of the man named Jesus Christ. Most expressively, the name “Jesus” is never used - not once. And, as in the Gospels, understatement and implication are used to great effect. Much of the elegance of this novella comes from its language, which is poetic but spare, much like cryptic music of the Gospels. And, having seen the Crucifixion, the Mother of God tells the apostles: “I can tell you now, when you say that he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it.” The work is pointedly not called a gospel - good news - but a testament - a giving witness to, an attestation. Growing up, he says, “there was no word for it,” and he describes his feelings as “absolute confusion.” It was after meeting an openly gay friend at university, he explains, that “I moved very gingerly from between being a very conservative boy from a small town and being out with some friends.” It was around this time, too, that Toibin acknowledged his homosexuality. “I suppose I had been moving toward it without knowing,” Toibin tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross, “but, yeah, it went very quickly.” This changed upon his arrival at university, however, when exposure to new people and ideas soon led him to lose his faith. Toibin grew up Catholic and, for a time, considered joining the priesthood. She is struggling to understand why some people believe Jesus is the son of God, and weighed down by the guilt she feels wondering what she might have done differently to alter - or ease - her son’s fate. In his new novel, The Testament of Mary, Irish writer Colm Toibin imagines Mary’s life 20 years after the crucifixion. Here are some of the pertinent bits of information, gleaned from the ever-informative NPR pieces: What is Tolbin’s gimmick? And, yes, it is a gimmick, no matter how literate, thoughtful, deep, anguished, and intellectual NPR tries to make it sound. I’m not sure how many NPR pieces there are about the Pope’s new book, but I doubt it’s more than three, at the very most. No, make that: NPR really loves it! There was a very sympathetic November 13th feature, “‘Testament Of Mary’ Gives Fiery Voice To The Virgin”, then a glowing November 14th review, “A Vengeful Virgin In ‘The Testament Of Mary'”, then an excerpt from the book, and (finally, for now) an interview with Toibin, “A New ‘Testament’ Told From Mary’s Point Of View”, posted today.
Sure, National Public Radio did not publish novelist Colm Toibin’s novella, The Testament Of Mary it was published last month by Scribner.
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