Judas by Damian Walford Davies

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Judas is a powerful point for reflection. This collection of poems plays with the many emotions that are found within his life. Some recall clearly identifiable moments in the Gospels, other more oblique.

Here is an example:

Anointing

It would have fetched

a ransom, but he let her

smash the alabaster jar

and daub him

till his hair was seek.

and the whole house rash

with musk. All I smelt

was ready cash dispersing

from his oil-slick flesh.

When she bent

to smear his feet, I lost it -

slapped the potsherd

from her hand.

He shot up, shimmering.

Foreheads locked, we synched

our breath. It was kissing,

almost. I think

I was the first to break.

Flannery O'Connor's Complete Stories

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There was a small reference to one of Flannery O'Connor's stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, and in particular the line “She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” - although I can't remember the context of the reference now...

O'Connor writes about the American South, writing, mainly, during the 1950s & 1960s, what were at the time broadly contemporary tales. As such many of her characters have attitudes about race that are totally unacceptable to modern ears, but O'Connor gives them voice only for them to pour ridicule onto themselves.

I found that while the these stories are short I was not able to read more than a couple at a time, in part because the writing is dense and rich, but also because the central characters are often far from likeable. She observes human nature so well, but it is the bitterness and small mindedness that comes to the fore.

This is mostly the context for their racism, they seek any small “advantage” on which to claim superiority – they will equal take the tiny distinctions of class, what makes them “respectable” or a cut above the masses.

While these are stories of a different era, and many of the distinctions that are important to the characters have faded into irrelevance (although perhaps that it is less than certain in the case of race), the mindset endures, the distinctions may have changed but people still find plenty of ways to reassure themselves that they are better than the rest.

There is a powerful authenticity about the characters, and I think that is what makes them a challenging read – if they were more outlandish caricatures then you could stand back and laugh. But instead O'Connor draws you in, holds up a mirror to society, and it is perhaps a little too close for comfort.

There is often a moral to the tale, but while there is lesson set before them the characters seem only occasionally to learn from it. Redemption is a pretty rare commodity in O'Connor's world – and maybe it is the painful truth that it is rare in our world too...

Until Our Blood is Dry by Kit Habianic

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The Miners Strike is a moment filled with such passion that it needs, deserves, fiction of the highest quality in order to stand by its own inherent power.

It also remains a divisive moment – the way its shadow falls across the current contest for leadership of the Labour party is but one expression of that. And to be able to address it without taking sides is not easy. Habianic is not writing a political account, and yet this is one of those subjects where any comment is political.

It is a story of a mining community – it is a “grass roots” vision of the time of the strike. Both the Government and the Union Leaders are remote from this narrative – their battle and the battle for, and within, this community while they co-exist seem to essentially to be separate.

It tries to bear honest witness to those within that community who find themselves on both sides – the strikers and the “scabs”. It gives an insight into why some of those within that community did not strike, their motivation is not selfish, they believed it was the only way to save the pit, and to save the community (this is given as the genuine the motivation of the local management – any cynical manipulation of the strike is ascribed significantly higher up the chain of command). While others are subjected to blackmail, one to avoid disclosure of his sexuality – in a mid-80s mining community better a scab than a poof?

All of this provides a rich and vivid backdrop for what is at heart a Romeo and Juliet tale – which might sound like a criticism but it is not intended that way. It is a tale of love, there is the central couple, “Red” and “Scrapper”, but they are surrounded by others, relationships under pressure, relationships crumbing under pressure and relationships at best almost surviving. None of these are fairy tales, they are authentic, messy, hard tales of love – love that endures and love that just is not enough.

It is a novel that managed to get under my skin – it is a couple of months since I finished it and yet it is still very fresh in my mind.

To End All Wars – The Graphic anthology of The First World War

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This collection, sold in aid of Medecins Sans Frontieres, tells a wide range of stories from the First World War.

There is something about the use of the “Graphic Novel”, or comic strip, format that creates a different kind of engagement with what is in many respects familiar material. Also the fact that there are many different contributors, and so the visual styles of the stories varies also helps to heighten the immediacy of the encounter.

These are short stories, but in most there is still a significant depth of characterisation. The is an energy to the stories that draws you into the centre of the action.

The majority of the stories focus on participants from the “Allied” side of the conflict, however this is a non-partisan collection, and when the focus is on a “German” story it is included on equal terms.

There is a strong anti-war (or at least anti-this-war) message throughout the collection. The First World War is seen as wasteful, and the leaders on both sides are shown as fools – it is very much in the “lions lead by donkeys” school of thought. Published in 2014, the introduction makes it clear that it is a deliberate counter narrative to the mythologising of the First World War that is currently surrounding much of the commemoration of its centenary. As such it would whole heartedly reject the views Gordon Corrigan advanced in “Mud, Blood and Poppycock” (which I read in Dec 2014).

But as with so much in life I tend to the view that the “truth” is somewhere in the middle – I certainly found so of Corrigan's attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of the Military Establishment were over stating the evidence, but there was much that he argued that seemed valid. In the same way I would I subscribe to the majority of the narrative here in “To End All Wars” - but again there were times when you got the feeling that facts were being shoehorned into an agenda.

While in terms of content there was no great revelation here, I think the mode and medium of the presentation make this deserving of a part on the ever more crowded shelf of First World War narratives.

Being Christian by Rowan Williams

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This is a short but punchy book, the kind of thing that Rowan Williams does so well. There is a poetic sensibility to his writing, which captures the beauty of the ideas he is exploring.

Although it is split into chapters on Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, and Prayer I found that it is the Eucharist that seems to run through it all as the unify thread. It is an understanding of the Eucharist that has the riches of the sacramental understandings that come from the “Catholic” traditions but with the simplicity and accessibility that come perhaps more readily from “Reformed” traditions. It is always a “both/and” approach that appeals to me.

At one point I thought his words could easily be used as the liturgical invitation to Communion:

Come... “not because we are doing well, but because we are doing badly. Not because we have arrived, but because we are travelling. Not because we are right, but because we are confused... Not because we are divine, but because we are human. Not because we are full, but because we are hungry.”

I think there is also an important theme about not getting to decide who are travelling companions are, which must be wisdom from his truculent times at Canterbury – but also honesty that this stuff is easy to say but harder to live – for example he recalls that “ the transforming effect of looking at other Christians as people whose company God wants, is – by the look of things – still sinking in for a lot of Christians, and taking rather a long time...”

One hopes that we will continue to receive these gifts from Rowan Williams pen for many years to come.

The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch

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This was referenced in another book I recently read, and as it is a while since I last read any Murdoch I decided to get it out from the library.

This tale has most of the classic Murdoch elements, there is a lot on angst-ridden struggling with identity, the pressures of society's expectations colliding with the (mostly sexual) desires of the various characters.

All this was good, and made for an enjoyable read, but compared with some of her true classics, such as The Bell, this didn't quiet spark to the same level of intensity. But that is as much a compliment of her other works as it is any criticism of this one.

Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith Edited by Crome & McGrath

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There is still often a tendency to dismiss television as a serious medium, but this is clearly foolish – it is a powerful cultural phenomenon – it holds the greatest audience, even with the increasing numbers of channels and new competition for attention with social media.

Therefore it is right to reflect on Dr Who, it has a long running place in many British hearts, and when it speaks of matters of faith it speaks to far greater numbers than the Church.

As a collection of essays some spoke to me, others didn't (in part because I have not really seen much “classic” Dr Who, it was taken off the air just at the point when I reached the age to start watching).

Some of the most interesting reflections were those that compared the treatments of faith in different eras of Dr Who. There have been subtle and yet profound shifts – it is clear that the most recent stories have a much less comfortable relationship with faith – and yet ideas about the power of belief remain core to many of the narratives, but that power is as often corrupt as it is life affirming.

The status of the Doctor is clearly another key point to examine – there are times when there is a strong Messianic role placed on the Doctor, often by others but at times the Doctor seems to position himself in this way. This relationship is unresolved – as so many questions within Dr Who tend to be.

I am no Dr Who fanatic but I was still able to engage with these essays and find much of interest.