In Stemmle’s novel, the first black pope appoints a seemingly ordinary, long-married Catholic American couple to promote a worldwide interfaith peace initiative.
This Roman Catholic what-if isn’t as somber (and long) as Morris West’s best-seller of yesteryear Shoes of the Fisherman (1963), though folks with long memories may find some parallels. One distinction: Stemmle revisits the long-married, sexually active senior couple Don and Deb from his Geezer Sex!...A Love Story (2014), here on a very different mission. In the near future, the death of a (post-Francis) pope inspires the Vatican hierarchy to announce the surprise election of the first African pontiff, former Cardinal Peter Mbuti of Nigeria. Liberal-minded churchgoers and laity activists Deb and Don impressed Mbuti during an encounter earlier in his ministry. Now, using his papal authority, earthy, unpretentious Peter—who swears and munches junk food and admits he doesn’t really know what he’s doing in this new job—summons the two Americans to Rome. There, “Pope Nobody,” as he comes to call himself, orders the two to use their knack for communication and bridge-building in an interfaith effort to unite representatives in the three great monotheistic religions—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—as part of a concerted attempt to quell the world’s ongoing wars, most of which seem to spring from religion (particularly an awful lot involve Muslim radicals). The results, building up to Vatican III, are somewhat static, via descriptions of a series of globe-trotting meetings and clerical conferences. But characters are well drawn, not just walking bundles of op-ed pieces, as they converse extensively on religious differences and how to use faith to defang the most violent fringes of radical Islam. To Stemmle’s credit, there is no fairy-tale ending or miracle-mongering finale, just a glimmer of hope. For what it’s worth, other hot-button issues such as abortion and homosexuality get left behind.
An instructional narrative keyed to those tolerant worshippers who might sport a COEXIST bumper sticker.
Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5117-7688-2
Page Count: 344
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
