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Gospel Prism Gerald Weaver 9780992994334 Books

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Gospel Prism Gerald Weaver 9780992994334 Books

The protagonist of GOSPEL PRISM (GP) is named Christian, which, as we all learned in high school, is the name of the everyman character and protagonist of John Bunyan’s never-out-of-print allegory THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS (TPP). Besides sharing a protagonist named Christian, these books also share a narrative structure, with each Christian learning from different phases of his spiritual journey and then telling stories of others whose experiences have a spiritual dimensions as well. In addition, Gerald Weaver, the author of GP, certainly admires the complete title of TPP, since the concluding phrase of that title applies to his own book. That phrase is: “delivered under the similitude of a dream”.

This is not to say that GP is a mere updating of TPP. Instead, GP is 12 connected stories, each platformed on the work of a different great author. These include Cervantes, Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, Whitman, Kafka, and Proust. In each story, Weaver alludes to a plot or sensibility—Christian in a picaresque adventure with a buddy, Christian sees a Jewish man crushed through the reckless love-life of his daughter, Christian visits Hell, Christian obsesses about his memories, and so on. At the same time, these great works are always completely reimagined, with this reader getting deep into many stories before—aha!—making the connection.

In writing these connected stories, Weaver filters these great authors through the predicament of Christian, who is doing time in a minimum security prison in Kentucky. This grim setting—you learn a lot about prison life from this book—both requires and enables Weaver to rethink and riff on the structure and styles of great works. In the book’s final paragraph, Christian’s lawyer explains why such stories apply to you: “No matter which type of prison to which you have been consigned, the search for God… is in your hands…”

There are some stories in this book that are very dark. These include “The Rabbi” (a prison variant of “The Merchant of Venice”) and “The Inmate’s Wife” (all of Kafka). On the other hand, there are several stories that are hilarious, due to Weaver’s playfulness and wit or his talent for loving parodies. In “Mr. Rimmon’s Neighborhoods”, for example, Christian visits the modern equivalent of Dante’s Hell. In one circle (Weaver calls them neighborhoods):

“The inside was some vision out of a story by Jorge Borges. It was a normal-size living room but it contained literally many tens of thousands of people… Many had the same blank look on their faces… Several thousand of them were watching television…The television shows that were being watched were invariably the type known as reality television. There was a buzz of conversations, and these conversations were all about what was on the television or what had been said or what someone was doing…. It was a scene that was at once unbelievable and fantastic and mind-numbing and dull.”

Meanwhile, here’s a bit of parody from the story “Tweet Man”, where Weaver transforms Whitman’s blank verse into Christian’s prose.

“I just had to celebrate myself. I assumed that every atom of me was good as belonging to me again…. The smell of my own breath, the sound of my own voice, the beating of my heart… I was in love with it. After all of what had just happened, it was sublime just to be myself.”

Anyway, enough already… but GOSPEL PRISM is first-rate work and very rewarding. Highly recommended.


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Gospel Prism Gerald Weaver 9780992994334 Books Reviews

Gerald Weaver’s novel Gospel Prism is not an easy book to categorize, and that is a good quality. It is an ingenious and compelling work, which is a high mark for any art. The book expertly combines its vast degree of intelligence with moments of unsettling content and also with elements of outrageous humor. In short, Gospel Prism is a clever, original, and brilliant work of fiction.

The protagonist of Weaver’s novel is Christian, a type of everyman serving time in a minimum-security facility. In his cell, he receives a visit from the messiah, who happens to be a woman of mixed race. Weaver’s thorough and vivid descriptions of Jesus as a woman left an indelible image in my mind. After these visitations, Christian often finds himself engaged in a series of adventures and excursions in pursuit of the truth to the “word.” One of the most memorable and funny of these escapades is during a “work detail” assignment where he visits the various levels of hell. Another of my favorite chapters, “My Druid Mother,” deals with the power and association of memories. Christian makes tender and emotional use of remembrances from his youth to gain perspective on his current incarceration and how this all plays into the understanding of his own truth.

The central focus of the novel involves Christian’s revelations with the lessons of faith, and he is altogether profound in both his external and internal discussions on religion and one’s search for meaning. Most remarkable is that within this philosophical framework Weaver seamlessly captures the politics and dynamics of life in prison. Gospel Prism can go from enlightening in its seriousness to frightening in its realism to hysterical in its deadpan humor. It often pokes fun while expounding upon the truth in inspirational fashion.

This is not the type of book that can be easily absorbed in a few sittings. The complex, verbose, and often extensive nature of its musings demand attention, but I was always riveted and immersed in the book’s breadth and command of subject. In paying tribute to Dante, Whitman, and Borges to name a mere few, Weaver has pulled off a most exceptional work of fiction that leaves a lasting impression.

I marked dozens of stellar passages throughout this book, making it hard to deem one as standing out among others, but the essence of this extraordinary novel might best be captured simply in a line towards the end “Seek God in what you read and you will know the divine when you see it.” Gospel Prism succeeds in what it sets out to accomplish it makes you feel empowered with having read something special.
The protagonist of GOSPEL PRISM (GP) is named Christian, which, as we all learned in high school, is the name of the everyman character and protagonist of John Bunyan’s never-out-of-print allegory THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS (TPP). Besides sharing a protagonist named Christian, these books also share a narrative structure, with each Christian learning from different phases of his spiritual journey and then telling stories of others whose experiences have a spiritual dimensions as well. In addition, Gerald Weaver, the author of GP, certainly admires the complete title of TPP, since the concluding phrase of that title applies to his own book. That phrase is “delivered under the similitude of a dream”.

This is not to say that GP is a mere updating of TPP. Instead, GP is 12 connected stories, each platformed on the work of a different great author. These include Cervantes, Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, Whitman, Kafka, and Proust. In each story, Weaver alludes to a plot or sensibility—Christian in a picaresque adventure with a buddy, Christian sees a Jewish man crushed through the reckless love-life of his daughter, Christian visits Hell, Christian obsesses about his memories, and so on. At the same time, these great works are always completely reimagined, with this reader getting deep into many stories before—aha!—making the connection.

In writing these connected stories, Weaver filters these great authors through the predicament of Christian, who is doing time in a minimum security prison in Kentucky. This grim setting—you learn a lot about prison life from this book—both requires and enables Weaver to rethink and riff on the structure and styles of great works. In the book’s final paragraph, Christian’s lawyer explains why such stories apply to you “No matter which type of prison to which you have been consigned, the search for God… is in your hands…”

There are some stories in this book that are very dark. These include “The Rabbi” (a prison variant of “The Merchant of Venice”) and “The Inmate’s Wife” (all of Kafka). On the other hand, there are several stories that are hilarious, due to Weaver’s playfulness and wit or his talent for loving parodies. In “Mr. Rimmon’s Neighborhoods”, for example, Christian visits the modern equivalent of Dante’s Hell. In one circle (Weaver calls them neighborhoods)

“The inside was some vision out of a story by Jorge Borges. It was a normal-size living room but it contained literally many tens of thousands of people… Many had the same blank look on their faces… Several thousand of them were watching television…The television shows that were being watched were invariably the type known as reality television. There was a buzz of conversations, and these conversations were all about what was on the television or what had been said or what someone was doing…. It was a scene that was at once unbelievable and fantastic and mind-numbing and dull.”

Meanwhile, here’s a bit of parody from the story “Tweet Man”, where Weaver transforms Whitman’s blank verse into Christian’s prose.

“I just had to celebrate myself. I assumed that every atom of me was good as belonging to me again…. The smell of my own breath, the sound of my own voice, the beating of my heart… I was in love with it. After all of what had just happened, it was sublime just to be myself.”

Anyway, enough already… but GOSPEL PRISM is first-rate work and very rewarding. Highly recommended.