Maybe it's just the historic viewpoint of Catholicism- we've seen it all before, a hundred times over. Or that we're still not sure about her, probably won't be until the novel about the Boy Jesus is released. But with Anne Rice, none of the usual TBN trumpeting- Very Public Sinner Comes To Christ And Shares Testimony. People flip and return all the time. Same with the reverse process. Best to let Ms. Rice work out her salvation in fear and trembling. As the rest of us. But it's great to have her back. If true. For her own sake.
FWIW, I knew her, and her son, a decade ago. The working out in fear and trembling was going on even then. This has been in the works for a long time.
"set the Orthodoxy Detector on its least sensitive setting . . .
On your authority, Dale, only on your authority.
Reminds me of Waugh's vignette about Fr. Brown's unseen hook, invisible thread, and a twitch upon the line.
SAM:
Well, Archbishop Hannan says good things about it, and by all accounts he's a solid guy.
I wish to congratulate you upon the splendid novel you have written about the life of Jesus....I am confident that your writings will contribute to a great harvest of souls who need such inspiration today.
http://annerice.com/
bs_b_ChristT...TheLord.htm#rev
I'm not inclined to argue with veterans of the Bulge. Especially when they're from the 82nd.
More seriously, all I am saying is to to look at it with a more forgiving eye. This is not a work on Christology, and shouldn't be flyspecked as such.
Dear Sir,
Thanks much for this. It's the first Rice book I will have read in quite some time. And perhaps if it is good enough it might encourage me to reexamine some of her work, despite the creepiness of SOME of her fans--I'm certain your wife must be an exception.
shalom,
Steven
I agree with what you say, but... "pilgrimmage"?!
(Sorry, my Spelling Detector is set to "high" today.)
Francis:
Yikes. Will fix.
Dale,
If Abp. Hannan agrees with you, then he must be a solid guy.
IMHO, every convert (whether from within or without the Church) goes through a phase when they see in Catholicism a blessing and metaphor for all the things they thought were already good and okay in their lives beforehand. Then, as the conversion deepens, we start figuring out that's not necessarily the case, which is when real tears can flow.
I'd still wish Ms. Rice had waited a few years. But then I'm not the One who allocates grace, so her novel may be a tour de force.
I'm another one who'd have preferred she waited a few years and grew in faith before writing a novel on Jesus. Praying that God's grace is on it.
I hear ya ony too well about that ole firing squad. Christians are sometimes each other's worst enemies *sigh*
Susan
The archbishop's comments don't encourage me. I'll bet he never once spoke publically about the open occult activity that went on in his diocese. Some eyses never see evil.
Hello Dale,
The wife and I chanced to meet Ms. Rice at booksigning for Memnoch the Devil (the last of the Vampire Chronicles proper) at the Alexander Majors barn in KC a few weeks before the 2000 election.
It was...about what you'd imagine, both from Rice and her devotees. Rice was elegantly attired, mainly in black, and cut a gothic figure in the dimly lit 160 year old barn just days before Halloween. She was also wearing some Bush-bashing buttons. Anyhow, we had a nice short conversation with her and got our autographs in due course.
Anyhow, I agree that this drift in her outlook has been on display in her works, not least in the aforementioned Memnoch, whose Christ is surely Docetist yet married to a very mystical and undeniable reverence. Something is going on there, I've thought, especially in her most recent works. I can't say I've read them all but I have read most.
I haven't read the latest and I wouldn't be surprised if Susan's judgment turns out to have some validity. But I think her journey is genuine and I'm happy to see it. It might just cause some uncomfortable squirming in some precincts of her fanbase. But then I think we could all do with some uncomfortable squirming when it comes to the subject of our salvation. Fear and trembling serves us no less than St. Paul.
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