Monday 27 May 2013

Book Review in English


Yudas Mar Iskariathos Thirumeni (Malayalam) by George Emmanuel. 2013.

Publishers: Mudra Books, Delhi

Pages: 358, Price Rs. 250/-

 

It is a drama (fiction) based on the story of Jesus as narrated in the New Testament as well as the history of Christianity.

The protagonist Judas, the religious reformer enters into an ideological conflict with his leader, Jesus the social reformer. (Surprisingly, Jesus does not appear in the drama). Having fed up with Jesus, Judas manipulates the business lobby to get Jesus killed. Once his opponent is gone, Judas the reformer turns into a founder of a new religion called Christianity.

The second part is about how Judas uses the name of Jesus as a Brand name to propagate his new religion .This part is constructed with images both from the present and past history of Christianity as a whole. This exercise necessarily involves harsh and sometimes unsavoury criticism of Christian beliefs and practices. Having found himself as the founder of the most corrupt religion Judas, the Bishop who is the secret head of the church commits suicide. The story ends with the  assumption of a successor  to Judas.

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