"Murder at Golgotha" by Ian Wilson

Very interesting book about a subject that always interested me - historical basis of Jesus Christ story.
I have read quite a lot about it, looked at the possibilities from different perspectives and still not 100% sure what to think about it, since we lack any concrete historical proof from current time. Roman historians - with one exception - had not mentioned him at all, which should not be surprising considering he lived at the far edge of the empire and was just one of the many travelling preachers who predicted upcoming end of the world. Whatever we have written about him from historical perspective of literary men, comes centuries after the facts - and even Gospels were told & re-told with input of hundreds different hands, so no wonder the Biblical portrait of him comes as sometimes very contradictory - switching from meek and forgiving, peaceful and loving person who sounds as influenced with Asiatic meditative, non-aggressive traditions to angry, thundering and forceful judge. What to think of it? Would real, historical Jesus recognised himself in this?

My impression is: because centuries of other people's involvements & different political agendas, the basic story got lost in translation, almost like children's game of "faulty  telephone" where message is whispered from one ear to another, until it gets completely unpredictable and misunderstand meaning. No matter how much some of the authors and theoreticians forcefully claim (in all seriousness) that he never actually existed and is probably just a combination of several ancient myths rolled into one, I do accept that historical person, who might not even been named as we call him, actually lived during Roman occupation of Jerusalem and for whatever reason was brutally killed as example to all other potential rebels. Far from being the only one, as we know John the Baptist was the most famous travelling preacher who also got eliminated for stirring the population a little bit too seriously - and who also had a large following. However, the fact that body of this particular person actually disappeared from the grave gave the story a completely new dimension and started a cult that eventually spread as new religion. If his bones peacefully rest in a grave, he would be just another casualty of Roman brutality - because he was never found, it gave a convenient, magical touch to followers who used it as a proof of his preachings.

Ian Wilson was moved and intrigued with Mel Gibson's movie, so he goes into the whole mystery as a kind of CSI search of what actually happened two thousand years ago. He does excellent job of finding contemporary names of priest and people involved, so we get a feeling of true, real-life crime case. However, since all we have left are ancient archaeological research of the city that was burn to the ground countless times and Gospels (absolutely un-reliable and fanciful re-tellings, shaped trough centuries and often blatantly anti-Semitic, to suit much later times and change the focus of blame) Wilson gets a bit carried away with taking things too seriously, particularly the whole Turin shroud business that I am convinced is a medieval fake along with countless relics of saints that were tourist attraction and source of income of many cathedrals of Europe back than. It is a very intriguing book and I read it with greatest interest but as much as accept that travelling preacher with large following actually lived and existed (and was killed by Romans), I am not convinced in the rest of the story - aftermath of Golgotha sounds as re-shaped and conveniently re-told story tailored to suit future societies who would interpret it whichever way they find acceptable. Wilson has no specific answer about it and seems to simply accept religious doctrine that Jesus never died and left his grave on his own. Roman soldiers, trained to make sure victims truly died, would never leave someone just in coma to stay alive while they leave the business unfinished.

"Inferno" by Dan Brown

I had read Brown's "Da Vinci Code" - a phenomenon in publishing world and a true big, fat, massive best-seller many years ago when I lived in Amsterdam and noticed that almost every guest visiting my hotel carried this title along with the luggage. It spurred my curiosity back than and thrilled me very much, thought now of course I realise it was inspired by "Holly Blood, Holly Grail" and besides, even if Da Vinci really hid all sorts of secrets and codes in his art, this was done centuries after the facts. But the book made Dan Brown - already a successful writer up to that point - a true superstar and started a literary fashion that became quite ubiquitous. I still recall the feeling of saturation when facing the entire wall of a bookshop somewhere in Mauritius, full of books about Biblical "secrets", "plots" and "hidden knowledge" - Judas, Magdalene and everybody else became subjects of new thrillers & it all became a bit too predictable, really a herd following Dan Brown example, a true stampede trying to cash in.

Dan Brown became a victim of his own success in a way, because from now on he is destined to follow with novels in similar style. I am not sure is it really his intention or does he simply follows call of Mammon and publishers wave millions in front of him, as they want him to continue writing thrillers where Robert Langdon runs around with his Mickey Mouse wrist watch and breathlessly discovers more plots, helicopters above his head and streets of ancient capitols of Europe around him. Kind of new, always unwilling and unwitting James Bond. Sadly, it became predictable and thunder can't strike twice with the same intensity - "Da Vinci Code" was once-in-a-lifetime breakthrough that caught massive attention amongst readers everywhere, but now we know what to expect and it does feel a bit tired and worn out.

To be honest, I kind of feel bad for Dan Brown - I like the picture on the book covers, he really looks like a honest, nice guy so its hard to be too critical towards him - I can just imagine millions around the world criticising him for being Dan Brown and not coming up with anything as spectacular as previously. Well, he is a writer of thrillers and he is doing very well in the world he has created - but the sad truth is his novels are kind of very predictable by now, we all know what to expect from the first to the last page. It works as escapism.

His latest (fourth) Robert Langdon thriller "Inferno" was left hanging around the ship (I guess someone just finished the book and left it on the table for another curious reader) and this was invitation enough for me - like a Magpie focused on something shiny, I simply can't help when I see the book around. So I dived in it, fully aware this probably won't be as earth-shaking as "Da Vinci Code" and yes, I was right. Same old story about Robert Langdon running around, except that this time I felt slightly annoyed with descriptions of locations - Brown really gets carried away with his infatuation of art & history - nothing wrong with detailed descriptions of Florence, Venice and Istanbul but I had seen them all (and I take it for granted I guess) and it does stop the action & rhythm of the story while he goes on about all sorts of encyclopedic information who built this and who painted that. It took me few days to finish the novel - its not bad by any means, it is a entertaining romp trough European art history but since its judged by "Da Vinci Code" it pales in comparison. At the end I kind of couldn't wait to finish and had a feeling of treading the same waters a bit too long. It will be another block-buster movie with Tom Hanks very soon, for the people who don't read books.

"Mad Mary Lamb" by Susan Tyler Hitchcock

Dear reader, I am afraid that Guralnick's celebrated but oh-so-overtly-detailed biography of Presley will have to wait some more, since I found another, far more interesting biography. It actually makes me question the whole idea of re-reading Presley's life, because it was boring first time around, its boring again and I derive no other emotion from it except exhaustion from all those details. I might even give it up completely, since there are so many books inviting me from everywhere and they are easily read without any effort.

Take this book, for example. It is something found it ship's library and I almost finished it now, although I have started only yesterday - pure pleasure of reading, very informative, thought-provoking, interesting, just as biographies should be. It is about Mary Lamb (from Charles & Mary Lamb's brother & sister duo who published "Tales from Shakespeare" in print to this day), notorious for murdering her mother but strangely enough, as she was officially proclaimed lunatic, Lamb lived free and cared for by her brother Charles & even found a fame as a writer. This is the first time I had found a book about her and its excellent - I am still reading it, enjoying it very much - the authoress is Susan Tyler Hitchcock and she is actually very, very good - she had collected tons of material but contrary to Guralnick who overdoes it, she does not force this research on reader but elegantly finds a time and place to present it. For example, Hitchcock mentions that Mary Lamb used to be passionate reader and just as I asked myself what kind of books she would have found in London of her time, the chapter gets in detail of publishing of late 18th century. Lamb's madness parallels that of king George III so perhaps the wide acceptance of his illness helped her, though she was lucky to have loving brother by her side who took her under his wing - for the rest of her life she was his housekeeper and they live in harmony that he called "double singleness" and trough thick and thin even managed comfortable life, ascent to middle class and literary success.

Mary Lamb was a typical product of her time - intelligent, sensitive woman trained to be obedient to her parents and family, always serving and taking care for everybody - later it was admitted that she seemed under the great strain days before she finally snapped and killed her mother (she was already old maid at 32. and probably never knew flirt, romance and suitors). She would have to visit madhouse regularly, every now and than and both herself and her brother suffered depression because of it - they were very attached and had no one else in the world - probably she suffered all sorts of hospital treatments there, but this was never discussed. It seems that it was always some kind of strain (moving of apartment, traveling, conversation, even writing) that triggered off her descent into breakdown but she would usually recover after few weeks in hospital, where they already knew and loved her for her easygoing personality and sweet temper. Typical for the woman of her time, Mary Lamb was not hanging around public taverns but together with her brother would receive visitors at home and it was thanks to these friendships with literary world that both Charles and Mary Lamb started dabbling into poetry and children's literature: the man who published their "Tales from Shakespeare" was William Godwin, widower of Mary Wollstonecraft who died giving birth to future Marry Shelley, author of "Frankestein" - trough the book there are lot of literary friends who shaped the world back than and nice explanations about life the way it was, war, politics and all - even details how Lambs used to live on the fifth floor and Mary would have to bring the water and coal up the stairs every morning. Excellent and very interesting biography. I read it with greatest pleasure.

"Anything goes" by Lucy Moore

I have to put Elvis Presley biography aside for a while, because it really started to wear me out - Guralnick might have researched his material for ten years but the book overflows with way too much details and contrary to universal praise, I still find it dry, even second time around. Instead, I had turned my attention to another biography, this time biography of a particular decade.

Titled after a famous Cole Porter song, "Anything goes" is a colorful, anecdotal and very entertaining walk trough a decade that changed the world - authoress focused exclusively on USA and interesting chapters that shaped public opinions back than: Al Capone, early Jazz, Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin, president Warren Harding, Henry Ford and booming car industry, Sacco & Vanzetti trial case, Ku Klux Klan, poet Harry Crosby and "lost generation" who lived in Paris, Dorothy Parker and her friends at "round table", Charles Lindbergh and his "Spirit of St. Louis", boxing champion Jack Dempsey and finally "Black Thursday" that signaled the end of what was a frivolous decade for many.

I don't believe for a second that 1920s were golden era when prohibited drinks overflowed and everybody danced naked in the fountains - this was perhaps a leisure for privileged handful of wealthy few and leaders of underworld, there must have been thousands of anonymous people who simply worked, lived and dreamed in silence, like always. All that audience who visited Charlie Chaplin movies in the dark cinema halls were far more numerous than examples from this book, however the subjects were extraordinary people who lived extraordinary lives (what? no Isadora Duncan?) and scandals that filled newspapers of the day. Ex-patriots who left boring old homeland and relocated in Europe where they enjoyed inheritance and indulged in life of luxury remind me of people who travel to India to "find themselves" - in both cases, driving force is a search for something else, outside of the box. There is a interesting feeling of mirroring our age of indiscretions and scandals with what is mentioned here, it might even been purposely. I find the book ve