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Title: Magnificent Corpses: Searching Through Europe for St. Peter's Head, St. Claire's Heart, St. Stephen's Hand, and Other Saintly Relics by Anneli S. Rufus ISBN: 1-56924-687-4 Publisher: Marlowe & Company Pub. Date: July, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.72 (25 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: UNBECOMING
Comment: "Magnificent Corpses", by Anneli Rufus, sub-titled, " Searching Through Europe For St. Peter's Head, St. Chiara's Heart, St. Stephen's Hand And Other Saints' Relics". Marlowe & Company, New York, 1999.
According to her "Introduction", Anneli Rufus was a Jewish child who was always intrigued by the practice of the collection and veneration of relics in the Christian church. As a child, she liked to read the Lives of the Saints. Her book is not just an unbeliever's examination of the idiosyncrasies of the Faithful in the belief in the efficacy of relics. Her writing is so unbecoming that it borders, in my opinion, on being nasty. In her first chapter, "So Many Maidens", on St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins, she writes about the maidens: "...so much long silky hair and so many quarts of menstrual blood". (Page 12). Unbecoming! In writers' conferences, I have been taught that every written word should advance your central theme. What do "...quarts of menstrual blood" have to do with incorruptible corpses scattered as relics a round Europe? Where was the author's editor? Nasty.
This tone of writing continues throughout. Later in the book the author describes being assailed by bad breath in one church. Personally, I have encountered bad breath on the subways of NYC and in the underground of London, but I do not think that descriptions of these encounters would advance a written travelogue on these two tourist cities. In describing the clothes tourists wear, the author makes a case for some formal tourist dress code, particularly, perhaps, for American tourists, but, then again, does this advance the central theme of the book? What does the dress of the visitors has to do with the practice of dismembering the bodies of Saints so that each little village can have their own relic? Where was the editor?
Henry VIII beheaded St. Thomas More (1478-1531). More's body is buried under the chapel at the Tower of London. His head was stuck on a pike for all to see, but his daughter lovingly took the head away in the dark of night. Anneli Rufus might have written a better book if she had spent her time documenting where the head of this English Saint is rather than writing about menstrual blood, bad breath and graffiti. For the reader truly interested in the strange phenomenon of bodies that do not decay, along with practice of venerating such saintly relics, I would recommend the book, "The Incorruptibles", by Joan C. Cruz, Tan Books, 1991.
Rating: 1
Summary: Creepy, but not for the reasons you might think
Comment: I began reading this book with real relish-- like the author claims to be, I've always been fascinated with the cult of the saints, though it lies outside my own religious tradition (Jewish). More than once I've stepped inside a gloomy church in Europe or Canada and been surprised to find the remains of a saint, displayed in a golden reliquary or laid on silken pillows, gently lighted. What do these richly dressed bones mean to the people who reverently placed them there, and those who still come to pray before them, and place their trust in them? I've even been led to ask--why do I often feel peace beside these dessicated remains, instead of revulsion, or pity, or fear?
Regrettably, I found answers to none of my questions here. These questions, or similar ones, seem never to have occurred to Rufus. Instead, she casts a cold, unquestioning eye on every shrine she enters and writes about what she sees with a predictable and trite condescension. Because there are only so many ways to lament the "superstition" of displaying human remains for veneration, Rufus dips into the lives of the saints to fill out her little book. Here, also, she is remarkably culturally tone-deaf. Yes, the lives of the saints have been re-constructed into hagiography by the Catholic church to teach lessons of purity, or forbearance, or obedience--but the faithful who come to these shrines and who feel an intimate connection with these saints cannot do so because they are examplars of virtue (what teenager goes on holiday to a church to celebrate chastity?) There is something else at work here, something very powerful and mysterious and, I think, worth knowing about. But you won't find out about it in this book. I could say that Rufus never met a saint she liked, but I don't know if she has ever met a person she liked. She didn't encounter a single person during her travels who she feels is worthy of being portrayed with empathy or understanding. In the end this book reminded me of certain 19th century accounts by Englishmen making their grand tour through Italy; like Rufus they intended to tell us what they found but because they were careful to carry their prejudices with them, and to unpack them first and to drape them over everything they saw, they ended up revealing very little about the places they visited, and far too much about themselves.
Rating: 1
Summary: The worst piece of literature I have ever read
Comment: I am so disappointed in this book. I am always on the lookout for books about the Saints. So when I read this I was not expecting to pick up a book that borders on pornography. The constant demeaning attitude the author expresses about the virtuous lives of the Saints is positively sickening. The Saints are honored in the Church so that we can understand that holiness is for everyone. Just because someone chooses not to give in to base instincts and to fight against vice does not make them psychotic, masochist or weird. What makes it even worse is that Catholics who don't know much about the Faith will read this book and think it's right up there with "normal" thinking about the Church and the Saints. This book deserves -10 stars.
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Title: Incorruptibles by Joan C. Cruz ISBN: 0895550660 Publisher: Tan Books & Publishers, Inc. Pub. Date: November, 1991 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
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Title: Relics: The Shroud of Turin, the True Cross, the Blood of Januarius...History, Mysticism, and the Catholic Church by Joan Carroll Cruz ISBN: 0879737018 Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor Pub. Date: October, 1984 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Weird Europe : A Guide to Bizarre, Macabre, and Just Plain Weird Sights by Kristan Lawson, Anneli Rufus ISBN: 0312198736 Publisher: Griffin Trade Paperback Pub. Date: 12 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Furta Sacra by Patrick J. Geary ISBN: 0691008620 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 February, 1991 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions & Healing Cures by Joe Nickell ISBN: 1573926809 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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