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A marvellous specimen of parodic invention. (THE OBSERVER )
Vidal's prose is a jangling mixture of Hollywood tough talk, biblical jargon and rampant camp. His japes at the expense of religion, history and taste add up to a work of highly serious humour. Iconoclasm at its most challenging and witty. (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
Wonderfully outrageous (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
in the tradition of MYRA BRECKENBRIDGE, MYRON and DULUTH, but more pointed and more daring. (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Vidal's prose is a jangling mixture of Hollywood tough talk, biblical jargon and rampant camp. His japes at the expense of religion, history and taste add up to a work of highly serious humour. Iconoclasm at its most challenging and witty. (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
Wonderfully outrageous (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
in the tradition of MYRA BRECKENBRIDGE, MYRON and DULUTH, but more pointed and more daring. (FINANCIAL TIMES )
Product Description
Thanks to the latest breakthrough in computer software, a cyberpunk- known bleakly as The Hacker- is destroying the tapes that describe the mission of Jesus Christ and His Gospel or Good News. The Sacred Story is vanishing rapidly. Fortunately one tape is Hackerproof, that of Timothy, who in his youth, was Robin to Saint Paul's Batman. Now, in Timothy's old age, Saint Paul comes to him in a vision and begs him to write down the True Gospel, otherwise all is lost. And thanks to the wonders of modern techonology, a TV crew will pre-record, live from Golgotha, the Crucifixion in order to boost NBC during the upcoming ratings battle. Will it take place or not? Will the Hacker manage to destroy all the records, including Timothy's? Will Jesus's weight problem be an image problem in the light of today's high standards? Tune in to Gore Vidal's classic of the greatest story never told- until now.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Live...' is one of those books I go back to and read again every couple of years. 5 stars may seem like a lot, especially as much weightier books have got less from me, but I love this book. The premise is simple yet very clever. Travellers from the late twentieth century attempt to go back in time to film the crucifixion, whilst in the future an unknown hacker is erasing the gospels. The visitors from the future try to persuade St. Paul's right hand man, St. Timothy, to anchor the TV show 'Live From Golgotha' and also to write a new gospel and hide it where it would be dug up in the future and save Christianity. As the book progresses St. Timothy becomes more confused as to which future traveller he can trust, which version of the gospel is true (the ones being erased, the ones told to him by St.Paul, or none of them) and even who was actually crucified.
Those not familiar with Vidal should be warned that the book is very surreal, and not supposed to make sense in a literal way. Vidal skips over all the usual complaints about time travelling conundrums by ignoring them. If you are the sort of person who worries when a book stretches credibility too far, then don't read this one. The surreal feel and humour are ever present, and the characters almost wink at you out of the pages, imploring you not to take any of it too seriously. There is also an element of contraversialism. St. Paul is a flamboyant gay tap dancing clown, St.Peter is thick, St. Timothy is a randy young adonis and Jesus has a hormone imbalance. Again, the easily offended should look elsewhere, but I don't think that this irreverant approach is simply to shock. There is a serious,and well made, point to this book. It is a satire on the way religions evolve over time, and the way the bible story could have been changed to suit different interests. The future visitors, Paul, Peter, the hacker, all strive to alter Timothy's gospel to tell the story the way they want it told, and to give the version of christianity that suits them. I think that the idea of lack of objective truth when re-telling history is planted firmly into the (albeit bizarre) story. I love this book for its irreverance, its silliness, its humour and its point, and don't think that it should be dismissed lightly because of its tone. It is very cleverly written, and is a fun and cerebral read.
Those not familiar with Vidal should be warned that the book is very surreal, and not supposed to make sense in a literal way. Vidal skips over all the usual complaints about time travelling conundrums by ignoring them. If you are the sort of person who worries when a book stretches credibility too far, then don't read this one. The surreal feel and humour are ever present, and the characters almost wink at you out of the pages, imploring you not to take any of it too seriously. There is also an element of contraversialism. St. Paul is a flamboyant gay tap dancing clown, St.Peter is thick, St. Timothy is a randy young adonis and Jesus has a hormone imbalance. Again, the easily offended should look elsewhere, but I don't think that this irreverant approach is simply to shock. There is a serious,and well made, point to this book. It is a satire on the way religions evolve over time, and the way the bible story could have been changed to suit different interests. The future visitors, Paul, Peter, the hacker, all strive to alter Timothy's gospel to tell the story the way they want it told, and to give the version of christianity that suits them. I think that the idea of lack of objective truth when re-telling history is planted firmly into the (albeit bizarre) story. I love this book for its irreverance, its silliness, its humour and its point, and don't think that it should be dismissed lightly because of its tone. It is very cleverly written, and is a fun and cerebral read.
Format:Paperback
In the late first century, the aging Saint Timothy is visited by his former mentor Saint Paul in a vision. The Gospels are being deleted by a hacker in the future, and Timothy must write his own gospel or the teachings of Jesus will vanish forever. Soon a Sony television is delivered to Timothy and he is visited by people from the future. He starts to write about his adventures with Saint Paul as they spread the new religion of Christianity and raise funds through Asia Minor and his meetings with people like emperor Nero, Mary Baker Eddy and Shirley MacLaine. His work is constantly interrupted by various odd people channeling in from the future, all of whom seem to have their own agenda.
Guaranteed to offend Christian fundamentalists, "Live from Golgotha" is occasionally hilarious - Vidal again delivers a first person narrative as he did so well in Myra Breckinridge and there are moments where Vidal's comedic genius really shines - but sometimes rambling and as a whole the novel is somewhat uneven. Still certainly worth reading for fans of Vidal or novels that make fun of Christianity or organized religion in general.
Guaranteed to offend Christian fundamentalists, "Live from Golgotha" is occasionally hilarious - Vidal again delivers a first person narrative as he did so well in Myra Breckinridge and there are moments where Vidal's comedic genius really shines - but sometimes rambling and as a whole the novel is somewhat uneven. Still certainly worth reading for fans of Vidal or novels that make fun of Christianity or organized religion in general.
Format:Paperback
This is a book striving to be outrageous, but ending up to be a sort of exercise in locker-room humour. Irreverence is lost when nothing is taken seriously, and the time-travel story of someone who wants to film Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is told in a series of confusing time-hoppings. Ok, there are some laughs, but, all in all, this novel is very minor Vidal. Read Julian, Creation, and The Jufgment of Paris, instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Blasphemy? I hope so.
Unlike the last reviewer, I don't find anything to be concerned about in this book's attack on religion and theism. If it is blasphemous, so what? Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2008 by ICB
Brilliant idea drowning in american controversialism
The idea of the plot in "Live From Golgotha" is so simple it's genius: the battle about transmitting live from the crucifixion of Jesus. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 1999
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