McBride, The Color of Water: Biblical fairytales
I thought Jews were something that was in the Bible. I'd heard about them in Sunday school, through Jesus and such. I told Ma I didn't know they were still around. (85)
The Bible is an interesting text in this respect: it tells the tales of real people as if they were characters in a work of fiction, blurring the distinction between fantasy and reality in a way that has led to a great deal of misunderstanding.
Comments
Ya, it's hard to imagine how James McBride must have felt to learn his mother at one time belonged to a group of people he thought weren't even still around, and that his own roots were connected to theirs! Your point about blurring the lines between reality and fantasy in the Bible immediately reminded me of present day faction writers, especially Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code , where reality, history and fantasy get thrown together intentionally, which has made Dan Brown a very rich man. Nice to see that your blog is back in action, Chris.
Posted by: Brenda Christeleit | April 17, 2006 3:33 PM