Describe Based On Books The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Title:The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
Book Format:Paperback
Book Edition:Anniversary Edition
Pages:Pages: 337 pages
Published:October 1st 1990 by Ignatius Press (first published 1943)
Categories:Classics. Christian. Plays. Drama. Fiction. Religion. Christianity. Faith
Books The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Free Download Online
The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Paperback | Pages: 337 pages
Rating: 4.46 | 441 Users | 72 Reviews

Chronicle During Books The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

With her typical integrity and perspicacity, Dorothy L. Sayers tackles the problem of perspective in looking at the life of Christ -- through a series of twelve electrifying radio plays.

Sayers argues in her insightful introduction that people follow the story from a post-Resurrection point of view. As a result, the characters involved are one-dimensional; they are so wicked that they are effectively removed from real life. It's more comfortable that way; nobody's actually like that anymore; it wouldn't happen here. The stateliness of the Authorised Version and the dignity of the church furthers the notion. "The characters are not men and women: they are all "sacred personages", standing about in symbolic attitudes, and self-consciously awaiting the fulfillment of prophecies." (p. 22)

So she wipes that all out and makes the story real again. She shows us how familiar the motivations behind the characters' actions are--love, pride, arrogance, simple faith, etc. She makes the story ordinary, and in doing so she reveals just how extraordinary and close to the heart the whole story is.

The disciples are no different than you and me. Her description of Matthew the tax collector is shockingly vulgar--and yet she ends it with "Jesus likes Matthew very much." Simon Peter, with all his ups and downs, recognizes he is in the presence of something much greater than mere man that first night with the fish. "And I lost my head--it seemed so queer, and I was tired, and I fell on my knees and said: 'Sir, go away and leave us--I'm a sinful common man, and I can't bear it.'. And he laughed, and said, 'Have courage; follow me and I will teach you to catch men.'" (p. 121)

And Judas broke my heart. She made him the most intelligent of the disciples--and yet, he is all brain. "He can see the meaning of sin and repentance and the fearful paradox by which all human good is corrupted as soon as it comes to power. He is as yet only beginning to see it--but presently he will see it plainly, and be the only disciple to grasp the necessity of the crucifixion. And seeing it, as he does, only with his intellect and not with his heart, he will fall into a deeper corruption than any of the others are capable of." (p. 69)

Her characterization of Judas is eerily reminiscent of Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor and, to a lesser extent, his Ivan Karamazov and Faulkner's Quentin Compson (two of my favorite characters in literature, and now after reading this book I need to go reevaluate why I sympathize with them and if I am right to do so!). Though the other disciples are not as intelligent as Judas, they instinctively grasp what Judas cannot: that Jesus is more than a man. As they grow, they all understand and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

Judas desperately wants Jesus to be the Messiah, but he doesn't have faith that He is. So when it seems like Jesus is doing the wrong thing, Judas would rather have Him killed. It breaks Judas when he sees his own true self in the end, and yet his pride keeps him from repenting, even though he knows Christ will forgive him.

Sayers makes the reader understand that the characters in the story - the greatest tragic irony, she calls it - they don't know what we know. She manages to make us walk that path with them and see it unravel again anew even though we already know the outcome. It's electrifying - and it's real.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Details Books Supposing The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Original Title: The Man Born to Be King
ISBN: 0898703077 (ISBN13: 9780898703078)
Edition Language: English


Rating Based On Books The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Ratings: 4.46 From 441 Users | 72 Reviews

Write Up Based On Books The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Second reading. Dorothy Sayers play cycle is wonderful. Her introductory notes are invaluable to give context to the times and customs.

Timeless TruthDorothy Sayers The Man Born to be King transports the reader into the times and life of Christ and reveals the Mind of the Maker. She breathes nuance and character into the gospels, all the time remaining faithful to the text and teachings revered by the church for over 2000 years.

The more Dorothy Sayers I read, the more Dorothy Sayers I want to read. This cycle of radio plays is just the sort of imaginative interaction with scripture in Ignatian style that I'm becoming more and more hungry for. As farseeing and thoughtful as always, Sayers brings Jesus, the disciples, and others to life in the richest, most human way I've encountered through written word. Particularly fascinating is her depiction of Judas as the brightest and most talented of the disciples, which,

(12 radio plays dramatizing the life of Christ, originally on the BBC in the 1940s?)My small group is reading this aloud together (just finished play #5) and it's been interesting food for discussion--and a lot of fun. Sayers applies her usual wit, humor, insight, and imagination to exploring what these characters in the gospels might have been like, what the political climate was at the time, how these stories we get glimpses of might have looked up close. With a little British twist.We have

C.S. Lewis read this every year during Lent - and I see why.

Dorothy Sayers wrote a brilliant, powerful, and moving play-cycle when she wrote "The Man Born to Be King". I loved this play. Her notes before each play were also very insightful and fun to read. For once the people in the story felt like real people you could talk to.

A new look at the story of the gospels, fresh and original because it simply tries to get at the truth.