NL: Not the End of the World

This time around we read Not the End of the World by Christopher Brookmyre.

I've posted on this book before, a couple of years ago when I read it first. I'll try to find different stuff to say this time, but you might want to read the older review. (Or not.) I enjoyed it a lot - and enjoyed it the second time around, too, though even less was there mystery this time. (There never really is 'mystery'; you can guess what's going on before the good guys do, mostly because you have much more information than they do. The question for the reader isn't really "what is Luther St John doing?" it's "(how) can he be stopped?"). It's not a perfect book by any means - it's not even Brookmyre's best - and possibly if I was from the LA area I'd be distracted by what I've been told are geographic errors, but I'm not, so I wasn't.

Since I read fast, I got through the book in an afternoon. At that pace, it's a thrill ride - lots of action, likable characters, bombs, swearing, sex ... faster and faster until the end. It might not hold up to a prolonged reading - not a problem for me and Brookmyre, I have to admit. But for what it is - a lighthearted if violent romp (Brookmyre's specialty), it's great. Not least because the atheists are the heroes.

Oh yes - it's more than just a romp. It's an examination of intolerance and media feeding frenzies and the relativity of morality. It's about "lying for Jesus" on a grand - even cosmic - scale.

We all know the "lying for Jesus" ploy. It's common among certain kinds of Christians (and, if you substitute other deities' names, among all certain kinds of all religious, I'm sure). At its most benign (which still isn't particularly good) it involves lying to people about what others believe (or don't) to keep them "safe" inside the fold. Mind, I'm not talking about people who actually believe the lies - they're dangerous, of course, because if you believe that God will punish the community for the sins of some, then you're likely to take out those some. But they're not lying, just deluded (can I still use that word?). "Lying for Jesus" gets worse, too. At its height, it's "bringing people to God" by any means possible, because as long as they get to God, it's justified.

Yes, this book is about the lengths of murdering terror to which ostensibly God-loving people will go to bring the fear of God to those who don't have enough of it, the justifications they feed themselves when they recognize the conflict, and the huge number of them who don't. Kill thousands to save hundreds of millions: in the arithmetic of faith and fate this makes sense: after all, the thousands are damned already.

Trouble is, there's a fine line between imagining someone's eternal soul is condemned and thinking their earthly life is worthless.

So is this an over-the-top plot? Of course it is. It's taken to the utmost, stripped of all subtlety (and possibly of all likelihood) because Brookmyre wants to leave the reader no room for waffling. How can you approve of St John's plan to cause a tsunami? But even over-the-top you can recognize truth: how many religious leaders wax ecstatic over any natural disaster, blaming the sinful behavior of the victims for the tragedy? Katrina, the 2004 Christmas tsunami, earthquakes... look at Westboro Baptist Church for a truly grotesque example, but it's everywhere. I remember vividly a couple of talkative conservative Christians on the bus chatting about how many Muslims "were brought to the Lord Jesus" after that Iranian earthquake back in 1990.

So it's not over the top to believe that someone would decide to manufacture a disaster to bring about a giant revival of faith. The lie is justifiable, the deaths quite acceptable - they'll all get their just deserts: the faithful will be whisked off to Heaven and the rest will get what's coming to them anyway. Omelets and eggs, you know.

There's more - for instance an examination of sex and how it's used and abused by religious people. It's also funny. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I'll leave you with this thought:

When Larry found himself helpless, impotent and alone, the option of begging divine intercession seemed no option at all because, quite simply, he realized he had no faith. When it was playing-for-keeps time, when life was drawing a line in the sand, he suddenly knew which side he stood. It was cold, dark and scary that side of the line, and there was nobody there to help you, but once you're there you can't return. Once you've seen behind the backdrop, you can't walk out front again and believe that what's painted on it is real.

The world this side of the line is indeed a more foreboding place, but even though you have to tread with more caution, you walk with more dignity.

Indeed.

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Next time we're going to read A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. If you'd like to join, please do! It's easy: just read the book and post something on May 1. It doesn't have to be a review (some members never do reviews) - an essay, reflection, rant - anything that's a reaction to the book will do. Then post a comment on someone's blog and let us know you've done it. You can read this from the Exterminator for more info, and contact him to sign up a bit (only a bit) more formally.