The late E.L, Doctorow's turn-of-the century novel "City of God" explores the nature of religious faith for those for whom traditional forms of religion have become difficult or lost their meaning. The book straddles the line drawn by some people between religion (in the sense of devotion to a traditional creed) and spirituality (a personal devotion to the transcendent separate from any church or group.) The predominant form of religion in the book is Judaism, but it is very evolutionist, modernistic, and personal, in many respects, and definitely not tied to the texts and practices of traditional Judaism.The book is modernistic and episodic in tone with three principal voices: a journalist who seems to be a figure for at least some of the author, a lapsed Episcopalian priest, and a woman rabbi of the Synagogue for Evolutionary Judaism. The three are drawn together by the theft of a cross from the Church and its mysterious appearance at the Synagogue. The "mystery" is dropped but it is mostly a vehicle to discuss the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, another theme of this complex book.There are long chillingly written scenes of the Holocaust which forms a backdrop to at least some of the thought and action of the principal characters. Also, important discussions of the philosopher Wittgenstein, which I found very apropos to the spiritual questing theme of the book, contemporary physics, the big bang theory, and popular song and film.Doctorow has New York City in his bones and the large secular city is artfully drawn. In fact, one of the main themes of the book is the secular city (to steal a title from Harvey Cox's book of many years ago) and of a secular America with its own Civil Religion. Contrary to what I remember of Doctorow from earlier books, such as The Book of Daniel, Doctorow appears to me to cherish the city and America in their very variety and secularity for the purposes of spiritual growth and questioning that they afford. A wonderful development from the America-bashing of the 1960s.The book also shows song and poetry, (in the line of Whitman, Reznikoff, Ginsberg, W.C Williams) as components of a spiritual journey towards self-understanding.As befitting a book with a title from St. Augustine, the book explores questions of original sin, the nature and possibility of immortality and religious change. It shows the continual struggle of people with religious questions and, importantly, suggests an evolving religion, not necessarily bound to the forms of the past.The book does not give answers but provokes questions and is an antidote to all-pervasive smugness or indifference.Doctorow's "City of God" is a valuable book for those who want to think about religion and spiritual issues or to see why people think about them. Although difficult to read, the effort will be rewarded.Robin Friedman
I've admired Doctorow's writing for a long time, starting with his novel Welcome to Hard Times, which I read more than 30 years ago. This newer one has recognizable bits/characters from the previous works, but it's altogether different in the very ambitious attempt to make an all-encompassing statement.At least half of the readers commenting on City of God admit to having trouble with the interwoven narrative fragments. One captivating story line concerns a kid living in a Jewish ghetto under the Nazis during WWII, another is about a retired journalist belatedly interested in affecting the course of events instead of simply recording them, and most importantly there's one about the changing relationships among a troubled Catholic priest in modern-day NYC and a husband-wife team of unorthodox rabbis, as well as a stand-in for the very author who has called them into existence (if I have that right). There are also pithy observations about the history of cinema and about storytelling in general, about history--specifically the attempt to understand where things "went wrong", about religion, birds living in a garbage dump, and the universe as we know it. That summary barely skims the surface.I scribbled a lot of notes while reading it--page numbers of passages I especially liked and tangential ideas that I felt Doctorow was suggesting. Here's an example: "The true believers are the dangerous people, be they religious or political/nationalistic. They are the partisans with 'the impulse to excommunicate, to satanize, to eradicate, to ethnically cleanse'."That, I think, is part of Doctorow's all-encompassing statement: that we should beware of those who presume to know what the world needs, or rather doesn't need. The priest, whose choices are probably meant as a model of sorts, renounces his faith and concludes the book with a speech very similar to the author's opening meditation on the cosmos, and to one of the rabbis' lessons that occurs in the middle. "If God is involved in this matter [ the incomprehensible infinitude of the universe ], He is so fearsome as to be beyond any human entreaty that would come of our being brought into His secret." Because such awesomeness is beyond our grasp, we have religious traditions to "defer terror" and hope, "which of course comes with absolutely no guarantees." Unfortunately, we also have the evidence of world history, which is profoundly discouraging.The book is a noble effort, although it's not always coherent. I think for example that the above assumption about God doesn't hold water. If God is too vast for our comprehension, how can we claim to know that He's beyond human entreaty? I found many such contradictions. The book made me think, but there are other Doctorow titles I've enjoyed more.
What do You think about City Of God (2001)?
"The City of God" is about a man who investigates the disappearance of a giant cross from the roof of a church, and its mysterious reappearance on the roof of a synagogue on the other end of the city. In between, the reader is presented with a lot of vignettes/memoirs/reflections from people with no direct connection to the story, the entire purpose of which -- I think -- is meant to parallel the investigator's personal journey toward an understanding of a modern God.My enjoyment of the book stemmed 100% from how much I enjoyed the fillers, which is why I gave it such a middling rating. My favourites are:--the description of Moira, or rather the character's articulation of his feelings towards Moira, as a "nonsexual arousal, that usually gives way in a moment to a sense of loss, to a glimpse of my own probably thrown away life."--the thought experiment about attaining travel at the speed of light. "I could get no confirmation of my existence from an objective source of reflected light such as a mirror. I would be like a ghost in the universe, materially unverifiable in the stream of time."And of course, there is Pem's long speech near the end about "remaking God" which is probably meant to be the point of the whole book. It is a dense read. High concept, ambling execution. There's plenty to "get" from it but don't expect much in the way of structure otherwise you'll be distracted trying to outsmart the book.
—Calvin
You know how “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing? City of God is a book about everything. (I am now the first person to have put Seinfeld & E.L. Doctorow together in the first two sentences of anything!) And having started off with my own big bang there, next I shall steal from someone on Amazon who wrote about this book that it will provide you with “retrospective gratification”. I couldn’t possibly think of a way to put it better. City of God is not always fun while you’re reading it, but it’s amazing once you’ve finished! There’s no discernible narrator, & it jumps around in time – so it’s all rather puzzling to keep track of. The secret – the random pieces of stories in it are just that – random pieces of stories and songs kept in a notebook by Everett, the writer/character in City of God. He’s writing about people he knows or people he’s made up, as a way of gathering ideas for a new novel. He writes about his friend, Tim Pemberton, a Catholic priest fallen on hard times & a questioning soul. A gold cross from Pemberton’s church is stolen & ends up on the roof of an Upper West Side synagogue in New York. As he investigates the theft, Pemberton meets the young couple who are co-rabbis of the synagogue, & through them his life is changed. The book is like a college course on religious thought, philosophy, & history, with some science & astronomy thrown in. It’s about that old question - how can a gracious God allow to happen, all the horrible things that happen in the world, like random death, World War, Holocausts, environmental disasters? It’s about life and being middle-aged and losing people & finding others. But thrown in just to confuse you, are Everett’s notes about random people on the streets of New York, & birdwatchers, & film-makers, & a story about a couple having an affair (but this may or may not be a story that the film-maker is telling about his movie), & the story of a washed-up journalist who suddenly decides to become a hunter of Nazi war criminals. When you first start reading it you have no idea what’s going on, but as you get into it, it’s so skillfully written & the mind is so wonderful at drawing the random threads of life together, that it all starts to soak in. Frustrating, brilliantly written, thought provoking. I’ll read it again someday – it’s one of those books that you want to go back to, because you know you’ll get more out of it a second time.
—Marigold
WOW! THIS WAS A LESSON IN PHILOSOPHICAL, RELIGIOUS, SCIENTIFIC IDEOLOGY THAT WAS A BIT MORE TO TAKE ON THAN I WOULD HAVE LIKED FOR WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A "QUICK" 252 PAGE READ. THERE WAS A STORY INTERTWINED IN BETWEEN THE MIX OF OPINION, ACTUALLY, I THINK MORE THAN ONE, ALTHOUGH DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER IT WAS THE SAME NARRATOR OR NOT. THIS WAS ANOTHER TAKE ON THE HOLOCAUST A MODERN DAY JUDAISM AMIDST THE (ONE?) NARRATOR'S UNREQUITED LOVE FOR A FRIEND WHO MARRIES A FRIEND. ALTHOUGH, I ENJOYED THE STORY LINES, THE IN BETWEEN QUESTIONING OF UNIVERSAL BEGINNINGS(STARTING ON THE FIRST PAGE, MIND YOU!) AND MODERN JEWISH BELIEFS IN CONTRAST TO EARLIER TIMES IN THE BIBLE, IT WAS A LOT TO CHEW ON AND WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR A "BEACH" READ.
—Pat
