Who Would Jesus Blogspam?

January 6, 2006 9:12 AM

Christian PepsiBlue. "Reviews" of a book with very similar content are all over the place. The author says she had to get special permission from God to write parts of the book. Is this definitive proof that God condones blogspamming?
posted by schustafa (37 comments total)

This came to my attention because of a weird comment on my own site. It clearly wasn't written by a bot, but it didn't feel right to me. I've been unable to find any information on just whose idea this is (the author or a misguided PR firm). Anybody else care to do some more digging?
posted by schustafa at 9:12 AM on January 6, 2006

A quick search on Amazon reveals this as the only book published by "Realms" that they carry. Realms is a new imprint of Strang Communications, apparently one they're not particularly behind as it doesn't get a mention on their main page (or even a listing on the dropdown menu for "books"). I'm guessing this grass roots campaign is a one woman effort from the author.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:20 AM on January 6, 2006

Just look at it as God's way of telling you that it's ok to self-link.
posted by veedubya at 9:21 AM on January 6, 2006

I'm actually curious about this book, or at least the graphic novel adaptation (the "unsaved" comic editors probably improve the prose quite a bit). Christian mythology is neat stuff. I've always thought that "Paradise Lost" could be adapted into a terrific movie.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:23 AM on January 6, 2006

My intention was not to self-link: I left it out of the main description on purpose. I threw it in the first comment for context. It made sense to me because my site is anything but a 'religious site'.
posted by schustafa at 9:24 AM on January 6, 2006

Faint of Butt: I was curious at first too, which made me feel extra icky when I discovered all the other sites.
posted by schustafa at 9:25 AM on January 6, 2006

Jesus wants these people to write like a kid on Reading Rainbow.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2006

Interesting stuff, cheers.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:55 AM on January 6, 2006

If you want to read a comic about Lucifer, I recommend the "Lucifer" series written by Mike Carey. It follows Lucifer after he has left Hell (in the Sandman series). This is a mainstream book published by DC/Vertigo, so it might not have the right Christian nutball feel, but it is well written and very entertaining (and available in several trades).
posted by doctor_negative at 10:05 AM on January 6, 2006

“sucktastic” ( a term that I found hilarious!)

i too find sucktastic "hilarious"!!
posted by mrgrimm at 10:10 AM on January 6, 2006

I am currently reading Wendy Alec's new supernatural novel, "The Fall of Lucifer." I have been captivated by the intriguing story of three angelic brothers: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. The three are the highest ranking angels in heaven, each in command of 1/3 of the heavenly host.

However, disaster lurks in the shadows as Lucifer becomes consumed with envy of God's newest creation: man. Eventually Lucifer is expelled from heaven and commits himself to destroying the race of man.

HAVING CONSULTED WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND BASED ON THE INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE NIGERIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REQUEST FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF $47,500,000.00 INTO YOUR ACCOUNTS.
posted by Hankins at 10:14 AM on January 6, 2006

If you want to read a novel about Satan, I recommend The Master and the Margarita.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:14 AM on January 6, 2006

From the author's point of view, blogspamming is a great way to build broad awareness cheap. In fact, it's about the most highly targeted, inexpensive awareness tool out there. I long ago recommended that my company get interns to trawl the blogosphere full-time and interject our message in the subject-appropriate niches. You go, you crazy Lucifer girl. (For all I know, Mikhail Bulgakov's current copyright holders may be doing just this in the above link to "Master and Margarita.")
posted by Faze at 10:36 AM on January 6, 2006

If you want to read a novel about Satan, I recommend Dude Where's My Country? by Michael Moore.
posted by JeffK at 10:39 AM on January 6, 2006

The Master and the Margarita.
Hm.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:54 AM on January 6, 2006

Hah, that is so incredibly weak.

Faze: wrong on so many levels.
posted by prostyle at 11:09 AM on January 6, 2006

Man, that pesky bearing false witness commandment seems to get forgotten pretty quickly by this folks. I guess that lying for God is OK.
posted by octothorpe at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2006

" My intention was not to self-link: I left it out of the main description on purpose."
Riiight... the URL of the second link is http://www.maximumaardvark.com/archives/2005/12/30/yearend_wrapup_1#comment-2178
which is your site.
dum de dum.

I also notice that the reviewers of the book are somewhat ill-informed as to the general state of things...
"I can't wait to finish this book and see how it ends. Does Lucifer ever repent? What are the eternal effects of this evil on our world? Do Michael and Gabriel stand strong in the face of temptation?"
Sorry to spoil the book, but according to what I've read, no he dosen't repent, Mike and Gabe are still the goody goodies they've always been, and the human world becomes a lot more... interesting.. with evil around.
*nyaah*
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:31 AM on January 6, 2006

Ah, so quickly we forget the masters of old. Why read the modern pulp fiction efforts when you can read the original masterpiece that defined the genre: Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Goethe's work is to the other books mentioned in this thread as a Delacroix painting is to a two-year-old's fingerpainting.
posted by nlindstrom at 11:53 AM on January 6, 2006

God categorically told me that blogspamming was right out. He did, however, say that I could call for the murder of Hugo Chavez. Who knew?
posted by nevercalm at 11:59 AM on January 6, 2006

Goethe's work is to the other books mentioned in this thread as a Delacroix painting is to a two-year-old's fingerpainting.

I hope you're not including Paradise Lost in that. And anyway, Marlowe's Faustus is better.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:16 PM on January 6, 2006

I hope you're not including Paradise Lost in that.

Ah, thank you for catching that. Indeed, I am not.

Marlowe's Faustus is better.

It is indeed different, but I would argue against calling the Tragical History of Doctor Faustus better than Goethe's work. Marlowe's work is a tragedy, while Goethe's work is a drama, almost a comedy; I think that Goethe chose the better form for telling the story.

And while we are on this subject, let us not forget da Ponte's Don Giovanni, another masterpiece in the aforementioned genre.
posted by nlindstrom at 12:37 PM on January 6, 2006

Well, because the thread's tending to non-spammed books, has anyone read Glen Duncan's 'I, Lucifer'? Is it worth picking up? I love The Real Tuesday Weld's take on the book, so I was wondering if it's worth the money for the novel.

I think The Master and The Margarita is a most excellent typo, too.
posted by Zack_Replica at 12:46 PM on January 6, 2006

I'm planning on mastering the margarita tonight. Along with the gimlet, the boilermaker and the jagermeister.
posted by spicynuts at 12:51 PM on January 6, 2006

Well, because the thread's tending to non-spammed books, has anyone read Glen Duncan's 'I, Lucifer'? Is it worth picking up?

It's quite good. The tone and mood of the album really matched Duncan's style, though I heard the album first so I may be finding what I want to find.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:02 PM on January 6, 2006

lol hankins
posted by eatdonuts at 1:12 PM on January 6, 2006

Ah, well as I'm in the same boat (album, then book) perhaps I'll like the book as well.

The margarita, the gimlet, the boilermaker and the jagermeister?! Assuming 4-5 of each*, I'd be mastering the porcelain telephone after all that, not to mention the ibuprofen the next morning. ick.


* you know... just to be _sure_ i'd got them mastered...
posted by Zack_Replica at 1:15 PM on January 6, 2006

While it's a work of fiction, she wrote it in under the anointing of the office of the prophet and seer, and she considers it a more revelatory work.

Somebody thinks pretty highly of herself, hmm? Isn't that special...
posted by signal at 1:19 PM on January 6, 2006

When I was younger, my favorite Lucifer book was Michael Moorcock's The War Hound and the World's Pain. Not that it compares with Goethe or Marlowe, but I was a kid - what did I know?
posted by me & my monkey at 1:36 PM on January 6, 2006

mrgrimm : "If you want to read a novel about Satan, I recommend The Master and the Margarita."

Is there a better translation somewhere? I tried to read it and the English is quite awkward.
posted by nkyad at 1:45 PM on January 6, 2006

There's a good translation that came out in the early 90s, but the names of the translators (I think it was a team) escape me. I'll look it up when I get home if someone else doesn't find it first.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:50 PM on January 6, 2006

Zack_Replica: hurr. I flagged it myself. Sorry.

I dug the journeys to hell in the Sandman series, but never actually read the Lucifer series. I may check it out.
posted by schustafa at 2:03 PM on January 6, 2006

PinkStainlessTail, you're thinking of the Burgin/O'Connor translation on Vintage. It's much better than the earlier Mira Ginsburg one (and of a fuller version of the novel), but it still clunks a bit here and there. Humor is the hardest thing in the world to translate, especially with someone like Bulgakov who finds a lot of his humor in exaggerating and playing on his time and place.

That said, I see that Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky also did a translation of it for Penguin. I've not read this, but their translations of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy (and maybe Chekhov) are the current gold standard. They're pretty much the acknowledged masters of contemporary translation from Russian and probably have done as well over a large number of books as anyone since Constance Garnett, who did a ton of pioneering work in the early 20th century. It seems promising, but Bulgakov is very different from the other authors they've done.

It's a fantastic novel, by any measure.
posted by nflorin at 2:27 PM on January 6, 2006

you're thinking of the Burgin/O'Connor translation on Vintage.

That's the one! I'll have to give that Penguin edition a look.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:56 PM on January 6, 2006

Penguin translation
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:59 PM on January 6, 2006

For a lighter take on reviews of religious and non-religious books, I submit Noel Hurley's Amazon reviews.
posted by junesix at 3:50 PM on January 6, 2006

schustafa: I flagged it too, and now wish I hadn't, as an interesting discussion has sprung up, especially with nflorin's comment which is valuable in and of itself - finding accurate translations are difficult... and I got a question answered, so there you go...
Hmm. I'd forgotten about Moorcock's von Bek novels. Time to re-read them
posted by Zack_Replica at 4:22 PM on January 6, 2006