Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 1988 Page: 2 of 4
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Page Two
RAMBLER
Thursday. April 14, 1988
1U
review
Larry McMurtry spins tales of Texas
Add to the Gospels and stops at Texas Wesleyan College
l.. A»... a.u. ui.ii ihn firtii Hrafta Biirh as Movin' when the film is complete.
via The Messiah
by Dr. Sian Rummel
A copy of Tha Messiah mu ten!
to the Rambler for thr purpote
of being reviewed. Dr. Hummel,
profeooor of religion and human-
itieo uai graeiout enough to do
the honora.
The passion to re-form the
New Testament gospels into
something they are not — inti-
mate biographies of Jesus' pri-
vate life — has been expressed
by pious believers ever since
the early Christian "infancy
gospels” portrayed Jesus as a
bionic boy who baffled his teach-
ers, cursed his playmates, and
made clay sparrows fly away.
In The Messiah (New York
NY: Harper & Row, 1967), Mar
Jorle Holmes presents her new,
improved and inspirational ver-
sion of Jesus' ministry. Her ac-
count avoids the fantastic ele-
ments of the infancy gospels in
favor of an emphasis on back-
ground details along with psy-
chological and emotional por-
trayals of Jesus and everyone
around him.
For Instance, have you ever
wondered why the wedding at
Cana ran out of wine? Ms.
Holmes explains: Seems the
bride's mother had insisted on
a fancy house for her little
sweety, and the groom was just
too broke to buy enough wine
for all the wedding guests. Or
what Mary is worried about
while packing for Jesus as he
leaves home to begin his preach-
ing ministry? “How would he
keep clean if he didn’t take more
underwear . . .?”
The psyche of Judas Iscariot
provides the kind of opportunity
Ms. Holmes’ imagination seeks.
Even in the Gospels, Judas is a
strange character. For Ms.
Holmes he becomes a case study
in child abuse, beaten by a wick-
ed stepfather who was annoyed
because Judas was smarter than
the stepfather’s own sons. In
response, Judas became a klepto-
maniac — just the sort of per-
son to manage Jesus’ finances!
But wouldn’t you know, a prob-
lem developed. Judas became
jealous because Peter, James and
John were closer to Jesus than
he was. So he started stealing
money from the treasury. Then
when Jesus acted like a fool by
kicking money around in the
Temple, Judas derided something
had to be done — for Jesus'
own good of course.
Along with such psychological
sketches, Mr. Holmes loads each
page with an abundance of emo-
tional language In a climactic
scene, Peter and John view the
empty tomb. Peter runs up,
". . . flushed, panting, his eyes
large. . . ." He is astounded,
staring, throat working, struck
dumb, stunned, breathing hard,
staring (again), dazed, stagger-
ed, heart pounding, delirious,
dumbfounded, bewildered, ex-
cited and confused. And all this
in less than one page! Get the
point?
The larger point seems to be
that character development
through emotional language, psy-
chological guesswork and back-
ground detail makes the Gospel
story more "inspirational” by
humanizing the participants and
eliminating the mystery and
paradox of which the Gospel
itself consists. A semblance of
authenticity can be provided by
a liberal sprinkling of scriptural
quotations and a reasonable bit
of attention to the customs of
the times. Tht results is a read-
able, sentimental caricature that
both harmonizes the Gospel per-
spectives and removes what Paul
called their “scandal.”
If we inhabit a world that
really wants friendly clerks,
friendly waiters, friendly soft-
ware, then it would seem likely
that we want a friendly gospel.
This is what Ms. Holmes offers
us. That the Gospel is scandal-
ous and apalling, that its world
is radically different from our
world, that it calls us to an alien
form of existence which is en-
tirely different from our ordi-
nary ways of doing things, is al-
most entirely concealed in her
version. By drawing us into the
perspective of Jesus and his
closest followers, Ths Messiah
can make us feel good about
Jesus and about ourselves. It
also cuts us off from any radical
impact the Gospel might make
on our lives.
The Rambler welcomes ar.d encourages letters to the Editor.
Letters should be typed, and include the name, address, and phone
number of the writer. Only the writer’s name will be printed,
and will be withheld if deemed necessary. Letters may be edited
for purpose of clarity and space. Address to — Editor, Rambler —
Campus Mail, or bring by the Rambler office In the Brown-Lupton
Center.
EDITORIAL BOARD OF
TEXAS WESLEYAN RAMBLER
The Rambler is published weekly during the school year,
except holidays and examination periods by Student Publica-
tions at Texas Wesleyan College.
Editor .................................... Sean M. Wood
Managing Editor..........................Susan Memman
Advertising Manager..........................Julie Ashley
Photography Editor........................Jerry B. Mahle
Staff........James Drake, Amy Wolf, Ray C. Brooks, Reggie
Woods, Buff Sellman, Drew Martin, Michael
Kwu, Michele Hogan
Cartoonists ................................ Reggie Woods
Sponsor............................. Dr. Michael Sewell
by Amy Paige Wolf
Thin would make a great otory
if there u'ao anybody to tell it.
—Augustus McCrao
Lonesome Dove
He has blessed his readers
with memorable, sensitive and
compassionate characters such as
Augustus McCrac in Lonesome
Dove, Emma and Aurora in Terms
of Indearment, and Sonny, Duane
and Jacy in Tha Leaf Picture
Show and the recent best-seller
Taxasvillo. He has made us laugh,
cry and ponder love, death and
reality. It Is no wonder that a
Larry McMurtry novel is hard to
put down and hard to let go of
when it is finished.
Recently, the Pulitzer prize-
winning author visited Wesleyan
as the 1988, and first, recipient
of recognition in the Texas Wes-
leyan Contemporary Writers’
Series. He spoke to a group of
high school and col'ege teachers
Wednesday and to students on
Thursday on topics ranging from
how he begins a novel to why
he chooses not to use a word
processor.
The 91-year-old writer, the son
and grandson of cattlemen in
Archer, Texas, was chosen as
the recipient for his effective
writing and notoriety. Three of
his novels have been made into
Oscar-winning films and his es-
says have become models of
clear, interesting prose.
When beginning a novel, Mc-
Murtry maintains that he starts
with the ending. A picture of the
ending forms in his mind and
he builds upon it. He writes only
five pages a day, no more or
less, during the morning so that
he can keep "the well from go-
ing dry.
“It’s almost a semi-conscious
experience . . . mechanical,” he
said. He relies more on regular-
ity than inspiration.
“I don’t feel inspiration ... I
have an immense confidence in
my abilities ... in my subcon-
scious.”
He has finished every book he
has set out to write, yet claims
that sometimes the finished form
of a book is quite different than
the first drafts, such as Movin’
On and Leaving Cheyenne, which
he let rest for a while before he
finished them.
Unlike many novelists who
write from personal experience,
McMurtry creates everything —
characters and events — in his
imagination.
"That's the purpose of writing
fiction," said McMurtry. "The re-
lationship between your past and
present and the fiction you write
is oblique. Anyway, I've lived a
much duller life.”
As a child, McMurtry was
reared and trained to be a herds-
man, but found the inherited
career a little taxing and not
much to his liking.
"I really could care less about
what the cows were dodng,” the
writer chuckled.
He could always be found
reading, which is the way he
came by writing .
"Reading is one of the deep-
est, stablist and cheapest past-
times,” advised McMurtry. “It is
a deep pleasure to invent. Read-
ing fertilizes my work."
Writing can take people places
they have never been, said Mc-
Murtry.
"I write my books for myself.
They belong to me while Tm
writing them, but after they are
published, they are no longer
mine."
This is the reason why Mc-
Murtry stays uninvolved in the
production process when one of
his novels is made into a movie,
and he is not disturbed by
changes made in the storyline
complete.
"I'm detached by the time the
movie is made,” claimed Mc-
Murtry. “One works in words,
one works in images. My books
will always be there."
Three of the four movies that
have been made from his novels
have won Oscars. Patricia Neal
won for Hud, Cloris Leachman
for Ths Last Picture Shew and
Shirley McClain for Terms of
Endearment. The characters of
his novel adapt easily to film,
and he says that he has been
lucky to have had the casting
that he has.
The characters are very Im-
portant to McMurtry, who con-
centrates heavily on their names.
“Names are very Important to
me,” said McMurtry. “I collect
names ... the only research I
do. I sort of listen to my char-
acters and write down what they
say."
McMurt*y will premier a new
novel, Billy the Kid, In the fall,
but maintains he only has two
or three novels left in him:
"Writing is a finite gift; I can-
not do it forever. Art is not a
progressive activity. It is a mid-
dle-aged gift, and I don't expect
to be writing novels when Pm
65.”
Now living in Washington,
D.C., the writer will still have
plenty to keep him busy. He
tours on the lecture circuit and
will probably take up writing
for magazines in travel, and he
has three rare book stores — in
Washington, D.C., Houston, and
Dallas — to hold his attention.
Creative writing time
All you Sonneteers, Racon-
teurs, and Starving Garret Scrib-
bers, write ’em, type ’em, send
’em in.
Sigma Tau Delta, the National
English Honor Society, is again
sponsoring the Annual Creative
Writing Awards, open to all TWC
students. Winners will be an-
nounced at the College Awards
Program on May 3, and will be
presented with a plaque and a
small cash prize.
The categories include poetry,
short stories, and essays. All wort
must be original and turned in
to Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto in 102B
Ann Waggoner Hall by April 20,
to be judged. The submissions
must be typed on 814 X 11 stan-
dard paper and must not carry
the name of the writer. Each
paper will be assigned a number
and judged anonymously.
Don't despair the doggie diet
by Jamas Drake
How clever Medison Avenue
is getting. How smooth, sedate
and sophisticated. See the pret-
ty ads, hear the subtle pitch.
Go silently out of your mind.
Recently on the television (you
may have seen it as well but
that’s not really the point) I
saw a commercial for "lite” dog
food. Yes, diet dog food for the
doggie who has everything but
does not want a waistline.
What, you may think agast,
Madison Avenue's trying to sell
us something? Ridiculous.
America is wonderful. But wait!
There is a need. See the selling
point: Lite dog food for the dog
who loves to eat, but does not
like to exercise. Now, it makes
perfect sense.
Great, as if we don’t have
enough to worry about — the
national debt, the environment,
whether Moonlighting will ever
get good and funny again. Now,
we have to worry about whether
or not our pets want to diet.
How would we know? Will
Spot tape pictures of himself to
the fridge so that we will get
the idea? Will he roll around
on the ground, giving utterances?
Even the likes of Linda Blair
could not match in his drive to
communicate with us. Or, will
he simply explode, leaving us
with pangs of guilt and the need
most American pets have a high-
er standard of living than peo-
ple in the third world, I can
have as much sensitivity as
the next guy towards the hor-
rible plight of overweight dogs.
Do I really mean that? No,
perhaps I do not. The little fat
beasties can burst forjd| I care.
VLPltyPu/
tor a good upholstery cleaner
and new carpet?
Meanwhile, guilt-ridden owners
think "If only I had known. If
only I had gotten a gold fish.”
(With gold fish there Is no need
for guilt, just flush).
Now, don’t get me wrong. By
completely ignoring the fact that
Did I mean that? Most assuredly
and emphatically in all likeli-
hood with sugar on top — yes!
Especially poodles — the “bow-
heads" of the canine world.
What is next? Liposuction for
Lassie? Stomach staples for Bin
Tin Tin? A bulemlc Benji? Who
knows, Madison Avenue?
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Rambler (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 1988, newspaper, April 14, 1988; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth647444/m1/2/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas Wesleyan University.