Rate: 4/5
19th-century French School painting, 'Meditation'
Found after reading: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-nuns-of-santambrogio-by-hubert-wolf-book-review-confessions-of-killer-nun-10011206.html
I have to admit, I got this book because I was guilty to want to know about the juicy details. AND IT WAS JUICY. First thing first, the book tells about a true chain of events in a convent in Rome, back in 1858. I mean, just read the summary of the book (goodreads):
"In 1858, a German princess, recently inducted into the convent of Sant’Ambrogio in Rome, wrote a frantic letter to her cousin, a confidant of the Pope, claiming that she feared for her life. A subsequent investigation by the Church’s Inquisition uncovered the shocking secrets of a convent ruled by a beautiful young mistress, who coerced her novices into lesbian initiation rites and heresies, and who entered into an illicit relationship with a young theologian. Drawing upon written testimony and original documents discovered in a secret Vatican archive, The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio is the never-before-told true story of how one woman was able to practice deception, heresy, seduction, and murder in the heart of the Catholic Church."
Damn yeah, I'm gonna read this! I had to wait for some time to get the book, naturally. Not until January 2016, was it available in paperback. And it was still expensive even with the paperback version. Fortunately, I got presents from my friends. I guess it was a combination of wedding presents, birthday present, which accumulates, one of them to this book. So I was happy as a duckling can be!
The book was originally written in German. I, of course, thought it was an English book. But as I read page by page, I was surprised at how nicely structured the book was; it was filled with referenced information, relatively objective, very detailed book, with some sprung of sarcasms which sometimes confused me whether he's trying to be serious or simply making a joke. And then I read that the writer is a (1) German (2) who's also a theology + church history professor in University of Munster (3) who is also an ordained priest! That explains, A LOT. For example, I'm currently reading a book by a British author, Tom Holland about the Caesar-ian dynasty, and it is a very entertaining read in a away of using a lot of adjectives and a more story-telling-to-entertain feel to deliver his points. Good nevertheless, but it's so different with Hubert Wolf descriptive writing. I think I learned a lot about the church as an organization and also its dogma in a very comprehensive way. In addition, he doesn't shy away with the details and it kept me reading despite it's tendency to be 'heavy'.
I understand if some people would think that the book is rather tedious, but I found it enjoyable and satisfying. He doesn't left the book with any loose ends. He revealed how the deification of a prominent nun in the convent, lead to a chain of reason which affirmed the deification of another nun later in the history of the convent. It's incredible how that particular nun and the priest she 'worked' with elaborately pushed their fabricated information (that they received regularly written letters from Mary, mother of Jesus, and more diabolically, a letter from Jesus himself!), and made people believed, aimed to kill and poison, and so on, despite how illogical the whole thing was. You also can't help feeling how unfair people involved in this scandal ended up. The priest, was sent for an exile for some time, but was accepted back in priesthood and was able to produce notable theological work afterwards (this was also one of the reason why the story seems so unbelievable, how can a man with his background believed such web of lies the nun created? Has he always known, and his lust over her simply won him over?). The nun was expelled and ended up as a beggar/homeless person, nothing was really known about her afterwards.
The book reminded me a little about Spotlight movie. That scene when the molesting priest told Rachel Adam's character, 'I did play around with the boys, but I never took pleasure from it'. That was exactly what the priest said when questioned about the nature of his intimacy with the nun...
No comments:
Post a Comment