www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Ann Rice, turned to God, Catholic and writing novels about Jesus

NO MORE VAMPIRES!

Ann Rice has gone through a tremendous conversion, and back to the Catholic Church, and now she is writing novels about Jesus. This should really be interesting, I wonder how many conversions will come about because of her conversion. People will either love or hate, I bet there aren't many luke warms on this subject when the first book is out.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9785289/site/newsweek/

Well, while I am glad she has returned to her faith, I do not see how that would necessarily mean "No Vampires." She might have to change how she did the stories -- to be sure -- so they won't be erotica.. but that is a different issue. Vampire stories make great Christian stories, indeed, where do you think they came from?

Dear Pani Rose,

I agree with you that Vampires do not fit into a Christian lifestyle, and are eerily similar and symbolic of the evil one. I am glad that this author has turned her life and focus around. I wonder what, if any, her experiences might have been whilst getting away from the demonic focus of her previous books, if you get the drift....

In Christ,
Alice

Please...this woman is making up her own image of Christ based on non-Scriptural, non traditional sources.

Her novels are absolutely evil (I don't care how well written they are), and I have seen the pornography she wrote under another name in a bookstore. It is sheer FILTH, and took me years to put that one page out of my mind, thank you very much.

I refuse to believe in any "return to Jesus" until she refuses to allow the sales of any of hre previous works, which glorify evil, witchcraft, incest, fornication and lies.

Gaudior, eyebrow raised in skepticism.

Gaudior:

Anne Rice is a novelist, a FICTION writer, for heaven's sake!

She can "create" her own image of Jesus, as she did of Satan and of many evil and devilish characters of this world!

Amado

Of course she can...and it will be as misleading to people as her other works are.

Gaudior, who states unequivocably that with the power to influence her huge fan base that she has, to use it for calling her perverted fictional life of Christ the result of embracing Catholicism is an attack on what the Church stands for.

Several years ago a friend gave me a pile of Ann Rice novels. I've never read any of them; I glanced at one or two and decided that I wasn't interested. I prefer old-fashioned science fiction (my favorite science-fiction writers are Heinlein and Asimov).

Heinlein, by the way, complained bitterly that his editor at Scribners wielded a mean blue pencil and excised lots and lots of what I would call pornography. He objected - this is the 1950s, please note - on the theory that otherwise teen-age boys would not read the books. Well, Scribners and the unnamed editor deserve several awards; the books sold and still sell like the proverbial hot cakes. A few years ago Heinlein's estate published some of the excised passages - and I think Scribners deserves yet another award.

Incognitus

Gaudior- None of us has read her new novel; while the project seems ill-conceived to me, I suggest we wait until it comes out before judging it, and her.
The first I heard of her return to the Church, which occured in 1998, was a few days ago. In the interview I read she seemed a Catholic of orthodox opinion, strongly defending the divinity of Christ, criticizing liberal biblical scholars, etc.
Let's hope for the best, okay?
She certainly led many people into dark paths; perhaps she can undo some of the harm she has done.
-Daniel, hopeful

I have read her endorsing women's ordination and she doesn't believe there is anything wrong with homosexuality. Hardly orthodox.

Here is just one of her writings on homosexuality and gay marriage. This was written long after she "returned" to the Church:

http://www.annerice.com/ph20040228.htm

Anthony- I was unaware of her views on gay marriage; as I said I only a few days ago became aware of her return to practicing the Faith.
On the other hand, her comments on The Passion of the Christ reveal a soul perhaps still in transition. Sometimes it takes a convert [or a returnee] quite a while to realize the deeper ramifications of the Faith.
Let us pray for her...
-D

I think I read her first two books, but I got bored with them after that. the first one was clever -- but it was also gratuitously gross and graphic. I never really liked Horror or SplatterPunk type fiction. I don't like William Gibson and Neil Gaiman for the same reasons. I like Urban Fantasy, but i think UF can be written without resorting to sex or violence as a hook.

I also like Sci Fi -- but classic, Space Opera type stuff. I agree, I think expurgated Heinlein is much better than unedited Heinlein. I cut my eye teeth on Asimov and Ben Bova, and Andre Norton.

Can I change the subject a little? Has anyone else read "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell? It's about Jesuits in Space --no kidding. I liked the premise of the book --- and most of the book, but I didn't really care for the ending, or the *really* gross and unnecessary abuse exposed at the end of the tale. I thought it was really not needed. The tale could have been told another way.

Anyways, this book also has some interesting issues, and might say some controversial things. I can't say whether this is a realistic portrayal of Jesuits or not -- I don't know any so I can't say. But at the same time it is fiction. One must not confuse fiction with reality.

One thing "The Sparrow" did not do is directly address the question of the relevance of an Earth-based religion to non-earth cultures. Okay, okay -- that's a bit intellectual. We aren't anywhere near finding sentient life off Earth, so it's not going to be a real issue until then if that ever happens. There's a sequel to "The Sparrow", and I am looking for it on the discount book swap websites. Maybe the sequel talks about that.

Last year when I did nanowrimo, I was going to write a novella about a priest who gets chosen to study and work on the ISS, and who has a crisis of faith about the relevance of his Vocation in the Final Frontier. But the more I thought about it, the essence of the conflict escaped me. I kept thinking about the scripture that says "In My Father's House, there are many mansions..." I am totally okay with the idea that in my human earthly life, I have no way of concieving of God's true nature or form. It's a mystery. And it may boggle my mind, but I can accept that God may have other children who are created in his image another way. I'm not saying I think definitely there are such children, but there could be. And it wouldn't destroy my faith. We could all be chiuldren of the same Father, and their difference of form would be their Catholicism. My storyline evaporated, because I realized that one one level, faith is only about our relationship with God. And everything you do-- all the ministries people do, come out of that faith. And that doesn't have to change, because it's not threatened no matter where our physical body actually is. I couldn't imagine my character really having a crisis of faith about orbiting the planet in a space station.

Sorry to derail your thread aboiut Anne Rice. IMHO, there are other religious fiction writers promoting far more heinous heresies and misinformations. I agree, let's give Anne a break -- she's going from vampires to Jesus -- not the other way around. I agree maybe she just needs to grow in her faith a little more.

I am trying to understand why vampire stories are inherently non-Christian (especially since the sources of vampire legends come from Christians of the Carpatho-Rusyn region of the world). While I will agree that Rice's works have been dreadful and pornographic, they are not the only way one can do vampire or horror stories.

As a fiction writer, I have found my own place lies in supernatural-fantasies which are a cross between Charles Williams, Conan Doyle, and H.P. Lovecraft. While they are works of fiction, the issues of faith are brought out -- and in ways which other genres cannot do. There is an inherent belief in the supernatural world within this genre, and so it allows for profound ideas without it being forced and feel preachy.

Vampire stories are NOT inherently non-Christian. You are quite correct that the genre can bring out elements of faith and piety if correctly done.

On the other hand, hers are not written that way. A pity, as she is a very descriptive writer, with the evocative power few writers have these days.

I can't get around the problem of her creating a fictional account of Christ's life, one that opposes Scripture and Tradition, from the wwritings of heretics, but writing as a firm believer, newly reconverted, etc. The reason I have issues with this is that we have all seen the foolishness of people who believe The da Vinci Code, but it is clear to many that Brown writes from an anti-Catholicism point of view. Now, we have Anne Rice, whose market has always been the sensation-seekers, and she will write her heresy (and just from the article one can tell that it contains heretical elements) claiming to be a devout Catholic...and thus, her sensation-seeking fan base will believe her words, as she has told them over and over that she is converted, and will only write for the Lord. I have a problem with this, as I have seen how people truly believe this stuff. I do not refer to the educated people who know their faith. Pop over to Christian Forums sometime and google on people's thoughts about Dan Brown's books. The majority BELIEVE them.

I think that any author, especially one as intelligent as Anne Rice is, and as in contact with her fan base as she is, must surely know that people will believe what she writes. Given that, an author should take care to write things that will not mislead others about the Truth, if that is, in fact, what the author loudly professes.

No, you certainly can't hold yourself as an author personally accountable for how every person reads your works, but if the evidence shows that a vast number of people will believe in what you wrote, as if it were true...you really must exercise a little judgment about what you write.

Gaudior, who considers that Anne Rice has thus far exercised no judgment

I have read several of Anne Rice's novels and actually am not surprised that this has happened. She's always maintained a reverence for the Catholic Church in her novels, even when criticizing it - one of her "vampires", Lestat, even made a Dante-esque trip through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven in "Memnoch the Devil".

Actually, many "horror" writers seem to have a respect for the Church, at least in their stories. In "Salem's Lot," by Stephen King, all the main characters (at least, the ones who were still alive ) went to confession before going out to hunt down the vampires - when one character protested that he wasn't a Catholic, another one said, "You are now."

And of course, there's the all-time champ, "The Exorcist".