Maybe I should ask a librarian?
Sep. 17th, 2012 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
justalurkrI need a good book on heresy, the less denominational the better, because Wikipedia is not wholly getting the job done.
That novel I've been thinking about writing for, like, the last three NaNos, may be coming in for a landing. The summary so far is "A Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into Alexandria..." and is known as the Heresy Book for short, because they're all some sort of greater or lesser heretic looking for a man, but not that way, you pervs.
Yes, it used to be "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into Cordoba..." based on my college experiences in Spain and, after way too much Steve Berry, morphed into "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim sneak into Aleppo...," but Ancient to Middle Aged spy thriller didn't seem quite the thing for the heretic message. I flirted briefly with "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim run the hell out of Constantinople..." after listening to "Lost to the West," but decided that was a little fraught, and the Muslim's storyline was fleshing out to something that didn't really fit where that siege went, which was nowhere good for anyone, but especially the not the women.
So, heresy:
1. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a Jewish woman a heretic? The closest I've gotten so far is having her doubt God's omniscience. Ideally, my reference on heresy would include a Jewish heresy that does not end up with her finding salvaltion in Christ, because I already have a Christian heretic, which brings me to...
2. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good Christian heresy that was still alive and will by the time of the Sunni Shi'a schism? That thing in the 4th Century when they put together the canonical Bible ended the respectability of many early Christian heresies, and the whole heretic-in-France situation has been done to death already.
3. Do you have any idea how hard it is even to think about writing a renegade Muslim character these days? I keep wondering if adolescent defiance of a father's will is fatwah-worthy.
So, I need heresies for everyone that won't get me killed, won't interfere too severely with these women (or, two women and girl who would currently be a woman only if she were an Olympic gymnast,) working together and, of course, that could plausibly exist at the same time.
The call for help goes out to the two known librarians and any other bookish types on my flist. You're my only hope of finding something I can finish before September.
There may be later posts with less tongue-in-cheek plot summaries and a list of books I'm already reading to research which does in fact include The Faith Club, in the mail from half.com. As I am trying to be on time for work these days, I can't list and link them all right this second.
That novel I've been thinking about writing for, like, the last three NaNos, may be coming in for a landing. The summary so far is "A Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into Alexandria..." and is known as the Heresy Book for short, because they're all some sort of greater or lesser heretic looking for a man, but not that way, you pervs.
Yes, it used to be "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim walk into Cordoba..." based on my college experiences in Spain and, after way too much Steve Berry, morphed into "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim sneak into Aleppo...," but Ancient to Middle Aged spy thriller didn't seem quite the thing for the heretic message. I flirted briefly with "a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim run the hell out of Constantinople..." after listening to "Lost to the West," but decided that was a little fraught, and the Muslim's storyline was fleshing out to something that didn't really fit where that siege went, which was nowhere good for anyone, but especially the not the women.
So, heresy:
1. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a Jewish woman a heretic? The closest I've gotten so far is having her doubt God's omniscience. Ideally, my reference on heresy would include a Jewish heresy that does not end up with her finding salvaltion in Christ, because I already have a Christian heretic, which brings me to...
2. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good Christian heresy that was still alive and will by the time of the Sunni Shi'a schism? That thing in the 4th Century when they put together the canonical Bible ended the respectability of many early Christian heresies, and the whole heretic-in-France situation has been done to death already.
3. Do you have any idea how hard it is even to think about writing a renegade Muslim character these days? I keep wondering if adolescent defiance of a father's will is fatwah-worthy.
So, I need heresies for everyone that won't get me killed, won't interfere too severely with these women (or, two women and girl who would currently be a woman only if she were an Olympic gymnast,) working together and, of course, that could plausibly exist at the same time.
The call for help goes out to the two known librarians and any other bookish types on my flist. You're my only hope of finding something I can finish before September.
There may be later posts with less tongue-in-cheek plot summaries and a list of books I'm already reading to research which does in fact include The Faith Club, in the mail from half.com. As I am trying to be on time for work these days, I can't list and link them all right this second.
