Glory (La gloria) is Giuseppe Berto's testamentary novel. The first-person narration of the Gospel in the voice of Judas Iscariot constitutes Berto's closing argument in a life-long debate with Christianity. His interpretation of the gospel story is certainly unconventional, even oppositional. Rather than a rejection of the Christian faith in which he was raised and educated, however, Berto fashions an alternative account to the four canonical gospels that ultimately constructs a competing view of the human condition and of humanity's prospects for redemption.
In Berto's parodic rendition of the Christian gospel, Judas, after a lifetime of tormented interrogation, decides to embrace the ambiguity of the human condition, which is, as he describes it, a liminal existence played out over a long and trying transition of unknown and unknowable duration, between the original paradise of the Garden of Eden and the final redemption at the end of days-a period otherwise known as history.?????
This book was translated thanks to a grant awarded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Industry Reviews
"A work of great stylistic and thematic importance...a stark and arduous book, the fruit of a continual re-reading of the 'Scriptures of the Eternal.'"- Silvio Perrella, author of Calvino
"The life of Jesus has been transformed into a psychological thriller narrated by Judas, an unreliable yet captivating narrator. All too human in his quest for redemption, Judas longs to achieve faith but is gripped instead by enchantment."- Keith Holyoak, author of The Gospel According to Judas
"Berto's labor... is a mediation fixed to and developed on the joists of the Gospels, but where in the end, the upper hand belongs to the consciousness of our suffering and above all to the certainty of the futility and the impossibility of the word of Christ."- Carlo Bo (1911-2001), Rector Emeritus of the University of Urbino
"Giuseppe Berto's Glory: The Gospel of Judas is a daring and thought-provoking rewriting of the most significant moments of the Christian sacred narratives. Gregory Conti's accurate translation will certainly renew our interest in one of Italy's most complex and unique modern writers. One doesn't need to be a Christian to appreciate Berto's inquisitive and rewarding approach to the religious texts that have exerted a profound influence on the Western world."- Armando Maggi, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor of Western Civilization, University of Chicago
"Giuseppe Berto's last novel is an original, relentless, and profound monologue, in which Judas Iscariot tells the story of Jesus and explains his own betrayal. Artfully translated by Gregory Conti, it folds past and present together and explores timeless themes of innocence, responsibility, sacrifice, and love."- Francesca Parmeggiani, professor of Italian and comparative literature at Fordham University
"Giuseppe Berto's thoughtful and eloquent Judas brings to life the mystery and charisma of the person of Jesus. In this profound meditation on the paradoxes at the center of the Christian story, we witness Judas learning a humbling truth, namely that divine glory comes only at the cost of human shame." - David Brakke, author of The Gospel of Judas: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
"Mastery of literary technique makes the reader sensorially present in first-century Palestine. One feels oneself to be Judas and relives his experience from the inside, shedding his prayers and tears over the dilemmas of loving, the enigma of evil, and the perplexity of being humanly free yet fulfilling a destined 'glory.' In this wrenchingly profound probing of the Messianic mystery, we peer with Judas into the dark abyss of how a Galilean prophet came to be revealed as God. "- William Franke, professor of comparative literature at Vanderbilt University
