Happy Halloween!

From the Literary Society ™...!
© 2007 Luminous Luciano Pimentel ~ All Rights Reserved

FINALLY - Something Really Worth The Hype... And The Type!

"A detail is shown on a replica document in which
Pope Clement V absolved the Knights Templar
of charges of heresy, in Rome, October 9, 2007.

A reproduction of the Latin-language minutes of trials
against the Knights Templar in 1308,
lost until its rediscovery in 2001,
is being published by the Vatican Secret Archives at the end October.
The documents, a book and parchments,
costs 5,900 euros and its 799 numbered copies
are destined for top libraries and medieval scholars.
Picture taken October 9, 2007."
REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY)

How interesting that journalists named Frances, Ariel and David are the ones chosen by providence to bring us such heavenly news...?
But I am digressing right off the bat, my God...!
;)

Needless to say, the announcement that the Vatican is publishing the Knights Templar's absolution papers is HUGE NEWS.

Forget about fans of that lamentable, laughable plot that passed for a "code" in the eyes of millions - and forget about the conspiracy theorists too!
I am speaking of this with the pure, unbridled passion of a purist, a history buff and a Christian.
And there is nothing better, nothing more heroic, more admirable to behold than an idealized Christian-type such as the Templar Knight!
(Aye, the knights of the fabled Round Table are a distant second - capisce?)

Hence, any insight at all that we can obtain regarding that order of courageous knights is invaluable indeed.
After all, the idealized Christians that they were have become an unattainable ideal nowadays.
Who can ever measure up to such faith - faith that led them to conceive extremely poor strategies to destroy the Muslim armies, because they believed God Was on their side, no matter what!
Help yourself, and Heaven Will help you... The Knights sure learned that one the hard way!

Nevertheless, the Knights Templar remain an ideal - that cannot be reached, but they are, unquestionably, the epitomized Christian that truly does believe...!

Perhaps, if some can read about their musings more "straight from the source" than ever before, it will not be as "unattainable" as it currently is. Perhaps some will Believe as fervently as they did...?
But I hold not my breath here...!

Neither for this, nor for the unveiling of A MYRIAD OTHER secrets that the Vatican has held in its archives... ANY TIME SOON...

+++

Art Imitates Life - Or Is It The Other Way Around?

A very much appraised novelist, Jodi Picoult specializes in carefully-woven stories where the main protagonists are oftentimes youths. "Youths" yes - as Joe Pesci would say it... A month before the sad events at Virginia Tech, a tale that she had penned -a disturbing tale revolving around a High School shooting indeed- was published in the USA. A mere few days after the V.T. tragedy, that book was published in the U.K. - which made literatis raise their eyebrows in disbelief at the bad timing displayed by the publisher...

"The school shooter is walking a very fine line between killing himself and taking other people with him."
- Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult herself could be accused of something like "prophetic bad taste mired in the poorest timing of all" - but that would be easily undone by the literary merit she has earned among the connaisseurs and critics alike.

Also, one must not champion the cause of censorship - every and any subject can and should be tackled in works of fiction, be it the written word or no matter what medium is used. A fictional account, slightly romanticized, makes the masses aware of events and causes they might have completely missed otherwise. Nonetheless, there are ways to do it - there is a time for everything and everything has its place and time (to paraphrase the Turtles' poetry) and said timing is of the essence. Also, one cannot not see that, no matter what form it takes, the shooting spree subject always leave a very bad taste no matter where it's been tackled, broached or explored:

CAMPUS SHOOTINGS IN THE ARTS
Novels include We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lionel Shriver)
Songs include Rival (Pearl Jam), The Good Die Young (Tupac Shakur) and I Don't Like Mondays (Boomtown Rats)
Films include Elephant and Heart of America
And Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine documentary

Ultimately, only a news-reporting approach is truly acceptable; and that is why Michael Moore's documentary was so well-received and Jodi Picoult's book, especially on its date of release, can only raise eyebrows...