The Story of B

I actually liked this immensely. Maybe even more than Ishmael, although noting with reverence to all that Ishmael was responsible for, being the first book to lay the arguments that Quinn has been at ever since.

The Story of B has much more “action” in it, if you will, than Ishmael. A lot happens, and the book could be read without the ideas. In fact, Quinn neatly keeps the dialogue and the ideas advocated strictly separate in this work. He almost seems to make a point of it, in fact, with a series of essays based on notes that the main character, a priest, takes while attending some controversial lectures, in an attempt almost to “spy”, if that is the right word for it, on the church of which he is a prominent member.

Of course, predictably, the ideas shake him to the roots of his faith, and he begins to have second thoughts. When the Church suspects this, the tensions begin to mount, and there is always intrigue and mystery behind the figure of “B”.

It is a good book on it's own, even without the essays at the end. It is intriguing, with a little something for everyone. Not as adventurous as some of his other works (such as “The Holy”), yet it also remains more intellectual and far more subtle, the ideas expressed much more direct and challenging the reader, assuming that the reader actually bothers to read the essays at the end, and although they remain largely separate from the story itself, they are what the entire story revolves around, for the most part, in a strange way that is hard to explain but easily understood once you actually read the book.

It was the essays at the end, which taken as a whole give a reading, or perhaps rather an interpretation, of history that is so thorough, so complete, and so challenging, that it shook and fascinated me, and allowed me to view history through a different prism than I had ever really done before.

For me, the essays were what I easily remembered the most from the book. They were the best part of the book, and I since have turned to the essays and reflected on the essays much more than any of the actual story in the book. They are a version of history, of our society. Not of any individual country or peoples, but of us, of our modern society, and all of the similarities in our collective approach that our individual and separate approaches (such as different nations and different religions) sometimes hide away. He talks of the sameness in approach, and not in a very complimentary way, at that. But again, read the book. You will hopefully not be disappointed. At the very least, if you pay attention, you certainly will not get bored. You might not agree, but it will argue things you likely have never heard before, and challenge you to think thing through more thoroughly than you are accustomed to. It took me a while to recognize it, as well. Some things, we just take for granted, just pas through the motions. This book, as well as pretty much all the books I have read from Quinn, pretty much serve effectively as a mental wake up call.

Again, as with Ishmael, I think it is important to let these essays speak for themselves, and they really should not only be read, but read as a whole, from the first entry, right through to the last. Because these ideas are provocative, and he lends an eloquence, a language and approach to it that allows the reader to appreciate just how many years this particular author struggled to find just the right words or tone to put forth his argument.

A fascinating read unlike anything else that you have ever read, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone, whether or not you will agree with Quinn or not.