Many of you who know me also know that I've been slowly working my way through a novel (or what I hope will turn out to be one) for quite some time. Its working title is The Body and the Blood, though few have any idea what it is about. This is because whenever somebody asks me about it, a flood of its various premises overcomes me and I'm simply unable to determine which are pertinent to a description, and which are not. I've recently completed a first draft and am just beginning the second, so the whole thing is still very raw to me and tough to paraphrase, so in order to satisfy my interrogators (and also to organize my thoughts for the revision) I have come up with this little book jacket-esque description of the work and its themes. I've intentionally left out spoilers and excessive details, both for future readers and for myself--I would hate to take the fun out of writing it by getting stuck in various descriptions--though hopefully I've included at least enough detail to satisfy your curiosity. Enjoy, and you can look forward to the release probably a million years from now:
“For one cannot truly be counted human until [he] has fallen… Born innocence is a beautiful thing, but only innocence reclaimed fulfills God’s plan for us.”
So speaks Edward Hammond, the troubled narrator of The Body and the Blood. A defunct Catholic, much of Edward’s life has been dictated to him by different narratives: from the polemical texts of his faith, to various works of literature... His very name is derived from a character in one of his father’s novels! This first-person narrative, however, represents Edward's attempt to sort through and reclaim the broken fragments of his past. From a childhood in which both parents were in their own way absent, to life as the single father of a seven-year-old son, his account ultimately reveals a tender exploration of human depravity, and of the mysterious forces that bring people together. Interspersed with scenes from Eden and the tale of Original Sin, in these strained pages Edward makes his way ever backwards, with turns both comic and heart-rending, toward a hopeful salvation and release via the confessional power of narrative.
“For one cannot truly be counted human until [he] has fallen… Born innocence is a beautiful thing, but only innocence reclaimed fulfills God’s plan for us.”
So speaks Edward Hammond, the troubled narrator of The Body and the Blood. A defunct Catholic, much of Edward’s life has been dictated to him by different narratives: from the polemical texts of his faith, to various works of literature... His very name is derived from a character in one of his father’s novels! This first-person narrative, however, represents Edward's attempt to sort through and reclaim the broken fragments of his past. From a childhood in which both parents were in their own way absent, to life as the single father of a seven-year-old son, his account ultimately reveals a tender exploration of human depravity, and of the mysterious forces that bring people together. Interspersed with scenes from Eden and the tale of Original Sin, in these strained pages Edward makes his way ever backwards, with turns both comic and heart-rending, toward a hopeful salvation and release via the confessional power of narrative.
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