by Payam Nabarz
Available
from Lulu
Paperback or download
Price £8.88 or £6.66
Review
by Bish
I
was tempted to keep the review short in order to match the book, which only
runs to some fifty pages. But the quality of a work is not reflected only in
its page numbers. The Divine Comedy (I shall, um, cut short the full title) is
a play, generally between two protagonists, Corax and Morrigan - Corax being a
seeker after the wisdom of the gods and Morrigan, of course, being such a one.
The story runs through the traditional year, poking fun at Corax with some 'in
jokes' and pagan related situation comedy as he attempts to gain knowledge from
the goddess of war, death, change and justice.
The
advertising for this work suggested a similarity with that of Terry Pratchett,
but I suspect there's more of a bond between it and the late great Douglas
Adams (who of course was a playwright and radio scripter as well as an author).
The lines work best when read out aloud than simply read, and it would indeed
make an interesting play for BBC Radio's 4 or 7. The layout is that of a
traditional play, with scene descriptions and narration, and paragraphs for
each actor's lines.
I
ran through this a couple of times, as much to get past some annoying
typographical and grammatical errors as to fully appreciate the content - but
then I am a little pedantic! I understand there may be a revision to this copy
with corrected text, which I applaud.
Some
of the descriptions are very contemporary (does anyone still use Lynx body
spray?) and the language is often that of the street, which will appeal to the
younger reader - and this is where I think the play is aimed. Elements of many
pagan traditions are brought into play (ouch, pun alert, sorry) and although a
deeper understanding of some of the traditions will only help the reader,
nearly everyone will be sufficiently familiar with the situations and players
to get by.
It
would not be fair to reveal much of the plotline in such a tale, but I did
enjoy a scene entitled 'an eclectic pagan's near death experience' which asked
the question as to just where an eclectic ends up, and in the company of which
gods?
The
book is launched on 31st January but is available now in paper and (amended)
.pdf format.
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