Ah, relics, they always make for good reading.

You know you have slightly strange tastes in nonfiction when you see a book about saints' relics and you think, "Ooh, goody!" And you further know you've probably read too much nonfiction when you think, "I wonder if it will be as good as the other relic book I read?"*

I was very, very excited to find Peter Manseau's book Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead in my library catalog. Not only because I find the idea of saints' relics (purported remnants of saints' bodies and other holy items--like pieces of the cross Jesus was crucified on--that are honored and venerated within various religions, including Catholicism and Buddhism) fascinating, but also because I love, love, LOVE Peter Manseau. (His memoir Vows, about his parents, a former nun and priest, and his childhood spent trying to understand their and his relationship with the Catholic Church, was hands-down one of the best memoirs I've ever read.)

This book finds Manseau traveling around to various holy sites, including Jerusalem and Goa, a city in India where the remains of Saint Francis Xavier are kept, and investigating such relics as the foreskin of Jesus (you heard me) and the burnt bones of Saint Joan. He strikes just exactly the right tone throughout; he is respectful without being obsequious, skeptical without being rude. He is, above all, fascinated by and thoughtful about his topic. This is what he has to say about Francis Xavier, who was an unenthusiastic missionary (at best) to India, although that is where his remains are today: "In death Francis Xavier had joined the lives of a people and a place where he had never wanted to remain. These children, born in the country he scorned, educated in a school that bears his name, have lived their lives in his shadow, but now they run in front of his church, casting their own." (p. 52.)

When I really love nonfiction I fall into very distinct feelings when reading it. Some nonfiction is exciting; some is inspiring, some makes me very angry; but my very favorite titles make me feel settled and thoughtful and peaceful. You know what I mean, about different feelings that books give you? This book makes me feel settled and peaceful, and it's wonderful. Right on, Peter Manseau.

*The other relic book was Anneli Rufus's Magnificent Corpses: Searching through Europe for St. Peter's Head, St. Claire's Heart, St. Stephen's Hand, and Other Relics from the Saints, which was also excellent. More personal in some ways, sharper in some ways, less historical and even-toned in others, but still brilliant.

Comments

[Tripp]

Oooo, I would like to read this one. Have you ever visited the Bone Church in Rome? Sadly I don't think it would make you feel peaceful and wonderful, but it is a heckuva place.

[Citizen Reader]

Tripp!
You're back! I hope you had a good vacay. I would love to hear what you think about this book; I think Peter Manseau is a super-talent.

I have never been to Rome or the Bone Church. I am sure it would be very unsettling and I shouldn't say as I've never actually seen that many bones...but I still think it might be kind of peaceful. I kind of feel that once the bones are all that's left perhaps the people that animated them are in a better place. Very fatalistic of me, I know. I would very much like to see that church.

It wasn't so much the relics that were making me feel peaceful; but this style of writing. I could tell a lot of thought and research went into it and reading things like that always makes me feel thoughtful and calm myself. Part of the reason I love NF.

[Tripp]

Still on vacation, one more day!

Interesting thought about the calming influence of well researched (and presumably reasoned) writing. I hadn't thought of it, but you are right, there is something mentally healthy about taking a subject and really trying to understand it.

[Eva]

This sounds awesome! Crossing my fingers that my library has it. :D

[Citizen Reader]

Eva,
I really enjoyed this book. If you DO like it, I would really still suggest Anneli Rufus's book on the same subject, which is really quite different, but also good. And of course I would suggest Manseau's memoir Vows, about his former priest and former nun parents. It's quite the story, and it's a well-written memoir too, which I always appreciate.