це просто сталось, відмітили, отримали трагічний біблійний урок і забилі (руска література)

Most underrated book I have ever read!

"if any one in this world was ever deceived, it was Judas"

Judas is one of my favorite characters in Bible. There is always that assumption in religious books that what is divine must also be beautiful and persuasive. Jesus, for example, just tells total strangers to follow him and, without any questions or need for proofs, they do. There must be something very convincing in very persona of Jesus. But than how come Judas, one of twelve hand-picked by Mr. Christ himself betrays him? How does he remain unimpressed by all that should be good and beautiful in Jesus? Of course, religious folks will blame the poor Devil and be done with it.

Andreyev does better. Judas, here, actually loves Jesus:

"You wish to buy Jesus for thirty pieces of silver? And you think that Jesus can be betrayed to you for thirty pieces of silver?"

It is his character that makes him do such a thing:

"Judas was an habitual liar, but they became used to this, when they found that his lies were not followed by any evil conduct; nay, they added a special piquancy to his conversation and tales, and made life seem like a comic, and sometimes a tragic, tales."

A lot of people are misled to believe that my lies are of similar nature. But anyways,

"what is a lie, my clever Thomas? Would not the death of Jesus be the greatest lie of all?"

Judas, as you might have guessed by now, is a cynic. Now, people are often cynical in their opinions on cynics. Cynicism is just a way of looking at the world, which doesn't in itself harm anyone, and is often developed by a person who haven't received much good from the world.

Judas' bad looks, double face, were probably enough to give him a terrible childhood in a heavily prejudiced society. He lives in continous impression that everybody, everything is mocking him and thus while once alone in mountains, when in an accident, he "suddenly rolled down in a grey ball, rubbing off his skin against the stones" his response was somewhat simlar to betrayed Ceasor, "he jumped up and angrily threatened the mountain with his fist—“You too, damn you!"

And, so, he felt betrayed by the whole world and, like Frankenstein's monster, became what society expected him to be.

Still, his cynicism didn't extend to Jesus, whom he loved and believed in. He saves His life and that of His apostles but since it is done by lying - he only gets everybody's disapproval. Including His. Those who refuse to show their anger on their loved ones from time to time, often end up destroying all their love and are left with a feeling of indifference which is often crueler to the beloved. Jesus too turns indifferent towards Judas, though like most disappointed parents, he still refuses to throw Judas out.

Having failed to regain Christ's affections any other way, despite his best efforts, he betrays him in frustration, somehow believing he might be doing Christ a service - he asks Jesus to stop him before doing so through telepathy but Jesus is our of reach so he thinks Later approves.

"Judas! Is it with a kiss you betray the Son of Man?"

He comes to regret it quickly, tries to protect Jesus in every way possible but fails to.

Spoiler

He ends up committing suicide the day after crucifixion.

But here is the strongest part of the book. His cynic views about others come out to be true. Not one of Jesus' apostles protest when He is taken away by soldiers, sentenced or punished. They prefer to let Barabbas go free instead of His Holiness. It is as if they want Him dead.

"People always love their teacher, but better dead than alive."

(So true!)

And, thus betraying by inaction, Apostles and Christians end up being more Judas-ians than Chrstians.

"ye will soon be kissing the cross on which ye crucified Jesus! Yes, yes, Judas gives ye his word that ye will kiss the cross!"

(Read online.)

Benim için oldukça yoğun ve duygusal bir kitaptı. Bu kadar dokunaklı olacağını hiç düşünmemiştim. Kötü bir karakter olarak kabul edilmiş bir kişiye daha farklı bir açıdan bakabilmek ise muhteşem bir deneyimdi.

Неожиданно сложная интерпретация образа Иуды из Кариота. Он здесь не просто обиженный мужчина с туманными мотивами, к которому мы все привыкли, а сломленный, раздираемый противоречиями, человек с глубокой психологической травмой. Люди всегда были предвзяты к Иуде: из-за его внешнего вида, скверного характера, грязных слухов и всякой подобной фигни. По умолчанию все относятся к нему довольно паршиво и даже “светлые” апостолы – не исключение. Каждый ожидает какой-нибудь подлости, а нежно любимый Иисус так и вовсе игнорирует, вот Иуда потихонечку и плавится, чтобы окончательно съехать с катушек в знаменитом финале. По сути, Андреев предлагает трактовку самого известного предательства в истории человечества через самоисполняющееся пророчество. Да, написано очень высокопарно, но тогда так принято было. В остальном это 90 прекрасных страниц (читалки) нестандартного взгляда на привычные вещи.

Andreiev já me provou que é um ótimo escritor, mas não senti a genialidade de 'Os Sete Enforcados' nesses contos, o que pode ter ocasionado minha ligeira decepção. Provavelmente porque peguei sua 'obra prima' pra ler antes, e comparados à ela, estes textos perdem o brilho. Mas são bons contos, principalmente os mais curtos.