Review: Star Wars, Episode III Revenge of the Sith (Novelization by Matthew Stover)

So, the obvious question: why review a seven-year old novelization of a lackluster film which contributed to the destruction of many of our childhoods? Because around four years ago I picked up this book on a whim, and it challenged my assumptions about what writing is capable of.

This is a novel that knows the exact strengths and weaknesses of the story set before it, and is totally willing to emphasize that which helps it and sweep all the other stuff under the rug. Stover demonstrates remarkable aptitude in aggressively restructuring the tale as told in the film: the "opening" battle scene in the movie is stretched to roughly a 1/3 of the book's length, giving Stover legroom to properly introduce and breathe life into all the characters before we begin the story proper.

The general story you know well, but where this book really shines is in helping the reader grasp the characters psychologically. That might sound stupid in a soft sci-fi setting like Star Wars, but the execution is so flawless you won't think twice about it. One trick which Stover pulls several times is in using little 2nd person sections of the story to tell you exactly what a character feels or thinks at that particular moment. By describing, say, Anakin Skywalker's thoughts, reasoning, and emotions to the reader as though they were Anakin, the novel becomes incredibly gripping in a way that is really rather surprising. Having watched the film, I didn't think it was possible to empathize with the cardboard-cutout protagonist Anakin, but the novel really does an outstanding job conveying the deep, powerful emotions bubbling just under the surface without seeming tacky or under-developed.

Even beyond this, the novel succeeds in ways that were unexpected. Action, for me, doesn't often work well in prose (especially when someone is adapting a film into narrative), but by employing a more impressionistic-view  of the lightsaber and space battles (i.e. focusing on the fighters' thoughts, styles and characteristics instead of drab hit-by-hit recitation), the confrontations are engaging, while actually adding to the story.

In short, this novel did what the film definitely did not: it made this universe, and this story, real and powerful for me. By shifting the focus away from the inane, confusing, and "too-complex-for-soft-sci-fi" plot and instead drawing our attention to the characters, Stover's book has conveyed the meaning and intensity of this rather dark tale in a way only a masterful novel can.

radical

What was the most radical thing Jesus ever said?

...

That's largely dependent on the person reading, I presume. To a Jewish person in the 1st century, maybe it was the part where he said "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for it."

To a wealthy person (in any century), maybe it's that time he tells the rich young man, "Give away all your possessions, lay up treasures in heaven; come follow me."

(this is not where I'm going with this, but as a sidenote, do you ever worry about the fact that Jesus said it was harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and we Americans represent the upper-upper-upper class of the world?)

To a lover of social justice, whether it be a Jewish man resisting the oppressive Roman rule at the time, or a black man being subject to police brutality during the Civil Rights movement, maybe it's the part where he calls down Zacchaeus, that foul son-of-a-bitch who traded his own people to the Romans for money, and goes to eat with him. Or the part where he asks forgiveness for the guards, and the people, responsible for killing him.

Jesus was certainly more radical than we often give him credit for being.

I think, though, that we often miss the two most radical things he ever said. Miss them for what they are, anyways.

Here's one:

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

And here's the other:

"You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; this is the greatest commandment. The second is similar: love your neighbor as yourself."

The thing about these is, they boil everything up there down to a single powerful command. "Love."

Jesus, was ultimately love.

Duh.

But here's the thing: we look over this all the time.

Consider the history of the Church. Things start off pretty good, we have Paul and the apostles doing crazy shit all around the Mediterranean, the Church spreading like wildfire, all this great stuff. The Roman government oppressing the Church pretty much only makes it stronger. There's persecution, yes. There's hardship and trials, certainly. But things are going unbelievably.

Then something horrible happens. Something which set a precedent for the next 1900 years in the Church.

The Church became...official.

How terribly ironic that the Constantine adopted Christianity as part of a last-ditch effort in a losing battle. In becoming legit, we lost some of our credibility.

Then, there was the Roman Catholic Church, and now the Church existed as a political entity (a powerful one, at that), wielding it's supposed spiritual power to guide the ways of man towards their own political gains. Part of this involves the attempted re-capture of the Holy Land, or "Jesus cries as so many horrors are wrought in his name", or the Crusades.

In Europe, wars are fought constantly over Christianity itself: theological and ideological differences tear us apart.

Some people try to escape the fighting and go to a place where they make all religion legal and free (they had a good idea). But they severely fuck everything up by all being Christians. And from there, we have the growth of American-Christian Imperialism, including our insane understanding of moral truths, truths we claim to find in the text itself but really date back to our 1900 year old belief that Jesus had nothing to say about "justified warfare".

That's the brief overview. I left out the parts where we conquered and massacred native peoples all over the world, in Jesus' name; the parts where we cruelly subjected lower classes and racial minorities to horrible welfare conditions or even slavery, in Jesus' name; and the parts where we prayed earnestly for God's blessing over people sent to gain geopolitical and economical power for the United States in the very land where God might be needed the most, in Jesus' name.

Millions upon millions killed, slaughtered, broken, tortured, subjugated, conquered, and hated.

In Jesus' name.

"Love."

How the hell did we screw up such a simple command?

I don't think we did. I think we screwed up an incredibly difficult command. That's why these are Jesus' most radical claims: they're near impossible for us, humans, to do.

Think about your day today (or yesterday). When was the last time you thought "I really hate that person"? (for me, it was yesterday at around 7 o'clock). When was the last time you wanted someone to see a cruel "justice", whether or not it was deserved? When was the last time you found that you would prefer to see someone loved than punished?

Here's the incredible, world-changing, life-changing, impossible truth: as a Christian, we can never use the term "enemy" to describe another human being.

...

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment.

Do not resist the one who is evil...turn the other cheek.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Father, forgive them: for they do not know what they are doing - Father, forgive us: we do not know what we are doing.