ABRUPTO

19:30 (JPP)

O ABRUPTO FEITO PELOS SEUS LEITORES: HOW FAR CAN YOU GO? DE DAVID LODGE

Comecei a ler o livro uns dias antes da deterioração do estado de saúde do Papa João Paulo II (não sabia, portanto, o quão pertinente a sua leitura se viria a revelar), terminei poucos dias após a sua morte. Tinha-o comprado numa das minhas "peregrinações" à Hodges & Figgis de Dublin sem absolutamente nenhuma referência para além do texto na contra-capa: "Polly, Dennis, Angela, Adrian and the rest were bound to lose their spiritual innocence as well as their virginities on the way from the 1950s to the '70s. On the one hand there was the traditional Catholic Church, on the other the siren call of the permissive society - the appearance of the Pill, the disappearance of Hell and the advent of COC (Catholics for an Open Church). It was inevitable that things would change fairly radically. But still...". E, claro, a certeza de umas horas bem entretidas que os livros de David Lodge sempre propiciam. Tal como o texto citado sugere, o livro narra a história de um grupo de católicos na Inglaterra dos anos 50 a 70, e das suas dúvidas e angústias na tentativa de conciliar a sua conduta numa sociedade cada vez mais permissiva com a sua religião.

Chama-se "How Far Can You Go" e o último parágrafo reza assim:

"While I was writing this last chapter, Pope Paul VI died and Pope Jonh Paul I was elected. Before I could type it up, Pope John Paul I had died and been succeeded by John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope for four hundred and fifty years: a Pole, a poet, a philosopher, a linguist, an athlete, a man of the people, a man of destiny, dramatically chosen, instantly popular - but theologically conservative. A changing Church acclaims a Pope who evidently thinks that change has gone far enough. What will happen now? All bets are void, the future is uncertain, but it will be interesting to watch."

O livro teve a sua primeira edição em 1980.

(Mariana Magalhães)