Stone Virgin

Can an act of artistic creation, motivated by whatever, entrap the emotions and sensibilities of those involved and then be so successful, subliminally, that it re-invokes the same emotions in those that encounter it? That is one hopeless sentence, but Barry Unsworth's book really does address issues of iconography and the power of art. He does it again in Losing Nelson, but there the enduring truth is myth, not the icon.

A great web of stories that makes you really think of the power that people exert over others. Especially the power of this stone virgin and how she affected (affects) those who come in contact with her. Will history continue to repeat itself? Beautifully written.

The opening of the book with the unknown accused is fantastic, one cannot help to continue reading. As the book unravels fragmenst and anecdotes of the history of the Virgin, it is woven in with the current work of the resoterer in an intricate way, that leaves you no room to put the book down. Read it and give youself a good dosage of history, mystery and sensualism.

Have you ever been drawn to an icon? An image so beautiful that it haunts you and never really leaves your senses? So goes the story in "Stone Virgin." Personally, I am a willing victim of just such a vision, and I have found in this vivid rendering another's soul also captivated by an inexplicable love of image, and vexed by limitless longing. There is no love greater than that in our imagination, that which we can only dream about. Reality has a hard time measuring up to our ideals. As a result, there is room for fantasy and secret desires of a near-sacred quality in all of our lives, those wisps of knowing-yet-not-knowing that drive our abilities to seek what is seldom found. Touching it, if even briefly, renews the quest to have it completely. "Stone Virgin" facilitates the journey by offering a sometimes-tortured, but always mystical entry into a journey that seeks beauty and completeness. If you are not deeply moved by this tale, you have not yet begun your own journey.