Song of George: Portrait of an Unlikely Holy Man
Song of George/Portrait of an Unlikely Holy Man is a novel in two parts about an enlightened soul, spiritually, who simultaneously suffers from a severe mental illness. The story has him incarcerated in a Federal prison mental ward, where he has a uniquely profound impact on his fellow inmates/patients.
From an author’s note in the introductory material:
“Out of empathy for the many unfortunate souls, incarcerated with long sentences in prisons, for behavior they are incapable of amending, and who are in need of thoughtful and careful treatment, in more appropriate institutions, I have chosen to imagine the character of George. My beloved Master, Ajaib Singh, used to say, ‘God comes as a man. If he came as an animal we would not be able to understand his language. If he came as a ghost we could not see him.’
The imprisoned characters in this story are men. There are those who would call some of them less than men, or perhaps even call a few of them other than men. But men they are. Men who for one reason or the other cannot understand or cannot conform to mainstream society, and therefore cannot survive in any mainstream society. If God came to them as a man of any mainstream society, it is possible that they would not be able to understand him. If he came as a ghost, some of them may be able to see him, but the understanding issue would likely still exist.”
Thus the novel is somewhat of an allegory, with the prison representing the greater prison of the material world which we all inhabit. The “thoughtful and careful treatment” that I mentioned above would, of course, benefit such people, but could never be a total remedy for their suffering.
Some of the story unfolds through a series of interviews with the inmates who are incarcerated with the character, George. These are conducted by a team of paranormal psychology students. But the story is larger than the interviews, and the scenes are not confined to the prison only.
There are many characters who inhabit the world of George, both within the prison and without. He is ultimately their rescuer, certainly not in any worldly way, but rather in a spiritual sense. Yet George, who is steeped in humility, sees himself as only the bearer of a gift that he was given by his benefactor, a man who found him in a city park, where he lay, beaten and barely conscious, and rescued him.
In time George is released from the prison and Part 2 of the book deals largely with George and other characters on the “outside”.
All in all George seems to be an appropriate characterization, since his character is in keeping with the nature of the great spiritual figures throughout history, in that they have taken on the suffering of the child, humanity.
Song of George is somewhat experimental in style, in that there is often no traditional narrator, the scenes themselves carrying the narration, not unlike scenes do in a motion picture. Song of George is spiritually inspired, but not religious in nature.
The Story Behind This Book
Suppose you were standing, like a tourist protected by a guardrail, over an opening into the pit of hell, when suddenly the sturdy rail gave way and you tumbled in. You wouldn’t know why consumed with fear or anger and surrounded by utter misery, it wouldn’t make any sense to you. Yet the fate of many of the poor souls in our prison mental facilities is not so very different from that scenario, their crimes often resulting from the effect of some form of mental illness. And who can help them? Most of us, including the doctors and psychiatrists, are ultimately helpless in finding any satisfactory solutions other than confinement. Ultimately, the only source of real hope is divine intervention. Enter George. Call him what you will; a messenger, a friend, a saint, or even a modern day incarnation of God, albeit a reluctant one, with a mission that concerns his fellow inmates, the unloved unfortunate characters of a Federal Prison mental ward.