Coincidence in fictional book about Benedict XVI

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UtahMaggie

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I’ve been reading a book by James Patterson. It was published in 2001. As part of the story, the pope dies and a new one is chosen. When he is introduced, his name is Benedict XVI! :eek: When I read that my jaw dropped! I told my husband to guess the name and he just said, “No way!” What a coincidence!

Maggie
 
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msproule:
Interesting. What is the book’s title?
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The title is “Cradle and All”.
 
Well, yes, it’s a coincidence but not a very surprising one. If you were to write a novel that has a pope as a character, probably you’d choose from one of the historical names.

During the last hundred years we have seen these papal names:

John Paul
John
Paul
Pius
Benedict

We can go back a bit further and find Leo and Gregory.

It seems to me that, of all these names, Benedict is the one most likely to be chosen by a novelist: It’s a “regular” name (I’ve met lots of guys named Benedict [even if they go by Ben] but never a guy named Pius, and I’ve known only a couple of Leos) but hasn’t been used by a pope too recently (Benedict XV died in 1922).

Of course, Gregory is an even more common name–and John and Paul more common still. Precisely because of how common those names are, I think a novelist would go with Benedict: a good balance between too-common and too-old-fashioned-sounding.
 
I read that book several years ago, I think that I am going to have read it again. I do remember that it was a pretty wild book, but I don’t remember the part about the pope. It makes sense to me that James Patterson used Benedict vs John or Paul because of the current pope’s name (at that time). If he had used John or Paul, then the author stood the chance of offending someone, somewhere. He was playing it safe by using a name that had not been used for a long time.
 
Maggie,

As soon as I read your post I ran over to my bookcase-sure enough I have the book. I got it last July (along with about 20 other books, still unread). Anyways, I spent today reading it.

When you’re finished, how about a discussion on it?

P.S. The copyright date on my book is 2000.
 
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