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cadyly's review
4.0
I thought this book was well-written, super-funny, and had some great insights into delving into the Bible. I'm currently finishing up a small blog post highlighting some of my favorite parts; keep an eye on cadyly.stblogs.com
methanojen's review
Loved this book. Another great light rail read. Entertaining yet respectful of religion, too. It made me better appreciate some of the oddest of biblical laws (such as mixing fibers). I've always been skeptical of male Orthodox Jews not shaking women's hands. Well, turns out you can't shake a man's hand 24 hours after he has ejaculated, either! :) My favorite part of the book was when AJ Jacobs has to delete his "Stuff" list off his Blackberry. It's a list of all the things he's been right about and his wife has been wrong about. This made me laugh, because I can never remember the things I've been right about in my relationship either! :) A great book, and a light read. Highly recommended.
jenlaughs's review
5.0
A.J. Jacobs is a wonderful writer; I've loved everything of his I've read. Read this one long ago, rereading it for bookclub.
bristlecone's review
1.0
I did not like this author at all --- and since the book is all about the authors experiences, it was impossible to separate the book from the smug, self-congratulatory and shallow author.
I guess I don't understand why the author (as a secularist) did this. It isn't a surprise that living biblically is basically impossible, requires a variety of compromises, even across biblical dictates; or that there are some weird things one would have to do. But I think the thing I liked the least was the author's superficial insights. It reads like someone who is attempting a stunt for a book --- which is this author's bag --- while trying to make the reader believe it is a deeply spiritual journey. When confronted with moral ambiguities he fails to provide any real sense that he reflected on it in any meaningful way (ex. His wife confronts him about a giant Jewish party that he thoroughly enjoys, but that women are not allowed to attend, he notes that he noticed the gender segregation, but didn't really think much of it because it is tradition and not his place to question).
I stopped reading at about the point the he started on the New Testament stuff because I just couldn't take the whiny and superficial "what do I do about Jesus" thing. He says he started the project as a secularist and just engaged in the rituals to see what would happen. Even with his new found Jewish heritage, it didn't seem too much of a stretch for him to take the same approach for the New Testament. His discussion of what to do about the New Testament just drove home the hoaxiness of the entire endeavor for me. Is the reader really supposed to believe that this author, whose entire identity as an author is about being able to commit to stunts like this because they are in fact stunts, is sincerely wrestling with the bigger issues of what these rituals mean and which are more meaningful than others? This was the last superficial straw for me.
I guess I don't understand why the author (as a secularist) did this. It isn't a surprise that living biblically is basically impossible, requires a variety of compromises, even across biblical dictates; or that there are some weird things one would have to do. But I think the thing I liked the least was the author's superficial insights. It reads like someone who is attempting a stunt for a book --- which is this author's bag --- while trying to make the reader believe it is a deeply spiritual journey. When confronted with moral ambiguities he fails to provide any real sense that he reflected on it in any meaningful way (ex. His wife confronts him about a giant Jewish party that he thoroughly enjoys, but that women are not allowed to attend, he notes that he noticed the gender segregation, but didn't really think much of it because it is tradition and not his place to question).
I stopped reading at about the point the he started on the New Testament stuff because I just couldn't take the whiny and superficial "what do I do about Jesus" thing. He says he started the project as a secularist and just engaged in the rituals to see what would happen. Even with his new found Jewish heritage, it didn't seem too much of a stretch for him to take the same approach for the New Testament. His discussion of what to do about the New Testament just drove home the hoaxiness of the entire endeavor for me. Is the reader really supposed to believe that this author, whose entire identity as an author is about being able to commit to stunts like this because they are in fact stunts, is sincerely wrestling with the bigger issues of what these rituals mean and which are more meaningful than others? This was the last superficial straw for me.
kristyhill's review
5.0
Very funny and witty. Memoir of a man that decides to follow the Bible literally for an entire year. Not sure I could have stayed married to him so kudos to his wife.
annaisjoyful's review against another edition
2.0
Inevitably he's going to fail since he can't keep the first commandment. He does not love God, he's not sure he believes in him.
An interesting book in places but overall somewhat disappointing.
An interesting book in places but overall somewhat disappointing.
bluestjuice's review
4.0
This book has about the cheesiest cover I could imagine, so I wasn't really sure how I would feel about it overall, but in the end I liked it. The author's tone is witty and engaging (this is a light read, an examination of an experiment, not heavy research), but he throws himself into the experiment with a kind of zealous earnestness that I found appealing, rather than offensive. Not being a member of any literal-leaning religious groups, I can't say how they would interpret his attempts, but from a secular point of view it was an interesting perspective on what the Bible literally says, spattered with commentary from a variety of sources on common and less-common interpretations of all these various things. Add in a splash of autobiographical human interest in the persons of the author's wife, family, and friends, and you have a good idea of the tone of the book. While his year-long experiment didn't reshape him into a religious person, as the author put it in the conclusion, he gained a sense of the sacred.
bookishbarnowl's review against another edition
3.0
This was a compelling read, overall. As an agnostic athiest (not as much of an oxymoron as you may think) and ex-born again Christian, I was intrigued to see how a man could live his life quite literally by the Bible. At times I found myself forcing myself to read on and at other times was very much absorbed in it. I had no idea the Bible neither supported nor went against abortion or stem cell research. That was my biggest eye opener. This book gave me a true insight into how people pick and choose what religious doctrine to follow and the many different ways people follow the Bible.
24marsha's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I am already a very religious person and knowing what I believe about the bible and scriptures I really liked reading about AJs experience and trials to build his faith.