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anacristinapb's review against another edition
5.0
Dense, provocative, inspiring. Saramago may be anti-Church or even an atheist, but he can alsoo be spiritual--the best kind: a true humanist.
annepw's review against another edition
4.0
Calming and slow-paced, until it delves into some seriously fascinating (and, bonus points, extremely heretical) territory at the end.
suttonaw's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, and wished that I had dared to recommend it to our book group at church - but I thought that the sex scenes involving our Lord and Savior might be a bit much for some of the members of the congregation. Regardless, I thought this was completely fascinating, and neat to experience the author's grappling with faith and Christianity. This book gave me a similar impression to the one I got watching Pedro Almodovar's "Dark Habits." (Plot synopsis of the movie if you're short of time: drug-dealing nuns, a tiger, and prostitution.) Basically, when Catholics leave the Church, they _LEAVE_ the Church.
barbaraskalberg's review against another edition
1.0
I should have put it down. Everyone told me I could put it down. Not sure I've ever actually finished a book that I disliked as much as this one. I tried to read it as a piece of fiction literature and not a work of theology, bc it obviously was intended as a piece of fiction literature, but when you put a man name Jesus in a place called Nazareth and surround him with people named Mary, Peter and John I couldn't help myself. BUT, that is about where the similarities end! Mary Magdalene a prostitute AND the sister of Martha and Lazarus AND Jesus's lover? Jesus hanging out as a shepherd for four years with Satan? God making mistakes? Every single page had me riled. I should have put it down.
tsentas's review against another edition
4.0
This book will be forever connected in my head with the Christian preacher camped out at the NY 42nd street subway station at the tunnel between the A,C,E connection and the 7/1,2,3 - who during the morning commute would exhort subway riders with various phrases such as: "Don't re-ject Je-sus!... don't. reject. the lord Je-sus Christ" or "Je-sus Christ is the way. Je-sus Christ is love" (overly enunciating each word for added spiritual effect.) Every time I walked past him while holding this book I would smile and nod and wonder whether he too had also read and appreciated The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
jalalslava's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
giulia_sioux's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
aritammarques's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love a good biblical retelling and knowing everything I know about the controversy behind this one made me enjoy it even more.
The way he writes always takes me a while to get used to and I had to look up a lot of words in the beginning which took me out of the narrative a little bit.
The way he portraits god as selfish and unjust and Jesus as a good man with a lot of doubts but good intentions is just so exactly right for a communist raised catholic.
All and all, Saramago can do no wrong and the way he writes always feels like coming home but this is not going on my top 3 picks of his books.
The way he writes always takes me a while to get used to and I had to look up a lot of words in the beginning which took me out of the narrative a little bit.
The way he portraits god as selfish and unjust and Jesus as a good man with a lot of doubts but good intentions is just so exactly right for a communist raised catholic.
All and all, Saramago can do no wrong and the way he writes always feels like coming home but this is not going on my top 3 picks of his books.
ecrummy's review against another edition
4.0
Topical choice, being Lent and all.
I could see how this book would be different things to different people, depending on how you feel about Christianity and God in general. Personally, I found it to be a witty, irreverent, philosophical alternate history of the Gospels, according to Jesus himself (as suggested....).
What would happen if Sherlock Holmes narrated instead of Watson? His mystery would disappear: for most of the story he'd be wandering around, just as confused as we are. TGATJC reminded me of this: what do we get when we are privy to the inner voice of Jesus? A man with uncertainties, desires, fears, and doubts.
Saramago spends most of the book on Jesus as a child, which isn't covered as much in the bible. In this rendition, he spent his childhood away from home, herding sheep with the devil. He leaves after a conversation with God, who promises He has big plans for him, and starts performing miracles Christians will find familiar: catching fish, healing, etc.
A brief google search tells me the Roman Catholic Church feels this book has a "substantially anti-religious vision." The book does go against the bible in quite a few places (ex: Jesus is not only intimate with Mary Magdelene, but they are life partners). I think the devout may find the emphasizes on the close relationship between God and the Devil ("… unless the devil is the devil, God cannot be God") more troubling than changing a few details. Additionally, God is depicted as a greedy and selfish; he is unmoved by the millions of lives that will be lost in His name after Jesus' death, and only cares about acquiring new worshipers ("The end justifies the means," the devil explains).
That all sounds terribly heavy, but somehow it's not: it's often quite clever and funny. For example, after Joseph and Mary "lie together" (yeah I know, they're not supposed to do that either), "Joseph stood [...] and gave the most heartfelt thanksgiving of all, which is reserved for men, I thank You, Almighty God, King of the Universe, for not having made me a woman." Ha!
I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to deeply religious folk. I doubt it would shake your faith, but you might not like the disrespectful tone Saramago uses and the details that he changed. I would recommend it to others though; I enjoyed it quite a lot!
I could see how this book would be different things to different people, depending on how you feel about Christianity and God in general. Personally, I found it to be a witty, irreverent, philosophical alternate history of the Gospels, according to Jesus himself (as suggested....).
What would happen if Sherlock Holmes narrated instead of Watson? His mystery would disappear: for most of the story he'd be wandering around, just as confused as we are. TGATJC reminded me of this: what do we get when we are privy to the inner voice of Jesus? A man with uncertainties, desires, fears, and doubts.
Saramago spends most of the book on Jesus as a child, which isn't covered as much in the bible. In this rendition, he spent his childhood away from home, herding sheep with the devil. He leaves after a conversation with God, who promises He has big plans for him, and starts performing miracles Christians will find familiar: catching fish, healing, etc.
A brief google search tells me the Roman Catholic Church feels this book has a "substantially anti-religious vision." The book does go against the bible in quite a few places (ex: Jesus is not only intimate with Mary Magdelene, but they are life partners). I think the devout may find the emphasizes on the close relationship between God and the Devil ("… unless the devil is the devil, God cannot be God") more troubling than changing a few details. Additionally, God is depicted as a greedy and selfish; he is unmoved by the millions of lives that will be lost in His name after Jesus' death, and only cares about acquiring new worshipers ("The end justifies the means," the devil explains).
That all sounds terribly heavy, but somehow it's not: it's often quite clever and funny. For example, after Joseph and Mary "lie together" (yeah I know, they're not supposed to do that either), "Joseph stood [...] and gave the most heartfelt thanksgiving of all, which is reserved for men, I thank You, Almighty God, King of the Universe, for not having made me a woman." Ha!
I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to deeply religious folk. I doubt it would shake your faith, but you might not like the disrespectful tone Saramago uses and the details that he changed. I would recommend it to others though; I enjoyed it quite a lot!