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812 reviews for:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
A.J. Jacobs
3.76 AVERAGE
812 reviews for:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
A.J. Jacobs
3.76 AVERAGE
I expected this book to be a humorous, but not at all serious, attempt to follow the Bible. But Jacobs provides an excellent balance of humor and seriousness. His stories caused me to laugh out loud at several parts, but underneath his humor is the search to understand the faith people have in religion and his effort to make sure that his son does not miss out on anything because his father has not followed religious beliefs in the past.
Nonfiction and exactly what the title says it us. An agnostic, culturally Jewish man who previously wrote a book chronicling his experience reading the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica decided to attempt a year living according to strict Biblical law, including those laws that most people like to forget about nowadays. Hilarity, introspection, and some truly touching moments ensue as he figures out how to integrate ancient laws into modern life and meets with people across the Judeo-Christian religious spectrum to get their thoughts on literal interpretations of the Bible. Entertaining and educational.
Not as good as The Year of Living Constitutionally, so I’m glad I read that first. The time spent in the Old Testament was much more interesting than the New, I had to slog my way through that part.
Hilarious and well done. I thought he might end up just mocking, but this guy really goes all in for a year. Funny anecdotes and interesting Biblical research.
Disappointing...thought it would be funnier. And none of his conclusions--after trying to live as the bible instructs for one year--were surprising.
I really liked this book. I am not one to laugh out loud at books, but I laughed many a time at this one. I also liked that while it had its funny side, it had a serious side as well and I enjoyed hearing about how the author changed throughout the year. I respected how honest the author was during his quest. I especially enjoyed how his wife reacted to some of the situations (some situations where he embarassed his wife and other times where she used his quest to get info. out of him because he had to be completely honest). I'm not in a book club, but if I was in one, this would've been a great pick!
The main issue is that the book itself is poorly conceived. It started with a clear and intriguing concept. At first, Jacobs endeavors to live the Bible literally, all 700 rules he finds, for a year.
Within two weeks, he shifts his goal to focusing on one rule a day and incorporating it into his life. But for most of the year, most of the rules would remain in the back of his mind and not necessarily followed.
A couple weeks after that, he decides to shift goals yet again and to discover the "original intent of the text" and live the original Bible lifestyle as he interprets it. Quite a wide departure from his original goal and the title of his book.
It gradually devolves into him following his own heart to determine the original intent of the text and how to apply it to his own life. He mirrors the semi-literalists that he criticizes at the very beginning of the book when he gives himself license to cherry pick only the rules that he's comfortable with (or that will make his book more marketable). But all the time, he continues to write as if he is actually following the Bible literally. The entire book is marvelously disingenuous in this way.
Sure, there are some lovely moments in the book, but the glaring inconsistencies in Jacobs's approach (along with his neurotic personality in his writing) made it impossible for me to really enjoy.
Within two weeks, he shifts his goal to focusing on one rule a day and incorporating it into his life. But for most of the year, most of the rules would remain in the back of his mind and not necessarily followed.
A couple weeks after that, he decides to shift goals yet again and to discover the "original intent of the text" and live the original Bible lifestyle as he interprets it. Quite a wide departure from his original goal and the title of his book.
It gradually devolves into him following his own heart to determine the original intent of the text and how to apply it to his own life. He mirrors the semi-literalists that he criticizes at the very beginning of the book when he gives himself license to cherry pick only the rules that he's comfortable with (or that will make his book more marketable). But all the time, he continues to write as if he is actually following the Bible literally. The entire book is marvelously disingenuous in this way.
Sure, there are some lovely moments in the book, but the glaring inconsistencies in Jacobs's approach (along with his neurotic personality in his writing) made it impossible for me to really enjoy.
This was fun and I was looking forward to seeing where it was going, but it was time to return it to the person I borrowed it from! Moving is tough.
I found this book bittersweet. I appreciated the challenges that watching this agnostic man dedicate his life (for one year) to something in which he didn't even believe brought to my faith walk. At the same time, it was so disheartening to watch him walk out something to which he had no connection--and even fight any connection that he started to make. I can only hope that his year and his countless interviews and observations continue to ruminate in his life, bringing about true change and an openness to faith.
Often when I read this sort of story, I think, dang, I would totally want to hang out with her/him. That was not the case this time - I kinda wanted to punch him a few times. But despite that, I found it almost impossible to put the book down, staying up Way Too Late more than once to read it.
I would have preferred him to be a little more Xtian-focused, because I think that's a bigger driver of things in the US in general, but it was fascinating to read his experience. (I feel no need to repeat it, though.)
I would have preferred him to be a little more Xtian-focused, because I think that's a bigger driver of things in the US in general, but it was fascinating to read his experience. (I feel no need to repeat it, though.)