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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
funny
informative
inspiring
I had a great time reading this book as one man attempted to follow the Bible to the letter. He's an agnostic, and wanted to know what it was like to live by very strict, funamentalist interpretations of the Bible. He lets his beard grow, carries a portable seat to avoid sitting where someone "unclean" has sat, consults with Rabbis, the Amish, and a varied cast of mentors. He drives his wife crazy. He visits his crazy religious uncle in Israel.
I appreciate his vantage point as a religious outsider, trying to make sense of how believers choose to live their lives. I thought the Biblical lessons were skillfully interwoven with his own personal experiences and opinions. Not only did I look forward to each subsequent chapter for explanations of Biblical instructions, I also eagerly looked forward to each new twist in the author's life.
As an agnostic myself who was raised outside of religious traditions, I really got where the author was coming from. I am sure that others with strong religious beliefs might see his year as mocking, but really, I feel he was genuinely trying to understand the stance of religious fundamentalists.
I appreciate his vantage point as a religious outsider, trying to make sense of how believers choose to live their lives. I thought the Biblical lessons were skillfully interwoven with his own personal experiences and opinions. Not only did I look forward to each subsequent chapter for explanations of Biblical instructions, I also eagerly looked forward to each new twist in the author's life.
As an agnostic myself who was raised outside of religious traditions, I really got where the author was coming from. I am sure that others with strong religious beliefs might see his year as mocking, but really, I feel he was genuinely trying to understand the stance of religious fundamentalists.
A.J. Jacobs sets out to poke fun at Biblical literalists by devoting a year to obeying every rule set forth in the Bible, thereby showing the world how impossible and ludicrous Biblical literalism is.
I feel rather ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it is quite funny, and it is not without its genuine and insightful moments. On the other hand it is, in the words of another goodreads reviewer, a "stunt memoir," and I have a hard time forgiving it that. And I'm having a really hard time forgiving him doing two stunt memoirs (he reads the Encyclopedia Brittanica in his first book). This is despite of my weakness for this sort of thing: the idea of setting out to change your life for a significant but limited amount of time and recording your reactions and insights is really appealing to me.
My real problem is that I can't help but feel that Jacobs is dishonest here- he's not setting out on a genuine spiritual quest, he's not trying to change his life. He's setting out to prove a point with a straw man argument, and make his living doing it. Following a set of precepts that you find ludicrous, for the point of proving them ludicrous, and then pretending that it has anything to do with actual religion is both a straw man argument and a waste of time. I mean, I could set out to read China's answer to Emily Post and practice all the rules set forth in order to prove the inanity of Chinese culture, but who in their right mind would accept that I knew anything about being Chinese?
I also don't find it all that interesting that Jacobs debunks literalism. People purporting to be biblical literalists aren't likely to be his audience. His audience is going to be, for the most part, politically liberal secular folk, with some "believing" liberals thrown in for good measure. So projects with foregone conclusions that involve preaching to the choir...eh.
That said, I wouldn't call the book a waste of time. Jacobs manages, in spite of himself, to be transformed from an agnostic to a reverent agnostic, and it's worth reading the book to discover what that means.
I feel rather ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it is quite funny, and it is not without its genuine and insightful moments. On the other hand it is, in the words of another goodreads reviewer, a "stunt memoir," and I have a hard time forgiving it that. And I'm having a really hard time forgiving him doing two stunt memoirs (he reads the Encyclopedia Brittanica in his first book). This is despite of my weakness for this sort of thing: the idea of setting out to change your life for a significant but limited amount of time and recording your reactions and insights is really appealing to me.
My real problem is that I can't help but feel that Jacobs is dishonest here- he's not setting out on a genuine spiritual quest, he's not trying to change his life. He's setting out to prove a point with a straw man argument, and make his living doing it. Following a set of precepts that you find ludicrous, for the point of proving them ludicrous, and then pretending that it has anything to do with actual religion is both a straw man argument and a waste of time. I mean, I could set out to read China's answer to Emily Post and practice all the rules set forth in order to prove the inanity of Chinese culture, but who in their right mind would accept that I knew anything about being Chinese?
I also don't find it all that interesting that Jacobs debunks literalism. People purporting to be biblical literalists aren't likely to be his audience. His audience is going to be, for the most part, politically liberal secular folk, with some "believing" liberals thrown in for good measure. So projects with foregone conclusions that involve preaching to the choir...eh.
That said, I wouldn't call the book a waste of time. Jacobs manages, in spite of himself, to be transformed from an agnostic to a reverent agnostic, and it's worth reading the book to discover what that means.
Clever and interesting look at the Bible and religion. Def makes you laugh.
This was interesting. Tbh it made me even more skeptical of organized religion than I was before I read it, so the author and I had exceptionally different takeaways! The idea is clever, and he's a funny narrator. Could've lived without the buildup to his newborns' circumcisions. Overall it was good, and he really efforted.
Although I found this in the humor section, I found The Year of Living Biblically more informational than humorous. And, at times, Jacobs makes poignant and deep observations. I learned a lot about the Bible's intricacies in the different beliefs and translations that come from it.
Where to begin...
I thought for sure this book was going to be a snarky atheist's take on the inner workings of an archaic, outdated, and unnecessary religious system. I thought for sure that the "stonings" would consist of him standing on street corners and chucking pebbles at passers-by shouting "heathens! Repent! Sinners!" (As entertaining as that might be to read, the reality of how he handled it had me laughing out loud). I thought for sure that there would be constant ridicule and chiding.
I was very wrong. A.J. Jacobs gives the bible a fighting chance. He immerses himself completely not only in acting out the commandments and advice, but in striving to understand it fully. Why is there an exception in Kosher laws for crickets and locusts when all other bugs are generally forbidden? How does the story of Tamar's children relate to modern day IVF (yes, he makes this leap.) While some things are a significant stretch, and some things are likely fabricated (like the time I wrote a 10 page anthropology paper about spending 3 days with the Hare Krishna's in PB... even though I only went to one service... I got a B+), he doesn't resort to cheap shots.
Spoiler alert, he does remain an agnostic, and I'm not surprised, but he take a humanistic look at the value behind religion. While I wouldn't hand this book to my grandmother, who would likely find it incredibly offensive, despite the fact that it's incredibly mild, I would feel fine sharing it with friends and family.
Great fun read, would recommend!
I thought for sure this book was going to be a snarky atheist's take on the inner workings of an archaic, outdated, and unnecessary religious system. I thought for sure that the "stonings" would consist of him standing on street corners and chucking pebbles at passers-by shouting "heathens! Repent! Sinners!" (As entertaining as that might be to read, the reality of how he handled it had me laughing out loud). I thought for sure that there would be constant ridicule and chiding.
I was very wrong. A.J. Jacobs gives the bible a fighting chance. He immerses himself completely not only in acting out the commandments and advice, but in striving to understand it fully. Why is there an exception in Kosher laws for crickets and locusts when all other bugs are generally forbidden? How does the story of Tamar's children relate to modern day IVF (yes, he makes this leap.) While some things are a significant stretch, and some things are likely fabricated (like the time I wrote a 10 page anthropology paper about spending 3 days with the Hare Krishna's in PB... even though I only went to one service... I got a B+), he doesn't resort to cheap shots.
Spoiler alert, he does remain an agnostic, and I'm not surprised, but he take a humanistic look at the value behind religion. While I wouldn't hand this book to my grandmother, who would likely find it incredibly offensive, despite the fact that it's incredibly mild, I would feel fine sharing it with friends and family.
Great fun read, would recommend!
Check out my review at http://bookaweekwithjen.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-year-of-living-biblically.html
I saw a little blurb on mental_floss.com about this book. Found it in the library and grabbed it. 25 pages into it and I'm quite entertained!
Quite possibly the funniest book I've read. Ever.
Quite possibly the funniest book I've read. Ever.