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814 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
814 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
I liked this one a lot, but I think he wrapped it up too quickly in the end. Of course, that could be due to the fact that at the time he was finishing up his year, his wife had just given birth to twins...
Hilarious! I rarely laugh aloud when reading a book. This was different.
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
i'm picky about my books and won't give this one a really high rating, but i did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to others. jacobs has a jewish background so starts with the old testament and while there is a lot of humor in this book, i felt he took his journey seriously and so could trust his opinions and comments. he asked questions that i would ask and came up with very practical solutions that i could agree with. you may even find your spirituality growing as well.
Jacobs's experiment is extremely interesting. I like learning about the nitty-gritty of religion. But I found Jacobs to be a bit annoying, a little too self-promoting, and the ways in which he was affected by following the biblical laws ended up to be exactly what one might expect. No new ground is broken and the book is about a third longer than it ought to be. But I don't know, I suppose it's fine for what it is.
Thoroughly enjoyed this selection for Book Club #1. A.J. Jacobs decides to follow the Bible as literally as he can in NYC. He considers himself "Jewish like the Olive Garden is Italian." I love that he approaches the Bible with reverence and respect even as he considers himself agnostic. I found myself chuckling out loud and reading passages to my husband. Looking forward to our meeting to discuss.