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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
4 reviews
topherjames12's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This book had potential, but ultimately left me unsatisfied. I enjoyed the initial set up and dynamics in Act 1 with early teenage versions of Jesus, Biff, and Mary Magdalene as this Harry Potter-esque trio going on adventures with a bit more of a historical fiction approach applied. However, the book does not follow that route and instead the main plotline follows Biff and Jesus as they adventure across the world to visit the 3 wise men. A lot of the humor is low hanging fruit and at times very distasteful with the jokes playing into stereotypes that had already aged poorly by 2002 when this book released.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racism
a_kt's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Larry David wrote a new Gospel? Well look no further, this book is 100% for you, my fine sheepish friend. The story of "Lamb", if it isn't obvious enough, attempts to cover what happened in the 19-odd-years between the Jesus (or Joshua, as was his Hebrew name) being laid in that manger and the world-altering crucifixion... but, like, in a funny way. The "funny" part mostly coming from the appearance of an unknown apostle, Biff, Joshua's childhood friend, a wisecracking Jew who is all too willing to help his Messiah friend learn about the ins and outs of sinning. Meanwhile, Joshua and Biff travel East, as far as the tip of India to find the three magi present at his birth, looking for some long-forgotten wisdoms to help Josh figure out how to be a Messiah in the first place, as his cryptic father (see: God) hasn't been much help in that department. Throughout their journey they go on many strange adventures, eventually travel back to Jerusalem and begin Joshua's ministry career. And the rest... well, you probably know what happens, but the famous events leading up to the crucifixion are dramatically changed in Biff's perspective- a man who just desperately wants to save his best friend.
Now, if you read all that and are thinking to yourself: "Hm, that sounds really interesting actually- why only 3.75 stars?" I will say while this book was funny, insightful, and highly entertaining at parts, it unfortunately did not keep that level of consistency throughout. The beginning few chapters of Lamb are probably some of the funniest prose I've ever read. I constantly had to keep my giggling in check as to not disturb my sleeping partner next to me. However, the more the story went on the more it felt like the same jokes were being repeated over and over again (i.e. Biff's inability to keep it in his pants is a common source of conflict/jokes throughout the book). The further East Joshua and Biff traveled the more... well, the term "lost the plot" comes to mind, and I think this is reflected in Moore's writing. Josh and Biff spend 7-ish years with the first Magi and his concubines, learning all manner of Eastern philosophy and alchemy (this section covers many chapters). Then, they spend about 4 years in a Buddhist temple (no spoilers, but this is the part where things get really weird- also covers a good amount of chapters). Then, they go to India- and I have to say there was a lot, and I mean, a lot of inward-cringing from me for this section. I know that Moore did a lot of extensive research for this book, and it really shows! But, there was a definite vilification of ancient Hindu people and practices during this section. Hey, it was probably historically accurate, but the thought of a white guy writing about ancient Hindu people in such a vitriolic way was... icky to me, to say the least. They spend probably about 2 chapters with the final Magi, who teaches Joshua some really important things! But I think there is a total of two, maybe three scenes with him in it before they get a sign to go back to Israel? It all seemed very rushed (don't worry, Moore left plenty of time to discuss Biff's side-quest of getting a side job so he could pay for a prostitute to teach him all the Kama Sutra positions).
All in all, Lamb is a fine book. It definitely runs longer than it should, definitely goes in some directions it probably shouldn't, and the early-2000's humor gets to be a little much sometimes. However, its also a very funny buddy-road-trip and sometimes fish-out-of-water story that just so happens to be about Jesus Christ. If you are even a little interested in it, I'd give it a try, but if you are at all off-put by anything in the above review, I'd maybe think about starting it a little more. I do think Moore is a talented writer, and I plan to read some of his other works, but I will probably opt for more the of the modern ones, in a hope that his perspectives might have a changed a little over the years.
Now, if you read all that and are thinking to yourself: "Hm, that sounds really interesting actually- why only 3.75 stars?" I will say while this book was funny, insightful, and highly entertaining at parts, it unfortunately did not keep that level of consistency throughout. The beginning few chapters of Lamb are probably some of the funniest prose I've ever read. I constantly had to keep my giggling in check as to not disturb my sleeping partner next to me. However, the more the story went on the more it felt like the same jokes were being repeated over and over again (i.e. Biff's inability to keep it in his pants is a common source of conflict/jokes throughout the book). The further East Joshua and Biff traveled the more... well, the term "lost the plot" comes to mind, and I think this is reflected in Moore's writing. Josh and Biff spend 7-ish years with the first Magi and his concubines, learning all manner of Eastern philosophy and alchemy (this section covers many chapters). Then, they spend about 4 years in a Buddhist temple (no spoilers, but this is the part where things get really weird- also covers a good amount of chapters). Then, they go to India- and I have to say there was a lot, and I mean, a lot of inward-cringing from me for this section. I know that Moore did a lot of extensive research for this book, and it really shows! But, there was a definite vilification of ancient Hindu people and practices during this section. Hey, it was probably historically accurate, but the thought of a white guy writing about ancient Hindu people in such a vitriolic way was... icky to me, to say the least. They spend probably about 2 chapters with the final Magi, who teaches Joshua some really important things! But I think there is a total of two, maybe three scenes with him in it before they get a sign to go back to Israel? It all seemed very rushed (don't worry, Moore left plenty of time to discuss Biff's side-quest of getting a side job so he could pay for a prostitute to teach him all the Kama Sutra positions).
All in all, Lamb is a fine book. It definitely runs longer than it should, definitely goes in some directions it probably shouldn't, and the early-2000's humor gets to be a little much sometimes. However, its also a very funny buddy-road-trip and sometimes fish-out-of-water story that just so happens to be about Jesus Christ. If you are even a little interested in it, I'd give it a try, but if you are at all off-put by anything in the above review, I'd maybe think about starting it a little more. I do think Moore is a talented writer, and I plan to read some of his other works, but I will probably opt for more the of the modern ones, in a hope that his perspectives might have a changed a little over the years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death and Child abuse
Minor: Gore
poisonenvy's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
While I read this book back in some weeks ago, I withheld my review in support of the HarperCollins Union strike, which lasted for ver two months. In light of their recently ratifying their contract, I'll post my review now:
This was a buddy read with my friend Kori!
I will start off this review by talking about the problematic aspects of this story: There were times reading this book where I was somewhat uncomfortable with the depictions of Chinese people, but as the entire story is pretty irreverent in general, I didn't put too much thought into it. That was right up until chapter 21, whereBiff and Joshua go to India. While in India, they discover the Untouchables, and a classicists caste system. This isn't the racism. This is just history. There, they discover that the children have been kidnapped to be part of a human child sacrifice, and when they go to crash the ritual, they find cannibalism and necrophilia being very celebrated. You can argue that this actually happened in history, though every source I could find for this comes from sources that have every reason to villainize the HIndu religion, but most sources I found also said these practices came into effect around 700 AD, which, if you're doing the math, is about 700 years after this story takes place.
If that isn't bad enough, when they return the children to the Untouchables, who were not part of the ritual, none of them want their children back. Except for the one guy who's fucking a bull cow (yes, that animal that is sacred to Hindus), who is "the reincarnation of his wife."
After that unfortunate foray, I had much less patience for the fact that literally every woman in this book is a breathing sex doll who has no other personality or purpose than to suck Biff's dick.Including an 80 year old woman who just... appears? To tempt Biff into sex? and then is never seen again?
If it wasn't for all of that, I would have enjoyed this book quite a lot. It made me laugh more than once, and that ending came in like a gut punch. The parts that were meant to convey strong emotion did it with a skill surprising in light of the way the rest of the novel is written (or, possibly, it works even better because of the way the rest of the novel is written. The ending came a little too fast, but other than this, this could have been an excellent novel.
This was a buddy read with my friend Kori!
I will start off this review by talking about the problematic aspects of this story: There were times reading this book where I was somewhat uncomfortable with the depictions of Chinese people, but as the entire story is pretty irreverent in general, I didn't put too much thought into it. That was right up until chapter 21, where
If that isn't bad enough, when they return the children to the Untouchables, who were not part of the ritual, none of them want their children back. Except for the one guy who's fucking a bull cow (yes, that animal that is sacred to Hindus), who is "the reincarnation of his wife."
After that unfortunate foray, I had much less patience for the fact that literally every woman in this book is a breathing sex doll who has no other personality or purpose than to suck Biff's dick.
If it wasn't for all of that, I would have enjoyed this book quite a lot. It made me laugh more than once, and that ending came in like a gut punch. The parts that were meant to convey strong emotion did it with a skill surprising in light of the way the rest of the novel is written (or, possibly, it works even better because of the way the rest of the novel is written. The ending came a little too fast, but other than this, this could have been an excellent novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Suicide
The text itself is not antisemetic, though many of the characters are, but *is* racist and sexist.mizelse's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
0.25
The racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia aside, this book was just plain boring. It was needlessly lengthened with immature jokes that appeared so frequently that by the end even an uninhibited thirteen-year-old boy would be tired of them. The pacing was terrible throughout. At one point, Biff complains about the fact that the gospel writers left out everything between Christ's childhood and his adult ministry and the section that takes up his quest to rectify this, a good 200 pages in the middle of the book, was undoubtedly the worst part of it, to the point that one understands why it was left out of the canonical gospels. I would have never finished this book if it weren't for the fact that I had to read it for a class. I had to push hard to get through anything past about page 150 and hated every minute of it. I am highly surprised at how high the rating is. Wholly irreverent while forgetting to be funny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Homophobia
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