A review by jocelyn_sp
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas

3.0

melodramatic, stirring emotions and thoughts, I am still mentally chewing on it days later. A novel using a fictionalised Paul / Saul was always going to be difficult in spots, and disliked the claim that Thomas was Jesus' twin being 'fact' in the world of the novel, but although parts felt overdone I enjoyed this book. The character of 'Saul' was moving and satisfying. The emotional contrasts between the equality, love and hope of the followers of Jesus and the Greco-Roman cults were well done. The traumatic arc from 'maybe Jesus will return today' to 'this is the 4th generation'. I thought the divisions and personality clashes over-played, but in keeping with the tone and telling of the fiction