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nahret 's review for:
The Second Coming
by John Niven
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book far more than I anticipated. Yes, it makes Jesus into a hippie, but you know, given the time and place, he totally would have been.
What the book does well, is combine its humor with heart. It's laugh-out-loud funny more than once, but it also shows Jesus Christ as a person we could believe in, whom we could follow. He starts out as a guy who loots supermarket dumpsters to feed the hungry, throws chill parties for his friends, and mostly just wants everybody to be nice to their fellow humans. Over the course of the chaotic roadtrip that follows, he saves a couple of people, sometimes from others, sometimes from themselves. But he also shows justified anger and calls out religious bigots on their bullshit.
I had to take some points off for the excessive use of anal rape as a go-to for how to punish men (in hell and elsewhere); this book was written by a man, and, as the saying goes, what men fear most about prison is what women fear most about walking down the street. So, as a regular cis het white dude, this was probably the worst thing he could think of, and it's super boring.
I loved the colorful cast of characters who accompanied Jesus on this trip. I especially appreciate the nod to Mary Magdalene. There are, surprisingly, a lot of good pointers about what Christianity can be, if we're just nice to each other (or rather, kind, really, but this book was written before Nice Guys were a thing). This book was a lot of fun, but it also has a lot of heart. The ending was done very well.
It ends the way it always must, and honestly, I cried. But of course, I didn't have to, because Jesus just goes home, where his buddies, who went before him, already expect him. Still, I cried a lot, expecially over Bob.
Oh, and Moses? Fuck that guy.
What the book does well, is combine its humor with heart. It's laugh-out-loud funny more than once, but it also shows Jesus Christ as a person we could believe in, whom we could follow. He starts out as a guy who loots supermarket dumpsters to feed the hungry, throws chill parties for his friends, and mostly just wants everybody to be nice to their fellow humans. Over the course of the chaotic roadtrip that follows, he saves a couple of people, sometimes from others, sometimes from themselves. But he also shows justified anger and calls out religious bigots on their bullshit.
I had to take some points off for the excessive use of anal rape as a go-to for how to punish men (in hell and elsewhere); this book was written by a man, and, as the saying goes, what men fear most about prison is what women fear most about walking down the street. So, as a regular cis het white dude, this was probably the worst thing he could think of, and it's super boring.
I loved the colorful cast of characters who accompanied Jesus on this trip. I especially appreciate the nod to Mary Magdalene. There are, surprisingly, a lot of good pointers about what Christianity can be, if we're just nice to each other (or rather, kind, really, but this book was written before Nice Guys were a thing). This book was a lot of fun, but it also has a lot of heart. The ending was done very well.
Oh, and Moses? Fuck that guy.