Helpful Score: 2
Rice made headlines four years ago when she announced that she was writing a novel about the childhood of Jesus. As she was known for vampire novels laced with sensuality, I recall a fair amount of skepticism and even dread at the thought of how she might write about a person whose life is central to the faith of billions worldwide. I know my own confidence wasn't boosted particularly high when he heard that she was drawing on the childhood stories told of Jesus in some of the apocryphal gospels.
Lo and behold, this book isn't bad. It is excellent. I had trouble putting it down, even to eat. I should have picked it up years ago.
What Rice has done in "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" is to create a compelling story set in the childhood of Jesus, covering the year of his family's return from Egypt, where the gospel of Matthew says they had fled to escape King Herod the Great. The story unfolds against the backdrop of Herod's death: the riots in Jerusalem that preceded his son Archilaus' assumption of the throne, the widespread lawlessness as one band of brigands after another tried to take power, and ultimately Caesar's decision to divide the kingdom among Archilaus and two of his brothers, with Herod Antipas becoming tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, and Philip becoming tetrarch of territories east of the Jordan.
The characters are amazing: Joseph, quiet, thoughtful and faithful to a fault; Mary, quiet and innocent; James, angry and jealous, but maturing; and Cleopas, a man with a tremendous sense of irony, a love of forthrightness and a deep heart. And Jesus himself.
I don't care for the christology at work, to be honest, but the Jesus whom Rice presents is a fascinating one: a boy who is seven years old and growing older, deeply sensitive to how others feel, and yet possessing a power he doesn't understand. He's also a Jesus who has been kept in the dark by his family for his entire life so far: He doesn't know the circumstances surrounding his birth, about the shepherds who came to the manger, nor about the astrologers with their odd gifts, nor even what happened when Herod found out that the messiah had been born.
The book, then, is a story about self-discovery, as Jesus learns about his birth; begins to understand the power that enables him to bring clay birds to life, to heal his uncle of illness, and to give sight to a blind rabbi begging outside the Temple; and ultimately comprehends the nature of his unique relationship with God. It is fascinating to see the boy coming to terms with life, and seeing hints of the man he is to become, and also to see how it might work for God to walk among us, disguised even to himself.
An excellent book.
Lo and behold, this book isn't bad. It is excellent. I had trouble putting it down, even to eat. I should have picked it up years ago.
What Rice has done in "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" is to create a compelling story set in the childhood of Jesus, covering the year of his family's return from Egypt, where the gospel of Matthew says they had fled to escape King Herod the Great. The story unfolds against the backdrop of Herod's death: the riots in Jerusalem that preceded his son Archilaus' assumption of the throne, the widespread lawlessness as one band of brigands after another tried to take power, and ultimately Caesar's decision to divide the kingdom among Archilaus and two of his brothers, with Herod Antipas becoming tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, and Philip becoming tetrarch of territories east of the Jordan.
The characters are amazing: Joseph, quiet, thoughtful and faithful to a fault; Mary, quiet and innocent; James, angry and jealous, but maturing; and Cleopas, a man with a tremendous sense of irony, a love of forthrightness and a deep heart. And Jesus himself.
I don't care for the christology at work, to be honest, but the Jesus whom Rice presents is a fascinating one: a boy who is seven years old and growing older, deeply sensitive to how others feel, and yet possessing a power he doesn't understand. He's also a Jesus who has been kept in the dark by his family for his entire life so far: He doesn't know the circumstances surrounding his birth, about the shepherds who came to the manger, nor about the astrologers with their odd gifts, nor even what happened when Herod found out that the messiah had been born.
The book, then, is a story about self-discovery, as Jesus learns about his birth; begins to understand the power that enables him to bring clay birds to life, to heal his uncle of illness, and to give sight to a blind rabbi begging outside the Temple; and ultimately comprehends the nature of his unique relationship with God. It is fascinating to see the boy coming to terms with life, and seeing hints of the man he is to become, and also to see how it might work for God to walk among us, disguised even to himself.
An excellent book.
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
