Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel
by Anne Rice
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anne RiceEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-26
ISBN: 0345492730
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel
Book Review: The Icarus Factor
Summary: 2 Stars
It's a hard thing to get into the mind of God. Rather bold, to even attempt it. So I have no reservations in stating that I think Anne Rice did a much better job of it than I could ever do. Ultimately, though, I found this a failed attempt.
There were certainly times when I felt Jesus was revealed more fully, and I came closer to him in reading this book. She showed some imagination, in creating life in Egypt for the young Jesus. But on the whole I found this a frustrating experience. I know Anne Rice wants to write from the perspective of Jesus as a boy, and so she therefore chose to write in very simple sentences, using the language a young boy might use. But the result is not what we would typically describe as good writing- it is simplistic writing, without sentence variation, and therefore uninteresting. She would have been better served by not writing in the first person, or else writing Jesus' thoughts as a child with the writing abilities of an adult. I found myself repeatedly having to skim the material, waiting for those rare moments when something a bit more exciting occurred. The Gospel writers had a wealth of material to pick from, and picked the best. This felt like Anne Rice picked the most boring material of Jesus' (admittedly fictional) life.
I also found sections of her work theologically disturbing. Certainly I am not Roman Catholic, so I will not agree with the approach of making James an elder brother from a previous marriage by Joseph, and Mary eternally virgin. But Anne's approach goes far deeper than simple denominational differences. She creates a Jesus who tells God the Father that he will never again do a miracle that was not in the will of the Father- referring to how he has just done the opposite. This is simply heresy, for the continual witness of the Church has been that Jesus never did anything that was not in accord with God's will.
At another time Jesus got sick, and I couldn't help but feel that a Jesus who had already raised someone from the dead (in Rice's novel), a Jesus that we read about as an adult in the Gospels, could very easily just heal himself and get up about his business. Not to imply that bacteria and viruses didn't attack the very human Jesus, but rather his abilities were miraculous enough that he could heal himself immediately. The clear witness of the Gospels- and the Acts- is that sickness is not normative when the Kingdom is present, and all that is required is faith in Jesus and the Father in order to be healed- which Jesus certainly had in abundance. This was the same problem that was faced when Anne creates a young Jesus who was afraid at times. The witness of the New Testament is that hate is not the opposite of love, but rather fear is, for fear is the lack of faith. This was so often not the Jesus that we read of in the Gospels.
But let me express caveats to what I just said. To suggest that something in the book is heresy is not to accuse Anne Rice, for God knows I have oft times been quite heretical myself, and am at this moment. It is merely to state the obvious- that she bit off more than she could chew, as would anyone attempting to write God in the first person. And though much of this critique might seem more theological than literary, it must be remembered that Anne Rice is explicit in the Afterward that she is trying to create a young Jesus that is true to the Gospels. In this she didn't entirely succeed, just as nearly anyone else wouldn't.
I applaud Rice's attempt to express her new-found return to faith, and her deep and abiding love for the subject. She is quite correct to state that, if one is going to exhaustively study a person, one should at the very least be rather fascinated by the person and like them. This most certainly comes through in her work. This is a likable boy, and the work is even something that will help you understand aspects of the real historical Jesus. I was blessed with the repeated historical references to events in the life of Jesus that Rice wove into the narrative, forcing me to Wikipedia them to learn more about the times. But on balance, I believe it will lead the reader astray even more, and in the process, not be all that enjoyable to read, on the purely pleasurable level.
Summary of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel
Having completed the two cycles of legend to which she has devoted her career so far, Anne Rice gives us now her most ambitious and courageous book, a novel about the early years of CHRIST THE LORD, based on the Gospels and on the most respected New Testament scholarship.The book's power derives from the passion its author brings to the writing and the way in which she summons up the voice, the presence, the words of Jesus who tells the story.
From the Hardcover edition.
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