39/50 - The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I'm not sure what to say about this book. I started out really liking it. It was a dubbed down version of the gospel for adults of the current day. It was a fictional story based on the Gospel.

At first I could go along with Jesus and Christ being twins born of Mary. Different take, but I'll go with it. The last few chapters through me for a loop and I really struggled with them. As a Catholic, I believe in a few things Philip Pullman sought to take down through his words. He used Jesus as his pulpit and got a point across that shows how he (as an author) really feels about the Church. I found this offensive only because he used such a wonderful historical figure for his own purpose.

The story itself, which is claims to be right on the back cover of the book, was interesting. It tells about Jesus and his brother Christ and how their lives intertwine. The major miracles are there, but there's a lot of putting words into both characters mouths. I realize this is fiction, it's just strange how some things match with the Gospel and some things don't at all. I would hate to have someone who's never heard of the Gospel read this book and take it as how it really went.

Given said that, I would still recommend this book to those with a strong faith. It made mine stronger, and it wasn't a hard read.

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