by Charles David Kleymeyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2013
A compelling take on a famous Bible tale.
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A fictionalized account of Jesus’ life, told from the perspective of a young disciple.
Kleymeyer’s (Cultural Expression and Grassroots Development, 1994) debut novel leads readers through young Daavi’s journey—both literal and metaphorical—with his neighbor Yeshu, a carpenter from Nazareth. The novel’s plot closely follows biblical accounts of Jesus’ life, with many familiar characters and episodes appearing throughout the book. Flashbacks recount early stories told by Yeshu, his mother and his grandmother to the children of Nazareth, but the book mainly focuses on Daavi’s formative years and Yeshu’s adulthood. Although Daavi eagerly follows Yeshu’s teachings on peace and humility, he remains an ordinary boy, with occasional bursts of temper and impatience that demonstrate that, although Yeshu may be divine, his followers retain their humanity. Daavi and Yeshu’s other adherents travel the lands sharing stories, ministering and healing people—until Yeshu’s execution by the Roman government. Daavi’s story continues after Yeshu’s death as he deals with his grief and anger, reconciles with his family and finds a way to continue Yeshu’s work. The book features a well-developed cast of supporting characters; some have Latinized names (such as Maria Magdalena), while others retain their Hebrew names. Yohanan, the novel’s version of John the Baptist, is one of the strongest figures here, with a finely drawn sense of spirituality that guides Daavi’s own religious development. Despite occasionally awkward prose, the story moves at a rapid pace that belies the book’s considerable length. The plot remains simple and focused despite the novel’s large cast of characters, making it easy for readers to follow.
A compelling take on a famous Bible tale.Pub Date: July 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-1490353005
Page Count: 600
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Hanya Yanagihara ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
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Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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