A book that presents alternatives to the traditional story of the Gospels and that may open up new possibilities for curious...
Marchitelli (In the Land of the Birds, 2012) offers a novel about Jesus Christ and, particularly, his relationship with Mary Magdalene.
The life of Jesus, as depicted in the New Testament, still holds many questions and possibilities. For example, is it possible that Jesus had a biological father? What was his childhood like? What was Jesus’ true relationship with such figures as John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene? This novel ambitiously investigates these and other inquiries, following Jesus from his days as a youth to his eventual death and resurrection. It includes many famous events (such as the raising of Lazarus), as well as various new twists. Marchitelli’s Jesus, for instance, does have a biological father and is John the Baptist’s half brother. Although Jesus and John were raised separately, the two are familiar with each other when they meet on the banks of the Jordan River. John initially looks down on his half brother, as do many others during Jesus’ youth, as he considers Jesus’ parentage illegitimate. As difficult as things get for the young savior, however, he eventually marries a loving woman: Mary Magdalene. Mary, who handles most of the story’s narration, is concerned when her husband embarks on his journey of preaching and miracles. What is a wife to do when her husband decides to go to the desert and fast for 40 days? The book treats Jesus more as a human than as a divine figure, presenting readers with a very different side of Christ. Humble yet focused, he’s a Messiah that understands that his mission will be difficult on his family and close friends. In Mary’s eyes, however, he’s her husband first, and it takes time for her to understand his mission. These kinds of considerations, while simple, make Christ a complex character. The story is stunted by obvious dialogue in parts, as when one character expresses his opinion of the Messiah: “I have many doubts. Though you seem honest and sincere, we don’t know you at all, and I really don’t understand what you want in the end.” Nevertheless, it will leave many readers wondering what they might not know about Jesus and his interactions with his inner circle.
A book that presents alternatives to the traditional story of the Gospels and that may open up new possibilities for curious readers.Pub Date: March 6, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-89226-109-3
Page Count: 415
Publisher: Paragon House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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