Not what I expected but better.

Expected a comedy. but what I got was an great retelling of the story that is Jesus Christ. At the end I found my self questioning various things about what I thought about Christianity. 10/10 Would recommend

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There are better Jesus books

I like Philip Pullman but this one enters a pretty crowded market place: "The Last Temptation of Christ", "The Gospel According to the Son", "Her Story", "King Jesus", to name but a few. The authors seem to want to set out a retelling of the christian gospel to grind their own axe about Jesus and the way his message has been shaped by the distortions of the evangelists and the church in general. Pullman is of course a famous clergy-baiter, so you can see why he would want to jump on the bandwagon.

All the scenes in TGMJATSC are familiar of course, and I was left just waiting for it to be over. Funnily enough, I really really liked the last sentence.

If you are thinking of reading this, stop. Read "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" by Jose Saramago instead because it's by far the best example of the subgenre.

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Feasible retelling

It's always good to get multiple perspectives on a situation to try to illicit a truth you are comfortable with. This is a great and thought provoking perspective on the age old mythology surrounding Jesus.

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imagined retelling

An imagined retelling of the life of Jesus. Good narrating and short chapters. Predictable but enjoyable .

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Gives a well known story a refreshing spin

I am reviewing this as an atheist
At the time I was an avid fan of Philip Pullman so I read this when it came out, I have spent a decade recommending it to people and when I was around 2 hours in to the audio book I couldn't remember why! However, the last hour drew it all together for me. I found a huge amount of sympathy for both characters Jesus and Christ, as well as moments of disgust. When it finished this time I did not have the revelation of understanding that I remembered the first time, but it make me feel a little better about the intention of religion.
The narrator is the author and for me this added something.

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Thought provoking! Loved it!

Well done Mr Pullman for writing such a controversial and thought provoking novel about the New Testament and the Church. Whatever your faith, this book is entertaining and gets you thinking. Pullman clearly states this is a story and yes it is! Wonderfully written and presented by the author. Simply delightful!

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ok

not terrible but not great, reader is good but something seems missing extra words to fill up

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Beautiful and brilliant fiction

Not only beautifully written with a light simple narrative of real depth but also beautifully read like a cloth of silk falling through your head. Brilliant for the most part if not a little eager to remove anything physically miraculous. That said it pulls nicely on the threads of the original and with them weaves a new and original idea

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3 people found this helpful

A more common sensical and uniform depiction of the gospels according to every man and his dog

But it is also thought provoking to the degree whereby the new testament suddenly seems feasible as all nonsense is eradicated. Methinks this is probably a much likelier version of the possible truth as opposed the the web we have been entrapped into believing throughout the ages. Sensitively approached too. Well done Phillip Pullman

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fascinating

I had to listen, re listen and listen again to understand the content of this extraordinary piece of writing...
loved it

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