Reviews

Hectic. Christianity is so sanitised, and I appreciated that Tsiolkas was willing to go to these depths to probe the conflicts and prejudices at the origins of Christianity. I wanted everyone I know to read it and have a serious think about religion. But it was also brutal to read and the violence makes you gag. The class hierarchies (including inferior status of women) were gutting but displayed in such a way that I couldn't look away. I felt like people are really capable of anything--and some are increasingly proud of their cruelty. Loved the tension with Jesus's twin! Played out on two levels!

pollincowbell's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

stanro's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is quite some book! And probably not what I expect to read about- the mind-space of the great proselytiser. As usual, Tsiolkas writes well about internally conflicted people, and the setting in the early decades following the crucifixion is historically fascinating as the adherents of various religions clash - verbally and physically and internally.

maddysbookcase's review

Go to review page

1.0

I can't tell if it is my atheism or if this book is just really really bad.
A character driven novel, yet I dont feel like I got to know Paul. The book lacked details, except where torture, homoeroticism and body fluids were involved.
I love Tsiolkas, but I feel that any praise this book is receiving is because of his name, and timing.

frankie_s's review

Go to review page

2.0

DNF
The worst kind of Tsiolkas book

agile76au's review

Go to review page

4.0

I was asked by a friend what made this is a book worth reading.

Tsiolkas brings out the humanity and sincerity of his characters in a novel that is clearly well researched. These characters think like people of their time, rather than acting as modern and progressive people misplaced in the Ancient World. Whether you're a Christian (as I am) or someone who rejects Christianity and what it stands for, you cannot be anything but impressed by the way characters are brought to life in a brutal world in which the murder of female babies, the feeding of Christians to lions, and the brutalisation of slaves is common.

Tsiolkas writes at the end of the novel that he grew up as a Christian, but subsequently rejected his early faith as he found it impossible to move past the Apostle Paul's stance on homosexuality. The theme of male friendship is evident throughout the novel, and the boundaries between friendship and attraction are not always clear between Paul and Timothy in particular.

This novel does have a subtly expressed central thesis. There are no signs, miracles, or other supernatural events in the story. Even Saul/Paul's Damascus Road experience is not described in any detail. Instead, the reader is left with a sense of the respect, and perhaps reverence, that the author has for the teachings of Christ which were so counter-cultural to the first century Ancient World.

jocelyn_sp's review

Go to review page

3.0

melodramatic, stirring emotions and thoughts, I am still mentally chewing on it days later. A novel using a fictionalised Paul / Saul was always going to be difficult in spots, and disliked the claim that Thomas was Jesus' twin being 'fact' in the world of the novel, but although parts felt overdone I enjoyed this book. The character of 'Saul' was moving and satisfying. The emotional contrasts between the equality, love and hope of the followers of Jesus and the Greco-Roman cults were well done. The traumatic arc from 'maybe Jesus will return today' to 'this is the 4th generation'. I thought the divisions and personality clashes over-played, but in keeping with the tone and telling of the fiction

di_orourke's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

More...