Reader: Philip Pullman
Length: Approx 3 hours 30 minutes
Published: 2010


If you look at the back cover of this book you'll find only four words: "This is a STORY." And at the most basic level, it is. It is a fictional story about Jesus and his brother Christ. But beyond that, and significantly more important, it is a story about stories, truth, humanity, religion, and how they all tie together.

If you are used to the writing style of His Dark Materials, you may be surprised to find that Philip Pullman has chosen to take up a completely different style of narration. This book takes a much simpler approach-- it almost sounds like it is written so that an adult could read the story out loud to a child. While it is a bit off putting at first, particularly for those who love the style of His Dark Materials, it functions perfectly for the book's purpose.

As the plot progresses Pullman beckons the reader to question whether or not truth and historical accuracy are one in the same; if an historical event is edited so that the truth is better portrayed, does that in some sense make the events that occurred more true, or more meaningful?

The beauty of the book is that Pullman makes us question this on two levels--through the story the characters write and the story he himself writes. Pullman obviously doesn't see his story as historical fact (as I'm sure certain reviews that pop up will miss), but by blending the New Testament, what historians can guess, and some fiction of his own, we are left with a unique work that in many ways is more interesting and fascinating than the sources he draws from.

As one might expect, the book, particularly by the end, is very critical of the concept of the Judeo-Christian God, as well as Christianity as it is often practiced today. Philip Pullman forces particularly the Christian reader to question what kind of person Jesus actually would have been--not as God, but as a human, and what beliefs he had as to what the Kingdom of Heaven is and how God should be worshiped. It's a shame that most Christians will be turned away from the book because of ideas they consider "blasphemous" (which is ironic because in the book Pullman cleverly explains how the ideas are not) because I truly believe, in the end, it will make the average Christian question if they are practicing their religion in a way that Jesus would approve of, and what needs to be done to become more "Christ-like."


Enjoy and Seed!!