I’m in Israel with some Biblical characters and some that you won’t find in the gospels

I have read books by Philip Pullman before but they were aimed at Young Adults and were not particular favourites of mine. This book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is quite definitely an adult book. I received it as part of my book subscription as I enjoy literary fiction and I read it out of curiosity as much as anything (and also because it is set in Israel and so meets the requirements of this summer’s challenge).

This story “reimagines” the Christian story and is one of a series of books by different authors which take myths and rework them for a modern audience. The author’s method of examining the Christian story afresh is to state that Jesus, the historical figure, was one of twins, the second of which came to be known as Christ. The Jesus figure is an inspired preacher and leader who gathers followers and progresses towards crucifixion because he challenges the religious authorities of the day. The Christ twin is an observer and recorder of what happens who is encouraged by an angel to help shape events the way that God wants them to be which means that the stories he records and which form the New Testament of the Bible are not necessarily what happened – the crucifixion story is especially challenged.

This is a short book but one that encourages the reader to think about how myths come about, how true our sacred scriptures might be, what is reality and what isn’t, and why we need story. I think that you need a reasonable working knowledge of the gospels of the New Testament to understand this story because you need to know what happens in the narrative and how it is allegedly altered by the “Christ” figure. I do think, however, that if you are a practising Christian you may find that this book doesn’t just challenge you but it might also offend you. I have the background knowledge to understand what the author is doing and how he is challenging the received view of the scriptures and I thought that this book had some interesting things to say about myth and story but I wondered why the author had felt the need to write something which many readers might find disturbing, shocking and offensive.

This book gives us no real feeling for Israel at the time in which it is set. It could have been set anywhere except, of course, that the original story takes place in Israel and that all the main characters are Jews. It’s not a book that gives you a feeling for the land or its people.

I thought that this book was interesting but I don’t need to keep it and so I shall pass it on to the nice people at Oxfam when I am next in Holmfirth.

I have read reworkings of the Christian story in the past, also set in Israel, including The Robe by Lloyd C Douglas which I read many years ago and which isn’t as challenging as this book. I also read recently a book (see review here) about a daughter’s search for revenge after the shooting of her father which takes place in Jerusalem. Have any of you read this book by Philip Pullman and what did you think ? Does anyone have other suggestions of books to read set in Israel which might give us a better flavour of the people and the country ?