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The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

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The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Philip Pullman
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This is not a gospel. This is a story. In this ingenious and spell-binding retelling of the life of Jesus, Philip Pullman revisits the most influential story ever told. Charged with mystery, compassion and enormous power, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ throws fresh light on who Jesus was and asks the reader questions that will continue to resonate long after the final page is turned. For, above all, this book is about how stories become stories.©2010 Philip Pullman Classics & Allegories Fantasy Thought-Provoking
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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.

There are better Jesus books

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Misleadingly simple retelling of the story of Jesus Christ. Pullman presents the telling of the story as obeying the norms of the genre with its motifs and literary devices. Just as today we recognise a fairy tale genre with the words ‘Once upon a time …” the story of a Messiah must be accompanied by miracles and wonders. These miracles are figurative – simply literal devices commonly used and understood to indicate that the subject of the book is a Messiah.

Bearing in mind the disillusionment many catholics feel with their church today – Pullman leaves us to ponder which is better “ to aim for absolute purity and fail altogether, or to compromise and succeed a little?”

Thought Provoking

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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

Beautiful and brilliant fiction

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I absolutely love this book. Neil Gaiman is both a great author and a great narrator. It is short but powerful. Both thought-provoking and heart-wrenching. Jesus is protrayed as a genuinely spiritual and moral teacher and Christ a perfect example how religion can subvert morality in the name of God.

A Great Book Crafted Masterfully

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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.

Feasible retelling

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