The Liars' Gospel: A Novel
The Liars' Gospel: A Novel book cover

The Liars' Gospel: A Novel

Paperback – April 8, 2014

Price
$12.94
Format
Paperback
Pages
336
Publisher
Back Bay Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0316232791
Dimensions
5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
Weight
10.4 ounces

Description

"A visceral retelling of the events surrounding the life of Jesus....The ferocity of Barabbas and Judas seizes the narrative and occupies its center ground." --- Hilary Mantel, author of Bringing Up the Bodies "By turns poetic and visceral, The Liars' Gospel liberates towering figures from the stasis of iconography, giving them psychological depth."---Abigail Meisel, New York Times Book Review "Alderman solidly claims her place as a writer of bold imagination and abundant skill... She grafts new sinew and muscle to the bare bones of an ancient tale."--National Public Radio"A provocative and fascinating retelling of one of the foundational narratives of Western culture." --- Julie Subrin, Tablet Magazine "Head spinning perspectives on the life and times of Jesus, from a novelist who wields her pen like a sword." --- More "Exceptional....A deeply researched, empathically imagined, ferociously told exploration of the Jew known as Jesus." ---Michael Goldfarb, Jewish Daily Forward "Vibrant descriptions....haunting prose.... Alderman transforms an ancient story into her own engaging meditation on power, oppression, and belief." --- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)"Alderman re-creates with startling immediacy the culture of first-century Judea, with its political intrigue and riots, and with its characters wondering at what the life of Yehoshuah has meant to them." --- Kirkus "Superb....The best-known story of all takes on messy, intricate, surging new life when freed from its biblical shackles in Naomi Alderman's reimagining."--- Victoria Moore, Daily Mail "Courageous....Alderman's revision of the Christ figure is a visceral, intelligent one, and it works superbly." --- Arifa Akbar, The Independent "Provocative and mesmerizing....Alderman here succeeds magnificently.... The Liars' Gospel roots its characters firmly and vividly in their historical and political context." --- Rebecca Abrams, New Statesman "A novel of such intensity, meaning and depth that it must be destined to become a classic." --- Bidisha, Presenter of BBC Radio Four's Saturday Review Naomi Alderman is the recipient of the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction forxa0The Power.xa0She is also the author of The Liars' Gospel and Disobedience ,xa0which won the Orange Prize for New Writers, has been published in ten languages, and has been made into a film by Rachel Weisz. Alderman was selected for Granta 'sxa0once-a-decade list of Best of Young British Novelists and was chosen by Margaret Atwood as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. She is the cocreator and lead writer of the bestselling smartphone audio adventure app Zombies, Run! She contributes regularly to Thexa0Guardian and presents Science Stories on BBC Radio 4. She lives in London.

Features & Highlights

  • An award-winning writer reimagines the life of Jesus, from the points of view of four people closest to him before his death.
  • This is the story of Yehoshuah, who wandered Roman-occupied Judea giving sermons and healing the sick. Now, a year after his death, four people tell their stories. His mother grieves, his friend Iehuda loses his faith, the High Priest of the Temple tries to keep the peace, and a rebel named Bar-Avo strives to bring that peace tumbling down. It was a time of political power plays and brutal tyranny. Men and women took to the streets to protest. Dictators put them down with iron force. In the midst of it all, one inconsequential preacher died. And either something miraculous happened, or someone lied. Viscerally powerful in its depictions of the period -- massacres and riots, animal sacrifice and human betrayal --
  • The Liars' Gospel
  • makes the oldest story entirely new.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(159)
★★★★
25%
(133)
★★★
15%
(80)
★★
7%
(37)
23%
(121)

Most Helpful Reviews

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If you love books of short stories

One of the things I base my liking of a book on is whether or not the writer engaged me enough to pick up their other books. This book did not. I have no desire to read any of her other books. She is a capable writer; but this is more a book of short stories than a novel. She makes up a central character, gives him a recognizable name and then tells the stories of four people around him, also giving them well-known historical names and attaches a few historical facts to them. This book's hook reminds me a whole lot of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer. The hook is using Lincoln's name and some well known facts from his life and then making up a story around him. The difference being, I will read other books from that author because he intrigued me enough with his story telling; while this book did not. If you love books of short stories, then you will probably enjoy this book more than I did. When I purchase a novel, I want to read a novel, not a book of short stories. Just like when I purchase a book of short stories, I want to read short stories, not a novel.
4 people found this helpful
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Fascinating as hell

Naomi Alderman is a gifted writer, and her words continued to reverberate with me for days after reading this book. The story of Ieuda/Judas was especially heartbreaking to me: his life story (as she imagined it, of course) really touched me. At the beginning of their relationship, Ieuda/Judas was completely comforted by Yehoshuah's messages of love. That's why when he saw the chinks in the armor, it broke him. Bar-Avo's story was also really interesting, making me think about modern day terrorism and its many facets. For me, I know I've been captured in the best way when I want to read the author's source materials, so "Rome and Jerusalem" is on my nightstand now :)
1 people found this helpful
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Fascinating Psychological Thought Experiment

Wonderfully imaginative psychological exploration of some of the key figures in the traditional story, from a distinctly non-traditional point of view. While the Church chose to canonize only those "gospels" written long after Jesus's life by people who never crossed paths (or even centuries) w/the historical Jesus, Alderman decides to give his contemporaries a voice. The result is delightful, unexpected, and yet oddly plausible. So we hear an imaginative construction of what his mother, Mary, thought about her distinctly human prodigal son; Pilate's view as the harassed (& politically insecure) Roman governor; Judas's growing disappointment with Jesus's growing self-aggrandizement; and (most interesting to me) the head Temple Rabbi's view -- which is fascinating in that it reveals a lot of accurate details about running the Temple, local politics, and contemporary social tensions, but what is most striking and noteworthy is that Jesus barely registered as a blimp on Caiaphas's horizon at all! I thought that was a wonderfully creative twist, and really emphasized that desert preachers were a dime a dozen at that time and place, and that Yehoshua was nothing unique until the Church, centuries after the fact, chose him as a figurehead and retroactively infused his "story" with a lot of meaning it never originally had. These are the same ideas Elaine Pagels develops academically in her books (esp. Gnostic Gospels and Gospel of Thomas). Of course the title is delightfully tongue-in-cheek because while these "gospels" are honestly presented as fiction, the canonized gospels are even further from whatever might have been "the truth," as they were written centuries later by people who had never met Yehoshua but who did have specific political axes to grind. So who is really the "liar"? Or as Pilate asked "What is Truth? We both have truths." And the truth of the abandoned mom is just as true as that of the harassed Temple CEO. I found this thought experiment in historical fiction utterly delightful, but needless to say, its not for fundamentalists ;)
1 people found this helpful
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But first of all this book was so boring to read a stopped after a few chapters

I bought this book thinking this would be similar to the Red Tent by Diamant. A novel based on some kind of facts. But first of all this book was so boring to read I stopped after a few chapters. Then I found the book very anti-Christian. I a not expecting a pro Christan book or a Christian book, but this was very out of line, yes, even hateful. I usually don't even write reviews, but here I had to.I regret buying this book. I read many great reviews in the Conservative Jewish magazine, but I am not sure they ever read the book?!