Ann Rice has written the first two of what will apparently be four novels. Those first two are told in the first person, with the narrative voice being Jesus' as he remembers earlier years. In this first installment she portrays him as a seven year old having grown up with his family in Egypt, still in exile until Herod dies, and then returning home to Israel. Rice takes some license here, and in other places, most noteably with Jesus' parentage, and following the orthodox Catholic tradition. James is portrayed as Jesus' older brother from a previous marriage of Joseph's. One of my Protestant colleagues couldn't get passed this loose rendering of scripture, which seemed to spoil any further pleasure he might have had in the reading. He seemed to forgive the author of "The Shack" for the darker shadings of Christian life and growth, but couldn't give Rice a similar pass.

A look at Amazon reviews finds similar divergent opinion. Most reviewers rate the book highly, mostly for the sheer pleasure in stirring a presence and image already alive in their own hearts. Fundamentalists bristle in obvious places, while those used to a steady diet of high-brow novel reading criticize Rice for simplistic characterizations. And there is the betrayed caudre of Rice's loyal vampire followers who are predictably disappointed.

So the mix of reviews which are mostly critical seem a spectrum of complaints: boredom with the characters (it seems mainly from readers who don't already have a devotional sense already in place to support the relative simplicity of characters, or the day-in-the-life detail which the New Testament doesn't address); fundamentalists aghast at her Catholic use of scripture; it not being a great novel, nor as good as some of her darker works; the themes and characters are a set up for the reader re: implicit greatness of the main character; a preference for the narrative voice in the third person i.e., distance=awe; Jesus as a child and adult (second installment) isn't holy enough.


I have thoroughly enjoyed both installments, the second being "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana," and read them each several times over the past few years. But these were easy reads for me, in a sense. I didn't expect a great piece of literature, as the characters can't really be imagined with incisive detail without clashing with the profound if subtle mythos at work in every reader's mind. I'm Roman Catholic, but seriously doubt Mary had no other biological children; yet Rice's preference for the official view was no hurdle for me.

The success in the book, for me, is mainly in how the narrative voice of Jesus is believable, as remembering his childhood as though it were occuring in the present moment for the reader most of the way through. It only has to be believable for my sense of devotion to forgive other literary "sins," or devices. Rice accomplishes something important here: she leaves the reader plenty room to soak up the characters, which fundamentalist Christians, and apparent non-Christians, seem rather uncomfortable with. As some rigid Christian fundamentalists may not actually have experienced the presence of Christ in a concrete way beyond dogmatic, intellectual entrenchments, and the post modern reader already awash in Gnostic renderings through other more fictional works and movies, it's no surprise the books can't simply be enjoyed as Rice's appeal to the reader's heart where these predilections are at work. If she's failed at all, it's more in what she's left undone than what she's done. Had the author filled in much of these gaps, most non-Christian readers might have taken exception in other, less forgiving ways.

But Rice has also done her homework, in terms of examining scripture scholarship and biblical history. She gives the reader a list of her studies at the back of the first book, and it includes no less than John Meier's long, deep tomes which are so brilliant and slow to read, among others.

Out of five stars I give it four, for both installments. Many Amazon readers feel she has improved with the second book in areas of concern where they felt she was lacking before.

She'll touch your heart, I bet, if you can let some things pass by where they might be insurmountable in less daunting literary undertakings.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: w.c.,

I saw one of those Anne Rice books in a bookstore but thought it didn't look very interesting. Now that you've mentioned it here, I'll take another look next time I'm in a bookstore. Thanks for telling us about it.

It's not as gripping as the Shack, but if the way Jesus is portrayed as a child gets in your skin, its probably worth the time. Just so many censors to pass through on the way to even considering such a fictional biography.

I found this book at a local library several days ago. I finished reading it yesterday---I loved it. And I loved the author for herself, as a sister to us, but also for candidly describing her journey back to faith in the Author's Note section:

"The Jewish scholars presented their case with such care. Certainly Jesus was simply an observant Jew or a Hasid who got crucified. End of story.
I read and I read and I read. Sometimes I thought I was walking through the valley of the shadow of Death, as I read. But I went on, ready to risk everything. I had to know who Jesus was..."

I know what she means about walking through the valley of the shadow of Death to find out who Jesus really is. And I've been there, in seminaries, taking the Mishnah and Talmud down trom the shelves, leaning my head against the wall, and reading and reading, just longing to know the truth.

I think I'd like to say more about the book itself later.

My wife just read this book and enjoyed it very much.

Currently, I'm reading Rice's autobiography, "Out of Darkness," which is very interesting. She describes her journey from pre-Vatican, fundamentalistic Catholicism through years of atheism (when she wrote about vampires) then back to Christianity and Catholicism, though with appreciation for the changes brought by Vatican II. There's much integrity in her search and an authenticity of her faith that is most compelling.

I've yet to read her spiritual autobiography, but will eventually.

As I re-read the first book, it's clear how she manages to gently instill in the reader Jesus' realness as a human person by the mundane activities of Jewish life in that time and place. Rice did her homework. I remember reading John Meier's first volumne, and its clear she has considered his work, and others, carefully. So the careful detail sketching out Jesus' daily life can be boring for some, perhaps those fundamentalists on Amazon who wanted a more "holy" life portrayed, as though God made human wouldn't feel fear, especially since the pain he saw so young, as Rice has it, would resonate deeply with his own future - not to mention being the second Person of the Trinity, through Whom all things were made. When I read the reviews that take issue with this, and express a need for more "holiness," I can't help but think how this shallow perception can show up as a kind of false piety, where real life isn't being engaged honestly from the heart. Such renderings would be no more real than a Gnostic Christ, of which the fundamentalists themselves reel! You wonder what they make of the Garden scene where Jesus sweats drops of blood. There is apparently a physiological mechanism for this, which involves the experience of intense fear. His will disposed to God, fully surrendered, doesn't make fear a sin, but an openness to the full human experience of pain and loss. Whereas for us fear might be the opposite of love, for Him it was passed through with love for the Father and all of us, but with all emotions experienced at the same time. How do you forgive from the cross otherwise?

What I most appreciated about the book were the understated but warm descriptions of affection between characters--Jesus and young Salome, Jesus and his mother, the whole extended family. My own parents were pretty affectionate with my older sister, brother, and myself, but between us kids we more often than not were emulating the Three Stooges. It still catches my attention when I see siblings being affectionate with each other. Given that as an adult Jesus is shown taking children in His arms and defending them, I'm surprised that it took this book to make me realize what a warm-hearted young boy He must have been. Anne Rice did a good piece of work with this book.

Lest I sound like we don't get along now, I need to say that my older brother is now one of my favorite people to get a hug from; he's the first to say, "I love you" and his face brightens when he sees me...Jesus' influence has been obviously at work between me and him.