The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - (Harvest in Translation) by José Saramago (Paperback)

About the Book

For Saramago, the life of Jesus and the story of His Passion are things of this Earth: a child crying, a gust of wind, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat or the bark of a dog, a prayer uttered in the gray morning light. This beautifully rendered work of prose by one of Europe's most respected writers is a defiance of the authority of God the Father, but not a denial.

Book Synopsis

A wry, fictional account of the life of Christ by the Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, "Illuminated by ferocious wit, gentle passion, and poetry" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). For José Saramago, the life of Jesus Christ and the story of his Passion were things of this earth: a child crying, a gust of wind, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat or the bark of a dog, a prayer uttered in the grayish morning light. The Holy Family reflects the real complexities of any family, but this is realism filled with vision, dream, and omen. Saramago's deft psychological portrait of a savior who is at once the Son of God and a young man of this earth is an expert interweaving of poetry and irony, spirituality and irreverence. The result is nothing less than a brilliant skeptic's wry inquest into the meaning of God and of human existence.

From the Back Cover

A PROVOCATIVE AND CONTROVERSIAL TELLING OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST BY THE 1998 NOBEL LAUREATE IN LITERATURE

For Jose Saramago, the life of Jesus Christ and the story of His Passion are things of this earth: A child crying, a gust of wind, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat or the bark of a dog, a prayer uttered in the grayish morning light. The Holy Family reflects the real complexities of any family, but this is realism filled with vision, dream, and omen.

Saramago's deft psychological portrait of a savior who is at once the Son of God and a young man of this earth is an expert interweaving of poetry and irony, spirituality and irreverence. The result is nothing less than a brilliant skeptic's wry inquest into the meaning of God and of human existence.

Review Quotes

"Illuminated by ferocious wit, gentle passion and poetry."--Los Angeles Times Book Review ?"Enough to assure [Saramago] a place in the universal library and in human memory."--The Nation "Fiction that engages the mind as well as the spirit."--Kirkus "Mixes magic, myth, and reality into a potent brew."--Booklist --