About this item
Highlights
- In her twenty-eighth novel in as many years, best-selling Belgian novelist and international literary superstar Amélie Nothomb takes on a story for the ages: the life of Jesus.
- About the Author: Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to Belgian parents in 1967.
- 96 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Literary
Description
About the Book
In her twenty-eighth novel in as many years, best-selling Belgian novelist and international literary superstar Amâelie Nothomb takes on a story for the ages: the life of Jesus. In a first-person voice as droll and irreverent as it is wise, Nothomb narrates Jesus's final days, from his trial to his crucifixion to the resurrection. Amid asides about his relationships with his mother and Judas, his love for Mary Magdalene, and his many miracles, we find a man struggling with his humanity and his exceptional nature, straddling the line between human and deity, the son of a formless, omnipotent creator in the fallible form of a man.Book Synopsis
In her twenty-eighth novel in as many years, best-selling Belgian novelist and international literary superstar Amélie Nothomb takes on a story for the ages: the life of Jesus.
In a first-person voice as droll and irreverent as it is wise, Nothomb narrates Jesus's final days, from his trial to his crucifixion to the resurrection.
Amid asides about his relationships with his mother and Judas, his love for Mary Magdalene, and his many miracles, we find a man struggling with his humanity and his exceptional nature, straddling the line between human and deity, the son of a formless, omnipotent creator in the fallible form of a man.
Review Quotes
"With Thirst, Nothomb entices lucky readers with a dissenting, potentially heretical, refreshingly fascinating interpretation of an all-too-familiar life."--Shelf Awareness
""The novel builds up to that moment of insight, epiphany, and release that comes with these final words, 'I thirst' [ . . . ] A satisfying and thoughtful take on a familiar tale."--The Complete Review
"Thirst is Amélie Nothomb's best novel since The Character of Rain [ . . . ] With humor, Nothomb philosophizes about the body, love, pleasure, human ingratitude, suffering, hope, faith, death."--Les Echos
"Amélie Nothomb offers up a lovely consideration--a meditation?--on what it means to have a body."--La Croix
"Nothomb has managed to create a completely unbelievable mixture between Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Monty Python's The Life of Brian. I've never read anything like it!"--France Inter
Praise for Strike Your Heart
"Strike Your Heart is a finely honed, piercing novel. No wonder it is acclaimed in France. If you are human, it will strike your heart, too."--Michelle Langevine Leiby, The Washington Post
"Readers who love the alienation and dark comedy of Haruki Murakami would be wise to hunt down Nothomb's work; she's treading in the same forests as Murakami, but her steps are lighter and she covers more territory than the celebrated Japanese novelist [ . . . ] Strike Your Heart feels like the kind of book you write when you don't care who you shock. That's a welcome development."--Paul Constant, The Seattle Review of Books
★ "This razor-sharp morality tale can be read in an afternoon but contains a lifetime of wisdom about how we cope with the weaknesses of those closest to us."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Praise for Tokyo Fiancée
"A spare, elegant novel."--The New York Times
"A melancholic, coy, and wry little book."--The Globe and Mail
"Nothomb succeeds in giving us an alternative but still charming vision of romantic love."--Kirkus Reviews
"Soufflé-light yet scalpel-sharp, this tale of the pitfalls of language barriers and the pleasures of culture shock is a page-turning treat."--The Seattle Times
"Tokyo Fiancée is either a love story about language or a language story about love."--The Temple News
"One of the smartest, happiest, most hopeful passages I've read recently is Nothomb's graceful discussion of what she felt for her Japanese boyfriend, Rinri."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
About the Author
Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan to Belgian parents in 1967. She lives in Paris. Since her debut on the French literary scene a little more than a decade ago, she has published a novel a year, every year. Her edgy fiction, unconventional thinking, and public persona have combined to transform her into a worldwide literary sensation. She is the recipient of the French Academy's 1999 Grand Prix for the Novel, the René-Fallet, Alain-Fournier, and Jean-Giono prizes.