- Paperback: 198 pages
- Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (25 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1416908161
- ISBN-13: 978-1416908166
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.1 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,002,467 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
At a glance, you expect a much more sinister and 'anti-religious' account, however the story is quite light-hearted. I expected a much more difficult read but I did enjoy the story very much, a nice idea
Format:Paperback
There is a reason that GODLESS won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and I don't believe it's because author Pete Hautman wrote a book he intended to be satire, as other reviews have suggested. To me, GODLESS is the epitome of everything that is both bad and good about organized religion--it is, in effect, an entreaty to the leaders of religions around the world to look at how blind faith funds their coffers.
Yes, maybe I'm reading more into the book than the author intended. If so, I can only hope that he appreciates the fact that I've obviously thought about the words he wrote long after they were published, and that he'd be happy about that fact. Now, though, on to the story...
Fifteen-year old Jason Bock is an agnostic ("I'll believe in God when I see Him") bordering on being an atheist ("There is no God"). His mother is obsessed over his health, coming up weekly with a new ailment that he just has to be suffering from. His father, though, is more concerned with his son's soul. That's why Jason, regardless of his personal beliefs, finds himself attending weekly Sunday Mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd, and even occasionally joins in at Thursday night TPO (Teen Power Outreach) meetings. The fact that he's ordered to attend the meetings more frequently when he's in trouble doesn't escape his notice.
Until one day, agnostic slash atheist Jason wonders what would happen if he started his own religion. Along with his best friend, Shin, fellow TPO attendee Magda, preacher's son Dan, and town rebel Henry, Jason creates the Chutengodians, a religion who worships the Ten-Legged One. That the Ten-Legged One is the town's water tower doesn't seem to deter them.
I know what you're thinking--who in their right mind would worship a water tower, even if they are teenagers? The answer, of course, is pretty simple. Why do people worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Why are there Buddhists, Muslims, Scientologists, Mormons, Protestants, or Latter Day Saints? Why does anyone worship anything? They do it because someone came up with their own ideas, made up some rules, implemented some commandments, created posts of leadership, and recruited parishioners.
Jason does the same, with some of the same consequences other organized religions have faced over the centuries--infighting, backstabbing, persecution, and doubts. When one Chutengodian almost ends up dead in an accident, and another seems determined to take his own life, and the others doubt the wisdom of associating with the creator of their religion, things start to fall apart. Sounds to me a lot like what happens in most "normal" organized religions found throughout the world today.
GODLESS is, without a doubt, one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for their own truths, regarding not only religion but finding your sense of self. You won't be disappointed--I know I wasn't.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
Yes, maybe I'm reading more into the book than the author intended. If so, I can only hope that he appreciates the fact that I've obviously thought about the words he wrote long after they were published, and that he'd be happy about that fact. Now, though, on to the story...
Fifteen-year old Jason Bock is an agnostic ("I'll believe in God when I see Him") bordering on being an atheist ("There is no God"). His mother is obsessed over his health, coming up weekly with a new ailment that he just has to be suffering from. His father, though, is more concerned with his son's soul. That's why Jason, regardless of his personal beliefs, finds himself attending weekly Sunday Mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd, and even occasionally joins in at Thursday night TPO (Teen Power Outreach) meetings. The fact that he's ordered to attend the meetings more frequently when he's in trouble doesn't escape his notice.
Until one day, agnostic slash atheist Jason wonders what would happen if he started his own religion. Along with his best friend, Shin, fellow TPO attendee Magda, preacher's son Dan, and town rebel Henry, Jason creates the Chutengodians, a religion who worships the Ten-Legged One. That the Ten-Legged One is the town's water tower doesn't seem to deter them.
I know what you're thinking--who in their right mind would worship a water tower, even if they are teenagers? The answer, of course, is pretty simple. Why do people worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Why are there Buddhists, Muslims, Scientologists, Mormons, Protestants, or Latter Day Saints? Why does anyone worship anything? They do it because someone came up with their own ideas, made up some rules, implemented some commandments, created posts of leadership, and recruited parishioners.
Jason does the same, with some of the same consequences other organized religions have faced over the centuries--infighting, backstabbing, persecution, and doubts. When one Chutengodian almost ends up dead in an accident, and another seems determined to take his own life, and the others doubt the wisdom of associating with the creator of their religion, things start to fall apart. Sounds to me a lot like what happens in most "normal" organized religions found throughout the world today.
GODLESS is, without a doubt, one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for their own truths, regarding not only religion but finding your sense of self. You won't be disappointed--I know I wasn't.
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
37 reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Godless is Awesome
2 Jun 2004
Format:Hardcover
First, I loved the characters. It was great to hang out with them. Second, I loved what it was about. Godless shows you how a religion could come to be--how it could actually be created.
Pete Hautman always takes on big issues in his books: Sweetblood--vampires and diabetes, Mr. Was--abuse and time travel, Stone Cold--gambling. In this new book, he decides to take on a huge issue--what and how we believe God to be.
Godless is serious and funny at the same time, at the same moment. You can be laughing about what a character is saying and yet it can be painful and true.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Allowing tweens and young teens to fairly consider the issues in challenges to and rebellions against faith and religion
4 Mar 2006
Format:Paperback
How often is it you find a book for young adults that objectively discusses things like agnosticism and faith? The answer is not often and that is perhaps one reason Pete Hautman's Godless won the the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Another reason is more straightforward -- it's well written, particularly for its target audience.
Godless tells the story of 16-year-old Jason Bock. Bock is the imaginative type and is beginning to doubt his Catholic faith. In part because he is toying with his religious youth group, Jason concocts his own religion. Its god is the town's 207-foot water tower. After all, Jason reasons, "Water is Life." Coming up with much of its doctrine off the top of his head, Jason names it Chutengodianism, the Church of the Ten-legged God.
Jason's best friend, Peter "Shin" Shinner, is there from the outset. As the religion's Head Kahuna, Jason names Shin First Keeper of the Sacred Text. Shin even begins writing Chutengodianism's scripture, excerpts of which preface each chapter. Most subsequent members of the religion also are granted a title, although their admission to the religion often is based as much on ulterior motives as their expressing an interest in joining, which is equally likely to be for a lark. For example, Jason's attraction to pretty Magda Price leads him to name her High Priestess and bully Henry Stagg becomes High Priest because he knows how to climb to the top of the water tower.
As far-fetched as it may seem, Hautman pulls off most of it. While you could nitpick about how Henry's character vacillates between bully and buddy and Shin's total infatuation with the made-up cult, what makes Godless so worthwhile is that it is neither pro-religion nor anti-religion. That fact may make a few evangelicals and book-banners howl if it ends up in a school library or curriculum. Yet the book reveals the ramifications inherent with virtually any religion or faith. We see the ease with which some people will join something that gives them a feeling they fit in a bit better. We see those who go off the deep end and become zealots. We see those who are swayed by personality. We see schisms in leadership and doctrine. We see there are consequences to actions taken on the basis of presumed faith alone.
Unlike what one might assume from the title, Godless is not a critique of whether a supreme being exists or a broadside on any religion. Granted, Jason does have some issues with and criticisms of Catholicism and its rites. Still, that largely serves to frame the context. The book's overall tone makes even that part of the exploration in which anyone confronting a question of faith might engage. Godless actually allows young adults -- or anyone -- to think about such issues without advocating any one position and in a context relatively unhindered by the ardor or emotions that tend to accompany most discussions of this sort if a particular religion or faith is involved.
Godless tells the story of 16-year-old Jason Bock. Bock is the imaginative type and is beginning to doubt his Catholic faith. In part because he is toying with his religious youth group, Jason concocts his own religion. Its god is the town's 207-foot water tower. After all, Jason reasons, "Water is Life." Coming up with much of its doctrine off the top of his head, Jason names it Chutengodianism, the Church of the Ten-legged God.
Jason's best friend, Peter "Shin" Shinner, is there from the outset. As the religion's Head Kahuna, Jason names Shin First Keeper of the Sacred Text. Shin even begins writing Chutengodianism's scripture, excerpts of which preface each chapter. Most subsequent members of the religion also are granted a title, although their admission to the religion often is based as much on ulterior motives as their expressing an interest in joining, which is equally likely to be for a lark. For example, Jason's attraction to pretty Magda Price leads him to name her High Priestess and bully Henry Stagg becomes High Priest because he knows how to climb to the top of the water tower.
As far-fetched as it may seem, Hautman pulls off most of it. While you could nitpick about how Henry's character vacillates between bully and buddy and Shin's total infatuation with the made-up cult, what makes Godless so worthwhile is that it is neither pro-religion nor anti-religion. That fact may make a few evangelicals and book-banners howl if it ends up in a school library or curriculum. Yet the book reveals the ramifications inherent with virtually any religion or faith. We see the ease with which some people will join something that gives them a feeling they fit in a bit better. We see those who go off the deep end and become zealots. We see those who are swayed by personality. We see schisms in leadership and doctrine. We see there are consequences to actions taken on the basis of presumed faith alone.
Unlike what one might assume from the title, Godless is not a critique of whether a supreme being exists or a broadside on any religion. Granted, Jason does have some issues with and criticisms of Catholicism and its rites. Still, that largely serves to frame the context. The book's overall tone makes even that part of the exploration in which anyone confronting a question of faith might engage. Godless actually allows young adults -- or anyone -- to think about such issues without advocating any one position and in a context relatively unhindered by the ardor or emotions that tend to accompany most discussions of this sort if a particular religion or faith is involved.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
My Constitutional Rite
12 Aug 2005
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In a brilliantly authored book for young adults, Schmidt introduces a basic American Concept. Freedom of religion! The right is protected, but for one young man it is not being honored.
As an atheist, the protagonist holds the view that all religion was "all made up." So, he decides to invent his own. It does not matter that the object of their religious fervor is a water tower. It is specifically chosen because it is so unGodlike.
Yet, the story develops as all religious stories develop; with a concept, and a following. Jason does build a small following for his religion, yet it gets him virtually nothing but trouble. Yet he insists on going forward, despite the pressure from those who are not interested in his creation of a new religion.
Perhaps one of the most interesting characters of all is Shin. Shin, a close friend of Jason, becomes enamoured with the religion to the point that he starts writing a gospel of the religion. He actually hears the water tower speak to him and has recorded it. He has many, many pages of the gospel of the new religion transcribed, as he says, the "Tower speaks to me, I hear it inside my head."
Yet through all the troubles and travails, there is a persistence that Jason displays and in his mind; and the minds of most of his followers, he has prevailed. Even if it has to be sub rosa, as those around do not accept even the discussion of the topic, it is still his rite. He is still entitled to do it, in America.
The book is highly recommended for all people over the age of 13. It is especially illustrative of a phenomenon repeated all over the world many times. The book cites Joseph Smith's Church of Latter Day Saints and L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology, but does not dwell at all on their philosophies, just mentions them as new religions. And in how many places aside from America, are citizens free to do this? Not many at all.
As an atheist, the protagonist holds the view that all religion was "all made up." So, he decides to invent his own. It does not matter that the object of their religious fervor is a water tower. It is specifically chosen because it is so unGodlike.
Yet, the story develops as all religious stories develop; with a concept, and a following. Jason does build a small following for his religion, yet it gets him virtually nothing but trouble. Yet he insists on going forward, despite the pressure from those who are not interested in his creation of a new religion.
Perhaps one of the most interesting characters of all is Shin. Shin, a close friend of Jason, becomes enamoured with the religion to the point that he starts writing a gospel of the religion. He actually hears the water tower speak to him and has recorded it. He has many, many pages of the gospel of the new religion transcribed, as he says, the "Tower speaks to me, I hear it inside my head."
Yet through all the troubles and travails, there is a persistence that Jason displays and in his mind; and the minds of most of his followers, he has prevailed. Even if it has to be sub rosa, as those around do not accept even the discussion of the topic, it is still his rite. He is still entitled to do it, in America.
The book is highly recommended for all people over the age of 13. It is especially illustrative of a phenomenon repeated all over the world many times. The book cites Joseph Smith's Church of Latter Day Saints and L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology, but does not dwell at all on their philosophies, just mentions them as new religions. And in how many places aside from America, are citizens free to do this? Not many at all.
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