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Lazarus Is Dead [Hardcover]

Richard Beard
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Book Description

18 Aug 2011

Like most men in their early thirties, Lazarus has plans that don't involve dying. He is busy organising his sisters, his business and his women. Life is mostly good, until far away in Galilee, without warning, his childhood best friend turns water into wine.

Immediately, Lazarus falls ill. And with each subsequent miracle his health deteriorates: a nasty cough blooms into an alarming panorama of afflictions. His sisters think Jesus can help, but given the history of their friendship Lazarus disagrees. What he is sure of is that he'll try everything in his power to make himself well. Except for calling on Jesus.

Lazarus dies. Jesus weeps. This part we all know.

But as Lazarus is about to find out, returning from the dead isn't easy. You think you want a second chance at life, but what do you do when you get it? Lazarus has his own story, he is his own man, and he is determined to avoid the mistakes he made the first time round.

A thrillingly inventive, genre-bending novel, Lazarus is Dead is the definitive account of the life, death and life of Lazarus, as never told before.


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Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Harvill Secker (18 Aug 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 184655506X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846555060
  • Product Dimensions: 14.4 x 2.6 x 22.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 471,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

I finished the book at a sitting. What makes it so gripping is Beard's limitless curiosity (James Russell Blog )

He can stir emotion quickly and simply... his essayistic digressions temper the mythic luminosity of his subject (TLS )

The approach is unusual, the narrative bold and exhilarating...this book with its melding of fiction and non-fiction, critical analysis and detective work, consolidation and controversy, is a potent combination that breathes life not only into the 'imaginative representations' of historical events but also into the possibilities of what we think a novel might be able to achieve (Just William's Luck )

So good it's almost off the scale for me. Brave, brilliant and utterly readable (The Bookbag )

Beard writes with sharp clarity; short unadorned sentences that contain an unforced, incisive wit.' '(Lazarus's) legend continues to fascinate in this totally original book (Sara Keating Sunday Business Post )

Book Description

Meet Lazarus: hero of the best story ever told about second chances. A novel like no other about a life like no other.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By CJ Craig VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
A wonderfully "new" type of novel that weaves history, myth, speculation, theology and story-telling together in a fascinating way. The research the author has done is offered up in the pages that make up a sort of commentary on the re-telling of the biblical story of Lazarus and his being raised from the dead. Whether or not you are a believer there is much to challenge lazy thinking in this new book by Richard Beard. For Christians I think it would make an interesting choice for a church book club. You do not need to agree with everything, or anything, that Beard writes but you do have to think about the issues he raises in this often over-looked biblical story. For non-Christians or non-believers Beard poses some very interesting philosophical and sociological points that are easily applicable to contemporary situations. Even the subtle political moves by Romans and Jewish priests should bring about a good discussion with friends and colleagues.

The nature of the actual book is refreshing. The reader is drawn into the familiar story with just enough changes and what-if scenarios to bring the story alive. And then there is the commentary and author's reflections on his own research in preparation for the book that makes you feel as though you are sitting in his study discussing the issues the biblical story has raised for him and which he wants to raise with you.

Richard Beard has been described as "one of the most ingenious, resourceful and entertaining novelists in England" and I would have to agree that that sums it up nicely.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A completely unique book. 2 Aug 2011
By Arheddis Varkenjaab TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Wow, this is one of those books that's rather hard to describe, let alone review. It comes from a leftfield view of the world, written in a way that makes you wonder if it's just you that doesn't' think along those lines.

Ostensibly, this is a work of theology telling the story of Lazarus. A passing knowledge of biblical history is probably a help in reading this, but as long as you've heard of Jesus you're probably ok. The author mixes biblical story, historical fact, art and imagination in a way that is completely convincing in telling the life of Lazarus, his early friendship growing up with Jesus, his decline, death and resurrection. As Lazarus is really barely mentioned in the bible (although important, his part is small) this is quite a feat to expand a few sentences into an entire lifetime.

This is a great book for imagining how things must have seemed to ordinary people at the time. After all, after Lazarus was raised it would be natural for people to wonder if perhaps actually is Lazarus the messiah? Jesus has yet to die and return, but Lazarus managed it. Or was Lazarus just a trial run for Jesus, so he could gauge how to maximise the impact and conviction of his own resurrection? How does Lazarus feel about all this? Confused? Annoyed? What about the Romans, who were wondering as much as anyone about what Jesus and Lazarus are up to?

This is a fascinating book, with a great insight and humour. Don't think this is one only for the religious, it's a really good read even for died in the wool atheists. Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly readable AND utterly original 17 Aug 2011
Format:Hardcover
It's very unusual to find a book which is both readable and original; here is one such. Richard Beard has thrown everything he knows about genre out of the window, and found a new way to tell a remarkable story. Is this a novel, or a work of 'creative non-fiction', or a sustained and brilliant piece of theological speculation, or what? I don't know, but I do know that the hairs stood up on the back of my neck at the end. I also know that Beard is one of our most original and woefully under-rated novelists, and that anyone who is interested in what a novel might be should read this extra-ordinary book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars The gospel according to John from marketing
Lazarus is Dead is the most extraordinary, intelligent and thought provoking book. It takes the story of Lazarus from John's gospel (and one of the things the less biblically... Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. G. Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars Lazarus re-imagined - brilliantly
An utterly absorbing read. Richard Beard has taken the biblical account of Jesus' resurrection of his friend Lazarus from the Gospel of John and woven what he calls an... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jeremy Bevan
4.0 out of 5 stars Guinea Pig
Being not in the least religious, I was a little dubious about this book, expecting a hopeless mishmash of reasons why or why not the death and resurrection of Lazarus was so... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael Watson
2.0 out of 5 stars Failed to deliver on promise
I got this book as I was recommended it having done some readings in John's Gospel and become interested in Lazarus. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Michael Lumsden
4.0 out of 5 stars "Lazarus is by far the best designed of the three trial resurrections,...
In this startling and ingenious "biography" of Lazarus, told with a light, often humorous touch, Richard Beard defies the limits of biography by mixing known elements from the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mary Whipple
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a brilliant book... do read it
This review appeared in 2011 in The Tablet: Lazarus Is Dead
What an extraordinary book this is - ingenious and gripping in all the best ways (sends you back to the Bible,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Lynn
4.0 out of 5 stars An unusual undertaking, well done
This is an interesting book, operating, almost simultaneously, on three levels. It recounts the story of Lazarus as told in the Gospel According to St John; it fills out that story... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Lost John
5.0 out of 5 stars "Someone else always has to go first"
Is Lazarus more than just a boyhood friend of Jesus? Given some of the similarities and differences in the course of their lives, and considering the complementary and conflicting... Read more
Published 13 months ago by BlackandWhite
5.0 out of 5 stars Will get you thinking, and keep you thinking.
As a child, I went to church and Sunday School, so thought I was pretty knowlegeable about the Bible. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Esther Stephens
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent and thought-provoking
I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent and thought provoking book that sheds light in a fun way on the first person to return from the dead
Published 17 months ago by richardw
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