- Paperback: 470 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (24 Feb 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0143114972
- ISBN-13: 978-0143114970
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.7 x 2.7 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,219,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Jewish Messiah: A Novel
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence
BECAUSE HIS GRANDFATHER had served, with sincere enthusiasm and a great faith in what the future would bring, in the SSâ the kind of man who wasn't afraid to roll up his sleeves, not the kind of wishy-washy grandpa who never got up from his desk, who stamped an official document now and then before hurrying home to his wife and children at five, no, a gentleman, one who understood death's handiwork without bothering his own family about it, a man for whom words like "honor" and "loyalty" still meant something, a man of morals who clung faithfully to a vision even under brutal conditions when many of his buddies stripped off their uniforms and ran for it, but not him, a man who said, "A man of fiber knows his duty, a man of fiber doesn't just live from day to day," and, having said that, went on to fire every last round in his clipâ the grandson wished to serve a movement with enthusiasm and faith in the future. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
BECAUSE HIS GRANDFATHER had served, with sincere enthusiasm and a great faith in what the future would bring, in the SSâ the kind of man who wasn't afraid to roll up his sleeves, not the kind of wishy-washy grandpa who never got up from his desk, who stamped an official document now and then before hurrying home to his wife and children at five, no, a gentleman, one who understood death's handiwork without bothering his own family about it, a man for whom words like "honor" and "loyalty" still meant something, a man of morals who clung faithfully to a vision even under brutal conditions when many of his buddies stripped off their uniforms and ran for it, but not him, a man who said, "A man of fiber knows his duty, a man of fiber doesn't just live from day to day," and, having said that, went on to fire every last round in his clipâ the grandson wished to serve a movement with enthusiasm and faith in the future. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Beautiful nonsense
10 Feb 2008
Format:Hardcover
I'm torn on this book. On the one hand it was one of the most beautifully written things I have ever read. Some sentences I would read over and over because they were so beautiful and unique.
However the story...the story was good enough to keep me reading for the 400+ pages of the book...but I don't think it was because it was good I think it was because I thought maybe at some point it would make sense or get to the point. It was almost like the story was just the summary on the book jacket stretched out ridiculously with insane attention to mundane detail. I'd say 75% of the book doesn't move the story along.
Also the characters...they are incredibly 1-dimensional. Which is strange because the author delves into the inner thoughts and emotions of the main character extensively. But they are merely described, not explained. All of characters face some of the most nightmarish situations ever conjured in fiction but their reactions are completely alien and inhuman. Like I found myself waiting to find out that everyone turned out to be a serial killer or psychologically disturbed in some way. But they weren't, they were all supposedly "normal."
I suppose you could read social commentary into it. However, in my opinion, it doesn't make any such commentary very clear. Any message from the book would be completely a matter of interpretation and reading whatever you want into the text.
All in all, I sort of regret spending all of the time I spent reading the book because it failed to deliver any sort of point and wasn't entertaining enough for that to be the point. However it wasn't an unenjoyable waste of time as the writing was...poetic without being flowery. The author and translator are obviously masters of language. And I suppose the best praise I can give the story was that it was crafted in such a way that I can forgive myself for expecting there to be more to it than there turned out to be.
However the story...the story was good enough to keep me reading for the 400+ pages of the book...but I don't think it was because it was good I think it was because I thought maybe at some point it would make sense or get to the point. It was almost like the story was just the summary on the book jacket stretched out ridiculously with insane attention to mundane detail. I'd say 75% of the book doesn't move the story along.
Also the characters...they are incredibly 1-dimensional. Which is strange because the author delves into the inner thoughts and emotions of the main character extensively. But they are merely described, not explained. All of characters face some of the most nightmarish situations ever conjured in fiction but their reactions are completely alien and inhuman. Like I found myself waiting to find out that everyone turned out to be a serial killer or psychologically disturbed in some way. But they weren't, they were all supposedly "normal."
I suppose you could read social commentary into it. However, in my opinion, it doesn't make any such commentary very clear. Any message from the book would be completely a matter of interpretation and reading whatever you want into the text.
All in all, I sort of regret spending all of the time I spent reading the book because it failed to deliver any sort of point and wasn't entertaining enough for that to be the point. However it wasn't an unenjoyable waste of time as the writing was...poetic without being flowery. The author and translator are obviously masters of language. And I suppose the best praise I can give the story was that it was crafted in such a way that I can forgive myself for expecting there to be more to it than there turned out to be.
15 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Buy it for the cover alone.
10 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover
Imagine Woody Allen and the Marquis de Sade had a child, not a bastard, but one they fussed over and nurtured and sent to the best schools: he might have written this horrible, vicious, hilarious, totally true book, whose tasteless provocations upon motherhood, philosophy, art, and friendship are matched by a quixotic cruelty to cheeses. The translated prose is like the best martini: ice-cold, and crystal clear, with an instant head rush, and the subtlest whiff of foreignness in vermouth. Beware: it is a very stiff drink.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
???Befuddled???
8 May 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Read the whole book and enjoyed it. Still don't know what to make of it.
Serious.... Funny.... Pornografic .... Tongue in cheek.... This book has it all.
Read a sample first. You'll either love it or hate it.
Serious.... Funny.... Pornografic .... Tongue in cheek.... This book has it all.
Read a sample first. You'll either love it or hate it.
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