The Book Against God (Hardcover)

How Fiction Works by James Wood 3.7 out of 5 stars (7)  £6.69

The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel by James Wood 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £9.09

The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief by James Wood 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill 3.1 out of 5 stars (99)  £4.30

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross 4.4 out of 5 stars (30)  £7.49

› Explore similar items

Review
An intellectual's revolt against the faith of his father becomes a disabling shaping force in this talky if intriguing first novel. British (now Washingtonian) literary critic Wood (The Broken Estate, 1999) has as his narrator an Englishman by the name of Thomas Bunting, a philosophy professor who moonlights briefly as an obituary writer-explaining missed deadlines by citing the recent death of his father, a respected priest in a rural northern England village. But Peter Bunting is at this point decidedly alive-and the aforementioned falsehood is only one of hundreds concocted by his son, who's not so much a Doubting Thomas, or even a committed atheist, as a lifelong "evader" of truths that confirm his father's confident worldview and seem to limit Thomas's own possibilities. This makes the story sound tedious, which it frequently is, owing to a plethora of conversations between Thomas and his estranged wife Jane (who loves him but hates his duplicity); his childhood friend Max Thurlow, a newspaper "pundit" (who "was succeeding for both of us"); assorted colleagues and acquaintances, and-interestingly-Terry Upsher, a semiliterate workingman whose simple honesty suggests the nature Thomas has resolutely rejected. The title denotes a book (his "BAG") that Thomas is supposedly writing (instead of completing his long-aborning Ph.D.), which argues from design that the horrors of existence prove that whatever God created them isn't worth worshipping. This is of course unoriginal, but it's still the insistent nerve center here, particularly in climactic scenes wherein Thomas is all but silenced (if not persuaded) by his father's lucid eloquence (" . . . if you take God away from the world, the world is no less . . . painful or sinful or unsaved. It is simply painful and sinful . . . without the hope of salvation or succour"). Not really successful as a novel, but literate, provocative, and at times quite surprisingly moving. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Thomas Bunting, the charming, chaotic, and deeply untruthful narrator of James Wood's wonderful first novel, is in despair. His marriage is disintegrating, and his academic career is in ruins: instead of completing his philosophy PhD (still unfinished after seven years), he is secretly writing what he hopes will be his masterwork, a vast atheistic project he has privately entitled 'The Book Against God'. But when his father is suddenly taken ill Thomas returns home, to the tiny village in the north of England where he grew up, and where his father still works as a parish priest. Thomas hopes that at home he may finally be able to communicate honestly with his father, a brilliant and formidable Christian example, and sort out his wayward life. But Thomas is a chronic liar, as well as an atheist, and he finds, instead, that once at home he only falls back into the disastrous and evasive patterns of his childhood years. James Wood's novel brings a new comic voice to British fiction - edgy, lyrical, intellectual and passionate. The Book Against God explores questions of belief and unbelief, truth and lies, the relation of father and son, and husband and wife, in a tone that is at once poignant and funny. Above all, it introduces readers to the irrepressible presence of its narrator, Thomas Bunting, liar, doubter, and the strangest philosopher in contemporary fiction.

See all Product Description

6 Reviews 5 star:  (3) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Frustratingly Satisfying, 16 Jul 2003 By  "rmswann" - See all my reviews The emerging high priest of the the new "old" school of literary criticism has put his reputation on the line with a novel of his own. And his reputation is intact. Wood tells the story of Tom Bunting, a shambolic, feckless, disorganised wannabe philosopher/writer/academic - something. A man so used to lying, that his inner musings about his own lying are quite possibly self delusional in themselves. The reader is rendered helpless to accept anything he says as any kind of truth. Except that he is in very real turmoil about his Father, and the moral and spiritual legacy of his upbringing at the hands of such a clearly "good" man. This turmoil, which is at the heart of Bunting's moral paralysis in the face of completing his PhD, squaring up to the responsibilities of his (now failed) marriage to Jane and his constant musings about religion, provide Bunting with a beating human heart. There is also a touch of "Lucky Jim" in Bunting's wry observations, his haplessness and charm inspite himself. Wood mixes a set of writing techniques that are a neatly controlled blend of the old and new - the post-modernism of the oh so unreliable narrator, and the closely observed portraiture of Eliot (Silas Marner springs to mind) or even Jane Austen. Wood is an excellent crafsman and has produced a satisfying, thoughtful and thought provoking work of fiction - even if you want to shake Bunting by the shoulders from time to time and tell him to "move on for God's sake" - but he doesn't believe in God, of course...or does he? Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Book about God and modern relationships, 26 May 2005 By  "gavinrob2001" - See all my reviews This review is from: The Book Against God (Paperback) 'The Book Against God' is a particularly satisfying read on two levels: first, in considering arguments both for and against the existence of God, and secondly as a funny, perceptive and intelligent analysis of the relationships of a contemporary man with his wife and ageing parents. The narrator, Thomas Bunting, is a philosophy lecturer (of sorts) who manages to be endearing despite a number of character flaws including compulsive lying and suspect personal hygiene! Thomas is experiencing writer's block on the PhD thesis that he is supposed to be labouring on - but has no such problem writing secretly on his pet project, his BAG - Book Against God. (This novel is an absolute must for anybody who has ever dreaded asking or responding to the question 'How is the thesis going?') 'The Book Against God' is extremely well written with totally convincing characterisation and dialogue. A number of the central characters have a strong interest in philosophical and theological issues that Woods consequently weaves seamlessly into the narrative. The main plotline charts the souring in relations between Thomas and his pianist wife, Jane Sheridan. As an added bonus, characters such as Jane and musical know-it-all Roger Trelawnay facilitate interesting discussions regarding the nexus between music and spirituality/god. The secondary plotline concerns Thomas's relations with his loving parents Peter and Sarah, and particularly Thomas's inability to profess outright atheism to his parish priest father despite the latter's willingness to question accepted church teaching. All in all, 'The Book Against God' is highly recommended as an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and entertaining, 21 Mar 2005 By  Ralph Blumenau (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    This review is from: The Book Against God (Paperback) The relationship between an atheistic and rather seedy son and (principally) his attractive clergyman father. Superb, inventively and wittily phrased descriptions of a large cast of characters and of places; intelligent conversations about belief and non-belief; a moving coda (not quite at the end of the book). Because the chronology is all mixed up, it really needs to be read twice. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 6 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Do characters in novels exist? I felt I had to read this novel having read Wood's The Broken Estate, which I found thrilling and frustrating by turns. (Are Iris Murdoch's novels like this one? Read more Published 16 months ago by Jonathan Wooding 5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and entertaining An atheistic and rather seedy son and his relationship with (principally) his attractive clergyman father. Read more Published on 11 Mar 2005 by Ralph Blumenau 4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but still disappointing James Wood is a brilliant literary critic who has long shied away from writing a novel. But like every critic he secretly nurtured novelistic ambitions, and here, at last, they're... Read more Published on 27 Feb 2005 by The Fisher Price King Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 6 customer reviews...

New York State of Mind: Great Books set in the Big Apple: A list by A. Robinson   Books for NAW Reading into Writing Module: A list by N. Monaghan "Niki M"   Close Reading: A list by Hugh Selwyn Mauberley Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Fiction > By Period

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.