by John Neeleman
BOOK DESCRIPTION
A fictional account of the birth of Christianity.First-time author Neeleman has pulled off a staggeringly impressive feat: a rigorously researched historical novel that carries its scholarliness lightly and grips the reader with personal drama. Jacob was raised to be an intellectual, reading both Greek and Latin, as well as Hebrew and Aramaic, but also to love his native Jerusalem. He chafes under the oppressive, sometimes-capricious rule of the Roman Empire, however, despite the security such tyranny brings to the Jewish people. Still, he clings to his family, reluctant to endanger them and the quiet life he enjoys. After a ferocious massacre leaves his parents and sister murdered, Jacob's desire for revolution and the autonomy of Jerusalem grows, plunging him into a war for liberty. Neeleman depicts the ensuing drama with a powerful prose that evokes the spirit of the time without devolving into historically archaic vernacular: "Beyond the gates were ranks of torch carrying soldiers marching two abreast, man after man in gleaming helmet; they formed a bristling, seething, shining, gigantic serpent. He heard the tramp of a hundred thousand armor-clad feet and the serpent's awful roaring, joyful in its bloody work: victorious, violent, unbridled." Despite its theological content, the story brims with sensual imagery. Overcoming his original antipathy to Christianity, Jacob eventually becomes the unnamed author of the original Gospel, bearing witness to the extraordinary transformation wrought by Jesus. Sometimes, the Job-like suffering of Jacob can be challenging to weather, and the tale could have been enlivened by a few more lighthearted moments, but this book remains a stirring account of a historically significant time and a deep comment on the nature of Scripture itself.
Especially for those interested in theological history, an extraordinary amalgam of fiction and fact.
REVIEWS
5 StarsA Great Perspective and Thoughtful Read 24 Jun. 2015
By Natural_bri
Format:Paperback
Perspective, Choice and Change
Deep, I know. However, I knew that this would be a deeper and more thought provoking review the moment I picked up Logos. Initially I was turned away by the thought that it was a religious text. Then I read the blurb and saw that it is a new look into the writing of the religious texts, not about the actual religion at all.
Deep, I know. However, I knew that this would be a deeper and more thought provoking review the moment I picked up Logos. Initially I was turned away by the thought that it was a religious text. Then I read the blurb and saw that it is a new look into the writing of the religious texts, not about the actual religion at all.
Then, I connected with the book, well beyond what I thought I would. The author writes the story, overall, from a very different perspective than it is seen in the local churches. Here, we see the lives of those who take part in and wrote the words so many people base their lives on. This change in perspective connected with me, as recently I found that I have a chronic (lifelong) illness. At first, I tried to live my life exactly as I had before. It was hard and I soon became downtrodden. However, one day it hit me. I didn’t need to live my life as I used to. I needed a new perspective, a new look at myself. Once I started looking at the illness as an opportunity to start fresh, to rediscover myself, I found that I was beyond happy and able to move forward.
In this way, I connected with the author’s words. They are a fresh, new perspective on an old text. I have never been religious, myself, but my family are, so I grew up with the bible’s words handed to me. As I grew and realised I wasn’t a believer, I soon started to wonder where the words and text came from. Who could write something so profound and believable that millions would read and follow? Logos looks at that perspective and it is written in such a way that I found the book engrossing and completely addicting. I ate page after page, wanting to know the lives of the people involved in such a text.
Throughout the book, two subjects are approached – choice and change – frequently those who live and influence the words that are written in the text are given choices, ones that have a more profound effect on life and change than they could ever imagine.
Throughout Logos, I was stopping to consider my own thoughts and even extended to considering what I would do if I were in the place of one of the characters. I found this book extremely thought provoking, filled with depth and so beautifully written that I could not put it down. It is a fantastic read and one I highly recommend to anyone who wants a new perspective on such a regarded religious text.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Superb Debut Novel on the Birth of Christianity 14 April 2015
By John Kwok
Format:Kindle Edition
Debut novelist John Neeleman's "Logos" should be viewed as one of the most notable works of fiction published this year - and one of this year's notable debut novels - and one that should have been published by a major New York City publishing house. This is a compelling, quite fascinating, account of the life of Jacob Ben Aaron, whom Neeleman establishes as the author of the unknown "proto-Gospel" that apparently inspired several of the Gospels found in the New Testament. While Jacob is entirely fictional, the novel introduces us to such key historical figures as Roman general Tiberius Julius Alexander, a Romanized Jew who was the deputy commander the Roman legion which lay siege to Jerusalem in AD 70, the enigmatic historian Flavius Josephus, and Roman emperor TItus. It is through Jacob's eyes that we see a most spellbinding account of Jewish religious and political strife in the streets of Jerusalem leading up to and during the first Roman-Jewish war (AD 66 to AD 73), and the gradual rise of Christianity, seen initially as a heretical Essene sect. Neeleman has done for 1st Century AD Palestine and Rome, what Hilary Mantel has done in covering the life and times of King Henry VIII in her novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bringing up the Bodies", demonstrating his own fine gifts for historical research, storytelling and prose. For those seeking a credible, historical fictional account of the birth of Christianity, then "Logos" should rank high on their lists.
Debut novelist John Neeleman's "Logos" should be viewed as one of the most notable works of fiction published this year - and one of this year's notable debut novels - and one that should have been published by a major New York City publishing house. This is a compelling, quite fascinating, account of the life of Jacob Ben Aaron, whom Neeleman establishes as the author of the unknown "proto-Gospel" that apparently inspired several of the Gospels found in the New Testament. While Jacob is entirely fictional, the novel introduces us to such key historical figures as Roman general Tiberius Julius Alexander, a Romanized Jew who was the deputy commander the Roman legion which lay siege to Jerusalem in AD 70, the enigmatic historian Flavius Josephus, and Roman emperor TItus. It is through Jacob's eyes that we see a most spellbinding account of Jewish religious and political strife in the streets of Jerusalem leading up to and during the first Roman-Jewish war (AD 66 to AD 73), and the gradual rise of Christianity, seen initially as a heretical Essene sect. Neeleman has done for 1st Century AD Palestine and Rome, what Hilary Mantel has done in covering the life and times of King Henry VIII in her novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bringing up the Bodies", demonstrating his own fine gifts for historical research, storytelling and prose. For those seeking a credible, historical fictional account of the birth of Christianity, then "Logos" should rank high on their lists.
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