Thorough research animates an important part of pre-biblical history.
Jaksa’s work of historical fiction imagines Jesus Christ’s early life.
Before Jesus Christ became the Jesus of the Bible, he lived the life of a shepherd, not unlike other boys and young men in Nazareth. That’s the core of Jaksa’s often compelling work of historical fiction, which looks at the early years of Yeshua (the name for Jesus that the author uses), from 8 to his early 30s. The narrator is David of Nazareth, a shepherd who takes 8-year-old Yeshua, son of Mary and Yosef, under his wing, forming a lifelong bond with him. Portends abound, including when 8-year-old Yeshua heals David’s young sister of a stomach ailment. “Most remarkable of all, Yeshua had a way of showing uncommon kindness toward everyone he met,” David says. In addition to being exceptionally gentle, Yeshua is portrayed as a happy boy and young man, wise beyond his years, interested in learning, and a faithful follower of his religion. We’re told of the death of Yosef when Yeshua is just 16, holiday pilgrimages the family makes to Jerusalem, and Yeshua’s burgeoning career as a healer and preacher. Along the way, we’re introduced to some people who figure prominently in the Bible, including Lazarus, Pontius Pilate, John the Baptizer, and the men who would eventually become Jesus’ core disciples. The prose is straightforward and clear, and Jaksa uses a variety of sources to bring Yeshua’s story to life, including the writings of Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. It’s a side of Yeshua not often seen in texts, with some moments foreshadowing well-known biblical events (for instance, 13-year-old Yeshua yearns to see King Herod, who a couple of decades later will figure prominently in his death). But that death isn’t depicted here. The book ends as Yeshua’s ministry is gaining steam, ripe for the two sequels the author promises in his historical notes. This is a readable look at Yeshua for both religious readers and others who simply want to learn more about one of the most well-known historical figures of all time.
Thorough research animates an important part of pre-biblical history.Pub Date: July 18, 2024
ISBN: 9798990192058
Page Count: 249
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A frank and open-minded account from Flemish journalist Joris of her venture into Zaire, formerly called the Congo, the infamous inspiration for Conrad's Heart of Darkness. As a child, Joris heard the tales told by her uncle, a Belgian missionary serving in the Congo. His visits were family milestones and the curios and gifts he sent back to Belgium became treasured heirlooms. But Joris the adult journalist wanted not only to follow in her uncle's footsteps but to see for herself what contemporary Zaire was like. A subtext here is a retrospective look at Belgian colonialism, notorious for its tragic failure to prepare the Congolese for independence, which, when it occurred, resulted in immediate chaos that led to the subsequent rise of Mobutu Sese Seko (president since 1965) and the ``Barons,'' who have brazenly used the country's great mineral wealth to enrich themselves. Joris first visits her uncle's old mission postings, where she meets his now-aging colleagues and learns that the Church is still one of the few ways out of poverty for bright young men, though many local churches and schools are closed down for lack of money. This poverty is a common theme of Congolese life, Joris learns, as she balances encounters with white expatriates with an excursion on the aging steamer that plies the Congo River from Kinshasa to Kisangani; a visit to Gbadolite, Mobutu's own Versailles; a trip to the southern mining province of Shaba, which in 1977 rebelled against Mobutu; and, on the lighter side but no less instructive, evenings in Maton, the famous entertainment district of Kinshasa. A deliberately impressionistic rather than definitive account, with Joris's perceptive insights and palpable sympathies for a long-suffering people making it more than just another travel book.
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1992
ISBN: 0-689-12164-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
The rigors of Irish monasticism in the medieval period, well told by travel writer Moorhouse (On the Other Side, 1991; Hell's Foundations, 1992; etc.). The first half of the book is an imaginative reconstruction of life in an Irish monastery on the secluded rock-island of Skellig Michael from its founding in 588 to its dissolution in 1222. Moorhouse uses fictional vignettes to enliven the text. Each chapter is a well-chosen window onto a significant figure or event in the monastery's history—an 824 attack by Viking raiders, for example. In these fictional glimpses, we see the larger picture of Irish monasticism's evolution from a rigorously austere island faith to a less zealous, Romanized religion. Skellig Michael, perilously located on a sheer cliff rising from the ocean, began as one of the most ascetic of the Irish monasteries. Gradually, however, the population of monks began to dwindle, and the last fictionalized chapter shows the abbot and his aging disciples rowing their way back to the security of the mainland. The first half of the book is so intriguing and beautifully written that the second, a more traditional historical treatment of Irish monasticism, arranged topically, pales by comparison. Some of the discussions are absorbing, though; in one instance, Moorhouse explores the theme of syncretism, arguing that early Irish Catholicism, rather than eradicating pagan Celtic rituals, incorporated them into monastic life. This eclectic borrowing was able to continue for centuries because of Ireland's geographical remoteness from the centralizing forces of Rome. Due to accommodation with a Celtic spring ritual, Easter was dated differently than in Rome, a discrepancy that continued until Rome demanded conformity in the early 8th century. An uneven work, then, more fascinating in its first, fictionalized half than in the rigorous explications of the second, and one that might have worked better presented purely as a novel. (illustrations, not seen)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-15-100277-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1997
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