Okay, so I've tried
GoodReads (for about one day - don't be offended if I never reply to you on it, I really don't use it) and then I tried having a book shelf on my blog. But I noticed the books I really liked never made it on there because I finished them too quickly for them to be included. Meanwhile books I hadn't taken the time to finish were on there for a long time. So, then I made a shelf and put books I've enjoyed and would recommend. I thought that once in a while I would explain why I enjoyed it. So, I thought I'd start with the Anne Rice book on my list.
As most people know, Anne Rice wrote some of the original popular vampire books (think Interview of the Vampire with Tom Cruise). These were much more historically based than the recent Stephanie Meyer conundrum (which I will not comment on here). I've actually never read them, not really my ball of wax. Still, while I was living in Vegas I would often frequent the book table at the nearby Smith's. Odd, I know, but they had a good book buyer and they always had interesting books. That's where I picked up Annie Rice's "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt."
The general idea of the books (there are more, since the first is only concerning Christ's early life) is to present a fiction-type setting for the Christ story. She talks about her research methods in the back so you can choose what to accept and what to dismiss, and generally comes from a Catholic point of view.... so if you take that as it is (why you'd walk in a river to have a cup poured over your head is beyond me) the historical-type novels can be quite illuminating. Mostly they help me think about concepts relating to Christ in a 'real' way of what his life was like, which gives me a different point of view. I read the first book and enjoyed it, and recently got the second book on CD from the library.
Anyhow, my favorite part really was the appendix on the first book which talks about Anne Rice's conversion story.
Raised Catholic, Anne Rice left religion behind at 18 and became an atheist. Throughout her mature years she wrote many well-researched novels that took place in accurate historical periods. Being correct down to the
verbage regarding Opera in Venice was of
upmost importance to her, even if the information showed up in only one chapter. Soon she began to research the story of the Christ, using the same research methods she'd used in her other novels. She says she sought the ultimate mystery, "the survival of the Jews." In her afterward she speaks much of her many sources and of the difficulties in researching a subject where even the primary sources are up for debate. According to her, she read everything (speaking of which, I e-mailed her and recommended "Jesus the Christ" by
Talmage.. she responded quickly and said she was interested in the Mormon thought regarding the Savior and appreciated the suggestion).
She says the following of her research: "I read and I read and I read. Sometimes I thought I was walking through the
vally of the shadow of Death, as I read. But I went on, ready to risk everything. I had to know who Jesus was - that is, if anyone knew, I had to know what that person knew."
Part of her conclusion is as follows:
"In sum, the whole case for the
nondivine Jesus who stumbled into Jerusalem and somehow got crucified by nobody and had nothing to do with the founding of Christianity and would be horrified by it if he knew about it - that whole picture which had floated in the liberal circles I frequented as an atheist for thirty years - that case was not made. Not only was it not made, I discovered in this field some of the worst and most biased scholarship I'd ever read."
She says later:
"Christianity achieved what it did, according to N.T. Wright, because Jesus rose from the dead. It was the fact of the resurrection that sent the apostles out into the world with the force necessary to create Christianity. Nothing else would have done it but that."
Justin and I have enjoyed listening to her second book and have found teaching moments that make us think about our own relationship with our Heavenly Father. (Not that everything is how I think it would have been - please don't take my review as a spiritual endorsement) It is certainly an interesting book to read. But, even if it's not a book you're interested in... I would recommend her appendix. The story of her life and the cycle that has taken her back to the Savior is truly remarkable.
