I just finished Anne Rice’s book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel
Q1. Isn’t that “Interview with the Vampire” Anne Rice?
Q2. Isn’t that book like 3 years old? Why doesn’t Dave read something trendy and hip, like “The Shack” ?
And my answers to those…
A1. Yes !
A2. Yeah, so what, I am a little behind in my reading… :^)
I have to say, I was impressed by the book. I had heard some rumors about Anne Rice now being a Christian, and thought the book would be an interesting “historical fiction” look at the life of the boy Jesus. So I picked the book up at the local library, and again, I was impressed by the amount of research that had to go into it. Anne Rice effectively tied in stories found in the Bible and other early writings, with an interesting back story. The book is written from the boy Jesus’ point of view, so we get to see his reactions, his impressions, and his influences in early life. Of course, much of it is fiction, but it was still intriguing to see Jewish customs and lifestyle played out in the life of the family from Nazareth.
Even more interesting was the Author’s Note at the end of the book. Anne Rice takes time to explain her life journey and her own influences and impetus to write the book. Basically, she was raised Catholic but drifted away from the church during college. She then married a “passionate atheist” and delved into her writing. According to Rice, her first book, Interview with the Vampire, “reflected my guilt and my misery in being cut off from God and from salvation; my being lost in a world without light.”
Throughout her writing career, she was intrigued by the first century and the “phenomenon” of Christianity. And then, as she began serious study of the man Jesus and Christianity, she found something amazing–that the field of “liberal”, anti-Jesus research and writing, was “some of the worst and most biased scholarship I’d ever read.” That’s something I’d already known, but it’s nice to see someone who was coming from the entertainment/literary field to admit that…
To close, I thought this book was a fascinating read and an intriguing look at the early life of Jesus Christ. It fills in the gaps nicely, and shows a different side of the “Son of Man” that Christ-followers tend to overlook when thinking about the life of Christ. It also teaches the reader about Jewish culture, traditions, and the history of the period. I know the second book in the series is already out, but if you haven’t checked out this book yet, I definitely think it’s worth it.