Old Favorite: Lamb « Books Worth Reading

Old Favorite: Lamb

September 3, 2009 at 1:33 pm | In Books, Reviews | 4 Comments
Tags: Absurdist, Christopher Moore, Comedy, Jesus

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Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore (2002)

My recent review of Blue Coyote, also by Christopher Moore, generated some interest, so I thought I’d post a review of probably my favorite book by Moore. Lamb is a retelling of the Christ story, but with a twist: The story covers those 30 years between when Jesus (or Joshua) is born and when he begins his ministry, which are conveniently left out of the New Testament. This “gospel” is narrated by Levi, who is called Biff and has been Joshua’s best friend since they were little boys.

Biff is brought back to life in the present day by an angel specifically so he can tell his side of the story and flesh out the existing gospels, and the brief sections describing his time stuck in a hotel room with the rather moronic angel are some of the funniest parts of the book. Indeed, Biff comes off as a much more interesting character than Joshua, with his inventions and theories that pre-date by hundreds of years their modern equivalents, and his tendency to hit back rather than turn the other cheek.

As boys, the two set out on a quest to find the three wise men who attended Joshua’s birth. The first wise man is an African practicing Confucianism in a fortress carved out of a mountainside in Afghanistan, and the boys spend their teenage years with him and his harem of Chinese attendants. (So began the tradition of eating Chinese food on Jesus’ birthday.) Then they journey to Nepal to spend several more years learning about Buddhism in an austere monastery with the second wise man.

By the time they get to India to live on a beach with the third wise man, a Hindu ascetic, we have explored four major world religions (including Judaism) and witnessed the birth of a fifth, Christianity. But it is about here when the story starts to feel rushed, and the book loses its momentum somewhat when Joshua returns to Israel to begin his ministry (you know what happens after that). Despite these issues, Lamb is a thoroughly entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking read, a new twist on a very old tale.

Old Favorite: Coyote Blue (readmorebooks.wordpress.com)

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I loved this book when I read it, even though I couldn’t get into other Christopher Moore books.

Comment by mkowalewski — September 4, 2009 #
While I’m not sure I’d want to read this book, I do like the “origin” of eating Chinese food on Jesus’ birthday. That made me chuckle a good couple of minutes…

Comment by Biblibio — September 8, 2009 #
i didnt know if id like it either, but it is one of the best books i have EVER read…even for a work of fiction it was extremely thought provoking, id recommend it to anyone, regardless of beliefs

Comment by t-rell — September 29, 2009 #
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