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Philip Pullman – The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ | Review

Title: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Author: Philip Pullman

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 252

Rating 4.5/5

Finally, a retelling that I can get on board with! I’ve never been a fan of retellings as a general rule because I don’t really see the point. Sure, sometimes they can be disruptive, but as a general rule they seem to be used to crowbar inclusivity into fiction, and it seems to me that the best way to be truly inclusive is to create original stories featuring minorities, rather than just rehashing the same story but changing the gender, sexuality or ethnicity of the main character. But perhaps that’s just me.

Here, though, Pullman basically uses a retelling to investigate our attitudes towards religion and ultimately poses some uncomfortable questions for those who follow the Christian faith. Luckily, I’m an atheist, and so I pretty much just read this in the same way that I’d read the bible: as a work of fiction. Except that this has much better story telling.

But I do think you could still enjoy this if you were religious, too. In fact, Pullman’s spin on biblical tales is kind of refreshing, taking a subject matter that I’m not particularly fond of and bringing it to life. I also liked how he managed to make both Jesus and Christ feel like two very different characters, and I know which one I prefer. Read it.

Click here to buy The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

Chuck Palahniuk – Choke | Review

Title: Choke

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 296

Rating: 9/10

Chuck Palahniuk – Choke

When you read a Chuck Palahniuk book, you know what you’re getting yourself into – something awesome, with an alternative twist. Here, we follow the exploits of a guy called Victor Mancini as he wheedles out a living, largely through working at a historical re-enactment theme park or by pretending to choke in restaurants. Palahniuk’s take on this latter profession is interesting – in some ways, Mancini sees himself as performing a vital public service, bringing meaning to people’s lives by allowing them to ‘save’ him. Of course, getting regular cheques through the mail from his saviours, who are looking to continue to save themselves, also helps.

There are plenty of fun little plot devices here, including the idea that Mancini might be the second coming of Christ, after being cloned from Christ’s fossilised foreskin. Like I said, in many ways this is similar to a lot of Palahniuk’s other work – it’s weird, and I like that. And this is just the core of the story line – there are plenty of other weird things going on to keep you entertained, and it’s definitely the sort of book that will keep you turning the pages.

For me, the difficult thing to decide here is whether I’d recommend this over other Palahniuk books – so far, I probably would. I’d say it has an edge over Fight Club and isn’t quite as good as Rant, but the good thing about reading Palahniuk’s work is that it doesn’t really matter which book that you read, because they’re all good and they all make you think. In the end, everyone is different, but if nothing else, this book has the potential to change your life. Go!