Reviews

• The Old Testament Through Joseph Heller's Eyes

  Joseph Heller was one of two writers who ALWAYS made me laugh out loud (Mark Twain was the other one). This is a very funny look at the Old Testament, as told by King David. Only Heller could turn the wise King Solomon into Shlomo, the idiot. As David tells it, the famous story where Solomon suggested cutting the baby in half to find out who it's real mother was had been twisted around. According to David, Shlomo was an idiot and actually wanted to cut the baby in half! Some fundamentalist people will be offended by this book, but if God has a sense of humor I'm sure He got a kick out of this book. This was one of Heller's best books. If you've ever read anything by him and laughed, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

• Excellent livre, arrivé à temps et en très bon état ; 🙏

  D’un humour incroyable ! Bravo !

• God Knows why I took so long to read this...

  Having read Catch 22 back in my teens, I don't know why it took so long for me to read another Heller. Eventually, it took the insistence of my wife, who claims this as one of her all-time favourites. It's a unique take on the life and death of King David, who is reflecting on his loves, children and legendary deeds as he finally faces into his final days as an old man - being Heller, it's full of very unique, and frequently hilarious moments, but ultimately it's extremely touching, and something about it touched a nerve or two with me in a way that I would have missed if I read this as a younger man. Funny, insightful and emotionally stirring - it might not be the most common place to start with Heller, but you could do worse. Highly recommended.

• Beautiful, funny and touching

  I have fallen in love with a book once in a while, but never so rapturously as with this one. As a Christian who has read and though about King David, his story and character for a long time in the last couple of months, this story entinced me from the start. Though it's written from a secular Jewish perspective and the David in the novel does several things the biblical one would never do, like not talk to God for decades for example, I still recognized the person and character I came to know from the Bible. It's funny and exasperating and also very raunchy with a lot of coarse language (reader discretion advised). But it is also very heartfelt, touching and beautiful. The last few paragraphs of the last regular chapter had me almost in tears. It certainly helps to read through 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2 in order to register all the references. Otherwise, it's quite a straight retelling of David's life, not as meandering as some others have made it out to be, though it does jump around in the timeline and gets a bit repetitive by the end.

• funny

  It was funny and fast reading.

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