Review Summaries

• Readers praise the spare style and the novel’s deep engagement with the problem of faith. It is valued for resisting easy conclusions and for leaving a long, unsettling afterglow.

Reviews

• A Good Historical Fiction

  Barabbas was a notorious criminal of some sort introduced by the gospel of Mark - possibly a fictional character. The other three canonical gospels and the gospel of Peter followed Mark's lead and also told the Barabbas story. According to a Roman or Jewish custom, depending on which gospel you read, the governor might allow the crowd to decide to release one of the condemned during the Passover celebration. This custom is mentioned only in these gospels - not in any other historical source of the time. "Barabbas" is a fictional story that takes up the life of Barabbas after the crucifixion of Jesus, well-done and intense, though sparse. The Lagerkvist story of Barabbas (Amazon's stated author is translator from Lagerkvist's scandinavian language) was used as the basis for a 1961 movie called "Barabbas" starring Anthony Quinn. Barabbas becomes obsessed with Jesus as soon as he is pardoned. He attends the crucifixion and watches Jesus's death and burial. He observes the darkening and relightening of the sky, thinking it is due to eye problems related to his recent incarceration. He shows up on the third morning before dawn to see Jesus resurrected but the stone has already been moved and Jesus is not there. Barabbas thinks Jesus's friends have already moved him and that Jesus is still dead. Another at the tomb sees an angel perform some sort of resurrection function but Barabbas does not see it, although later he says he did. Barabbas wants to believe throughout the book but cannot. Even at the end his position is not entirely clear. One of the downsides of this book, for me, was the inability of the Barabbas character to ever communicate much with anyone. Since it's fictional anyway, the character of Barabbas could have been just as tragic and still managed to talk a little. It would have been a convenient stage for anything the author wished to say. Even with the fellow slave he was chained to for over 20 years and grew to care for through enforced proximity, Barabbas rarely ever talked. This book hints at the culture of the times and provides a little (if fictional) light on the organization of early Christianity in Jerusalem with Peter. Paganism is touched on as is the burning of Rome that Nero blamed on the Christians. It is a fascinating story that can be read in two hours or so. I like speculative stories of this sort. If nothing else, they reveal the superstition and primitiveness of the era and allow the author to present a point of view.

• Haunting

  A powerful retelling of a Biblical story by a master story-teller.

• A must read

  This was bought as a present. It is in perfect condition and the print is easy to read. I have read it myself and would recommend it highly.

• All

  It was fantastic

• Compelling

  I saw the film several times since I was a teenager and always wanted to the book. While there are some significant changes from the book, the film did capture Barabbas' spiritual struggle almost as well as the book. Peter captures it best at the end of the book when he points out to the other prisoners that we all share the burden of being fallible. Who better to defend Barabbas than the disciple who denied Christ. I think Lagerkvist did an excellent job imagining life for Barabbas after the crucifixion and his struggle dealing with his guilt and inability to find faith. The novel illustrates the fragility of faith and its tenuous nature. Barabbas is like most people who struggle constantly with faith and belief because the very act of faith asks for belief without tangible proof and goes against the nature of man to accept without proof. Yet that faith is the foundation of Christianity. It also illustrates wrongful acts often committed in Christ's name but are contrary to His basic teachings. One of the other themes is Jesus as Messiah. His teachings of loving each other, turning the other cheek, and forgiveness still evades us today. Imagine how hard it was to accept for people expecting a great military leader who would bring God's wrath against His enemies. "Blessed are those who believe and have not seen," could have been applicable to Barabbas as well. It is a fairly short book and is a good read with challenging themes. It would be an excellent choice for a book club.

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