Wednesday, March 22, 2006

"Revelations 2, just when you thought it was safe to sin."

This line is spoken by an angel in Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. I've been sitting here reading it at work (I've only managed to read three pages) and I want to laugh out loud in the library. I hope it follows through with its promise of hilarity to the very end, although I'm guessing not, since Biff, in his love for his friend, Jesus, has made it his mission to prevent Christ's crucifixion. How can this be funny? It's surprising how some writers can take topics that have no humor in them and make them funny. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett do this in Good Omens -- a Revelations-themed novel, where there's a mixup with the anti-Christ.

I'm also reading, thanks to babelbabe, Stones from the River and Voices from Chernobyl. Stones from the River is excellent, three chapters in. Voices from Chernobyl is almost impossible to read -- it's so gut-wrenching.

6 comments:

lazy cow said...

I loved Good Omens, so I guess I'll have to read Christopher Moore! Just borrowed Neil Gaiman's American Gods from the library and am itching to start it.

Kathy said...

I loved American Gods but it's really different from Good Omens -- different sense of humor. His latest -- Anansi Boys -- is good as well.

Dixie said...

Lamb and Stones from the River are two of my all time favorite books.

Lamb made me laugh out loud at times but it also was spiritually uplifting for me because it reminded me of the humanity of Christ. Sometimes I think Christians forget that Christ was human and when you get down to it, the whole point of Christ is that he was human. I also loved the friendship between Jesus and Biff. Truly devoted friends.

Kathy said...

Dix: That's what I'm enjoying about Lamb too -- the humanity of Christ and the friendship between Biff and Jesus. I remember seeing The Last Temptation of Christ (and people being all upset because there was a scene showing Jesus having a loving married life) and thinking -- well, Jesus is human too -- the perfect thing to tempt him with is that idea of a human life.

BabelBabe said...

Yeah, Voices physically HURT to read. But wow. Glad you are liking Stones.

Re: Green and Black's - they make a caramel/milk chco bar, that I personally find a little on the sweet side.

I haven't been to the post office yet, so your CD is still sitting on my desk. Soon, I swear!

Kathy said...

bb: I promise you that if I could the cd a month from now, I still wouldn't think badly of you. You should see how long it takes me to mail people things -- 4 months it took to mail some cds to a friend and I had them all ready, I just get forgetting them on my way out the door.