Just finished "The Gospel According To the Son" by Norman Mailer - it fits perfectly with my curiosity about the man behind the myth and I have already stumbled upon several interesting interpretations - however, this is by far the most original point of view, because Mailer actually talks trough Jesus as main protagonist. The writing style is excellent - very, very slim, basic and occasionally close to Haiku poetry. Almost anybody can write long-winded and elaborated, Mailer went to completely different direction and cleaned up his writing style until we are left with only very basic, Bible-like sentences that actually sound rich, true and believable. Well informed about the times of his story, Mailer occasionally drops fascinating info here and there, making the whole novel even more brilliant. It is a short book but very very powerful and the writing style is breath taking. Amazing how true artist can breath life into something so well known as New Testament. (Mailer is also surprisingly respectful towards ancient tradition and does not stray too far from originals, only giving them his own spin and point of view.) It is one of those short books that I enjoyed very slowly.
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