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The Autobiography of God
Rebecca Nachman is a Rabbi without a synagogue. Having resigned from her dwindling congregation, she now works as a college counselor at a small Vermont college advising students about private matters and offering the "Jewish perspective" on issues raised at faculty dinner parties.
Deeply lonely and on the edge of losing her faith, she comes into possession of a Torah, the last relic of Czechowa, a village of Polish Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. With the Torah, the unquiet spirits of the village dead begin to visit Rebecca. On one visit they leave a manuscript written in Hebrew and titled My Life, an autobiography by God who, like any eager author, is seeking a sympathetic reader. No one has ever finished reading the manuscript, including Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Maimonides, and Augustine. God thinks Rebecca will.
Rebecca's life is further complicated when one of her advisees-a troubled young woman who seemed on the verge of confessing something-is found murdered. As the college struggles to comprehend the tragedy and a police investigation is launched, Rebecca begins reading, and so comes to confront the central challenge to her faith in His most troubling and unlikely incarnation.
Julius Lester's first adult novel in more than a decade, The Autobiography of God marks the return of an utterly original and provocative voice in American letters, addressing religion with wicked humor and profound reverence.
Deeply lonely and on the edge of losing her faith, she comes into possession of a Torah, the last relic of Czechowa, a village of Polish Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. With the Torah, the unquiet spirits of the village dead begin to visit Rebecca. On one visit they leave a manuscript written in Hebrew and titled My Life, an autobiography by God who, like any eager author, is seeking a sympathetic reader. No one has ever finished reading the manuscript, including Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Maimonides, and Augustine. God thinks Rebecca will.
Rebecca's life is further complicated when one of her advisees-a troubled young woman who seemed on the verge of confessing something-is found murdered. As the college struggles to comprehend the tragedy and a police investigation is launched, Rebecca begins reading, and so comes to confront the central challenge to her faith in His most troubling and unlikely incarnation.
Julius Lester's first adult novel in more than a decade, The Autobiography of God marks the return of an utterly original and provocative voice in American letters, addressing religion with wicked humor and profound reverence.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Julius Lester
107 books182 followersJulius Lester was an American writer of books for children and adults. He was an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was also a photographer, as well as a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 16, 2008
In Introduction to Jewish Philosophy with Rabbi Neil Gillman at JTS, I was taught that God can be any two of these three things: omniscient, omnipotent, and/or omnibenevolent. Provocatively, Julius Lester goes with the first two. His God is NOT all-good. The story juxtaposes an orthodox-raised-women-come-Reform-rabbi's unconventional life with that of God's emotional development (for lack of a better term.) I found this book fascinating.
June 3, 2011
I found this book to be very unpleasant. I didn't relate to the main character and found her voice whiny and full of self pity. It put me in a state of constant irritation.
November 12, 2011
Seeing all the five star reviews makes me nervous. Did I miss something huge in this book? I will probably never know, because I am never, ever going to suffer through all 245 pages ever again.
This story is BAD. It starts off slow and it ends slow. There is no real action until about page 200. I kind of felt this book was totally misleading. The synopsis on the back says it's about a Rabbi who is visited by the ghosts of a village decimated in the Holocaust. This is not true. It's about a Rabbi who
There. I just saved you 245 pages of agonizing reading. Seriously. Don't waste your time on this one. It's awful. Mr. Lester, I am sure you are a nice person and you know your stuff, but I hope I never have to read anything written by you again. Yuck.
This story is BAD. It starts off slow and it ends slow. There is no real action until about page 200. I kind of felt this book was totally misleading. The synopsis on the back says it's about a Rabbi who is visited by the ghosts of a village decimated in the Holocaust. This is not true. It's about a Rabbi who
There. I just saved you 245 pages of agonizing reading. Seriously. Don't waste your time on this one. It's awful. Mr. Lester, I am sure you are a nice person and you know your stuff, but I hope I never have to read anything written by you again. Yuck.
September 16, 2008
Rebecca is going through some thangs. I can relate having fled some thangs and ended up--like Rebecca-in Vermont. This book is both incredibly humorous (in the way I enjoy) and dark (in the way I enjoy). Lester is working through his Jewish identity here via Rebecca and I love reading his thoughts about God and pretty much everything else. I think the prose is outstanding. (and I don't know that I've said that about a book recently. I'm guessing I haven't.)
Julius Lester is who Ishmael Reed thinks he is. Unfortunately Mr. Reed seems to lack the chops for these kinds of explorations!
Julius Lester is who Ishmael Reed thinks he is. Unfortunately Mr. Reed seems to lack the chops for these kinds of explorations!
October 18, 2009
eh, definitely not my cup of tea. I'm not a spiritual seeker and in any case God as Hitler to explain the nature of evil in the world doesn't do it for me . . .
December 16, 2013
This book disturbed me.
It has some philosophically interesting and, granted, insightful moments. On nearly every page is at least one sentence worth contemplating. I have no doubt of Lester's intelligence, particularly where the Jewish faith is concerned. The very last scene of the book (which I only managed to get to with the help of my very stubborn open-mindedness) is touching. I even kind of liked the way the ghosts come about, and I can handle the direct communication with God (I loved "The Shack" for instance). Having studied Judaism and the Holocaust in great detail (I attended synagogue every weekend for a prolonged period of time and I have written books on the Holocaust), I can also confidently say that the Jewish religion, and even, in the main character Rebecca, the strength of the observant Jew are both accurately portrayed. However, I think the book was more about the so-called "redemption" of an internally cynical and angry ex-rabbi than it was anything else.
Those are its good points.
I have three complaints, one of which is minor, the other two the source of great concern.
First, much of the book, particularly in the first few chapters, are written in very long sentences, which makes it difficult to follow and read. This can, however, be overlooked (it may even be deliberate on Lester's part since this grammatical error seems to correct itself in teh middle and end of the book).
What can *not* be overlooked is
(1) God is presented as having an evil side. He smokes and He appears in the form of a truly evil man. God's "auto-biography" also directly contradicts Genesis, a text that appears in both the Torah and the Bible. He doesn't acknowledge that, in giving people free will, God also gave Satan the power to influence the actions of people: instead, God seems to alternate between BEING Satan and being God. This angered me. The evil things that happen in the world are attributed to God, not Satan.
(2) Rebecca is praised and seen as being more human, more understanding, than most preachers and/or rabbis because of her belief that God is not all good. This comforts and wins her the admiration of people who are hurting. However, at the same time, the preachers and rabbis who believe in an all-good God who only seeks the good of His children (despite the evil-ness that may be a part of it) are seen as patronizing. I understand what Lester was trying to say: that being angry at God is okay. This is a truth that should be spoken; I am okay with this basic concept. However, he takes a truth and contorts it. Being angry is one thing, implying that no or only superficial comfort can be gained from seeing God as an all-merciful, all-knowing, all-GOOD God is unfair, untruthful and needlessly cruel. The same preachers, and their messages of "God's will", have indeed comforted millions. Anger should not be repressed, scripture teaches us to question God becomes it brings us closer to Him and being angry is ok; denying the truth of the entire scriptures, that God is good and that he loves us and would never seek to intentionally cause us pain, is NOT.
In short, the book has some measure of value (thus, it receives a star; I struggled to give it that). However, its value can be found in other, more scriptural-based material.
It has some philosophically interesting and, granted, insightful moments. On nearly every page is at least one sentence worth contemplating. I have no doubt of Lester's intelligence, particularly where the Jewish faith is concerned. The very last scene of the book (which I only managed to get to with the help of my very stubborn open-mindedness) is touching. I even kind of liked the way the ghosts come about, and I can handle the direct communication with God (I loved "The Shack" for instance). Having studied Judaism and the Holocaust in great detail (I attended synagogue every weekend for a prolonged period of time and I have written books on the Holocaust), I can also confidently say that the Jewish religion, and even, in the main character Rebecca, the strength of the observant Jew are both accurately portrayed. However, I think the book was more about the so-called "redemption" of an internally cynical and angry ex-rabbi than it was anything else.
Those are its good points.
I have three complaints, one of which is minor, the other two the source of great concern.
First, much of the book, particularly in the first few chapters, are written in very long sentences, which makes it difficult to follow and read. This can, however, be overlooked (it may even be deliberate on Lester's part since this grammatical error seems to correct itself in teh middle and end of the book).
What can *not* be overlooked is
(1) God is presented as having an evil side. He smokes and He appears in the form of a truly evil man. God's "auto-biography" also directly contradicts Genesis, a text that appears in both the Torah and the Bible. He doesn't acknowledge that, in giving people free will, God also gave Satan the power to influence the actions of people: instead, God seems to alternate between BEING Satan and being God. This angered me. The evil things that happen in the world are attributed to God, not Satan.
(2) Rebecca is praised and seen as being more human, more understanding, than most preachers and/or rabbis because of her belief that God is not all good. This comforts and wins her the admiration of people who are hurting. However, at the same time, the preachers and rabbis who believe in an all-good God who only seeks the good of His children (despite the evil-ness that may be a part of it) are seen as patronizing. I understand what Lester was trying to say: that being angry at God is okay. This is a truth that should be spoken; I am okay with this basic concept. However, he takes a truth and contorts it. Being angry is one thing, implying that no or only superficial comfort can be gained from seeing God as an all-merciful, all-knowing, all-GOOD God is unfair, untruthful and needlessly cruel. The same preachers, and their messages of "God's will", have indeed comforted millions. Anger should not be repressed, scripture teaches us to question God becomes it brings us closer to Him and being angry is ok; denying the truth of the entire scriptures, that God is good and that he loves us and would never seek to intentionally cause us pain, is NOT.
In short, the book has some measure of value (thus, it receives a star; I struggled to give it that). However, its value can be found in other, more scriptural-based material.
July 17, 2012
This was fabulous on so many levels! A rabbi not quite cut out for congregational life works as a therapist at a small college in Vermont. Personally, she has quite a few issues with God which are wonderfully compelling. The campus ends up having to deal with several deaths -- a major point in the plot, of course. It is all handled so well... almost chilling the extent to which I was brought back to all too many situations I have encountered on campus.
I did almost laugh out loud at one point. Don't want to give anything away, but let's just say the author doesn't really have a grasp on the rather limited salary most working in chaplaincy positions make. A girl can dream, I suppose!
I will say this book is probably not for everyone... several shocking choices along the way were a bit startling. Some might be offended. I don't know -- I am not easily offended, and just choose to roll with it. That said, this would be a WONDERFUL book to read with a group of religious life colleagues.
I did almost laugh out loud at one point. Don't want to give anything away, but let's just say the author doesn't really have a grasp on the rather limited salary most working in chaplaincy positions make. A girl can dream, I suppose!
I will say this book is probably not for everyone... several shocking choices along the way were a bit startling. Some might be offended. I don't know -- I am not easily offended, and just choose to roll with it. That said, this would be a WONDERFUL book to read with a group of religious life colleagues.
August 17, 2009
Interesting book and quick read. Rabbi who is daughter of Holocaust survivors trying to reconcile belief in God with the existence of evil in the world...difficult subject presented originally. I was bothered by the plotline of campus romance gone bad.....just a little too dumb and trite for what else was in the story.
Read
February 12, 2011I use the "100 rule" for when you're allowed to give up on a book. Getting to page 76 of this one was a real struggle. Rebecca is an intolerable protagonist, endlessly self-pitying, cynical, and morose. The prose is bloated. Sentences go on for centuries.
I really like Julius Lester, and the plot sounded interesting, but I'm taking a pass on the rest of this one. Life is too short.
I really like Julius Lester, and the plot sounded interesting, but I'm taking a pass on the rest of this one. Life is too short.
December 24, 2018
This is the strangest book I have read this year. I knew Julius Lester from his children's books, but this is a whole other thing. Theological exploration, murder mystery, magical realism, and more.
March 25, 2024
One of those books i have to read again
July 4, 2017
Theology is best communicated through story. Julius Lester tells the story of a rabbi who lost her synagogue and takes a job as counselor at a Vermont University. She gains possession of a scroll of a group of Jews from a small town in Poland all killed during the Holocaust. In and thru the school she has an enounter with a soul of the dead from the Polish town and eventually an encounter with God, who does turn out to be at all as she (or any religious person) would think. In the midst of this spiritual experience, a young student is murdered and an investigation ensued. Through it all the rabbi and the reader are dealing with the question of God, good and evil and God's role in it all. There are some great lines which punctuate the story. One such statement is the following: "God's story of His infinity was comprised of everyone's autobiography. God's well-being is dependent on the stores we create with our lives..."
One will have the read the story to understand that statement, but it is well worth the time. The story moves quickly and is engaging; and more than that extremely thought-provoking.
One will have the read the story to understand that statement, but it is well worth the time. The story moves quickly and is engaging; and more than that extremely thought-provoking.
February 7, 2021
This was a difficult book to rate. I found the protagonist difficult to relate to and not very likable; the emphasis on her apparel extreme to the point of distraction. From both a theological and an ethical standpoint, the book offers up many interesting ideas on which to ruminate. In the end I gave it four stars, not because I liked the character but because there is enough here on the nature of God and good and evil to want to pick the book up again in the future.
January 11, 2021
Two stars because I like Rebecca, but there is no other redeemable quality in the text. The authors sexism and ableism is clear and 100 pages in, there is no clear direction for the plot. I started reading because of an interest in the murder mystery aspect but I have yet to get that far. The story would be better if it focused on Rebecca, her students, and her religion.
December 24, 2019
I have not read a book quite like this before. I was pulled into it pretty quickly. I will say that Lester made some choices that are quite disturbing and puzzling, but it is a book to make one think about the nature of good and evil.
April 1, 2021
This is the most powerful book I've read this year. It handles deeply religious issues with an honesty and imaginative elan that spoke powerfully to me. His God reminds me of John Caputo's, but also Elie Wiesel's. Beautifully rendered characters. Wonderfully plotted--engaging to the end.
January 8, 2011
So deep and so dense. This book, with its profound questioning and occasional flights of fancy, is an intensely Jewish novel. That may seem obvious, seeing as it is about a rabbi, but it has so many Jewish characteristics. Firstly, it questions the status quo. Secondly, characters have more than one opinion. The Rosh Yeshiva is proud he trained a woman rabbi, but he doesn't believe in women rabbis. Thirdly, all the characters, including God, are spiritually flawed. The characters who hate and hurt others have redeeming qualities.
There is an appreciation for making every day experiences beautiful, not just through Rebecca's actions, but on a meta level, through Lester's prose. At the same time, Lester warns people not to be seduced by the beautiful. One can enjoy food, but Patric's relationship to quail at the expense is unhealthy. One can enjoy a woman's beauty, but one is not to objectify her with lust, as characters did to Allison and Rebbecca.
Jewish characters feel renewed by finding Jews in unexpected places(the scene with William Fein and Chai mountain is so sweet), and the main character is humbled by the realization that she needs to appreciate the gentiles around her. Her reaction to hearing Devora talk about Allison is heartbreaking. I did, however, find the description of Allison odd. I do not think I have ever met a woman who, against her will, drove all the men around her mad with desire. I live, however, in a community of very gentle men, who do not understand the type of obsession that drives the plot in this book.
One of the ideas that resonated with me is how important wounds are. Rebecca tells Evan to let his wound be his teacher. We see how Rebecca allowed her wound to teach her; she never limps on the inside, which protects her from Allison's fate. Her wound still teaches her throughout the novel, thirty years after it was inflicted. She learns that she needs to share her wound, and not use it to keep people out. I loved the brief story of how Brian Moon's wound helped him help so many others. Lester's vision of the best of humanity is of the walking wounded, who manage to face their hurt every day without self pity and use it to empathize with those around them.
The one way I found the book not so Jewish is its emphasis on mourning and death. Jews are forbidden to mourn excessively. One of our principles is "Choose Life." If someone dies at a wedding, you hide the body so the bride and groom will not be disturbed, and you ignore the death until after the wedding. Rebbecca, like so many children of Holocaust survivors, cannot choose life.
The book both rejects and accepts the idea of a Judeo-Christian tradition. When I was reading the reviews on Goodreads, I noticed that some people thought that the story devolved when Allison's plot was introduced. That is not a Jewish attitude. Rebbecca knew all about holiness, but in spite of her success as a therapist, she did not really know how to relate to people. She didn't understand that small talk is important. She didn't know how to hear Allison's cry for help. In the end, she is tried and tested. She needs to understand how important her fellow man is, and once she is confronted with God's humanity, she passes. It is a very Jewish idea to say that one person is equal to all of creation. Rebbecca had distanced herself from humanity and needed to understand that truth.
I loved Lester's vision of God as someone both wonderful and terrible. Rebecca's, and our, painful job is to learn to love God while condemning evil. We face the hard task of forgiving and comforting and holding ourselves to a higher standard. I am not sure I understand the book's last paragraph, but I found it beautiful.
There is an appreciation for making every day experiences beautiful, not just through Rebecca's actions, but on a meta level, through Lester's prose. At the same time, Lester warns people not to be seduced by the beautiful. One can enjoy food, but Patric's relationship to quail at the expense is unhealthy. One can enjoy a woman's beauty, but one is not to objectify her with lust, as characters did to Allison and Rebbecca.
Jewish characters feel renewed by finding Jews in unexpected places(the scene with William Fein and Chai mountain is so sweet), and the main character is humbled by the realization that she needs to appreciate the gentiles around her. Her reaction to hearing Devora talk about Allison is heartbreaking. I did, however, find the description of Allison odd. I do not think I have ever met a woman who, against her will, drove all the men around her mad with desire. I live, however, in a community of very gentle men, who do not understand the type of obsession that drives the plot in this book.
One of the ideas that resonated with me is how important wounds are. Rebecca tells Evan to let his wound be his teacher. We see how Rebecca allowed her wound to teach her; she never limps on the inside, which protects her from Allison's fate. Her wound still teaches her throughout the novel, thirty years after it was inflicted. She learns that she needs to share her wound, and not use it to keep people out. I loved the brief story of how Brian Moon's wound helped him help so many others. Lester's vision of the best of humanity is of the walking wounded, who manage to face their hurt every day without self pity and use it to empathize with those around them.
The one way I found the book not so Jewish is its emphasis on mourning and death. Jews are forbidden to mourn excessively. One of our principles is "Choose Life." If someone dies at a wedding, you hide the body so the bride and groom will not be disturbed, and you ignore the death until after the wedding. Rebbecca, like so many children of Holocaust survivors, cannot choose life.
The book both rejects and accepts the idea of a Judeo-Christian tradition. When I was reading the reviews on Goodreads, I noticed that some people thought that the story devolved when Allison's plot was introduced. That is not a Jewish attitude. Rebbecca knew all about holiness, but in spite of her success as a therapist, she did not really know how to relate to people. She didn't understand that small talk is important. She didn't know how to hear Allison's cry for help. In the end, she is tried and tested. She needs to understand how important her fellow man is, and once she is confronted with God's humanity, she passes. It is a very Jewish idea to say that one person is equal to all of creation. Rebbecca had distanced herself from humanity and needed to understand that truth.
I loved Lester's vision of God as someone both wonderful and terrible. Rebecca's, and our, painful job is to learn to love God while condemning evil. We face the hard task of forgiving and comforting and holding ourselves to a higher standard. I am not sure I understand the book's last paragraph, but I found it beautiful.
January 17, 2018
The Autobiography of God (Hardcover)
by Julius Lester
by Julius Lester
September 19, 2013
I think I need to start reading some normal books soon. Lately, they have all been weird and this is one of the weirdest. The book claims to be about a rabbi who finds the autobiography of God one day. While this does happen, it doesn't happen until p. 137/342. Most of the story follows Rebecca, the Rabbi, around her life. I found her a bit unlikeable, but I don't hate her. She's very devout, which I can respect, but she has a bit of an air of judgment and disdain for others about her. Spending her days completely alone in her creepy house, she drives off what few friends she has. Instead, she finds companionship among the ghosts that follow her and then one of them brings the autobiography.
God's life as told by him is very brief and strange. Lester offers up a more distant and weak God than I expected. God didn't so much create the world and everything in it, he sort of just watched it appear and got curious about it. The biography touches on major events - burning bush, Jesus, etc. and explains them from God's perspective in a manner that I'm not sure if it's meant to be philosophical or humourous. Then, Lester, drops his bombshell of a reveal that takes the book from potentially deep into RIDICULOUS. Or at least I found it ridiculous.
I suppose the main plot is Rebecca finding her synagogue, but the push for that comes less from the manuscript and more from the other subplot of the story. Woven throughout this strange narrative is an easy to solve murder mystery centering on the death of a student at the University where Rebecca works as an indifferent counselor.
The book is a bit strange, but I did like it overall. I can't help but notice that I read one book about a child of a holocaust survivor accidentally summoning Satan and now one about a child of a holocaust survivor who gets visited by God within a few weeks of each other without even trying.
The next book I'm going to review? Alien Abductions. Then I'll read something normal, I swear. Maybe something about shopping.
Chicks dig books about shopping, right?
God's life as told by him is very brief and strange. Lester offers up a more distant and weak God than I expected. God didn't so much create the world and everything in it, he sort of just watched it appear and got curious about it. The biography touches on major events - burning bush, Jesus, etc. and explains them from God's perspective in a manner that I'm not sure if it's meant to be philosophical or humourous. Then, Lester, drops his bombshell of a reveal that takes the book from potentially deep into RIDICULOUS. Or at least I found it ridiculous.
I suppose the main plot is Rebecca finding her synagogue, but the push for that comes less from the manuscript and more from the other subplot of the story. Woven throughout this strange narrative is an easy to solve murder mystery centering on the death of a student at the University where Rebecca works as an indifferent counselor.
The book is a bit strange, but I did like it overall. I can't help but notice that I read one book about a child of a holocaust survivor accidentally summoning Satan and now one about a child of a holocaust survivor who gets visited by God within a few weeks of each other without even trying.
The next book I'm going to review? Alien Abductions. Then I'll read something normal, I swear. Maybe something about shopping.
Chicks dig books about shopping, right?
January 7, 2014
I loved this book. If you try reading it to learn what the Christian religion teaches about God, you probably won't like it. If you're looking for a spine-tingling, suspenseful mystery, this isn't it, either. What Prof. Lester does do is to tell a story about someone coming to term with her own shortcomings, and to tackle the question of how an all-powerful God can allow the existence of evil.
Even though I managed to figure out right away Who Done It, that wasn't really the point of why Lester wrote the book. He weaves a number of important themes together, making the story compelling and thought-provoking but funny in all the right places, and the writing was superb: creative, entertaining, and perfectly suited to the characters and situations. I fell in love in the first chapter, where I could close my eyes and see the Vermont townspeople and neighbors from Lester's crafting of them. From there on, it only got better. In the Allison episode, I loved the way he subtly reveals Rebecca's professional style. He is a master of the "show; don't tell" technique, and he uses language creatively to get inside his character's heads, so skillfully that the reader forgets someone actually wrote this book. I'm trying to avoid spoilers here. If I had to find something to quibble about, I suppose I was surprised at how long it took people to figure out Who Done It, because I'm not much of a mystery reader, and I haven't managed to solve one since I read The Da Vinci Code. I'm usually the last one to know, but again, this isn't detective fiction, so that's all right. Also, I will assume that the editor probably insisted Lester refer to Moses ben Maimon by the standard Maimonides instead of the acronym Rambam, which, while it's not parallel to Rashi, is no great sin.
Immediately before reading this, I had just finished a novel by another, more popular but less gifted writer, and Lester's beautiful writing provided much needed refreshment.
Even though I managed to figure out right away Who Done It, that wasn't really the point of why Lester wrote the book. He weaves a number of important themes together, making the story compelling and thought-provoking but funny in all the right places, and the writing was superb: creative, entertaining, and perfectly suited to the characters and situations. I fell in love in the first chapter, where I could close my eyes and see the Vermont townspeople and neighbors from Lester's crafting of them. From there on, it only got better. In the Allison episode, I loved the way he subtly reveals Rebecca's professional style. He is a master of the "show; don't tell" technique, and he uses language creatively to get inside his character's heads, so skillfully that the reader forgets someone actually wrote this book. I'm trying to avoid spoilers here. If I had to find something to quibble about, I suppose I was surprised at how long it took people to figure out Who Done It, because I'm not much of a mystery reader, and I haven't managed to solve one since I read The Da Vinci Code. I'm usually the last one to know, but again, this isn't detective fiction, so that's all right. Also, I will assume that the editor probably insisted Lester refer to Moses ben Maimon by the standard Maimonides instead of the acronym Rambam, which, while it's not parallel to Rashi, is no great sin.
Immediately before reading this, I had just finished a novel by another, more popular but less gifted writer, and Lester's beautiful writing provided much needed refreshment.
November 11, 2013
The title just grabbed me, and it's kind of a mystery as well, plus the author is pretty well-known in children's literature. He's not who you would picture to write the story of a 38-year-old former rabbi counseling college kids at a private New England school. From what I can tell, he got the Jewish sensibility down pretty well.
Rebecca is very strong in her sense of Jewish tradition, almost to the point of being trapped by it. Her faith? Well, that's a harder question to answer. Her parents are survivors of Auschwitz, and so was nearly everyone in her neighborhood growing up. The shadow of the camps covers her like a shawl.
So when she receives a Torah rescued from the Nazis after WWII which belonged to a village in Poland that was exterminated, she is uniquely prepared to handle the early morning Kaddish that is chanted in her dining room nightly. She's even amenable to the voice of a woman from Czechowa telling her the story behind the scroll. Amenable, that is, until a mysterious box appears next to the scroll which her new 'friend' tells her is God's autobiography.
It's not what she expects. It's not what anyone has expected: God has tried giving it to people as far apart as Martin Luther and Mohammed. No one wants to read it; none of the others have even finished it. Most burned or drowned it.
Rebecca reads it, and then God appears in her loft.
Meanwhile, one of the students she has counseled is murdered...
There's a lot in here. Most of it cohered all right, but there were some bumps. I'd recommend it, though, to anyone who ponders how Good and Evil interact.
Rebecca is very strong in her sense of Jewish tradition, almost to the point of being trapped by it. Her faith? Well, that's a harder question to answer. Her parents are survivors of Auschwitz, and so was nearly everyone in her neighborhood growing up. The shadow of the camps covers her like a shawl.
So when she receives a Torah rescued from the Nazis after WWII which belonged to a village in Poland that was exterminated, she is uniquely prepared to handle the early morning Kaddish that is chanted in her dining room nightly. She's even amenable to the voice of a woman from Czechowa telling her the story behind the scroll. Amenable, that is, until a mysterious box appears next to the scroll which her new 'friend' tells her is God's autobiography.
It's not what she expects. It's not what anyone has expected: God has tried giving it to people as far apart as Martin Luther and Mohammed. No one wants to read it; none of the others have even finished it. Most burned or drowned it.
Rebecca reads it, and then God appears in her loft.
Meanwhile, one of the students she has counseled is murdered...
There's a lot in here. Most of it cohered all right, but there were some bumps. I'd recommend it, though, to anyone who ponders how Good and Evil interact.
January 12, 2014
I can't remember where I heard of this book but it's been on my to-read list for a long time. I am so glad I finally read it. Not only is it a captivating story - so much complexity and richness in a relatively short book - but there are so many kernels of wisdom and poetry. The author has magic.
The only other thing I've read by him is the children's book, Let's Talk About Race, which Ian and I enjoyed very much. I will definitely be reading some of his other adult works.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"He seldom answered her questions and he did not this one. In Judaism the object of learning was not to build a better mousetrap but to ask a better question. The questions you asked indicated just how closely you were attending to Him."
"Tears had flowed over her soul like creek water over stones until her soul was polished smooth, its graininess sparkling with the hardness of the summer sun. Only truth could withstand such anger."
"But what happened to a memory when those to whom it belonged were no longer alive to receive it? That did not matter if you were a Jew. Jews took as their own memories they did not remember."
"She never understood why some of the women she'd gone to rabbinical school with had insisted that G-d was female. If G-d were female the clitoris would have been in the palms of women's hands, both of them…"
The only other thing I've read by him is the children's book, Let's Talk About Race, which Ian and I enjoyed very much. I will definitely be reading some of his other adult works.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"He seldom answered her questions and he did not this one. In Judaism the object of learning was not to build a better mousetrap but to ask a better question. The questions you asked indicated just how closely you were attending to Him."
"Tears had flowed over her soul like creek water over stones until her soul was polished smooth, its graininess sparkling with the hardness of the summer sun. Only truth could withstand such anger."
"But what happened to a memory when those to whom it belonged were no longer alive to receive it? That did not matter if you were a Jew. Jews took as their own memories they did not remember."
"She never understood why some of the women she'd gone to rabbinical school with had insisted that G-d was female. If G-d were female the clitoris would have been in the palms of women's hands, both of them…"
September 18, 2010
Sometimes a book written as fiction plunges bravely to the heart and depth of the hardest and most complicated philosophical and theological issues. This slender volume explores the themes of faith and evil through the story of a young woman rabbi who is struggling with loneliness and a crisis of faith. When she comes into possession of a special Torah, her life is changed radically, and she must face the truth, about herself and about God.
The quietly mystical search that Rebecca experiences in the first part of the book appealed to me, and I identified with her struggle with the difficult questions of life. I spent a lot of time looking up terms and exploring meanings as I read. I also made notes of some beautiful and thoughtful quotations to ponder further.
The later chapters were very different, almost shocking and certainly thought-provoking. Unexpected twists in the plot and stunning new characters are only part of the sudden change, which serves to underscore the meanings in the first part of the book and take the reader into strange new territory. The final chapter isn't a complete resolution, but it is satisfying and I won't soon forget this story.
Julius Lester has a blog called A Commonplace Book.
The quietly mystical search that Rebecca experiences in the first part of the book appealed to me, and I identified with her struggle with the difficult questions of life. I spent a lot of time looking up terms and exploring meanings as I read. I also made notes of some beautiful and thoughtful quotations to ponder further.
The later chapters were very different, almost shocking and certainly thought-provoking. Unexpected twists in the plot and stunning new characters are only part of the sudden change, which serves to underscore the meanings in the first part of the book and take the reader into strange new territory. The final chapter isn't a complete resolution, but it is satisfying and I won't soon forget this story.
Julius Lester has a blog called A Commonplace Book.
March 25, 2009
I started reading this book on Sunday night. I completed it today in a 190-page reading frenzy. It is rare that I connect with a books on a spiritual level, and this one rivaled great writers such as C.S. Lewis -- perhaps not in prose or style, but certainly in overall theme, and human connectivity. Although I know little about Judaism, I believe that the quest for connection is universal among religions, and therefore, this book can be appreciated by anyone interested in understanding spirituality.
This book is not as much about "a higher power" per se, as it is about humans trying to understand that higher power, and finding their spiritual "niche" in the world, as well as their purpose for themselves and toward others. I cannot recommend this book more highly. I found that I cared much less about the plot of the story, and craved the spiritual insights nested in the protagonist's thought process.
This book is not as much about "a higher power" per se, as it is about humans trying to understand that higher power, and finding their spiritual "niche" in the world, as well as their purpose for themselves and toward others. I cannot recommend this book more highly. I found that I cared much less about the plot of the story, and craved the spiritual insights nested in the protagonist's thought process.
August 5, 2009
Another peculiar book. The title is rather misleading; it's nothing like The Life of God, As Told by Himself, by Franco Ferucci, which I read several years ago & enjoyed. Rather, this is the story of a failed female rabbi who becomes a therapist for a small college in an isolated community in Vermont, where she helps others (and herself) come to terms with the evil in their midst. She is helped at one point, briefly, by her discovery of a very short autobiography God has written to share specifically with her. But that's not very well developed, like much else in the book. There are flashes of wit & insight, but the theodicy & spirituality mostly strike me as superficial, the bits of something like magical realism (or perhaps better, spiritual realism) seem out of place, & as a whole it was too preachy for my taste.
December 28, 2013
What would God say if He could write his own story? Julius Lester envisioned such an idea and put it to words in this novel. What I found most interesting about this novel is that the main character is a physically challenged female Rabbi, yet the author is an able-bodied African American man! It was hard for me to believe that the author was not Jewish, not a woman and not caucasian because he got into her mind so well. Nevertheless, I was disappointed with Mr. Lester's imaginings of what God would say, would be and would communicate through the written word. The spirituality of the book was fulfilling, but it became more didactic at points than I would care to read. I gave this 3 stars because I couldn't give it 3 1/2.
July 21, 2016
This might in fact be the worst book that I have ever read. Let me preface what I'm about to say by stating that I consider myself to be agnostic; my belief in God is only in the abstract. I am not religious.
The main character in this book is utterly unlikable. She is a whiny, overly sensitive, insufferable, judgmental woman with few, if any, redeeming qualities. She is a professional victim and her attitude wears thin quickly.
That being said, it also appears that the author had some sort of ax to grind with God. Again, I’m not religious, but even I was taken aback by some of it. The author's anger issues aside, the book didn't seem to be particularly well written. Don't waste your time.
The main character in this book is utterly unlikable. She is a whiny, overly sensitive, insufferable, judgmental woman with few, if any, redeeming qualities. She is a professional victim and her attitude wears thin quickly.
That being said, it also appears that the author had some sort of ax to grind with God. Again, I’m not religious, but even I was taken aback by some of it. The author's anger issues aside, the book didn't seem to be particularly well written. Don't waste your time.
May 17, 2013
I gave this three stars because it pulled out the stops in the last quarter, but this is a very confused novel. It doesn't know if it wants to be an educational text about Judaism, a murder mystery, or some kind of weird redemption story. In the right hands it might have been all three, but Lester just can't find a seamless joint to meld them. On top of this, I found his writing pretty lifeless and his protagonist without soul, mostly because he's trying so hard to make her nothing BUT a raw nerve of a soul. I was ready to abandon this at the 100 page mark when the author finally stopped with the exposition and did something interesting.
March 26, 2010
This is a most unusual book. It was hard to get into but once I did it was totally absorbing. The heroine is a therapist ex-Orthodox Jewish Rabbi who is visited by spirits as well as by God who leaves his autobiography. Very different, and in many ways refreshing view of God which incorporates the evil side. Riah - I'd love to talk to you about this book sometime. Cynthia - it's worth pursuing it.
April 24, 2015
I'm uncomfortable when authors but words in the mouth of God. And these words are blasphemous. Nonetheless, they raise excellent food for thought and start good discussions.
My book club and I found the "mystery" in this novel a bit strained and contrived (or predictable). But the "mystery" was not the point of the story - or the book - and this novel was very well-written and beautiful. I enjoyed reading it very much and was left wanting more. A very worthwhile and enjoyable read
My book club and I found the "mystery" in this novel a bit strained and contrived (or predictable). But the "mystery" was not the point of the story - or the book - and this novel was very well-written and beautiful. I enjoyed reading it very much and was left wanting more. A very worthwhile and enjoyable read
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