Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In the New Testament, the miracle at the wedding at Cana-where Jesus turned water into wine-marks the commencement of his tumultuous three-year ministry. In Rice's beautifully observed novel, a sequel to 2005's Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, however, the wedding miracle is in fact the culmination of an intimate family saga of love, sorrow and misunderstanding. As the novel opens, Yeshua (Jesus) struggles with a sense of restlessness of purpose and a deep love for a comely kinswoman. Waves of isolation sweep over him as he comes to understand that serving the Lord's will takes precedence over the desires of his own heart. Whereas the first novel in this series hewed so closely to Scripture and to the author's meticulous research as to be somewhat arid as fiction, this book, imagining the "lost" young adulthood of Jesus, offers wise and haunting speculation where the Bible is silent. And the final chapters, which pick up the story with the New Testament's accounts of Jesus' baptism, temptation and early miracles, manage to be soulfully insightful even while faithfully tracking the Gospels. Rice undertakes a delicate balance: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds. (Mar.)
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Review

“A masterful book written by an extraordinary writer at the height of her powers. It deserves to be read for that reason alone. But it also deserves to be read to better understand the most dynamic and important person in human history—Christ the Lord.”
—David Kuo, All Things Considered

“Convincing and compelling. Another winner.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“[A] beautifully observed novel . . . Rice undertakes a delicate balance here: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Anne Rice knows how to make that old story come alive for her readers.”
—Susan Larson, The Times-Picayune

“A powerful account of Christ’s humanity while staying true to orthodox Christianity. Her well-drawn, believable supporting characters add to a vivid captivating story . . . a novel that both religious and secular audiences can appreciate and enjoy; highly recommended for all fiction collections.”
—Library Journal (starred)

“Rice, whose books have sold more than 75 million copies, couples her writing talents with the zeal of a recent convert and a passion for historical research in Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, an intriguing followup to Out of Egypt . . . Remarkable for Rice’s prose and rich sensory detail.”
—Cindy Crosby, Christianity Today

“[The Road to Cana] succeeds in treating Yeshua’s humanity as an essential part of his divinity . . . And Ms. Rice can deliver hypnotic, incantatory prose that celebrates Yeshua’s ascension. . . . Many readers will be lured by the promise of simply rendered holiness to The Road to Cana.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; Book Club edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400043522
• ISBN-13: 978-1400043521
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Soul-Stirring Reminder, March 28, 2008

By	Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

When Anne Rice first announced her intentions to tell the story of Christ the Lord, she was met with a barrage of questions, criticism, and support. Her storytelling to date had given only subtle hints of her desire to stir the soul toward things of God, and in fact some blamed her for quite the opposite. With great skepticism, readers on both sides of spiritual lines awaited the release of "Out of Egypt." I found the book to be intriguing, elegantly understated, yet a bit dry.

"The Road to Cana" takes a big chronological leap forward, and the storytelling seems to reflect the maturation of her subject. Yeshua bar Joseph (Jesus of Nazareth) is now a man on the brink of embracing his identity and his purpose. He's God in the flesh, as he himself knows, but he also struggles with the human desires for companionship, family, and acceptance. His relatives and the local villagers sometimes call him Yeshua, the Sinless.

From the opening pages of this book, there are layers of meaning and beauty. Rice's story meets every expectation in this, her second christological novel, and I was swept up in the drama of village life, relational conflicts, and restrained divinity. Rice, through Yeshua's eyes, lets us in for peeks at the heart of God, as it relates to the human struggle. This culminates in Yeshua's face-off with Satan in the wilderness, during forty days of fasting--a masterpiece of textured prose--and in the following incident with Mary of Magdala. From there, Rice shifts her story from conflict into beauty, as Yeshua verbalizes his purpose to his new followers and his family.

I am not moved often to tears by books, but "The Road to Cana" touched me in deep ways, reminding me again of the honesty and integrity of Christ the Lord. This is soul-stirring fiction that brushes up with the truth and power of the Gospel. This is more than I could've imagined coming from the pen of Anne Rice. It's a book to be read, enjoyed, experienced--and to be brought to life in the hearts of readers everywhere.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE JOURNEY CONTINUES. BRILLIANTLY!, March 4, 2008

By	Gary Swafford "gary swafford" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not only did I love this book and think it may be Anne Rice's best work to date, I also feel that it can be appreciated by both believers and non-believers alike.
Following upon the first, superb volume in her Christ the Lord series, Rice continues her first person account of the life of Jesus (Yeshua) in this spectacular and moving volume two: The Road to Cana.
The tale picks up with Yeshua at thirty years old, livng and working on the eve of his ministry, struggling to come to terms with both his human and divine identities. Certain of who he is from page one ("I'm Christ the Lord"), he wrestles with others and himself over his own expectations of himself.
His family and friends are eager for him to marry and are exasperated at his reticence to do so, as is the beautiful, passionate Avigail, who's deeply in love with him. The tensions also mount as he anxiously awaits for the moment to reveal his identity and commence his ministry.
Rice's stirring rendering follows Yeshua as he struggles to balance both the human and the divine within him. The reader is drawn close to him by Rice's powerful, meditative, transcendant depiction. We follow along as he fights against the ignorance and cruelty that leads to the stoning of two youths suspected of homosexuality. We share his anguish when scandal falls upon the innocent, desperate Avigail. We marvel at the stirring sequences with John the Baptist. Especially dramatic is Yeshua's encounter with Satan in the desert, as spellbing as any passage with the vampires and witches of Rice's earlier work.
One of the most moving closing chapters in literature history, one which always moves me to tears, shows Yeshua at the wedding of Avigail, as he shepards her toward a union with another man, forever giving up any possibility of a life with her, of a "normal" life, as he performs his first miracle and gathers his disciples about him and prepares to go out into the world and finally begin his ministry.
Throughout the entire novel Rice seamlessly weaves the delicate balance of humanity and divinity in her portrait of Yeshua. This depiction is born from both deep personal faith and from a wealth of research and just as with Out of Egypt, the result is highly inspirational to believers and, at the very least, a great, thoughtful read even for non-believers.
This is a huge achievement for Anne Rice and leaves one waiting anxiously for the next installment just as for years we eagerly awaited each upcoming journey of Lestat. Thank you, Anne, and God bless you.

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A road worth taking, March 9, 2008

By	J. D. Walters "koshte" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On the invocation page of this fine novel Anne Rice includes a quote from Karl Rahner which is very important for interpreting her project: "The truth of the faith can be preserved only by doing a theology of Jesus Christ, and by redoing it over and over again." This is indeed what Anne Rice is doing in this series of books: doing a theology of Jesus in narrative form. A very specific conception of Christian belief takes shape in these pages: one in which evil derives mostly from misunderstandings, impatience and limitations of perspective (the stoning of the two young boys suspected of homosexuality is bound to be controversial), Time is a gift which makes life worth living and the power of God is most evident in the simple pleasures of life, in a "vast, vital world of blowing wheat and shining sun" (p.198) Whatever one makes of its orthodoxy, it is a powerful, heartfelt, deeply thoughtful vision that should be taken seriously by theologically minded people.

As a novel it is fairly well-written and as fascinating as the first book in its depiction of the historical and social reality of the 1st Century. Jesus' longing for Avigail is poignant, although Rice treads delicately here, as many Christians would probably be offended if they saw Jesus portrayed as having actual lustful thoughts. There is more than a hint of apocryphal material here, as in Jesus' comment to his brother that "Heaven and earth were made for you, James. You'll come to understand", which is from the Gospel of Thomas. Interestingly, the book is at its best when speculating about Jesus's life where the Gospels are silent. When we actually come to the Gospel events of baptism, temptation and miracle, the narration becomes strangely flat and literal, without the nuanced character-building and development which characterized the earlier parts of the book. On the other hand, a number of familiar stories from the Gospels are interconnected in interesting ways, and the overall effect is a very readable life of Jesus.

Anne Rice keeps going from strength to strength. She has shown considerable courage and determination in researching the world of Jesus to the best of her ability, and the result is a narrative theology of Jesus the likes of which we have seldom seen. It is to be treasured, both devotionally and as a work of literature.