Customer Reviews

The Last Day: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In a set-up not unlike "Jacob's Ladder", the author takes us on a heart-warming walk along the beaches of Greenland, New Hampshire with newly departed Warren Pease and his earthy Jesus escort. Suspend any preconceptions you may have formed and follow along as a soldier tells his story and says his good-byes to dear friends and family. While healing the wounds of childhood loss and the reality of war, Jesus leads his young follower on a journey of love and redemption that will make you laugh with joy and weep with sadness. I'm not quite sure how the author has pulled this one off, but he has. I could not put this book down. And, while I knew the end would be final, the journey between morning and mourning was one that I just had to make a second time. Kudos to James Landis. This is a wonderful read.

The Last Day is one of -- if not THE -- most moving and yet disturbing books I have ever read. It is full of wildly gyrating paradoxes: of simplicity and suspense, of virtue and vice, of profound religious sentiment and almost pornographic violence. It is sensitive and savage, a loving and lyrical composite of heaven and hell. (I would give it ten stars were that option available.)

Without giving away the ingenious plot, it is very cleverly constructed, depicting a young soldier (Warren) who returns from Iraq to get reacquainted with his family and friends back in New Hampshire. On this difficult path he is assisted by Jesus, who appears to him as a hip middle aged man named Ray. The book depicts the efforts of Warren to reconstruct his former life, along with flashbacks to his childhood and school days before he enlisted in the Army. Along with this are fairly gruesome depictions of battle in Iraq. Not familiar with the intricacies of military life and terminology, I can only assume that the author knows what he is talking about. He certainly throws around all the weird military acronyms with authority, and he seems to know what battle scenes in Iraq are really like. Through the eyes of Warren we witness tender scenes of country life in New Hampshire interspersed with the shockingly vivid savagery of modern desert warfare.

(One of the Amazon reviewers comments that the lack of swear words makes this story less than believable. Every swear word is written like this: h___ for hell, s____ for sh-t, etc. That reviewer woefully lacks imagination or perhaps simply is too ignorant to figure out the obvious allusions to the words of soldiers in war. The more perceptive reader will find no lack of gruesome detail to make this portrayal painfully realistic.)

The author, James Landis, knows how to turn a clever phrase. He makes many strange and interesting puns and uses other linguistic techniques that remind one of the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch, in which the God persona also makes some very clever word plays. And, also like the Walsch books, this book presents some very profound religious and spiritual insights, in a literary rather than a lecturing format.

That this book is beautifully written, passionate, and powerful there can be no dispute. Many times I caught my breath and even wept as I progressed through its 290 pages. It tugs on the heart and makes the soul whirl with both passion and pathos. In this respect it is a sensational read. I believe it ranks alongside, and perhaps even surpasses, such war masterpieces as A Farewell to Arms and All Quiet on the Western Front. It be apt to say that it is to war what A Catcher in the Rye is to adolescence.

What disturbs me, though, is the constantly recurring theme that a true man, a truly virtuous person, must be prepared to take up a gun and kill to defend his loved ones. Warren was trained by his father to hunt as a young boy. His father embodies the strange paradox of serving as a veterinarian and a hunter, a tender preserver of animal life and a remorseless taker of it. In Iraq Warren learns to embrace this dichotomy as well. But what really disturbs is the author's attempt to get the character of Jesus to sanction Warren's actions as a highly certified Army sniper with many kills to his record. Warren himself is a deeply religious person, who frequently quotes from the Bible and finds many intriguing allusions to support his actions as a highly trained killer. Were this book required reading for all American high school students, no doubt enlistment levels in the US military would soar. The book presents a powerful fusion of religion, sanctity of life and love, and necessity of violence, all wrapped up in what clearly is a major literary masterpiece.

It is not easy to refute the basic contention of this book that war and killing are both necessary and honorable. Americans have been in search of an honorable war for a very long time, ever since the end of World War II, in fact. This book makes a good case that the current "war on terror" is such an honorable war.

Since I am nowhere nearly as skilled a writer as Mr. Landis, I shall simply list some of my objections to his underlying premises. The reader can decide what to do based on them:

1. He mentions a number of times that military chaplains frequently cite Jesus' words to His disciples at the Final Supper about the necessity of selling their purses and buying swords to defend themselves (since Jesus is now seen as an outlaw by the authorities). When one disciple tells Jesus that he has two swords, Jesus says "That is enough". Now this whole exchange is very ambiguous and debated extensively by Bible interpreters. Perhaps Jesus was being sarcastic, telling His men that they must buy swords so as to fulfill the role of "transgressors" with whom Jesus has now been numbered by the authorities. Perhaps Jesus meant they should have swords only for self-defense, since following His death they would come under persecution. (We must recall that when Peter struck off the ear of the servant in Gethsemane, Jesus rebuked him saying "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.") Finally, even were Jesus deadly serious, did He mean that the two swords mentioned by the disciple were enough for that particular disciple or for the entire company of disciples? And how can one extrapolate from these two swords to the high tech killing apparati of the modern US military?

2. Landis assumes that the cause of the Iraqi insurgents is totally unjustified and that they present the American troops with no choice but to kill or be killed. He never stops to consider the fact that we invaded their country and occupied it. And Landis in fact equates the death of American combat personnel with the death of Jesus Himself, as a selfless sacrifice on behalf of saving others. But Landis fatally contradicts himself when he has Warren say contemptuously about the Iraqi suicide bombers that they are not martyrs, since martyrs are always purely innocent (ie, unarmed) victims, while true soldiers are always killers. If this is so, then it seems there are no grounds for comparing American soldiers to Jesus, since while the former truly are armed and dangerous, the latter was truly the Lamb of God, unarmed (except with the Truth) and dangerous to no one but to liars and arrogant hypocrites. Furthermore, Jesus called upon His followers, all purported Christians, to follow His example of serving as witnesses to the Truth and, if necessary, as martyrs at the hands of our enemies. Jesus never sanctioned using violence to promote His Gospel, and according to many Bible scholars neither did He sanction using it to defend our lives. I have heard pastors attempt to draw this same parallel between a soldier who dies in combat and Jesus dying on the Cross; and while it is true that the sacrifice of the soldier is very great, beyond that there is simply no comparison to Jesus. The comparison is made as a kind of cheap rhetorical propaganda technique to goad these young men on to bloody sacrifice. But these men are often impelled by fear, threats, and financial exigencies of enlisting in an organization whose access to funding seems virtually unlimited in an era of overall economic stagnation and disintegration. None of these ideas does Landis address.

3. Even worse, Landis repeatedly hearkens back to 9-11 as the flash point when America purportedly was unrighteously attacked by Muslim terrorists. Landis seemingly is oblivious to the many anomalies of that fateful day, which point to a deliberately orchestrated attack by our own elites to force the American public to accept war that would, as always, enrich the military-industrial complex and the international bankers. Landis furthermore seems oblivious to the fact that there was no connection between Iraq and the alleged Arab hijackers of that day. Landis blithely accepts all the discredited information implicating Iraq and fills Warren's heart and mind with thoughts of vengeance and righteous "self-defense."

4. In one very tender scene, Warren meets a young Iraqi woman whose son was murdered by Saddam Hussein. Again, the author is oblivious to the fact that this murder might well have taken place when Saddam was a close American ally fully supported as our surrogate against the Revolutionary Regime in Iran.

5. The Jesus who instructs us to love our enemies, warning us that if we only love our friends and relatives then how are we any different from sinners who also love their own kind, is nowhere to be found in this book. This Jesus is a hip, macho-tolerant and even an enthusiastic enabler of Warren's political and moral delusions. This Jesus does not offend anyone, except those of us who are looking for the supreme example of non-violent resistance, which many believe Jesus to be.

Landis is a very gifted writer. His prose is semi-lyrical, almost poetic, and poetry is mentioned frequently by a number of the characters. Poetry, says Warren's high school English teacher, is the language of life. It is able to activate our emotions like no other force (apart, perhaps, from song, which is poetry set to music). But the problem with poetry is that in addressing the emotions it also has the potential to circumvent the intellect. Poetry can be equally persuasive in the mouth of a saint or a sinner. In the end, this book helped me to understand the deep mystical reverence of Moslems for the Qu'ran, which they too claim is an amazing kind of Divine Supernatural Poetry. And thus I finished The Final Day with a profound sense of unease, as I came to realize that, utilized by evil men, good poetry will drive good men to do evil things. And it makes no difference whether that poetry is written in Arabic or in English. (I just am not sure if this perception is something the author intended or not.)

Despite all these misgivings, I would recommend that every American read this book, for two reasons. First, it provides perhaps the most realistic view of what the "war on terror" is really like on the ground. It is uncompromising in its portrayal of the brutality of this war. In our day of slick organized mass media propaganda, we cannot count on any mainstream newspaper, magazine, television or radio network to afford us even the most fleeting glimpse of the ugliness of this conflict. We do not see our boys killing in the field; neither do we see them killed in action or shipped back to Dover airforce base in metal coffins. Society works hard to make this war as invisible and incomprehensible as it can, and Mr. Landis' book goes a long way to pulling back the curtain on this savage spectacle.

Second, it is important, in this era of the all-volunteer army, for every American high school student to know what to expect if s/he enlists. This book provides an invaluable look behind the slick ads on TV and in magazines for the Army, which makes our children "Army Tough", or the Marine Corp, which is looking for a few good men, or the Navy, with which to see the world, or the Airforce, which seems not to have to advertise at all, such is the allure of its high tech planes, missiles, and other weapons of massive destruction.

Despite its mindless parroting of mainstream American "war on terror" propaganda, I would recommend this book for the English curriculum of every high school in America. It may be the only chance a young person ever will have to know what s/he should expect after boot camp and in the highly shielded corporate killing fields of the American military industrial complex, its Wall Street banking enablers, and its handmaiden apologists in the mass media. And if in the end they do decide to enlist, this book will ensure that they make this decision with the highest possible level of idealism and courage.

AMEN!

First, let me say this is an excellent book and one I couldn't put down! The Last Day by James Landis tells the story of a man who spends a day with a Jesus who likes wearing blue jeans, hamburgers, and being called "Ray." Now, before you stop reading, it's not a book pushing religion or trying to save your soul; in fact, it might tick off some conservative religious readers. Rather, it's the story about a man who's experienced tremendous heartache and loss throughout his life, gone through war, and is now trying to find his way.

The Last Day introduces us to Warren Pease, nicknamed "War" because of his training as a sniper in the Iraq war. As a young man, Warren loses his mother by suicide and grows up with an emotionally distant father because of the tragic loss. The story opens with Warren sitting on the beach at night, unable to remember how he got there. Finally a man shows up and introduces himself to Warren - it just so happens to be Jesus.

From there on out, Jesus and Warren spend the day together, discussing life, the world, Jesus' (just call me "Ray...") love for hamburgers. There is humor, tears, love and many scriptural references, without being dogmatic, in short, just talking about Warren's life and helping him make sense of it.

The Last Day is written so it makes you feel you're actually spending the day with Warren and Jesus, privy to their increasingly enjoyable conversations! When you start reading it, you just can't put it down. It really is a marvelous book and one I enjoyed thoroughly. I highly recommend it.

This book resonated so well with me, IMMEDIATELY!--no kidding--from page one on. You learn the soldier had died, in the war in Iraq, in the first couple of pages. He is back in his New Hampshire home town, on his favorite beach, and awakens to find Jesus there with him. What is especially cool, is that Jesus is EXACTLY as I would have expected him to be - warm, friendly, peaceful, social - like a really nice guy. (Regardless of your religious beliefs, you must admit that Jesus was all about love. And love is all about warmth, kindness, peace, etc.) Jesus meets our soldier with the kindness and warmth of the nicest guy in the world and the fascination of a child as he marvels over sea creatures while they walk along the beach together. No white robe, no sandals, just jeans, a tee-shirt, and Timberlake boots. No need to call attention to himself, he's just the guy next door (sort of).

Jesus is with our soldier (War/Warren) from the time he awakens on the beach. They travel along from place to place, visiting people and tying up loose ends--all the while, with War reviewing his life events. We look at his childhood, school events, and time with his parents and relationships with his sweetheart (Bethie), her father (Mr. Smith), his little girl (Dodie) and his best friend (Ryan). You would think it would be sad, but it's not. For the most part, it is a peaceful book, even though War also talks about war, fighting and death.

War was a sniper in a land far away--a land where the Sunnis and Shiites murdered each other, where people martyred themselves and their children, where soldiers and citizens were slaughtered, tortured, and beheaded, all in the name of God. You understand why War was a sniper and why he killed--because he wanted to stop the merciless murderers from torturing and murdering others. About half of the story reviews War's experiences in places with names like Talibiya, Baghdad, Sadr City, and Yusifiya. The late Saddam Hussein is already "late", so this 287 page, 2009 book is very current. There are a lot of military acronyms (explained) and a lot of talk about weapons RPG-75s, laser-guided artillery or F-18s, M-296 rounds, etc.

This book is a review of the events in War's life (many say we do review our lives from the other side after our death) and a "goodbye" to his loved ones. It is VERY nicely done. Although a bit heavy on the military part, it was War's life. An important note on that part, too, although War was a sniper and killed, Jesus did not judge him. War did not enjoy killing. He killed quickly and only with the right intentions in his heart.

This is probably a book more for the "guys" because of all the military stuff (or for the few women who are really into that stuff). It is definitely a book for the former soldier, and for someone who enjoys reading about Jesus. I think it would also be a good book club discussion book.

I just had another thought, too. It would probably be an excellent book for someone who is grieving the loss of a soldier in the Iraqi war, because of both the peace in the spiritual side of the book and the understanding of what War was fighting for.

Reviewer's Comments:

Why would Jesus wear jeans and Timberlakes?
I think that Jesus (or Angels) would appear to us in a way that WE would be most comfortable with--something that we would be most receptive to--something that would not scare us. They could take any form.

Would Jesus really act like the guy next door?
I think so. Again, I believe he would want us to be comfortable. Many people believe now that Jesus is their "best friend", so to speak.

What happened to "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?
I think you can argue both sides of that coin till the cows come home, but I really liked the fact that Jesus did not even get into that one. He accepted War as is.

There is simply no way that any review is going to do this book justice. As other reviewers before me have aptly remarked, Landis undertakes the impossible here. Right up front, one should recognize that the story told is about Warren Pease, a sniper in the Iraqi War, and his last day which he spends reviewing his life with Jesus.

That said, if you are a Secular Humanist, Agnostic, Atheist or some other non-Christian- you may not enjoy this book. I do think that anyone with an open mind could read this book and view the subject as relative. Warren Pease is a soldier and deeply faithful- so his story is about his day spent with Jesus. Not to be redundant to other reviews but some more conservative Christians may find this an affront to their religious sensibilities. Some might find the author's depiction of Jesus irreverent, if not blasphemous.

With all the above caveats in mind, I found this to be a deeply moving tale. Landis writes some beautiful prose. Even if the subject matter may not align perfectly with a particular religious doctrine, I think it more than stands on its own as a novel.

Warren Pease has gone off to Iraq to serve his country and now, back from the war, he finds himself on the beach near his home in New Hampshire. Here, aside the ocean, he meets Jesus and begins a journey that will transcend time and place to review his life.

Landis performs an amazing feat in this novel, creating characters that are utterly real and believable then weaving them together within the seamless context of Pease's life. The scenes he paints are vibrant, often poignant. Even in more mundane moments, Pease finds bits of meaning, lessons to be learned. Even scenes of violence and death had a certain serenity to them. It made me think a great deal about why we are here, what meaning we have as individuals and how it all fits together in a larger picture.

I picked this book up reluctantly- I am wary of fiction set to religion. I was absolutely enthralled by the writing from the first paragraph on; I was right there with Pease as he visits the people he has known in his life. In so many ways this book works because of the contrasts: love and war, birth and death, absolute cruelty and amazing sacrifice. It is a story of humanity and all the wonder and horror we have wrought upon ourselves. Moments count and people count.

This isn't a book to rush through, definitely worth a second read. I hate to gush and be sentimental but I really believe this is one of the best books I've read this year- perhaps ever. I highly recommend it and would encourage people to hold their religious views in abeyance and take what they will. I think there is a little something for almost anyone here.

A little warning- there is some fairly graphic violence, disturbing descriptions of things done in war so if you can't stomach that, it might not be a good read for you. Likewise, if you find the depiction of Jesus as a laid-back, hippie-esque dude offensive- this book is probably going to offend you. If you can set those aside, this is an amazing book and certainly worth the read.

If you haven't read 'The Shack' or much Christian fiction then this book would rate 4 Stars. Maybe less since there is excessive 'flashback' scenes, detracting from the plot.

Personally, I search out 'speculative' Christian fiction and fantasy books. After reading the jacket intro I had hoped to hear Jesus's answer to pointed questions, especially about war (and/or the Iraq war in specific.) Don't expect much here. The author insinuates the continuing false argument that Iraq had a hand in 9-11. Also snipers (and US troops) only kill bad people. He states this multiple times. I had the impression that War, his father and Jesus were card carrying NRA members.

A reminder for the non-christian dogma informed: A "believer" is PRE-forgiven for anything he does here on the earth plane. So a character who committed suicide in the story is in heaven. Drop a bomb or two on farmers, no problem. One irritant I find in christian NON-fiction is that 'true believers' fear death as much as non-believers, and, are incensed that those stupid suicide bomber's actually ACT on their beliefs.

In 'The Last Day', Jesus avoids direct answers to questions as good as any politician. An exception: when asked if Earth was the only place with (sentient) life. Yes, it is. From the start the reader figures out that Warren is dead, but, does he ever ask: 'Am I Dead?'... No. By the end it isn't clear if the story was a dream or Warren was granted a last visit with his close friends and family. If so, how did the undead perceive the events? Were they dreaming or did Warren and Jesus have solid matter bodies? Also, I'm probably in the minority here, but I felt there was an underlying reference to Gen 38:8. Take that for what its worth. A side note...What's with Jesus eating pork?

Finally, there's a great amount of detail about life as a sniper in Iraq. There's no mini-biography of James Landis, so it's hard to speculate how much plot is based on actual events or interviews he may have done with experienced vets. There is some reliable evidence of a disciplined Iraqi sniper named JUBA, which, leads to a contrived ending. The copyright page has the usual - 'all stuff here is fiction' - statement. And, that's how I rate this book: light fiction.

James Landis' excellent new novel, the Last Day, is very different in modern literature. The Last day is two stories in one: an embedded view of combat through the eyes of a soldier, and a one day redemptive journey with Jesus. Both are excellent narratives with exquisite detail and vivid events.

First, this is the tale of a combat soldier, Specialist Warren (nicknamed War) Pease. War, a master sniper, relates, in exacting detail, adventures of his combat missions in Iraq. Through his eyes, we see the battles, his compatriots, the Iraqi culture and people. His descriptions are so clear that I felt I was walking by his side.

Second, this is the chronicle of a spiritual journey with Jesus. War spends one complete day with Jesus. Jesus walks with him, eats with him, and visits his family and friends with him. The chronicle is almost mundane in its detail. While Jesus gently quotes His scripture, we discover the importance of turtles, flowers, grass and rocks, This exacting detail greatly enhances the experience. We learn about Jesus and Warren through their relation to the people, creatures and objects of this earth.

The Last Day is a very spiritual book, but not a book of theology. Some many be offended that Jesus is presented as an ordinary man, but in this presentation of a twenty-first century human Jesus, we begin to see the devine. This Jesus loves everyone and everything. This Jesus gently and subtly invites each person he encounters to accept Him and themselves. This Jesus cares about all His creation. This Jesus is the healing, reconciling, suffering servant of the book of Isaiah.

The Last Day is an outstanding spiritual novel. I highly recommend this book.

I finished this book last week and find that it is still with me. It is extremely effective and beautifully written. The author is relentless in his presentation of the bittersweet personal story of Warren Pease as he revisits the people in his life with the help of a very human Jesus who is still Jesus in spite of seeming so human. All this contrasts artfully with the descriptions of his intense and violent experiences in the Iraq war. Without giving too much away about the book, I can say that it is a masterpiece of juxtaposing contradictions, leaving the reader with a lot to think about. I highly recommend it.

I chose this book because I saw that it was recommended to readers of "The Shack" I loved that book, so I thought I would give this book a try.

The main character is a young man named War. He wakes up in a strange place, and has no memory of how he got there. He meets another man named Ray, who is really Jesus. Warren and Ray embark on a series of adventures and come into contact with the people most important to Warren. Through these interactions, Warren comes to question things he previously thought were true. He comes to realize that things are often not what they appear to be. He also gets profound insight into his own life and character.

The characters in this novel are believable and real. These are almost like real people. They aren't superhuman. They all have flaws and their own little quirks. This is a book that deals with issues of war, faith, love, hope, and redemption. This book held my interest throughout and kept me turning pages until the very end.

This book is an easy read. It is both profound and humorous. It draws the reader in and doesn't let go. I would highly recommend this book to others.

The premise of this book sounded interesting. I had never read The Shack, nor am I strongly religious, so I was curious as to what this would be about. There is a character that may or may not be Jesus, which may cause some readers dismay over the purported religious depiction of this mysterious person. I thought this character ("Ray") was great and saw nothing offensive in it. There is humor, understanding, and of course, love.

Basically the book starts off with a warm and touchy feel to it and I enjoyed that part quite a bit. The main character, Warren, is a soldier and about 1/3 of the way into the book, you start reading about his life as a soldier in Iraq. The last half of the book is a constant switch from his life in Texas to his life in Iraq. The military aspect of the story was quite intense and I found myself scanning through those parts faster so I could get to the sections about his Texas life. The Iraq parts showed what War went through and in parts really delved into his persona, but much of it dealt with his work as a sniper and that wasn't always a pleasant read to me. But yes, I understand that is the reality of the world and war.

It took me several weeks to read this book, and to me that indicates it wasn't a gotta-know-what-happens-next book for me. I am glad I read it, it does provide an interesting aspect of religion that I had never imagined myself. That may sound vague, but I don't what to spill too many beans concerning the story. Just be prepared for some serious war stories between these pages.