Only Human: A Divine Comedy [Hardcover]

Jenny Diski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2001

What if God fell in love and the person was already married? A bitter story of the very first love triangle between a man, his wife, and their God

First came Adam, whose fall soured His quest for absolute authority, then Noah, whose dreary sense of duty He found dull. God resolves for a third and final time to get it right, to select a vessel through whom He can direct human affairs, and to whom He can communicate directly His will. He chooses a solitary figure whose trust must be wooed, but whose faith, once secured, will surely reflect even greater glory and love. Were matters only that simple. In Only Human, Jenny Diski’s brilliant and affecting retelling of the Abraham and Sarah story, God learns that no man, chosen or not, is solitary, and that the bonds forged by the human heart are resilient even to divine commandment. Diski transforms an archetypal tale of Old Testament obedience into a fierce love triangle, a test of wills over not only mankind’s future, but over who will tell the story of its past.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this inventive retelling of the Abraham and Sarah story, Diski (Skating to Antarctica) offers up a vain, "testy" God, who has created humanity in the hope of gaining insight into Himself. Instead, He feels shut out by his creations which is a pity, since they might benefit from his attention. Abram and Sarai, half-siblings married by their dynasty-conscious father, have trouble playing the roles they are allotted. The whole family is prone to fruitless soul-searching and spend their time grappling with the idea of death, occasionally sacrificing a lamb or defacing an idol to pass the time. The tale is mostly buildup, set during the period before the all-important birth of Isaac, and indeed is primarily meditation: Sarai thinks about love, Abram worries about the continuation of his lineage and God, who narrates half the book, broods on the disobedient inventiveness of His creations. When major events do occur (fueled by dialogue direct from the Bible), they progress at breakneck speed, as though the characters were in a hurry to return to their dreary contemplation of the human state. While billed as a "divine comedy," the novel lacks the raised eyebrow that makes other approaches to biblical stories Kierkegaard's, for example so successful. There are humorous moments, as when God grouses about humans taking "my exhortation to be fruitful and multiply to their hearts. Rather, to their loins." And the novel gives Sarai much more airtime than the Bible does, offering a refreshing, feminine perspective. As God and Sarai battle for Abram's affection, readers will inevitably take her side; the affectionate though fallible human is, unsurprisingly, much more appealing than the distant, irritable deity.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The love triangle has been mined countless times for comedic gold. Diski's inventive, compelling novel does it again, a little differently. One of the corners in this triangle of love and longing is God. After the failures of Adam (apple eating) and Noah (post-ark drunkenness) as messengers, the Lord has decided upon a final, perfect vessel--Abram. Unfortunately, he's taken, and the novel is the story of the tug-of-war between his love of God and his love of family. There are two narrators, an omniscient third person and one of the triangle's sides, God. Unfortunately, thanks to God-as-narrator, the novel tends to unravel into schticky jokes about his bumbling omnipotence, undermining both the comedy and the seriousness of Diski's theology. Still, Diski has found a wonderful device for explicating the baffling and powerful stories of Abram, and the realization of Sarai as an empowered woman adds depth and texture to one of the oldest stories in the book. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (May 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312280548
• ISBN-13: 978-0312280543
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,365,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What If You Could Read God's Mind?, June 7, 2001

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Only Human: A Divine Comedy (Hardcover)

This is a stimulating novel. Based on the covenant between God and Abraham, it brings the characters to life, gives them flesh and bone. What would it have been like to be Sarai (Sarah) and married to a guy who went around talking to God? How would a woman of that day react? What if we could read God's mind and understand what the thoughts were that lead to the chosen people? Diski weaves and intriguing dialogue between God and man, and addresses fundamental questions of existence within each of the human characters. The book is intelligently written, witty, and keeps you glued to the page. At only 215 pages, it goes by quick. I think you'll find it fascinating with an occasional splash of humor.