Customer Reviews

The Spear

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4 star:		(2)
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This is the best novel that deals with Christ's life, death, and Resurrection that I've ever read. It's solidly, unabashedly orthodox and pulls together the Gospel accounts in a brilliant weave of history and imagination. Unlike other novels of the genre, it doesn't try to "explain away" the supernatural... it simply presents it and invites the reader to believe. But it also does not attempt to enter into either the mind of the God-Man Jesus Christ or his immaculately conceived mother Mary. Although HIDDEN VICTORY by Fr. Herbert Smith, S. J., does an admirable job of trying to understand what God and the Blessed Virgin Mary may have thought and felt, I also appreciated De Wohl's implicit understanding that such a task is impossible. While the meditation might be fruitful, it is also something to approach cautiously.

This is why I think De Wohl's technique of presenting the story from St. Longinus' point of view, rather than Christ's or Mary's, works so well. Here is someone like ourselves, sinful as we are sinful, who tries to grasp the cosmic events swirling around him. When, by God's grace, he is brought to belief, we cheer and see our own struggles reflected in his while praying for the same triumph that he experienced.

All this sounds very lofty. I hope I haven't scared off people who are simply looking for an entertaining novel. Those people will find such a novel in THE SPEAR, but they will also find so much more!

I was moved by this beautifully written story of Longinus, the Roman soldier believed to have been present at Christ's crucifixion. Not only is this an interesting look at Rome and Israel 2,000 years ago, but it is most importantly a powerful story of Longinus' conversion from a bitter, revenge-driven man to a repentent, joy-filled soul. Inspiring, and a very good read!

Cassius Longinus is a man searching for ...something. He is not sure what. He does not believe in the Roman gods, but he knows he should believe in something. He lives for revenge and he lives for the love of two women and somehow it isn't enough. The elusive Yesua (Jesus)seems to bewitch everyone who comes in contact with Him. Cassius avoids Him until after the crucifixion. This novel is exciting and has some romance and also makes you think. I highly recommend it.

I loved this book. I recommended it to a blind friend who got it on tape too. It helped me to put names, ego's, and Id's on many of the "bit" players of the passion of the Christ. It moved me much. It was very believable, although fictionalized history so to speak. I was not too happy with the sexual episode in the dark, although is lent reason to much of what occurred thereafter. Every adult should read this.

This is an outstanding book! I have read it several times and one year our family read it together for Lent. Outstanding novel with all the people you "know" from the Gospels in a depiction you have never seen before. If Sir deWohl (he was knighted by the Pope) was alive when the whole stupid Dan Brown tabloid gibberish was the craze, I would have loved to see them on a talk show comparing historical research! Dan would be hiding under the table no doubt! Of all the Louis deWohl I've read (and I've read many, many of his books including his children's stories), this one is my absolute favorite.
(Best unexpected scene? The woman caught in the act of adultery,,,,,)
Cross my heart & look you in the eye promise- you will love this!

Louis de Wohl has the amazing capacity to take one obscure figure from scripture, the centurion who pierced Christ's side with a spear, and breathe life into him by creating a novel around what his life might have been like.

Cassius Longinus is introduced as a young soldier in Rome, the son of a retired general. He is infatuated with the lovely Claudia, a distant relative of the emperor Tiberius. But when enemies entrap his father in a swindle, Cassius sells himself into slavery to pay off his father's debts and keep him out of prison. Claudia shuns the slave Longinus and weds the newly-named procurator for Palestine: Pontius Pilate. Cassius is further betrayed when his father is murdered and he himself is destined for destruction in the gladiatorial games. He acquits himself well in the arena, however, wins his freedom, and sets about to plot his revenge.

Cassius Longinus is presented as a noble but pagan Roman. His thirst for justice requires distance from his enemies and time to build his power and resources. To gain both, he returns to the soldier's life and accepts a post in Jerusalem. From there the story blends in beautifully with the last days of Christ. Cassius's journey takes him from a dark existence of cynical disillusionment to a life of faith and love again.

I am grateful that Ignatious Press resurrected this timeless masterpiece. In it, Louis de Wohl weaves a seamless garment of both fiction and scripture. MUST reading!

Louis de Wohl's books are all spellbinding and captivating and The Spear is probably his best, in my opinion. He creates real-life, everyday events that could very well have happened in the lives of the actual historical figures he portrays. You get a biography that is painted in everyday, real-life events rather than just a chronology of facts, making the story all that easier to relate to for the reader. This story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is told from the perspective of Cassius, the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side with his lance to ensure that Jesus was actually dead before He is taken down from the Cross. The story begins in Rome relating the early life of Cassius, his love for the young noblewoman, Claudia, who is destined to make an advantageous, political marriage and the betrayals, perfidies, ambitions and thirst for vengeance that pave the way for Cassius to volunteer for duty in the Roman outpost of Jerusalem. What happens in Jerusalem is certainly not what he expects. The transformation of his beliefs and perspective on life slowly come about by beginning to understand the teachings of Jesus through his peripheral encounters with Jesus' disciples. The story contains familiar Biblical characters including the apostles, Martha, Mary, Lazarus and others and even give plausible identities to other familiar, but unnamed Biblical persons. All-in-all, The Spear is a page-turner in every sense of the word and is a very moving read of an event that changed the course of human history.

This book was a beautiful and moving story of Cassius Longinus, a Roman centerion, who has a dramatic change of life after witnessing Jesus Christ trial and crucifixion. Mr. de Wohl beautiful telling of this story brought tears to my eyes. The copy of the book I read was released in 1955 and the story holds an even stronger place in one's heart in 2010, with the world as troubled as it is.

Take the time to read this book, especially during this Lenten season. You will be moved to a beautiful spiritual place!

I am planning to read more of Louis de Wohl's other books.

de Wohl's Spear is simply a great book. It tells a story of a journey in faith without directly telling it. He creates characters that we can all identify with, and weaves them together in this narration of the Greatest Story.