Customer Reviews

The Thieves of Golgotha: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One of the most graphic books I've read! Compares to "Hiroshima." It was fairly accurate with what little biblical account we have of the thieves crucified with Jesus. However, the point of the book is NOT to give us yet another commentary on the Passion of Jesus. Instead, Lliteras gives us a most graphic and riveting look at the cruelty of crucifixion. Reading this book deepened my understanding of Jesus' sacrificial act. It is a must read for those with the intestinal fortitude to handle the graphic details. Let the reader beware: it is hard to put down - harder even to continue reading!

I just finished this book about half an hour ago. I am still reeling from the experience. The book is written in such simple, straightforward language, and yet it touched me so deeply.

More than once I had to put the book down because I was emotionally drained. I realize the book is a work of fiction, but I became so caught up in the characters that I found myself pitying them, hating them, etc. And even though Christ makes little more than a cameo appearance in the book, it is his interaction with the thieves that moved me the most.

I highly recommend this book. Whether one is a Christian or not, I think it is a text that will inspire much thought. Again, I am overwhelmed.

I read this book at the suggestion of a friend, not expecting much more than a retelling of the classic story. What I got blew me away; the author, who I can't believe I've never heard of before (he has written other books that I _must_ read now), not only intellectually but emotionally connects the reader with the actuality--the reality of this historic event (the crucifixion of christ). I was moved beyond words. Even if you have no christian background, this novel will give you insights into christ and his effect on humankind that you can't get in any church. Simply incredible.

A capable, informed novel renders the biblical epic a literary treasure. Novelist Lliteras is very talented at finding, mining, refining and rendering the essence of internal conflict within all men, these two everymen who share christ's death. It is graphic and yet still tasteful and balanced. It is not fundamentalist christian in origin, nor is it disconnected from spirit, indeed the novel communicates a special purity.

Some previous reviwers' negative comments seem to stem from a perceived insult to modern american fundamentalist values. That insult is simply not present in this book. This novel goes beyond the petty differences between warring sects to convey the unlimited potential of love and christ consciousness, and its power to allow human beings to transcend spiritually.

For me, this book is was a rare gem, a chance find in the mall. I gave a copy to my brother for Christmas this year. Now that I'm online I hope I'll find more books like this one. Amazon does a pretty darn good job. I think this author has more books.

First, I want to agree with everything the previous reviewer has written. I can only add my 'ditto' and say that this book was special to me because it was not a book about religion, but reading it caused me to have a religious experience. It is too easy to study religion, but when one's emotional being is transported right back into what surely could have been Jesus' experience in his last hours, the reader emerges a different person. When one is able to hear the words through one's own eyes, cringe with the brutality, feel the scene so vividly (thanks to Lliteras' writing skills won through his several previous books) there is a new appreciation for what Jesus the Man endured. This inspired writing that deserves wider recognition. This is a book to get, to share with friends or for anyone for whom 'religion' has gone stale.

I had to stop reading this book several times because I found myself overcome with intense feelings of pain, sorrow and pity for these two men who shared Christ's suffering. The description of the whole crucifixion process was intense, and deepened my passion for Christ. I passed this book along to my sister because it was too good not to share. I can't wait to get it back so I can read it again.

It's not on a "Best Seller" list and it hasn't been very long since its' release (March '98). It's a dramatic portrayal of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus and it's told through the eyes of the criminals. It has given me a whole new meaning of the crucifixion through his brutal and historic insight of this subject. The first couple of pages start out in a shocking way (there is some bad language), and I was skeptical about it at first, but then I realized that he was describing the crudeness of that time period. These are criminals and their language would have been very much the way it's depicted. The book is so real that it's almost scary. It sure brought tears to my eyes during the torturous part of the book. I don't consider myself to be a religious person, but this book has given me a spiritual insight that has motivated me to examine this more closely.

If anyone had a religious experience by reading this book, they need to have a religion reality check. The author surely had no original ideas or he would not have had to borrow so heavily from the only inspired Word of God to make money. The book dragged out the story and tried to make up by painting unimaginative bloody sceens. It was uninteresting and I truly wasted my money on it. I would not even loan it out to be read by a friend because I would not want to stretch their imagination of the reality of the cross. Oh Yes, the vulgar language at the beginning of the book only added to the pathetic text.

I read this book at the suggestion of a friend, not expecting much more than a retelling of the classic story. What I got blew me away; the author, who I can't believe I've never heard of before (he has written other books that I _must_ read now), not only intellectually but emotionally connects the reader with the actuality--the reality of this historic event (the crucifixion of christ). I was moved beyond words. Even if you have no christian background, this novel will give you insights into christ and his effect on humankind that you can't get in any church. Simply incredible.

This was a very enjoyable book. It was real and alive and I read it in one sitting. Very recommendable.