Customer Reviews

The Weeping Chamber

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This novel is one man's spiritual journey during Christ's final week on earth. As our main character struggles with his personal problems and guilt, he also interacts with Jesus. Will he see the true freedom that Jesus offers before time runs out for both of them?

I was blown away when I read this book. Sigmund Brouwer weaves a fictitious story around the real events of the Bible seamlessly. And his account of the Bible story is eye opening. While fictitious, it made me look at the people involved in a different light. I have a new understanding of what Jesus did for all of us because of it.

I also read Sigmund Brouwer's THE CARPENTER'S CLOTH at the same time. There are some overlapping passages between the two books, but both are well worth a read and include material not in the other.

As far too many writers have proven, it can be a significant challenge to offer a fresh and satisfying perspective on the familiar events in the life of Christ, particularly the final week of Jesus' life on earth and the drama of the crucifixion and resurrection. But if there's one thing Sigmund Brouwer has proven, he's willing to take on a challenge, and his gifts as a writer are clearly equal to the challenges he faces.

Brouwer offers a view of the events of Holy Week through the eyes of a merchant named Simeon, who has sacrificed the love and respect of his family in his unrelenting efforts to accumulate wealth. As a visitor to Jerusalem, he has heard of this prophet named Jesus and witnessed His arrival in the city, to the praise and adulation of the people who shouted hosannas at the sight of Him. Throughout what will prove to be a tumultuous week, Simeon wrestles with his personal pain and the memories of the losses he has suffered, his numbing depression, and the suicidal thoughts that seem to offer the only hope for escape from his shame and sorrow.

But that was before his encounter with the living Christ. Simeon is, of course, Simeon of Cyrene, the bystander pressed into service by Roman soldiers to carry the cross when Jesus' battered body continually fell under its weight. As you might suspect, his life is transformed in the process. But Brouwer wisely allows that transformation to take place over time, steering clear of a predictable I've-carried-His-cross-and-now-I've-seen-the-light moment.

Brouwer's skill as a storyteller is evident in all his books, and THE WEEPING CHAMBER is no exception. He creates a compelling backstory for Simeon's life and offers up the relevant details of that life a little at a time, keeping the reader in a continual state of curiosity about this man who has lost the will to live. He allows the story to unfold naturally through a seamless, gripping narrative and the daily letters Simeon writes to the wife whose love he has carelessly discarded.

Even the familiarity of Palestine at the time of Christ gets a fresh makeover in Brouwer's hands, with the scenes that take place in Simeon's seaside home in his native Cyrene providing a welcome contrast to the hustle and bustle of Passover-week Jerusalem. Add to that the ability to write that most elusive of fictional elements --- believable dialogue --- and it's not hard to see why Brouwer has such a loyal fan base.

THE WEEPING CHAMBER breathes new life into the story of Simeon and the journey from Palm Sunday to the empty tomb, just as a brief encounter with Jesus breathes new life into a man whose spirit is slowly dying. For fans of biblical fiction, especially those who have been disappointed by other historical novels set at the time of Christ, Brouwer's latest is a must-read.

This is an excellent book to introduce someone to the historical and spiritual significance of the Easter holiday. The time the author and his wife, singer/songwriter Cindy Morgan, spent in Jerusalem enabled him to provide a cultural perspective of which many reading the biblical account of Christ's last week would be otherwise unaware. This storytelling gently brushed away my biased view of biblical days, and allowed me to see what life was really like for Christ's followers and detractors. I highly recommend this book and Cindy Morgan's album "The Loving Kind" for those interested in learning more about the life and times of Christ. The chapters are short--usually no more than four or five pages, sometimes two or three. The subplot of the narrator is moving with its realistic view of marriage and family. Do not be surprised if you can not put it down! It may take some hunting now that it is out of print, but this book could greatly enhance its readers' spiritual lives.

The title of my review best describes the impact this book has had on my soul. Sigmund Brouwer confirms that the human heart is the center of spiritual struggle and wholeness. Brouwer touches the depth of human struggle in his story told of two men in parallel frames. While the tragedy of one man is that he plumits into a distructive fight for release from torment and self distruction, unbeknown to him, he encounters in another man who is the Christ, the real meaning of human freedom and liberation.

The story begins with a man who is identified much later as Simon, who is standing in his own perception of what is his own weeping chamber, his own dark burial cave, comtemplating his life and fate. The story ends with the same man standing inside the bright burial chamber of the other man in the story, the Christ. The issues surrounding his own life find resolution through his increasing involvement in the life of the other man. They become linked in a redemptive process, and identify the true weeping chamber to be the soul of man, the house where it is possible for the mind to descend into the heart. Brouwer perhaps captures a core reality in the biblical account of salvation history.

The story strives for biblical and cultural accuracy. It is entertaining in that it is told with hints of the investigative or detective like approach. However, this approach does not diminish the overall purpose of the author, which I feel is to enlighten us in the dynamics of the spiritual work place of the human mind and heart, that is the soul. Congratulations!

A popular revival hymn declares, "There's wonder-working power in the blood of Jesus Christ." We see that blood shed and many wonders in Sigmund Brouwer's The Weeping Chamber.

As the novel opens, the narrator's life is in ruins. His obsession with work and profits has killed his wife's love. His son is equally dead, in a warehouse fire that left his daughter crippled and scarred. He sails to Jerusalem for Passover, seeking he knows not what. Each night he writes to his wife begging her forgiveness and contemplates suicide.

During the day, he observes the drama surrounding Jesus' crucifixion. He's drawn to the charismatic teacher, whose words and eyes offer the first glimpse of hope he's felt since the fire. He's appalled as religious and political leaders manipulate the law and the crowds to bring about Jesus' death. When he hears rumors of the resurrection, he hastens to see for himself. If it's true, Jesus may have the power even after death to heal his shattered family.

Brouwer has written several children's books, westerns and thrillers (among them, Morning Star and Double Helix). In The Weeping Chamber, he uses all that narrative talent to create a fresh, fast-moving and absorbing account of Holy Week. His Jesus is funny, smart and immensely appealing. It's easy to see why hundreds loved him and the powerful feared him. This is an excellent novel to renew your own faith and perhaps kindle interest in your nearest unbeliever.

I attend church regularly and read my bible often.But I must say the Weeping Chamber opened a view into Jesus life and that of the life and times of the disiples that I have never experienced. Thank You Mr. Brouwer God Bless You.

Though a wealthy merchant, Simeon of Cyrene feels his life is not worth living. His wife wants nothing to do with him while his son is dead from a warehouse inferno that crippled his daughter. He considers suicide as an escape from the torture that eats at his soul as his work no longer comforts him. Simeon begs his wife to forgive him and take him back, but has no hope as he knows she blames him for the tragedies.

Simeon travels to Jerusalem on business with an old friend. This enables him to observe the controversy over the teacher Jesus. He finds comfort and even hope in the words and teachings by example of Jesus, but also fears for the life of the kind hearted soul as the Roman and Jewish religious and secular leaders press the masses to support the death of Jesus. When he learns of the resurrection, Simeon has to see for himself for if Jesus can rise from the dead and forgive those who killed him surely he can continue to seek forgiveness and a second chance from his wife and daughter.

This is a deep look at Jesus' last days from the perspective of Simeon, an individual who believes that he deserves to die for what he did to his family. The age comes to life mostly through Simeon's depressed eyes though readers will wonder how Jesus feels especially since the release of the Gibson film. Sigmund Brouwer stays with his main theme of one lonely depressed soul's efforts for redemption from his family may come because of the light Jesus shines on him and others in first century Jerusalem.

Harriet Klausner

I am not extremely emotional. This book got me. I read it in one sitting, I was on the verge of tears, and when the book was done, I promptly brought it to my friend and gave it to her to read.

The last week of Christ is masterfully tied to the "last week" of another man. Sigmund Brouwer writes this story's sentimental string through letters of the latter man to his wife.

Read if you are in a mood desiring sentimental love and sacrificial love.

This is one of the best books I've read. It's Scriptural, and truly helped me understand and relate to Jesus the man ... his character, his purpose, and his personal relationship with and requirements of us. The personal relationship especially is, to me, absolutely central to true faith. I believe that Mr. Brouwer has a real vision of aspects of the true man, and my own faith and relationship has grown because of this.

This is a great novel--and I'm not too much of a novel reader. I could tell you about the story, but you can read the comments provided by Amazon to get that. I don't have anything else to add to that part. I write the review not to tell you the story, but to tell you that it's a great novel.

I picked this up off a 2-dollar shelf or something--I assure you that this is not the kind of book I would look at and say "Mmmm...now THAT looks interesting." Rather, it is more likely that I would look at this book and think "Mmph...not for me." In retrospect, it is quite remarkable that I bought it at all--regardless of the low price.

So, since I now had the book, I might as well read it, right? So I did. In two days. I don't think I put it down when I had free time. The book is such an easy read, and very entertaining. I was truly impressed by the book. I guess it is one of those books I could call "heartwarming," or "precious." Believe me, coming from a guy, that's quite a compliment (winks). I think I even teared up at the end. Again--coming from a guy, that's kinda impressive, don't you think?

I'm sure the girls are ready to buy it now...just because it made a guy cry...

But guys--don't be turned off becuase I used patty-cake terminology like "precious" to describe this book. It's a great book. It's an entertaining read. It's captivating. It's interesting. It's good. It's not a long book, and I'm pretty sure that if you pick it up, you won't put it down...at least not until you finish it (or it makes you cry too).

Great book.