Customer Reviews

The Word: A Novel

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

 

 

This is a long and engaging novel which I have just reread after twenty years or more. It does show its age somewhat and yet it still contains some excellent research on Biblical documents and what we really have from close to the time of Christ. There is some good research on Roman times too. Strangely there was less on the apocryphal books of the Bible than I expected - I was certainly stimulated into reading some of these extraordinary documents by my first reading of 'The Word'.

However, I found the investigative role of the PR man from within the publishing group of the new New Testament - Resurrection Two - stretched my credulity far too far for my liking. And what a man this investigator is! Not only does he squeeze past some moments of impasse with the most amazing luck (more incredulity - but it does make a good yarn) but he has an unbelievable way with the ladies. This is what I disliked about the novel most - that and the characters left hanging (what did happen to the woman whose leg was miraculously cured? - ah, but there's the rub - there is no truth that can tell us). Most of all I could have done without the sexual olympics (scattered not too liberally it has to be said) through the novel - they might be titillating for the reader but I couldn't see how they had any meaning for the characters.

In the end Mr Wallace's own belief or lack of belief jumps up and hits us in the face. Our investigator-hero solves his case but gets no satisfaction of his objectives. The world goes on not the way he wanted, but does it matter? Yes, he goes on too and there's good in that as well. But is there any truth? Is the Bible we know and trust something we should believe in? Does it matter if it is true or not if it produces positive outcomes? But, now I see that I don't have the truth about Mr Wallace's intentions either. All I know is that I enjoyed his book despite it shortcomings.

The test of a believer's faith is to continue to believe even when experience and science tell him not to. In THE WORD by Irving Wallace, the hero Steve Randall, is initially a man of no faith in the Word of God. He is not unhappy with that nor does he feel any the less a man for that. During the course of the novel, he regains his Faith, only to lose it again by the book's end. The reader is much like Mr. Randall.
Steve Randall works for a book company, and it is his job to publicize a new version of the Bible purportedly based on the unexpected find of the Lost Scriptures of James the Just, the brother of Jesus. This lost gospel proves beyond doubt that Jesus lived, He walked, He had His ministry, and He was crucified. As Randal reads an advanced copy of this gospel, he rebuilds his lost faith and becomes a true believer in the Word. Now afire with holy zeal, he prepares to publicize and publish this new Bible in the hopes of regalvanizing the billions of Christians world wide. Unfortunately, for his new-found sense of holy mission, he is given incontrovertible evidence that the new gospel is a magnificent fraud, perpetrated by a master hoaxer who has a decades-old feud against the Catholic church. When he attempts to bring this evidence to the attention of his superiors, they stonewall him by assuring him that the proof is itself a hoax, and that the new Bible is the real McCoy. When Randall ignores warnings to lay off, he encounters men trying to kill him and to bury the evidence of this forgery for all eternity. By the book's end, he fails, and the new Bible is published amidst waves of hosannas.
Part of the charm of THE WORD lies in Wallace's interweaving a tightly knit plot with flashing-eyes-and-heaving-bosom sex scenes coupled with a surprisingly fascinating series of erudite digressions of Biblical history, mythology, and publishing. I learned a great deal about the historical life and times of Jesus Christ, even if some of this 'knowledge' was itself part of the fraud. Much of the plot revolved around nothing more than a bunch of learned Biblical scholars arguing the merits of theology and faith. By the time I got to the end, I became convinced that the majority of human beings fell into one of two categories: those who are gullible enough to accept the most wicked fraud in history as genuine and those who help to perpetuate that fraud. Perhaps Wallace gives the reader a hint of this two-level division of faith in his introductory series of three quotes which preceed the novel, the last of which reads: 'If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.'

"The Word" is a labyrinthine rollercoaster of a book, twisting and turning with each crumb of evidence and each new locale - catacombs, Amsterdam, even Devil's Island. Is a newly-unearthed document from The Holy Land authentic or a forgery? To what degree will Men of Faith rest their reputations on this find? To what ends can it be put?

Author Irving Wallace does a remarkable job describing a jaded PR man's reaction to what seems an endless torrent of developments until the denouement, delivered via a medium the protagonist is sure to understand ... or does he?

A gripping, thought-provoking "must read".

With The Word, Irving Wallace silently invades the very core of our most revered belief in the Bible. If you are availed with an extensive knowledge of the history of the bible, the controversies sorrounding it's origin and contents, this cautionary tale of a "mad genius" who stumbles on lost scrolls believed to have been written by the brother of Jesus the christ, will challenge what you have come to know, and force you to question it's validity. The possibility of such an event existing in time becomes so real, you want to put the book down for fear of being charged with sacriledge. An entertaining and thought provoking piece of fiction.

Irving combines a great plot, beginning in acedemia and expanding to international business and politics. New information about Jesus is discovered that could change the world. We are introduced to the world and workings of archeology, book publishing, and religous history, as the story unfolds before the main character, a PR magnet who gets caught up in issues of "faith".

THE WORD is a very interesting thriller with religious overtones. In some ways, it's similar to Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE. It's flawed in many ways, but I enjoyed it enough to recommend it.

The plot of THE WORD is pretty straightforward. Essentially, a new Gospel of the Bible has been discovered that gives some new insights into the life and background of Jesus Christ. But is this new Gospel truly for real, or is it instead an ingenious forgery? The hero of the book, PR man Stephen Randall, is determined to find out.

The main strength of THE WORD is Wallace's extensive research into the history of the Bible. He provides a lot of interesting details about how the New Testament was written, how Bibles were published, and the historical facts surrounding the life of Christ. I learned a great deal about religious history by reading this book.

The major downside of THE WORD is the poor characterization. Steve Randall is not a particularly likable hero, and he beds countless women with ridiculous ease (if you dislike graphic sex scenes, this book is definitely not for you). Most of the women in this book serve as sex objects and little more. Further, much of the dialogue in this book is stilted and unrealistic, where character talk in long paragraphs of expository prose.

This novel is also very long and verbose, with too many unnecessary subplots and situations. A stronger editor could have cut this novel by a third. This is the type of book where you can skip over a lot of paragraphs without missing anything.

Still, I found the story of this novel interesting enough to finish. In THE WORD, Wallace deals with a lot of interesting themes and ideas in an engaging manner. Although much the dialogue is unrealistic, it is undeniably thought-provoking.

In short, THE WORD is not a mindless action thriller, but an ambitious book that stimulates the mind. I think it's worth reading for that purpose, if you have the time to spare.

Irving Wallace has a propensity for creating rather large, voluminous novels, and this is no exception. The content is sometimes tedious, but has enough suspense to keep you hanging on and looking for more. This is an exceptionally well disguised fiction that so closely entertwines the realities of the christian religious cultures that it is difficult to separate the real from the unreal. One can't help but have questions about the realities of the christian beleifs after reading this novel. For the uneducated, it could even pose a threat to their faith if they are casual christians. I found the book very refreshing and have been a faithful reader of many of Mr. Wallace's works as a result of reading this book. His works can be very thought provoking.

A Mr. Stephen Randall gets a call...an Italian archeologist has discovered a stunning ancient manuscript, the Gospel of James which details that Jesus did not die on the cross but survived to continue his ministry. That he did not die is a miracle.
Mr. Randall is put in charge of public relations to handle the discovery and learn whether the manuscript is authentic or fake.
The author explores the kinds of investigation done to verify such ancient parchments - library studies of the facts in the document or Carbon 14 dating. The detail is amazing.
Long before the Da Vinci Code, indeed 30 years before, Irving Wallace packaged a great suspense novel. Buy it.

The story is dated for the time it was written, circa early 1970s. There are no computers; people get messages in person, and corpulent beings answer telephones. It was politically incorrect before anyone even knew that there were rules to what they should think and say. For younger readers, it may be a near impossibility to read. They'll stumble on the simple concept of having to actually rise and approach a television to change the channel manually or stick their fingers into a hole on the telephone dial.

(I have a second print soft copy that is, aside from the yellowed pages, in remarkably good shape. It was $1.95 sold new.)

As for the story...

The storyline is similar to the Code: heretical but not identical. Here we have James, brother of Jesus, relating what happened after the Crucifixion. But all is not set in stone. The hero (or maybe not, depending on how you read it) goes up against the odds to find a hidden truth. Along the way, there are familiar encounters with names like Opus Dei. Yup, they make a brief appearance here too.

If you paid attention to the recent uprising displayed by the Christian establishment when the DaVinci Code was released, you'll have some idea of the revolt that was seen when this book was popular. I remember it quite clearly.

The book is old, the story (again) dated but it's an affordable distraction. Anyway, to tell more would be to sell the farm. (No peeking ;)

Besides all of that... remember a few years back when that bone box was found that was purportedly once the home of the bones of James, brother of Jesus?

It's almost like there is some secret organization that surfaces stories and such, generation to generation, on the subject of Jesus' mortality. One can trace them easily enough with a little research. That's not to say that any of it is true but it's sure enough an added bonus to any reader who enjoys a grail quest simply for the fun of it.

The debunker, stick-in-the-mud types will ignore this though... and maintain their close relationships with the dust mites and moss. Let `em be.

PS- (Not Priory of Sion or Princess Sophie) The miniseries that was based on this book vacuumed pretty badly. A David Jansen vehicle, it is one of those `70's made-for-TV productions that made viewers cringe at the mere mention of the term, `miniseries'.

Read the book but then avoid the video like the plague.

Do you have absolute belief and faith in your religion? then go and read this book! Although it is one of the thickest novels I've read and deals with a boring subject, you will be surprised that you cannot put it down. The question about The Word will remain with you forever.Incredible imagination by Mr.Wallace, but it may be true.