“Mankind, I suppose, is designed to run on – to be motivated by – temptation. If progress is a virtue then this is our greatest gift. (For what is curiosity if not intellectual temptation? And what progress is there without curiosity?) On the other hand, can you call such a profound weakness a gift, or is it a design flaw? Is temptation itself at fault for man’s woes, or is it simply the lack of judgment in response to temptation? In other words, who is to blame? Mankind, or a bad designer?”
I’m not going too far if I say, Lamb by Christopher Moore is probably my most favourite book ever. I think it was recommended to me around 2009 – I remember bringing it with me to my first UK trip ever in 2010 and by that time I’ve read it at least once – and I instantly fell in love. In the past 10 years I’ve read it at least half a dozen times. And I still find it damn hilarious every time I decide to reread it. Though I’ve been mostly reading in English for the better part of the last 8 or so years, I think this is the first time that I read Lamb in that language. I have a well worn Hungarian paperback which I love to pieces – and which have a much better cover IMO – and a lot of memories dragging it halfway around the world. And since I have a pretty strong link with the Hungarian version, I was a bit afraid whether the enjoyment would be the same. Translations can be tricky and in recent years I’ve not been happy at how some books were translated into my language. I’m happy to report, that in this case our translator did a damn good job. The original version really lives up to my Hungarian memories.
Have you ever wondered who Jesus really was? About what happened to him during that 30 years the Bible doesn’t bother explaining? I can assure you, many scholars researched the topic, but probably none of them were as amusing as Christopher Moore‘s book. In Lamb we follow Jesus’ or rather Joshua’s life from the time he is six until his death. We watch him grow up, try his hands in miracles which later made him famous, learn how to be a Messiah. We follow him across half of the known world at the time until he returns to his home in Nasareth to be the man he was destined to be. But he wouldn’t be able to manage all that without his most trusted companion, Levi who is called Biff. Joshua – as he was called in Aramaic – , is depicted as a serious, emphatic, sensitive child who grows up into the man we more or less know from the Bible. Biff is his complete opposite, he is crafty, cunning and doesn’t say no to a little trouble making. But most of all, he is loyal to a fault.
“The Law says that two must go with the flock to keep an abomination from happening. I can spot an abomination from fifty paces.’ Maggie smiled. ‘And did you prevent any abominations?’ ‘Oh yes, I kept all of the abominations at bay while Kaliel played with his favorite sheep behind the bushes.’ ‘Biff,’ Joshua said gravely, ‘that was the abomination you were supposed to prevent.’”
They complement each other well, and in truth they are more brothers than friends. He also has a sense of humor which highlights the events all through the book. Because, when your best friend is the son of God, you have to suffer the companionship of the stupidest angel and you find yourself in impossible situations – like dealing with a yak, or getting your best friend out of a bag among other things), your only chance to stay sane is to develop a great sense of humor. And a healthy dose of common sense. The connection Josh and Biff have is really awesome and I have a soft spot for books which depict brotherhood such as theirs.
“Little Joshua spun on his heel. ‘My name is not Joshua bar Biff, and it is not Joshua bar Joseph either. It’s Joshua bar Jehovah!’ I looked around, hoping that no one had heard him. I didn’t want my only son (I planned to sell Judah and James into slavery) to be stoned to death for uttering the name of God in vain. ‘Don’t say that again, Josh. I won’t marry your mother.’ ‘No, you won’t.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I forgive you.’ ‘She will make an excellent concubine.’ Don’t let anyone tell you that the Prince of Peace never struck anyone. In those early days, before he had become who he would be, Joshua smote me in the nose more than once. That was the first time.”
As Joshua tries to figure out what it means to be Messiah and how can he become one, together they set off to find the three Magicans who visited Joshua upon his birth. Their adventure lead them to Balthasar in Kabul, Gaspar in China and Melchior in India. In all three places they learn about the teachings of famous philosophies and ideas which later shines through his teachings. Out of the three destinations they visited, my favorite was Kabul and Balthasar’s home with the seven Chinese concubines and the mysterious iron door. Gaspar and the monostor was a fun one too, where Joshua and Biff has to learn to ju-do. The parts about India, while were interesting, felt a bit rushed and we didn’t spend as much time there to be able to properly immerse ourselves in it.
“Rumi had expressed my sentiments exactly, but I would be damned if I was going to let my last words be ‘Eek, a tiger,’ so I listened quietly as urine filled my shoes.”
The last part of the book retells the story we know better from the Bible – how Joshua becomes the teacher people look up at, how he performs miracles and gets on the wrong side of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Even though you well damn know what is going to happen, you can’t help but sit on the edge of your seat as you read and feel ALL the emotions. I swear I have a lump in my throat every time I near the end.
“Since I could remember, my friendship with Joshua had been my anchor, my reason for being, my life; now it, he, was running toward destruction like a storm-driven ship to a reef, and I couldn’t think of a thing to do but panic.”
Lamb is, to put it simply a masterpiece. It has the right balance of adventure, humor, serious topics, mystery, history. I loved all the little Easter eggs Moore put into this book referring to historical events, people (a guy from Turin takes a cloth from Joshua after he cleans his face with it!!), etc. Not talking about how much research he must have put in to give back the atmosphere of the era, the traditions of Jews and the stories we know from the Bible. But thourough research and exquisite writing wouldn’t have been enough to have a near perfect book. What makes Lamb exceptional is the humor and the characters that Moore brought to life. No matter how many times I read it, I just can’t help laughing out loud or be sad or excited for them to succeed in their quest.
You absolutely have to read this book if you like Moore‘s books, love humor, want an alternative history about who Jesus was, enjoy reading about adventure, drama and prefer a character driven story. In short: READ THIS BOOK!
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Popular Highlights in this book
“The three jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility. Balthasar said compassion leads to courage, moderation leads to generosity, and humility leads to leadership.”Highlighted by 2,512 Kindle readers- It’s hard for me, a Jew, to stay in the moment. Without the past, where is the guilt? And without the future, where is the dread? And without guilt and dread, who am I?Highlighted by 1,679 Kindle readers
- Faith isn’t an act of intelligence, it’s an act of imagination.Highlighted by 823 Kindle readers
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WWJD?
I always read the five star and one star reviews when considering purchase of a book here at Amazon. I do this because both sorts together provide insight into whether it's something I would enjoy reading. In particular, the one star reviews of Lamb convinced me to get it and read the story. You see, they were almost all written by our present day born again Pharisees. After all, it was Pharisees long ago who tried Josh (Jesus is a Greek name. He was locally known as Joshua.) and found him guilty of blasphemy. A story like this one could easily set our Pharisees' heads on fire.A codicil March 24 2019I just finished re-reading Lamb. Maybe I like adolescent humor, but I laughed all the way to the last chapter and cried through that. Every time I read Lamb, I become a believer for a short time. Republican Jesus believers: Jesus wasn't even about abortion and homophobic hate, and that's all republican Jesus is.No, I'm not a believer. But I always had a soft spot for the real Joshua/Jesus, and I found someone in Lamb who closely resembles the guy I fell in love with many years ago. I mean, how could I not love someone who fed the poor, loved children and gave the sermon on the mount? Hey man, I'm an old hippy from the sixties, the real deal. There are versions of the new testament which print the actual words uttered by Josh in the four gospels in red ink. If you go through and read what the guy *said,* you will see why us hippies would naturally love him. I just couldn't do the closed belief system thing around him. I don't do closed belief systems. They all look like lobster traps to me. I'm not saying there aren't aspects to reality which I can't explain just with science, logic and reason. So, I do experiential. But hey, after reading this novel, I can see how if I'd been there with him and witnessed the stuff told of in Lamb, yeah, I'd believe.BTW, a lot of it is funny, especially the jewish humor. Levi, Josh's best pal known as Biff, was hilarious. But the last chapter was not one bit funny. I cried.
Top reviews from other countries
Daniel from Norwich
Hugely entertaining!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 23, 2023Sally Bell
Fantastic read thanks Christopher. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Reviewed in Australia on June 3, 2017
