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47th out of 155 books
—
158 voters
Towing Jehovah (Godhead #1)
God is dead, and Anthony Van Horne must tow the corpse to the Arctic (to preserve Him from sharks and decomposition). En route Van Horne must also contend with ecological guilt, a militant girlfriend, sabotage both natural and spiritual, and greedy hucksters of oil, condoms, and doubtful ideas. Winner of a 1995 World Fantasy Award.
Paperback, A Harvest Book, 371 pages
Published
April 24th 1995
by Harcourt, Inc.
(first published 1993)
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God is dead, and his two-mile long corpse is floating in the Atlantic, right around the equator. Anthony van Horne, a disgraced oil tanker captain is tapped by the Vatican to haul God's body up to the North Pole, where the grieving angels have prepared a cave for his internment and preservation. Van Horne is joined by a priest with a Kantian bent, a sensual nun, and Cassie Fowler, an atheist marooned after the crash of the Beagle II. Cassie has plans of her own for God's body, which she sees as...more
I bought Towing Jehovah about a year ago, but hadn't gotten around to reading it until now. I wish I hadn't waited!
A tanker captain -- riddled with guilt about his involvement in a serious oil spill -- is approached by the Angel Gabriel to take on the job of salvaging God's dead body (which fell into the sea at 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude) by towing it to the Arctic, where the angels have built an ice tomb. He will be accompanied by/reporting to a Jesuit priest, representing the Vati...more
A tanker captain -- riddled with guilt about his involvement in a serious oil spill -- is approached by the Angel Gabriel to take on the job of salvaging God's dead body (which fell into the sea at 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude) by towing it to the Arctic, where the angels have built an ice tomb. He will be accompanied by/reporting to a Jesuit priest, representing the Vati...more
Yesterday at work, I got an ILL request for this book. The title did not ring any mental bells. I pulled the book from the shelf. No mental bells rang. It wasn't until I was checking the book out to the borrowing library that I looked at the cover and heard the faintest mental ding. The illustration on the cover was familiar.
I read the story description on the back of the book. Oh yes, that sounded familiar. It was familiar. I had read this book.
But I can't remember where I was when I read the b...more
I read the story description on the back of the book. Oh yes, that sounded familiar. It was familiar. I had read this book.
But I can't remember where I was when I read the b...more
Mar 09, 2008
Tracy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
un-stuffed shirts
Recommended to Tracy by:
christopher moore
Shelves:
fantasy
Oh, I liked this one a lot. Not for those who take their religion too seriously. Not for those who have a limited sense of whimsy or the absurd.
I skipped over or skimmed the re-enactment 'chapters' most of the time (that plotline didn't interest me until the end). I could put the book down, but was always finding ways to pick it up again to catch a few pages while waiting for water to boil, the toast to cook, etc.
This author was recommended by Christopher Moore on his webpage. I'll definitely tr...more
I skipped over or skimmed the re-enactment 'chapters' most of the time (that plotline didn't interest me until the end). I could put the book down, but was always finding ways to pick it up again to catch a few pages while waiting for water to boil, the toast to cook, etc.
This author was recommended by Christopher Moore on his webpage. I'll definitely tr...more
Dec 21, 2008
Brian Steed
added it
By the time I’d finished this book, Morrow had become one of my favorite writers. The philosophy he espouses in his writings is perfectly in tune with my own. He’s a champion of rationality, and I wish not only that there were more like him, but that they also had a more visible platform from which to vocalize (I wrote these comments in 2005, at the height of Bush’s America, in which ignorance is equated with integrity, and level-headed, nuanced thinking is considered “elitist” at best and dange...more
I wanted to like this book, I reeeeeallly reeeeally did. But 2/3rds through the story it fell flat on God's frozen smiling face. The story of disgraced Valpariso capt Anthony Van Horne began earnestly enough -angst is always partial to strong protagonists and Morrow's ability to paint the portrait of his lead character shone through brilliantly right up to when he became sexually involved with Cassie Fowler. Truthfully the story was compelling to me only because it pioneered new material in the...more
God is dead, and they've got the body to prove it! This book is a real riot in an irreverent yet respectful way.
Dying angels inform the Vatican that God has keeled over and fallen in to the ocean. The Vatican is worried about the spectacle that might occur if anyone were to find out (plus it may be a little bad for business, if you know what I mean). They hire Anthony Van Horne, a ship captain in search of redemption, and Father Thomas Ockham to tow Corpus Dei to its final resting place.
A skept...more
Dying angels inform the Vatican that God has keeled over and fallen in to the ocean. The Vatican is worried about the spectacle that might occur if anyone were to find out (plus it may be a little bad for business, if you know what I mean). They hire Anthony Van Horne, a ship captain in search of redemption, and Father Thomas Ockham to tow Corpus Dei to its final resting place.
A skept...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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From the back:
"Coming off like a combination of Kurt Vonnegut, Lenny Bruce and a kindly old mensch, Morrow brings much-needed humor to the examination of religons and their purveyors." -- Des Moines Sunday Registter
"Morrow hilariously joins the ranks of the great satirists." -- the Denver Post
My remarks:
One of my favorite authors. Every time I reread one of his books, I find another layer.
Edit: I did an extensive interview with Mr. Morrow which is available at my website. Here's the introductio...more
"Coming off like a combination of Kurt Vonnegut, Lenny Bruce and a kindly old mensch, Morrow brings much-needed humor to the examination of religons and their purveyors." -- Des Moines Sunday Registter
"Morrow hilariously joins the ranks of the great satirists." -- the Denver Post
My remarks:
One of my favorite authors. Every time I reread one of his books, I find another layer.
Edit: I did an extensive interview with Mr. Morrow which is available at my website. Here's the introductio...more
Jul 27, 2008
Jim
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who think blasphemy can be funny and insightful.
Shelves:
humanities-geek,
fantasy-geek
In the mid-nineties, I managed to go two years without reading a book that was not related to my classwork. This book got me out of that rut, and I've never gone back in since. Towing Jehovah is delightfully irreverent (wait until you see what happens when they run out of food), and thought-provoking. It raises genuine questions about human nature and the power of belief in the midst of a maelstrom of ridiculous happenings. An absolute delight.
I don't think I can write a review that does this book justice. Easily one of the best reads this year, and it was a really great year in books for me...
So God dies, falls into the ocean. An angel, shedding feathers and tears, approaches you with a mission: take God to a tomb in the Arctic Circle. What do you do?
Well, disgraced Captain Anthony Van Horne reacquires his ship and breaks south in a mad dash to bring the divine body to the North Pole before His neurons die. Thomas Ockham is a physici...more
So God dies, falls into the ocean. An angel, shedding feathers and tears, approaches you with a mission: take God to a tomb in the Arctic Circle. What do you do?
Well, disgraced Captain Anthony Van Horne reacquires his ship and breaks south in a mad dash to bring the divine body to the North Pole before His neurons die. Thomas Ockham is a physici...more
I think I came to this with the wrong expectations. It's pretty light on the theology in favor of some Pythonesque absurd humor, which of course would please most folks. I enjoyed it but coming in the midst of the dark 900 pg doorstoppers I seem to be specializing in these days I was not in the best place to fully appreciate the humor. That said, I would certainly recommend this to certain of my friends.
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I'd picked this up excited to read it, but after the mildy compelling opening, the book started to drag. Other books were looking more and more appealing, so I put this down.
After a few years of sitting on my shelf I picked it up again, determined to give it a fair shake. I was a little put off by it, it came across as heavy handed and contrived. I felt that I was scatter sprayed by a ton of one note characters that might or might not have been important to the story. After kind of getting who...more
After a few years of sitting on my shelf I picked it up again, determined to give it a fair shake. I was a little put off by it, it came across as heavy handed and contrived. I felt that I was scatter sprayed by a ton of one note characters that might or might not have been important to the story. After kind of getting who...more
Good book for a Religious Themes in Science Fiction-type course. What if Nietzsche's famous statement that "God is dead" was literally true? What if the Creator --- the two-mile tall, bearded, bephallused, vertebrate, bipedal Creator --- died of unknown causes and plunged into the sea? Would atheists see God's death as a victory or a failure (since His death means He really existed in the first place)? Would women see the death of the patriarchal Abrahamic God as a case of just deserts or would...more
God is dead (we know this because His 2 mile-long body is floating in the ocean). Before all of the angels die of grief, they hire a disgraced tanker captain to tow the body into the Arctic Sea so it won’t rot. Funny, satirical, and thought-provoking, Morrow’s book reminds me of Vonnegut, although I couldn’t tell you exactly why.
This is my first take of the author James Morrow. True, this was a light reading, but this book asked the big questions. The premise being the corpse of God (a two-mile long white male with a grey beard, as he has often been depicted) is discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The captain of a supertanker is dispatched by the Vatican on a secret mission to tow the Divine Corpse to a tomb carved out of the Arctic ice.
A real thought- provoking read. But note that this book is definitely NOT for...more
A real thought- provoking read. But note that this book is definitely NOT for...more
É surpreendente o poder das redes sociais. Não estou apenas a falar daquela rede social, mas de outras redes dedicadas a interesses específicos. É o caso da Goodreads, dedicada a bibliófilos, graças à qual descobri este intrigante, divertido e interessante livro através das opções de leitura do escritor português David Soares.
Towing Jehovah leva ao absurdo o conceito nietzschiano da morte de deus. Se o filósofo, e a comunidade de ateus (na qual orgulhosamente me incluo) proclamou a morte metafór...more
Towing Jehovah leva ao absurdo o conceito nietzschiano da morte de deus. Se o filósofo, e a comunidade de ateus (na qual orgulhosamente me incluo) proclamou a morte metafór...more
Nov 21, 2008
Evan
added it
James Morrow has a way in all of his books of displaying heresy as divinity. That nothing is as sacred as comedy or interpretation.
Taken on a journey with a burnt out oil tanker captain hired by the Vatican, who were hired by the last of the dying angels, to haul the 2 mile long corpse of God out of the Prime Meridian/Equator center to the arctic for preservation.
God's corporeal cadaver contains weird extra-dimensional and electro-magnetic and nutritional properties all of which create awesome s...more
Taken on a journey with a burnt out oil tanker captain hired by the Vatican, who were hired by the last of the dying angels, to haul the 2 mile long corpse of God out of the Prime Meridian/Equator center to the arctic for preservation.
God's corporeal cadaver contains weird extra-dimensional and electro-magnetic and nutritional properties all of which create awesome s...more
A fascinating read, filled with noble angels in mourning, a well-intentioned American Pope (!) committed to paying final respects to the creator of Heaven and Earth, and a washed up, former oil tanker captain, suddenly finding himself in an opportunity for redemption and forgiveness.
At first blush an insult to people of faith, this novel shows a more sympathetic point of view, suggesting that even if God died, his creation would still crave the world God created, the paradigm God defined, and th...more
At first blush an insult to people of faith, this novel shows a more sympathetic point of view, suggesting that even if God died, his creation would still crave the world God created, the paradigm God defined, and th...more
This was ultimately disappointing due to its formulaic ending. The concept was awesome, and most of the imagery was really well-crafted. I personally felt like in terms of the story it might as well have been a romance novel. The character development was not on par with the imagery or concept of the novel, and I kept on hoping that as a sci-fi fantasy book it might actually take me a to more stylized and creative place at the end. big bummer. This did not suck, however, and I also read the next...more
What happens if god dies (and falls into the ocean)? Well, the religious people want to cover it up because, well, god is dead. And the atheists want to cover it up because they've been wrong this whole time. And angels start molting, and someone has to figure out what to do when the body starts to stink (does god have a belly button? You'll find out if you read this book!)
A good, fairly whimsical read, which tries to make a few philosophical points, but doesn't take itself too seriously. Recomm...more
A good, fairly whimsical read, which tries to make a few philosophical points, but doesn't take itself too seriously. Recomm...more
Dieu est mort, et son corps dérive dans le golfe de Guinée. Anthony van Horne, ex capitaine d'un supertanker et responsable d'une marée noire sans précédent est chargé par le Vatican de remaorquer le corps jusqu'à sa dernière demeure.
Tel est le pitch de départ de ce roman qui, sous ses dehors rigolards et gentiment iconoclaste interroge notre rapport au sacré et à dieu, bien sûr.
Car en effet, si le ton semble d'abord léger et en dépit d'un humour corrosif distillé au fil des pages, c'est aussi u...more
Tel est le pitch de départ de ce roman qui, sous ses dehors rigolards et gentiment iconoclaste interroge notre rapport au sacré et à dieu, bien sûr.
Car en effet, si le ton semble d'abord léger et en dépit d'un humour corrosif distillé au fil des pages, c'est aussi u...more
Towing Jehova can be maybe summarized in one question: "God is dead. Now what?"
Starting off a bit too religious (in my opinion), the story talks of angels and God, old testament and new testament. It is mostly written from a Christian angle with a head-nod toward Judaism (nothing about Islam or other religions), which made me feel as if I'm reading a "christian rock" book.
The story develops, however, and turns more philosophical as the quest continues and havoc breaks loose, the subject at hand...more
Starting off a bit too religious (in my opinion), the story talks of angels and God, old testament and new testament. It is mostly written from a Christian angle with a head-nod toward Judaism (nothing about Islam or other religions), which made me feel as if I'm reading a "christian rock" book.
The story develops, however, and turns more philosophical as the quest continues and havoc breaks loose, the subject at hand...more
God is dead. What are the implications? God's enormous corpse is indisputable proof of His own existence. But that same corpse proves there will be no divine judgement waiting for us in the afterlife. Does proof of an ultimate Creater render humankind's unending quest for knowledge obsolete? Does the death of that Creator invalidate morality? These topics are discussed in great detail throughout the voyage to deliver God's corpse to an icy tomb prepared for Him by the angels. Deep stuff, not a l...more
Never judge a book by its cover, right? Does going on the title count?
We all do that, of course, and it was the title that first grabbed me, then the description made it a must read. Morrow is a writer that I was only vaguely aware of, but the reviews appealed to me immediately. So when the Atheist Book Club group were looking for fiction recommendations I just had to put it forward, and am very glad I did – although I was slightly worried that the book was perhaps less atheistic than I had anti...more
We all do that, of course, and it was the title that first grabbed me, then the description made it a must read. Morrow is a writer that I was only vaguely aware of, but the reviews appealed to me immediately. So when the Atheist Book Club group were looking for fiction recommendations I just had to put it forward, and am very glad I did – although I was slightly worried that the book was perhaps less atheistic than I had anti...more
This book has a bit of an absurdist tone, I think, a little bit like Tom Robbins's Jitterbug Perfume or Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds. I liked those books more--in those books, the tone and the writing style are really entertaining and keep you engaged with the book. In Towing Jehovah, it was less so for me. I felt that the book had a really strong beginning--how could it not, with that premise?--but then the middle fell very, very flat for me. I hated the World War II reenactors. I hated th...more
no spoilers, but here's a synopsis
First: I would definitely recommend this book to anyone! Okay...maybe not to devout Christians or Catholics -- they might be a little upset with the satire. However, if you find yourself with an open mind, do read this book. You will NOT be disappointed. At times it is just downright funny; at other times, filled with wisdom.
The main premise is that God is dead and that his huge body (2 miles long, with 7 million tons of displacement)has fallen into the sea from...more
First: I would definitely recommend this book to anyone! Okay...maybe not to devout Christians or Catholics -- they might be a little upset with the satire. However, if you find yourself with an open mind, do read this book. You will NOT be disappointed. At times it is just downright funny; at other times, filled with wisdom.
The main premise is that God is dead and that his huge body (2 miles long, with 7 million tons of displacement)has fallen into the sea from...more
My best friend has been telling me to read this book for a few years now, so I was in the somewhat bad position of having high expectations going into this book. I had something of a mixed reaction. If I'm stuck with the five star scale, I'd give this one four stars for being intellectually interesting, three and a half stars for being well written, and maybe two and a half to three stars for emotional impact. I may have to read it another few times to really appreciate it. It's not that I didn'...more
Very very strange to say the least. Anyone devotedly Catholic will hate it. I had difficulty staying focused with the subplots. Basically G-d is dead and the Catholic church needs someone to tow His body to a remote location to be entombed quietly. Then there are the Skeptic Society that wants to destroy G-d as His existence jeopardizes all that they believe. And the group they hire to do the job..... Very bizarre book. I liked Morrow's Begotten Daughter better and that one was weird too.
I forget how much I do enjoy fantasy/science fiction/surreal books. This book surprised me on how much I enjoyed the premise, the characters, and the thought-provoking question of, "What would the world do if they had irrevocable proof that God was "human" just like the rest of us and had died?" Granted God's a little different then the rest of us by the mere fact that he is two miles long but a fascinating and engaging scenario to mull over. Check it out if you have a chance...
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“Ockham's disposable razors”
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6 people liked it
“...God's penis would still rank high among those vistas a priest and a nun could not comfortably share.”
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4 people liked it
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