Barabbas
by Par Lagerkvist
Barabbas
Par Lagerkvist |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 286)
What a poor wretch Barabbas is. You have to feel sorry for him, for through no will or desire or intention of his own he finds himself in the center of one of the most momentous events in human history - his life is spared and Jesus is crucified - but this "resurrection" of Barabbas only makes his life more difficult as he's unprepared to process all the metaphysical implications of the event. He's actually constitutionally incapable of understanding metaphysics; all he understands is ...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Paul
I hesitated (several years) to read this book, afraid a lack of Christian background would make it all meaningless. I did start reading at my desk, with Wikipedia onscreen, but once I got under way, the "vivid, continuous dream" took over. I failed to recognize some unnamed characters, I'm pretty sure, but I decided not to care. The book is supposed to represent the story of Christianity in its newness, and its newness to me can be taken as in league with that. I don't know exactly wha...more
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Read in August, 2008
a very interesting book about spirituality. its a bit slow in the beginning, but as you approach the end you start seeing the meaning of it. good news is that is very short:) As most of Lagerkvist works, it is a bit sad and depressing. There are only 3 characters in the book : Jesus, Barabbas and no-names. Basically, "the good", "the bad" and the world. "the good" is Jesus (love, tolerance) who sacrificed for world and gave love and "the bad" -Barabbas, ...more
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Read in February, 1999
recommends it for:
Anybody
This is the best book about faith or the lack of it I've ever read. The volume pictured has the translation I read.
Barabbas is a New Testament figure. In scripture, the crowd about to witness the crucifixion of Jesus is asked which prisoner should be set free. Instead of Jesus, the crowd chooses Barabbas, whose crime is vague (he may have been a thief, a murderer, an agitator or something else) and Barabbas spends the rest of the novel unable to believe in Christ and yet unable to continue in ...more
Barabbas is a New Testament figure. In scripture, the crowd about to witness the crucifixion of Jesus is asked which prisoner should be set free. Instead of Jesus, the crowd chooses Barabbas, whose crime is vague (he may have been a thief, a murderer, an agitator or something else) and Barabbas spends the rest of the novel unable to believe in Christ and yet unable to continue in ...more
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I've read a lot of early Christian church history and Roman Empire history and the historical background that this book was set against was familiar territory, but it was haunting nonetheless. We all go into the "pit", we are all "born to die" and what is important is how we treat others before that day comes. It makes me reflect again that living a full life of curiosity and learning as well as service to others, gives you the integrity to meet the end in as graceful a man...more
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It took me forever to find this book, so maybe I gave it an extra star for the effort and joy of finding it and devouring it within 2 hours or less.
Still a very poignant and effective piece on the man chosen to go free so jesus could be executed. Reads like Nietzsche's forays into parable fiction in some places, like Sartre in others. Much more than fiction, though not as preachy as a fable or philosophical lit.
I'm going to put here also that I wish goodreads was a ten star/rating system...more
Still a very poignant and effective piece on the man chosen to go free so jesus could be executed. Reads like Nietzsche's forays into parable fiction in some places, like Sartre in others. Much more than fiction, though not as preachy as a fable or philosophical lit.
I'm going to put here also that I wish goodreads was a ten star/rating system...more
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At this point in his career, Lagerkvist has unlimited control over his language. The narrative reads like a poem, and reads very easily; no pressure is put on readers in their task, no exertion is wasted. There is no attempt by the author to be clever or forcibly meaningful. All there is to know and see is naked before you, nothing is hiding. What meaning there is comes in steady waves, smoothly, naturally, almost unnoticed. 'Barabbas' must be re-read, but this should be a pleasurable, effortles...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 1974
recommended to erik by:
Anne Lise Graffrecommends it for: anyone interested in literary treatments of the gospel stories
Beware of the author's first name's omlaut and middle name in looking up editions of his works or you will miss many.
Frankly, I didn't get much from this book. Lagerkvist wrote it shortly after the second world war and it reads like a Ingmar Bergman movie from that period plays, i.e. as the superimposition of modern concerns unto ancient materials. As a recreation of a biblical tale, it is not very instructive. As literature, Lagerkvist received the Nobel Prize the following year.
Frankly, I didn't get much from this book. Lagerkvist wrote it shortly after the second world war and it reads like a Ingmar Bergman movie from that period plays, i.e. as the superimposition of modern concerns unto ancient materials. As a recreation of a biblical tale, it is not very instructive. As literature, Lagerkvist received the Nobel Prize the following year.
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Lagervist is always intense. barabbas just wants to know what the hell people want from him. If you want be to believe, then I will try. He wants to feel the spirit strongly within himself. he wants to be a rebellious Christian, but he just can't seem to cut it. The guy who was indirectly responsible for Christ's death is closer to God than any of the other characters. This one really bummed me out. Triggered a two week long depression that I may never get over. Enjoy.
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Read in August, 2007
tried to read this book for our doomed bookclub this summer. it is the story of the man who was released from jail and swapped with jesus christ. it brought back so many memories of the stuff we had to read at cathechism. i was very impatient with it and abandoned it quite early on, despite the fact that its author got the nobel prize for it.
it reminded me of a penguin classics poster in the bookstore i worked at in paris, with "so many books, so little time" written on it.
it reminded me of a penguin classics poster in the bookstore i worked at in paris, with "so many books, so little time" written on it.
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I also read this book for the doomed book club May mentioned. While reading one cannot help realize how awefully contrived it is- Barabas the evil Jewish merchant who is set free so Christ himself can be crucified in place of him- the plot unfolds with all this dragging and boring religious imagry. Barabas, the main character, is of course haunted by the prophet the rest of his terrible and tried life . Noble Prize!!!!
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recommends it for:
everyone! (There's a translated version too)
Barabbas - who was due to be crucified but was replaced by Jesus on the cross - spends the rest of his life persecuted and wondering why he was saved from death. It is great book on the questions of life, death and everything in between.
It is just one of the best books I've ever read.
It is just one of the best books I've ever read.
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Not only does this book deal with Christian themes, it also was written by an author I had never heard of, someone who won the Nobel Prize for literature and is apparently a big deal in Swedish literature. It can't get better than that, right?
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Read in June, 2007
This is a pretty interesting (fictional) take on the title character, especially if you grew up Catholic/Christian. It doesn't really get into the Jesus aspect very much, rather it delves into what sort of person Barrabas could have been.
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I was reading this book for the umpteenth time when suddenly we got in a bad car wreck. I finished the paragraph before realizing that my neck hurt quite a bit, and there was glass in my hair.
So yeah, it's a pretty good book.
So yeah, it's a pretty good book.
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A fairly quick read. Gives a fictional view into what the days after Jesus' death were like. Sad though...the reader is never really sure of the salvation of Barabbas. I'm not sure if Barabbas even knew.
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What happened to the thief who was freed over Jesus? I read this in high school, and have since never found anyone else who's read it.
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A short and interesting read on Barabbas, the person that Jesus actually saved (from the gallows).
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As good as the author's last name is a pain in the balls to pronounce.
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