Jess's review
Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist
Jess's review
[summer 2003:] reads more like a fable or parable than straight-up fiction. follows the life of the bewildered barabbas as one who knows that his freedom was, quite literally, purchased at the cost of christ's life. he is not unappreciative of his unique ransom -- he feels the weight of the swap quite pointedly -- and yet he does not know what to make of the christ himself or his teachings. later on he is captured and brought into slavery, though as one who has the mark of christ on him; his internal embrace of the external mark, however, is always less than utter. like others of lagerkvist's writings, this parabolic tale is a study in doubt and belief, and is filled with paradoxes. in the end, it's as though barabbas' confession could be the inverse of that of the man from Mark 9: 'i don't believe; create in me true belief.'
