false 6601119 1933184493 9781933184494 2 2 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6601119-the-book-of-life 957751 Henri Daniel-Rops 10 5 0 0 false Wed Jul 08 14:03:07 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 15:59:24 -0700 2009 The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold is a translation from the French L'Evangile de mes Filleuls by Henri Daniele-Rops. Originally written in 1955, it attempts to rewrite the New Testament in pseudo-story form.

Daniele-Rops' attempt to make the Bible palatable to the young fails, I'm afraid, at least in the English translation. The "story" portions of his book are interwoven with more preachy-sounding Biblical exegesis which, while interesting in and of themselves, are too abrupt and do not weave seamlessly with the rest of the text.

The book is also too self-aware. It keeps drawing attention to the fact that it is being written by an outside author and never draws the reader into the story. We are too aware that we are being read to (or preached at) and are never allowed to lose ourselves in what is arguably "the greatest story ever told." ]]>