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Mijn vriendschap met Jezus

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When Nick is 13, he loses his parents in a car-crash. His sister, seven years his elder, is left to look after him. As he grows up, she longs to lose this brotherly millstone around her neck, but he cannot bear the thought of losing her protection. So Nick goes to extremes to retain her care and attention.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

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Lars Husum

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5 stars
45 (13%)
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111 (32%)
3 stars
125 (36%)
2 stars
54 (15%)
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10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Tatiana.
76 reviews3 followers
February 3, 2021
Nikdy som tak nenávidela postavu a zároveň si pre ňu nepriala šťastný koniec ako v tejto knihe.
Profile Image for Ulifia.
18 reviews
Read
May 7, 2025
Jak macie jakiś przestój czytelniczy to warto wziąć sobie tą pozycję. Miło się czytało, pośmiałam się sporo, bardzo wprost napisana.
Profile Image for Martina.
30 reviews12 followers
February 5, 2017
Prvnich sto stran jsem myslela, ze se za tu knizku budu smazit v pekle.
Cerny humor & blasfemie. Pak se dej obratil a z knihy se stal takovy vyvojovy roman na dansky zpusob. Sex, nasili a Svedci Jehovovi included.

Pred nedavnem vysla v cestine pod nazvem Muj kamos Jezis, myslim, ze by stala za omrknuti!
Profile Image for Evička de Blois.
235 reviews34 followers
April 2, 2017
Po prvotním šoku se teď musím smát. Tento příběh je má spřízněná duše, musím se více zaměřit na Dánsko. Budu vám tvrdit, že to je vtipné, i když hned zkraje přijde hlavní postava o panictví tak, že znásilní opilou holku... a kope do hlavy malé kluky. Je vůbec v pořádku takové příběhy číst? Je to dost špatný příběh a taky příběh boží, vždyť jej navštíví i sám Ježíš. Vyvolá ve vás většinu existujících emocí, až je z vas emocionální smoothie a nevíte, co vlastně říct. Tohle bych chtěla probrat s Nietzschem nad sklenicí vody. Píšu si to na bucket list.
Profile Image for Becky.
39 reviews1 follower
September 22, 2015
I knew nothing about this book before reading it apart from what was on the cover. I was expecting something humourous, akin to Bruce Almighty, but this read more like Chuck Palahniuk; gritty and full of unpleasantness with all the humour that was present being rather dark in nature. Ultimately rather more optimistic than Palahniuk (though still somewhat ambiguous) I found this book interesting, different and easily readable.
Profile Image for Jakub.
822 reviews71 followers
March 25, 2013
I was sad, I was angry, I was disappointed and I was happy. This book evokes a whole range of emotions. Lots of black humour, lots of brutality but also... love. It is a tale of retribition but a very unconventional one. The ending, however, disappoints in a literary manner.
335 reviews
January 7, 2018
Idea buona, ma alla fine si è rivelato un libro un po' incocludente, che non ha lasciato nulla di che..
Profile Image for Raphael.
26 reviews
October 8, 2019
It was difficult for me to rate this. I enjoyed reading it for the most part, but all of it was in spite of the main character, who never became sympathetic to me. Niko never actually does much to redeem himself, and basically just is allowed to get away with more once he convinces everyone to like him. I *think* this was intentional on the part of the author, but to be honest, I'm not sure. Karen, Brian, Anita, Bike, Kink, and Jeppe were all far more interesting and likable characters, but unfortunately, they were all playing second fiddle to this asshole. Even Jesus barely made an appearance, which makes the title quite misleading.
My other criticism is the thinly veiled misogyny throughout the book... I know Niko is a shit person, but the book comes across as if readers are meant to be titillated by his violence and dehumanization toward the women in his life. Silje and Sis are obvious ones, but even with Marianne, whom he supposedly loves, it all seems to be based on the fact that she looks like a hotter version of that girl he publicly masturbated over in high school. And then, of course, there's the ending, which was played for pure shock value and seemed to bring nothing to the story. The only point at which the author seems to combat any of this is in Karen's conversation with Granny in which she tries to empower her to leave her abusive husband. Even that scene, though, was glossed over quite a bit.
Despite all of this, though, there really were so many darkly charming elements and characters in this book, and I wish I could have loved it.
Profile Image for Fátima Perochena.
344 reviews5 followers
dnf
March 12, 2024
Lo dejé en la página 81, ni siquiera llegué a terminar la primera de las cuatro partes que tiene. Desde hace tiempo tenía a esta novela en mi lista de pendientes. Le tenía mucha ilusión porque la premisa me parecía interesante: un chico problemático que ha tocado fondo cambia de vida cuando conoce a un hombre parecido a Jesucristo.

Francamente, pensé que este sería un libro bastante más espiritual de lo que terminé encontrando hasta el punto al que llegué. El protagonista me pareció un imbécil completo, y fue horrible estar metida en su cabeza. La relación que tiene con su hermana es tóxica, codependiente, y altamente perturbadora (al menos para mí). Además, en casi un tercio de libro, el famoso personaje “parecido a Jesucristo” no hizo su aparición.

Un detalle que considero importante es que el tener un protagonista desagradable no es algo nuevo y, dependiendo del tipo de historia, puede ser muy interesante. Sin embargo, en mi caso, todo es cuestión de expectativas. Lo que yo esperaba sacar de esta historia no es lo mismo que me encontré.

Entiendo que todavía falta mucho libro por delante, y que el camino de redención del protagonista está recién por comenzar. Sin embargo, llegué al tope de mi paciencia, y no tengo ningún interés en seguir la historia de Nikolaj. En absoluto.
Profile Image for Nicolas Slunsky.
105 reviews11 followers
March 17, 2018
This book was very different from what I was expecting - it has some funny parts (if you fancy jet black humor) but it's a very depressing story overall. The first quarter got me really excited, the rest wasn't all that great but it was good enough to keep me interested until the heart-wrenching end.
280 reviews14 followers
December 17, 2011
Seeking redemption, let alone finding it, can be a long and tortuous path. But what happens if Jesus Christ -- or at least a man claiming to be Jesus Christ -- is making suggestions here and there? That's the road on which Nikolaj Jensen is set in Danish writer Lars Husum's first novel, My Friend Jesus Christ .

When we meet Niko, as he's known to friends and family, he is struggling with a never-ending and always growing pit and ache in his stomach. Although Niko's mother became a Danish national treasure as a pop singer, she and Niko's father die in a car accident when Niko is 13. He was cared for by his older sister, who also manages and invests the earnings from their mother's songs. But Niko's fear of losing her increases as she begins living her own life, gets married and has a family. Niko increases his carousing and fighting, gaining the reputation of "an up-and-coming young psychopath." His path of self-destruction includes suicide attempts, trying to erase that knotting pain in his stomach.

Niko believes things may finally be changing for the better when he meets Silje, who turns out to be the singer in a tribute band to Niko's mother. Niko falls deeply in love with her but can't control the demons inside. During a minor argument he ends up savagely beating Silje and then attempts suicide in his sister's home. His actions eventually drive his sister to suicide herself, an event that crushes him.

The knot is tearing down everything to make room for itself. Walls, rooftops, floors, everything is being smashed to pieces in the loudest possible way. Suddenly the noise and pain stop, because what's the point of giving me a stomach ache when I no longer function? All is silent, the demolition is over, the knot is everywhere and I am no longer me. I am the knot.


It's at this point that Jesus Christ steps in. Actually, he breaks in. Niko wakes up early one morning to the sounds of a prowler in his apartment. Niko sees a man who's "tough, long-haired, bearded and big and strong, and [who] oozes confidence" entering his bathroom. When the man comes out, Niko clocks him in the head with an ashtray. Niko meet Jesus, or at least someone who claims to be Jesus and there to make Niko "a better man."

This encounter reflects part of the tone of My Friend Jesus Christ. Husum takes a light, at times humorous, touch to the issues Niko faces. At the same time, the sparse language of the work, translated from the Danish by Mette Petersen, retains a balance of seriousness and sincerity. That quality may reflect Husum's time as a screenwriter prior to the book, first published in Denmark in 2008 as "My Friendship with Jesus Christ" and now in its first English translation.

Although Niko is relatively convinced that Jesus is a "nutter," when Jesus touches him the knot disappears. Jesus advises Niko to move from Copenhagen to Tarm, the village in Jutland where his parents grew up. Niko's mother never returned to the town and refused offers to perform there after running away with Niko's father to escape her own abusive father. Figuring he has little or nothing left to lose, Niko moves there.

Once in Tarm, Niko quickly comes to treasure the area and makes a handful of friends and acquaintances, including a friend from his childhood who shows up in town, a promiscuous hairdresser, and an attractive Jehovah's Witness who comes to Niko's door. Acting again on the advice of Jesus (or the "nutter"), Niko convinces his friends, a group he calls "NATO," to return with him to Copenhagen to help him try and right the wrongs he's done. With a variety of twists, turns and complications, the group devotes itself to that mission with Niko getting occasional advice -- and even some assistance in a fight -- from Jesus.

My Friend Jesus Christ is about a search for individual redemption, not Christian fiction or even markedly religious. In fact, some Christians might even object to the book's portrayal of Jesus. Like Niko, the reader gets hints that the evidence supports the man's claims that he is Jesus but we are never actually sure.

Husum seems at his best in describing Niko before he meets Jesus, doing a first-rate job of portraying a soul in agony. That effort, though, makes some of the balance of the book seem a bit of a misfire. Niko's easy acceptance of the idea of moving to Tarm and his mollification there and later don't quite fit the self-destructive and tormented Niko of the first third of the book. Likewise, at times events in Copenhagen seem a bit too much like a blithe excursion than the struggle of an anguished soul. Additionally, although the ending is certainly appropriate for a story about a search for redemption, it is a bit confusing.

Despite those flaws, My Friend Jesus Christ entertains in its own idiosyncratic way.

(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie.)
Profile Image for Silvia Sabovíková.
38 reviews5 followers
February 15, 2018
the book is kinda weird for me. of course there were moments of inspiration and wisdom. i didn't like the last pages - they left me confused and shocked but seemed bizzare at the same time.
Profile Image for Mattia Carlini.
172 reviews
March 20, 2019
Un libro diverso da quelli che leggo solitamente che è riuscito a coinvolgermi molto. Una narrativa semplice e fluente ed una storia intrigante.
310 reviews1 follower
June 6, 2020
Är den inte filmatiserad än så lär den snart bli det. Annorlunda & underhållande med svärta.
Profile Image for Mája.
43 reviews5 followers
April 9, 2022
A great story, Clockwork Orange vibes. Really enjoyed it!
Profile Image for Bjorn.
999 reviews188 followers
April 23, 2013
The good thing about trying to bash in Jesus Christ's head is that he's immortal. Plus, he forgives you afterwards. Though there might be strings attached.

But let's start from the beginning: Nikolaj is a Bad Person. The son of a widely loved pop star and an orphan from a very young age, he's been raised by his teenage sister with far too much money to spend and turns into a Freudian nightmare. He gets in bad company, and looking for some sort of place in life he turns to violence, destruction, manipulation. His best friend is a skinhead called Satan. He abuses his girlfriend. He sets out to ruin his sister's marriage to make sure she only cares about him.

And when he finally hits bottom, sunk as low as a rich human being in a rich Western country can sink, driven away and ruined the lives of everyone who's ever made the mistake of trying to be kind to him, he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds a bearded guy in sandals in his kitchen. He tries to brain the intruder with an ashtray and nothing happens. And Jesus tells Nikolaj that this is it: it's time not only to sin no more, but to atone. Leave Copenhagen, move back to the backwater small town your mother fled to become a star, and try to be a Good Person.

My Friend Jesus Christ, the debut novel of a Danish writer translated into English a few years ago, starts to confuse me right around that point, and even after finishing it I'm not sure what to make of it. If it was really black comedy before then it switches into overdrive around the halfway point, as Nikolaj and his newfound friends (apparently, nothing makes you more popular than admitting that you're a bad person) start to set right everything he's messed up in his life to get Jesus to leave them alone. He has to fix everything he's done to the people he hurt (the ones who are still alive), whether they want him to or not. It's not a religious book, even if you assume that that's really Jesus in it and not just a hallucination by a very disturbed young man. Husum has worked with Lars von Trier, and any fans of his will recognize the themes - violence, evil, self-sacrificing women, and a sense of dark humour that just keeps coming. See: Jesus Christ literally tackle Satan! See: our hero get into it with Jehovah's witnesses! See: Danish small town dwellers freak out over the amount of black people in Copenhagen! Etc.

But at the same time there's a crawling sense of unease: as good as the idea of atoning for your sins and making up for it sounds, are we really supposed to sympathize with Nikolaj when he stops controlling and manipulating people to hurt them and instead starts controlling and manipulating them to [-]feel better about himself[/-] help them? It's striking how much changes, both in Nikolaj himself and how everyone else sees him, when he openly admits what a horrible person he's been and decides to change his wicked ways, but also how little changes: Nikolaj turns from Bad to Good, but it's still entirely about him and he's still the one in charge. Or is he...?

My Friend Jesus Christ, while hardly a literary masterpiece raises both laughs and some pretty interesting questions of why this type of story fascinates us, and whether it should - if we, by celebrating those who try to atone for the wrong they do, actually turn wrongdoers into ideals. I'm just not sure how much of that is deliberate by the writer. If Husum just wanted to write a story about how easy it is to turn your life around and how everyone is required to forgive those who ruin their lives, I suppose he will just have to do the Christian thing and forgive me for seeing more in it than he intended.
Profile Image for Miška Kuzmiaková.
47 reviews2 followers
February 14, 2017
Trošku rozpačité, no čítalo sa to veľmi dobre a ľahko. Pribeh je až pomaly tragicky, kde chlapec príde o všetko. Rodičov, sestru, sám seba, jediné čo ma, je spustnuty život plný zlých rozhodnutí. Či je Jezis v príbehu skutočný, alebo nie, je nepodstatné aj pre neveriacich, keďže nenabada k viere, len k náprave života. Napriek tomu, že dej je stále v Európskom štáte, je cititelne, že tie severské krajiny majú úplne iné zmýšľanie ako my v strede Europy.
Čakala som od toho viac, a záver má dosť sklamal a bola som neho až znechutená. Hoci s odstupom času je tam asi skrytá myšlienka, že aj keď spravíš veľa chýb a snažíš sa svoj život napravit a máš už pocit, že už je to dobré a aj sám si lepším človekom, príde situácia , že opäť zlyhas a je uz len na tebe ako sa k tomu postavia, či sa jedná stiahnuť opäť na dno, alebo zabojujes o ten lepší a krajší život.
Profile Image for Camilla.
37 reviews7 followers
February 16, 2018
Danske forfattere er generelt ikke min kop the, men Husum skriver så underholdende, og historien er så enestående og sjov, at jeg nød hver side. En lidt for dramatisk/amerikanifiseret slutning på en ellers dejlig historie.
3 reviews
October 15, 2015
I actually read this book in an evening as I had to read it for book club. This was my book choice and I expected so much better. I was disappointed as it was not the comedy I expected, nor was it interesting or captivating. I had a dislike for the protagonist and really could not have cared less about his journey. Jesus was not nearly enough of a central character and was only a passing character. The author could have done so much more with what I thought was a very good premise for a novel.
Profile Image for Anouk.
80 reviews
February 12, 2015
Hated the first 50 pages, hated the main character, liked the middle and hated the end.....
It was entartaining, but I had some troubles with feeling for the main character, who was mean, violent, depressed, irritating and just the "sex, drugs and RocknRoll"part was way more important to the storyline than the actual characters.
Overal not too bad, just not my kind of book
Profile Image for Jasmien.
307 reviews
July 20, 2016
Dit is het boek met het hoogste what the *!?-gehalte dat er bestaat. Als in, je zegt bij elk hoofdstuk wel minstens een keer 'what the *!?. Alsof de auteur elk hoofdstuk 50 plottwisten op een bord schreef en dan de meest vreemde koos. Maar toch valt het allemaal wel op zijn plaats eigenlijk. Echt geweldig boek eigenlijk. Maar heel erg weird.
Profile Image for Rita .
4,053 reviews95 followers
September 16, 2025
L'INOSSERVATO GESÙ

La trama mi ha coinvolta moltissimo, nonostante mi aspettassi Gesù fosse un personaggio-chiave, mentre invece passa quasi inosservato e nemmeno viene chiarito l'incontro col protagonista sia stato reale o frutto dell'immaginazione di quest'ultimo. La batosta è arrivata col finale, che mi ha fatto venir voglia di strappare le pagine una ad una.
Profile Image for Ny_a.
105 reviews
April 15, 2013
Please avoid Polish translation of this book. As the book is average - Polish translation makes it horrible. Polish edition is translated by a 'lady from a good house' that does not use bad words. The dialogues in the book looks like being told by an 6 years old girl. Not worth spending a penny.
Profile Image for Aušra Strazdaitė-Ziberkienė.
277 reviews33 followers
April 18, 2020
Rekomenduočiau kaip terapinę, savipagalbos knygą, siūlančią šį bei tą pergalvoti. Ironiška, smagi knyga apie tai, kad Dievulis - toli gražu ne draugelis, ant kurio peties galima paverkti, kai jautiesi nelaimingiausias pasaulyje.
Profile Image for Debumere.
657 reviews12 followers
March 1, 2012
Amazing book from a first time writer - really loved this, was right up my street. Will be looking more into Danish writers.
Profile Image for Julia.
27 reviews
May 6, 2012
Took me a while to get into but liked it a lot
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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