The Life of God

Chicago Shorts

by Franco Ferrucci, Raymond Rosenthal (Translator)

At the center of Franco Ferrucci's inspired novel is a tender, troubled God. In the beginning is God's solitude, and because God is lonely he creates the world. He falls in love with earth, plunges into the oceans, lives as plant and reptile and bird. His every thought and mood serve to populate the planet, with consequences that run away from him—sometimes delightfully, sometimes unfortunately.

When a new arrival emerges from the apes, God believes he has finally found the companion he needs to help him make sense of his unruly creation. Yet, as the centuries pass, God feels more and more out of place in the world he has created; by the close of his memoir, he is packing his bags.

Highly praised and widely reviewed, The Life of God is a playful, wondrous, and irresistible book, recounting thousands of years of religious and philosophical thought.

"A supreme but imperfect entity, the protagonist of this religiously enlightened and orthodoxically heretical novel is possessed by a raving love for his skewed, unbalanced world. . . . Blessed are the readers, for this tale of God's long insomnia will keep them happily awake. . . . Extraordinary." —Umberto Eco

"The Life of God is, in truth, the synthesis of a charming writer's . . . expression of his boundless hopes for, and poignant disappointments in, his own human kind." —Jack Miles, New York Times Book Review

"Rather endearing. . . . This exceedingly amusing novel . . . is a continuous provocation and delight; there isn't a dull page in it." — Kirkus Reviews

"A smart and charming knitting of secular and ecclesiastic views of the world. . . . The character of God is likable—sweet, utterly human. . . . The prose is delightful . . . the writing is consistently witty and intelligent and periodically hilarious." —Allison Stark Draper, Boston Review

"'God's only excuse is that he does not exist,' wrote Stendhal, but now Franco Ferrucci has provided the Supreme Being with another sort of alibi." —James Morrow, Washington Post Book World

Genres: Fiction, Roman, Italian Literature, Philosophy, Religion

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Banu Gür · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uzun zamandır elimden bırakmaksızın okuduğum bunun gibi bir kurgu olmamıştı. Eksiği gediği vardı elbet nihayetinde tüm bir evrenin hikayesi (yahut orjinal ismindeki gibi... tanrının hikayesi) eksiksiz gediksiz yazılamazdı, olağandır. Ama zaten kim taahhut etti ki eksiksiz bir metin ortaya çıkacak diye. Her varoluşta olduğu gibi kusurlarıyla güzeldi hem de pek çok... ^^

[Burcu · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Evrenin Hikayesi" tıpkı adı gibi evrenin şahane bir yorumu. Tanrıyı yüce retoriğinden çıkarmış Ferruci. "Tanrı her yerdedir" söylemini mistik bir tavırla değil bedenle, kumaşla, sesle, kertenkeleyle kurmuş. Yeri gelmiş büyüttüğü çocuklarda hayal kırıklığı yaşayan kadın postuna yeri gelmiş berjer koltuğun ipliklerine sızmış. Dünyadaki bütün deneyimleri yaşama peşinden koşan kırılgan, güçlü, korkak, atılgan, utangaç bir tanrı; evreni yaratır gibi kendi ölümünü de yaratmış.

[Visceraangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never find a book to love as much as I did this one. My friend Dawn picked it up for me on a hunch. Good hunch!

[Ulas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okur, Tanrı'nın anlatımıyla felsefe, din, sanat ve bilim tarihinde bir yolculuğa çıkıyor. Ama öyle heybetli ve korkutucu bir tanrı yok; o da dünyadaki kötülüğe anlam veremiyor, o da ölümlüler gibi bir arayış içinde. Kafası karışık, özgüven problemi yaşayan insancıl bir tanrı.

[Toria Burrell-Hrencecin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full title = "The Life of God (as told by himself)". Philosophical and compelling. This book should become a classic if it hasn't done so already. It's the sort of book I can imagine on reading lists in schools and colleges. It is a mind-blowing, deeply thought-provoking book, following and challenging the history of creation and mankind, right up to present day, with plenty of nail-biting yarns along the way!. You will be drawn in by the humble, bewildered character, God, who longs to communicate with man and find out what he's doing here on earth, and why these creatures worship him so much, when he, God, is just as flawed, imperfect and base as man himself. It's God's own personal journey (like all of us) trying to make sense of life, trying to follow different philosophies, trying to understand man and at the same time, falling in love with beauty, nature and all the pleasures that life entices us with. Ferrucci shows an extensive knowledge of history, philosophy and religion, but he also writes a compelling story too.

[Seval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felsefi bir roman olarak tanımlayabilirim kitabı. Adı üstünde, tanrının ağzından evrenin yaratılış hikayesini ve akıbetini anlatıyor. Aslında tanrı da en az bizler kadar unutkan, zaman zaman beceriksiz ve anlaşılmaya muhtaç. "Gerçek şu ki dünya, yalnız olduğumu anladığım ve buna bir çare bulmaya çalıştığım zaman başladı".

Kitapta bazen ismini verdiği, bazen vermediği, hikâyesinden kim olduğunu tahmin ettiğimiz, önemli figürlerden de bahsediliyor. Peygamberler, filozoflar, Freud, Einstein, Mussolini... Bu anlamda öğretici ve bilgi tazeleyici etkisi de var.

Yalnızca yer yer kitapta anlatılan bazı hikayelerin nerede gerçek nerede hayal ürünü olduğunu kavrayamadim. Pisa kulesinin mimarı gerçekten kulenin eğriliği nedeniyle intihar etmiş miydi? Bahsi geçen bir tarikatın üyeleri gerçekten cenin yiyorlar mıydı?...

Sonlarına doğru bir bölümde yer yer kopukluk hissetsem de, kitabı çok beğendim. Tanrının gittikçe kontrolden çıkan dünyasını iyileştirebilmek için işbirliği yapmaya çalıştığı ama kendi bildiğini okuyan peygamberler, onu anlamaya yaklaşan ama tam kavrayamayan filozoflar, kendi ritüellerine gömülmüş insanlar ve topluluklar...

"Ateşi keşfetmiş, hayvanları evcilleştirmeyi öğrenmiş ve kendi başlarına yola devam etmişlerdi, beni kuşaklar boyunca anlatılan bir dizi tutarsız efsaneyle hatırlayarak (koca bir tanrılar ailesinin parçasıydım, bir ejderhaydım, hiç var olmamıştım, ölmüştüm). Benimle insanoğlu arasında aracılık etme mesleği doğmuştu bile; rahipler, büyücü doktorlar, şamanlar vardı ve binbir kılığa girerek, inceden inceye tasarlanmış törenlerle ibadet ediyorlardı bana. Her biri, kendi yönteminin tek doğru yöntem olduğu yolunda inatçı ve sarsılmaz bir inanca sahipti."

[Lifeonholidae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an ontological mind bust. If you want a book that will trouble you, confuse you, love you and teach you read this. It is the fictional autobiography of God. However this is not the God we (westerners and easterners alike) have in mind. This a tender, self-conscious God somewhere hovering in the plot line of an episode of "Freaks and Geeks." As a side note the author of this book is Franco Ferrucci NOT Raymond Rosenthal. He did however help translate this book from the italian with the author Ferrucci.

[Rick Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Italian the book is called Il Mondo Creato. The English edition departs somewhat from the Italain original, thanks to a close collaboration between author Franco Ferrucci and translator Raymond Rosenthal. Ferrucci writes not only novels but also criticism, and this light-hearted yet fearless narration of the relation between the Creator and "his" world reads like a critical history of culture. "God," as Ferrucci has portrayed the deity, moves back and forth between the wider cosmos and earthy particularities. "God" may enter the life of a Russian peasant suffering from civil war, or enter into friendly conversation with Albert Einstein--initially during the great physicist's childhood but on more than one later occasion, to stimulate his theoretical mentation. He's the male half of a deeply loving older couple in Portugal, and he's arguing with Moses. You can imagine the possibilities; many of them he explores to great hilarity or profound observations about the human condition.
"God" is unhappy that humans invent war, until becoming immersed in it through the person of a combatant the deity is consumed by it. I encourage you to snag a copy and settle back to enjoy it. (My recent reading, by the way, was a second time through. My notes indicate I read it originally in 2005.)

[Kaplumbağa Felsefecisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanrı'nın evreni yaratım sürecini masalsı bir üslupla anlatmış yazar. Birçok filozof, bilgin, bilim adamının ve din adamının içerisinde vücut bularak ve birçoğunun da yanı başında biterek, yarattıkları veya düşündükleri şeyleri gözlemleme hatta yaratıcı süreçte payı olduğunu vurgulama telaşındaydı pek çok kez. Bir noktada Tanrı olmasaydı bunlar olmazdı, yaratılamazdı, düşünülemezdi derken; bir noktada da müdahale edemediği, pişman olduğu, kendisinin bile şaşırdığı olayların olageldiğini aktarmaya çalışmış. Einstein'dan, Feud'a, Mussolini'den, Musa'ya, İsa'ya, bir kertenkeleden, kuşa, Emerson'dan, Dickinson'a, Moby Dick'e varana dek okurken keyiflendiğimiz, bildiğimiz, tanıdığımız için mutlu olduğumuz herkesin ya kendisi ya da yanı başındaki kişi oluyor Tanrı. Çiçekleri sularken suyu fazla verip, sel; mobilyaları taşıyıp, çekmeceleri kapatırken depreme sebep oluyor...Üzülüyor sonra...Evren artık onun denetiminden çıkıyor ve etrafı son bir kolaçan etmek istiyor. Gittikçe, uzaklaştıkça elektrik sinyallerine karışmış dualar duyuyorum diyor, kelimeleri anlamakta güçlük çekiyormuş...

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophical, historical, theological, reflective ROMP. What a book! This turned up in the discard shelf for my library and I stumbled upon it. I'm having it added back into circulation. Maybe no one else will find it but I hope so. This book is a creative riot and an utter riot about creation.

Loved this book. No need to be a religious sort to enjoy this. Hopefully the religious sorts won't be offended by this utterly enchanting, endearing, humorous take on the life of God.

I was enraptured from the beginning of the book. Didn't enjoy some of the more tedious middle sections but came back into for the last chapters. I'm a secular sort but reading the epilogue had me so sad and humored and amused and ultimately yes, hopeful maybe for our humankind. Improve - that's the philosophical message and hope for humanity woven into these musings. And really, all I thought at the end was a hope that we keep excelling....

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is delightful in both tone & substance, & is intellectually challenging. It tells of God's encounters with humankind, from two delightful sections on the creation and God's dealings with Moses to recent dealings. After the initial leisurely accounts, the encounters become much briefer & less satisfying, but still rewarding. God is constantly on the lookout for humans who recognize him in their lives, but then is baffled by the attributes & actions they attribute to him. Like the George Burns characterization of God in Oh, God! (but with considerably more sophistication), Ferrucci's God wants humans to take responsibility for completing (even improving on) his creation.

[Kynan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Author is Franco Ferrucci and it is beautifully written with many parts that can stand alone as parables. The main character is more human than God-like despite actually being God.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regardless of your religious views--or lack-there-of, you will find something thought-provoking,insightful, amusing or delightful in this novel.

[Anja Lysholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first "real" books I ever read as a young child or teenager, and I loved it. I think I've actually read it twice, and I'd like to read it again now as an adult.

[Günhan Bayar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bence bu kitabın adı Kibirsiz Zeus’un Ağzından Batının Hikayesi gibi birşey olmalıydı. İyi sayılabilecek bir fikir, kötü ve tarzına karar verememiş bir yazarın elinde heba olmuş bir kitap. Yazar bu hayatta bazı insanlarla tanışmak istiyormuş ve bence bu şekilde hayalini gerçekleştirmeye karar vermiş. Ama bazı karşılaşmalar uzun ve derin, bazıları öylesine bir anılır şekilde. Biyografi desen değil, evrenin hikayesi hiç değil. Yine de okurken beni düşündürebildiği için üç yıldız veriyorum.

[Madi · Rating 4 out of 5]

five stars for the concept, two stars for the blasphemy

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is thought-provoking and mind-boggling, a fictional autobiography of God that will confuse the readers. After God created the world and humankind, is dissatisfies with our conduct, packs his bag, and leaves us. It feels and sounds just exactly what is happening with current events all over the world. Whether the reader is religious or not, this book offers an enchanting and humorous view of God. I read it twice, don’t overlook this book, it's highly entertaining.

[André · Rating 5 out of 5]

Join God on his way to humanity and insanity, into, eventually, insignificance. A fantastic autobiography.

[Nicole Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written view of the world and perspective of God as a child finding his way as he comes of age. Quite poetic

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tolles buch nur ist für den männlichen Autor eine Sichtweise auf Gott als auch etwas weibliches nicht machbar oder gewünscht. Ebenso sind frauen gegenstand der Liebe doch keineswegs für ihre philosophischen oder künstlerischen Schaffen relevant. Wenn man die Aspekte ignoriert, welche dieses Buch eindeutig aus einer männlichen narrative geschrieben machen, ist eine solche Vorstellung von Gott und wie Gott diese Menschheit sieht wunderschön und hält viel Weißheit.

[Irena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved it the first time I read it. Making my way through it a second time, it's a bit more self-indulgent than I remembered and it drags. The idea is charming and -at times -well executed. But it doesn't evolve beyond the original conceit, and ultimately leaves you feeling vaguely swindled. A lot of pretty words and not enough meat on dem bones, as they say.

[Marc · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it might be interesting when I saw it in my used book store. I was wrong. It is not. I didn’t find anything thought provoking in it either. It just droned on desperately trying, it seemed to me, to be clever about elements of evolution and history (both the same essentially but even this escaped the author).

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this one. It felt like reading a slow descent into madness. While that may have been the intention, it was a slow and tedious read. Almost lost interest in finishing it, but pushed through in hopes to find a hidden gem. I was left disappointed.

[Ela Ünler · Rating 5 out of 5]

İlk başlarda idrak etmekte zorlandığım ancak ilerledikçe kendimi farklı bir dünyada hissettiren kitap 😇 Tanrı nerede diye düşünceler içindeyim

[Huib · Rating 2 out of 5]

chaotisch oekje, raar

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

some sort of vague spoilers ahead..

I don't know...it's kinda of a mixed bag with this book. I thought the author's take on God was really interesting, his personality, the manner in which he does or does not interact with the earth's timeline. God is presented here initially with the immense power to create and influence, but then seems to vanish into the background into his own life, as his creations begin to operate on their own terms (man foremost of all). I like the representation of God as lonely and esoteric, definitely humanizing him and making him easier to identify with. another bit I really liked was how God copes with encountering people's wildly inaccurate ideas about him, particularly in relation to his views on sex and desire and shellfish. God is presented here as a sexual and romantic being, which i thought was interesting as well. one of the most compelling sections was where God falls in love with a human woman, and forgets his responsibilities as a deity. Some of the most thought provoking treatment was with regard to his interactions with Moses, and his characterization of Moses in general as sort of a megalomaniac. As a recovering Catholic, these bits are what appealed to me.

That being said, it's a little slow in parts. I thought it was incredibly interesting all through the book until after biblical times. After the death of Christ, the book tends to wander a bit, lacking much direction (maybe that was a style choice?). I found myself plodding through the book after that, wanting to see it through to the end, hoping it will get better.

That being said, the last 10-20 pages or so were gripping. So that's something. I was wondering, in those boring parts that came before it, how it would end. It reached a satisfying, poetic, philosophical end.

a tl;dr review? Blasphemy, blasphemy all over, but the kind that I feel humans were built for. The kind that makes you really ponder what is expected of human animals. Some bits worth reading, some bits worth skipping, all in all, the book is perhaps more satisfying and enjoyable to think about after the fact than to actually read. a worthwhile way to pass the time.

[Emilie Nouveau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an occasionally interesting musing on God and humanity, but I feel like it didn't hold my interest largely because the main character, while being immortal, was just as human and fallible as the old gods of various pantheons, but more passive. He understood his creations even less than they understood each other, and with so much time to spend among them seemed to understand them even less as time went on. In the end, it felt like reading a memoir of someone hitchhiking through the world with Alzheimer's and no sense of direction.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I just didn't find anything new in it. There were tiny moments throughout that held me, but I think it would have worked much better pared down to the more essential stories instead of attempting to meander through most of western history.

[Kurtlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

okuyanı oldukça eğlendiren, akıcı, hareketli ve nüktedan bir anlatımı olsa da çok eksik bir kitap. soru işaretleri bırakan, bir olayın/olgunun/oluşumun öyküsü içerisinde ciddi boşluklar bulunduran, hristiyanlıktan başka din tanımayan, hem evrimci hem katolik(ne yapacağını, kime yaranacağını bilememiş), eksik eksik eksik çok eksik bir evren hikayesi. tanrının iradesini öylesine hiçe sayıyor ki, anlatıcı tanrımız doğa olayları karşısında bile şaşkınlığa düşüyor. tanrı'nın değil de bir meleğin ağzından dinleseymişiz keşke bu hikayeyi. insan tanrı'nın ağzından denilince, kitabı büyük beklentilerle okuyor ister istemez.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. On the one hand a bit obvious. Just go through the conventional checklist of philosophers and writers who are deemed worthy of a mention.
But on the other hand a really original and insightful look into the question ' well,what does god think about it all, and about us?'
What's it all like from his point of view? He doesn't seem to get it either, so what hope have we got?
I found his interactions with and conversations with the devil particularly intriguing. Clever, erudite, worth a read.

[Kruip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nooit geweten dat de titel in Nederlands zo afwijkt. Vind de vertaling: "De schepping, autobiografie van god", toch minder de lading dekken. De van vrolijk tot superchagrijnig wisselende stemmingen van het opperwezen dat Ferrucci schetst, staat in schril contrast met de doorgaans bekende beschrijvingen van de alwetende. De "ongenoemde" van Ferrucci is zelfs in staat zijn eigen beperkingen, en daardoor die van de vruchten van de evolutie te zien!