Originally posted on Blogger.com, January 10, 2006:
I love Anne Rice‘s books. I haven’t read many, but I’ve been captivated by the ones I have read. “The Witching Hour” was my first, and had been my favorite until now. Following a return to Catholicism, Anne Rice has begun a series (trilogy, I believe) of books centered around the childhood years of Jesus Christ. I just bought the first installment, “Christ The Lord: Out Of Egypt” and it is indescribable. The story is told first-person by Jesus Himself, which is definitely a lofty undertaking. Done by the wrong author, it would be dreadful. But I’m telling you – and not to show any disrespect to holy Scripture – reading this novel I felt like I was reading a missing section of the Gospel. Ms. Rice has this gift of making her readers really experience what’s happening in her books, and her perspective on what Jesus’ childhood was like struck a serious chord in me. This child Jesus does not yet know or understand what God’s plan is for him, making Him all the more human. You see what it could have been like if Jesus had met His cousin John the Baptist while they were still children. You start to understand why there is so little known about Jesus’ childhood, in that Mary and Joseph were likely still staying in hiding from Herod. It really felt like she got into Jesus’ head somehow. Rather than leaping from the infant in the manger to the 30-something man setting off to save the world, you get to see an idea of what might have happened in between. Fantastic book, and I cannot wait for the next one.
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