Christ The Lord Out of Egypt

by Anne Rice

Initially I was apprehensive about reading fiction about Christ. I read the author's note first and I think it was my favorite part of the book. Anne talks about her decade plus of research and her journey from atheist looking to disparage the story of Christ to becoming a true believer and devout catholic. Her spiritual journey is inspiring. Her level of commitment to her research is inspiring. I'd almost rather read a book about that.

The actual novel is written from Jesus's point of view, he being 7 years old, as his family prepares to leave Alexandria in Egypt and travel back to the Promised Land. Along the way, he begins to understand that he is not an ordinary boy, but is confused by the implications of who he might really be. There are some definite inaccuracies in the book and a few aspects that don't totally jive with my personal beliefs about Christ but overall the book is lovely. The narration is sincere and very true to the 7 year old aspect. I kind of wished the prose was a little more complex and it's difficult for me to picture Christ's mind being quite so immature at that age but the book is written with an innocence that I did really like. I also appreciated the effort to reserve judgement on the characters.

The book made me think through a lot of the myths of Christ that I still sometimes picture in my head. I never pictured the caravan of extended family that supported and traveled with Mary and Joseph through their exile. I had never thought about how Christ's life really affected his family members. I loved how involved and loving they were. The book does a great job of describing the political climate and the religious fervor of the time period. The temple in Jerusalem and the importance of their religion in their everyday lives were well described.

There are a few symbols in the book that I particularly appreciated - especially the references to the living water. I loved that Christ was shown to have knowledge he couldn't explain and that he feels a change in his knowledge and maturity at the age of eight (the age of accountability in the LDS church.)

The book is a pretty quick read and worth checking out. I haven't read any of Anne Rice's other 27 books so I'm not sure how it compares but from what I have heard this book is a great departure from her other work.