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John
At a time when Americans remain skeptical about religion but still thirst for spiritual fulfillment, Niall Williams's extraordinary and masterful new novel reveals a universally appealing message of hope and love. In the years following the death of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail, blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. Together, the group has endured their banishment, but after years awaiting Christ's return, fissures form within their faith, and, inevitably, one of John's followers disavows Christ's divinity and breaks away from the community, threatening to change the course of Christianity. When the Roman emperor lifts the banishment of Christians, John and his followers are permitted to return to Ephesus, a chaotic world of competing religious sects where Christianity is in danger of vanishing. It is against this turbulent background-and inspired by Jesus's radical message of love and forgiveness-that John comes to dictate his Gospel. Immensely impressive-and based on actual historical events-John is at once an ambitious and provocative reimagining of the last surviving apostle and a powerful look at faith and how it lives and dies in the hearts of men.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 5, 2008
61 people are currently reading
3455 people want to read
About the author
Niall Williams
37 books1,880 followersNiall Williams studied English and French Literature at University College Dublin and graduated with a MA in Modern American Literature. He moved to New York in 1980 where he married Christine Breen. His first job in New York was opening boxes of books in Fox and Sutherland's Bookshop in Mount Kisco. He later worked as a copywriter for Avon Books in New York City before leaving America with Chris in 1985 to attempt to make a life as a writer in Ireland. They moved on April 1st to the cottage in west Clare that Chris's grandfather had left eighty years before to find his life in America.
His first four books were co-written with Chris and tell of their life together in Co Clare.
In 1991 Niall's first play THE MURPHY INITIATIVE was staged at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. His second play, A LITTLE LIKE PARADISE was produced on the Peacock stage of The Abbey Theatre in 1995. His third play, THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, was produced by Galway's Druid Theatre Company in 1999.
Niall's first novel was FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE. Published in 1997, it went on to become an international bestseller and has been published in over twenty countries. His second novel, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN was published in 1999 and short-listed for the Irish Times Literature Prize. Further novels include THE FALL OF LIGHT, ONLY SAY THE WORD, BOY IN THE WORLD and its sequel, BOY AND MAN.
In 2008 Bloomsbury published Niall's fictional account of the last year in the life of the apostle, JOHN.
His new novel, HISTORY OF THE RAIN, will be published by Bloomsbury in the UK/Ireland and in the USA Spring 2014. (Spanish and Turkish rights have also been sold.)
Niall has recently written several screenplays. Two have been optioned by film companies.
His first four books were co-written with Chris and tell of their life together in Co Clare.
In 1991 Niall's first play THE MURPHY INITIATIVE was staged at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. His second play, A LITTLE LIKE PARADISE was produced on the Peacock stage of The Abbey Theatre in 1995. His third play, THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, was produced by Galway's Druid Theatre Company in 1999.
Niall's first novel was FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE. Published in 1997, it went on to become an international bestseller and has been published in over twenty countries. His second novel, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN was published in 1999 and short-listed for the Irish Times Literature Prize. Further novels include THE FALL OF LIGHT, ONLY SAY THE WORD, BOY IN THE WORLD and its sequel, BOY AND MAN.
In 2008 Bloomsbury published Niall's fictional account of the last year in the life of the apostle, JOHN.
His new novel, HISTORY OF THE RAIN, will be published by Bloomsbury in the UK/Ireland and in the USA Spring 2014. (Spanish and Turkish rights have also been sold.)
Niall has recently written several screenplays. Two have been optioned by film companies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
April 26, 2020
’On the road there was no one. No birds flew. For sound there was only my footsteps, the soft crush of sandals in sand. Brilliance of light. The low hills and folds of the desert unshifting in the windless day.’
This begins after the crucifixion and death of Jesus, after his followers, the believers, have been exiled and are living on the island of Patmos, in anticipation of Christ’s return. As time passes, there is some division among them, as their patience is tested and their belief is divided. Some come to doubt John, as well as the divinity of Christ.
’And still nothing happens. How often is it to be so? To the ten thousand prayers they pray these years on the island what answers come? No miracles have attended them. No signs that they are cherished, or that the long suffering of their faith is considered, that their sacrifice is measured and in the hereafter will be rewarded.’
Among those sowing seeds of doubt and discord is Matthias, who uses the words of Jesus as though they are his words, claiming divinity. The group of believers become divided. He performs miracles that are just that – a performance, but one that brings him followers, dividing them into those who follow John, and those who follow Matthias.
And then word reaches them that the Emperor has died, but before his death issued a decree allowing them to return. John and his followers travel to Ephesus, where, arriving in Ephesus, they are mistreated, mocked and where the word they are trying to spread, has almost vanished. The people of Ephesus valuing objects they can trade for money, or money itself, more than the truth that John holds most dear, with his health is declining rapidly.
’The words of it are inside him. It may be that in the lifetime of his preaching he is become a living book. The scriptures entire are scratched on his spirit, written with reed pen, dipped and dug into the soft red pulsing of his inner being. Inside him is a scribed record of testament. The voices of Moses, of Joshua, Ruth, Samuel, the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job, the Psalms and Proverbs, all of these are within him, and so, too, all from the twelve chapters of Ecclesiastes to the Book of Isaiah, from the voice of Daniel to Malachi. He is a living book and carries their voices and their telling like a wind ever whispering inside him.’
Ephesus is where John is believed to have written The Book of Revelation, and is also where his story, as well as this story ends.
This won’t appeal to everyone, but I love Niall Williams writing, his stories that I’ve read, and this was no exception.
December 19, 2025
John by Niall Williams was the perfect book to read in this Christmas season. As the author points out in the Author’s Note, he did not intend to write this book. It was just he had a question as to what John was doing the day before he wrote the gospel. And as he began to research this, Williams discovered that there were a wealth of Johannine scholars attempting to reconstruct the history of one Christian community in the first century. There were few facts but he had begun to sense a man. And in the words of Niall Williams:
The masterful novel, John, is one of a universally appealing message of hope and love. In the years following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail and blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. It is here that they think back on their times with Jesus from his time as a young man.
Together the group has endured their banishment, but after years of waiting Christ’s return, fissures begin to develop from within their faith and eventually one of John’s followers disavows Christ’s divinity and breaks away from the community and threatening to change the course of Christianity. When the Roman emperor lifts the banishment of Christians, John and his disciples make their way to Ephesus, now a chaotic world of competing religious sects. And it is among this turbulence and inspired by the words of Jesus Christ, that John comes to dictate his gospel. This book is based on historical events with Niall Williams giving us a provocative rendering of the life of the last remaining apostle. A perfect read for this holiday season.
“As a novelist, I write not to tell what I think, but to find out what I feel. I began imagining a man. This was a very old man who had met Jesus of Nazareth when he himself was still a youth. What would it be like? What would it be like to have the most profound experience of your life when you were that young, to have witnessed what he had witnessed and then be left alone in the aftermath?”
The masterful novel, John, is one of a universally appealing message of hope and love. In the years following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail and blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. It is here that they think back on their times with Jesus from his time as a young man.
“‘When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.’ He has found the psalm without looking. The words of it are inside him. It may be that in the lifetime of his preaching he is become a living book. The scriptures entire are scratched on his spirit, written with reed pen, dipped and dug into the soft red pulsing of his inner being. Inside him is a scribed record of testament. The voices of Moses, of Joshua, Ruth, Samuel, the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job, the Psalms and Proverbs, all of these are within him, and so, too, all from the twelve chapters of Ecclesiastes to the Book of Isaiah, from the voice of Daniel to Malachi. He is a living book and carries their voices and their telling like a wind ever whispering inside him.”
“How the words sat like doves in my hands. How else but I am guided by the Divine?”
Together the group has endured their banishment, but after years of waiting Christ’s return, fissures begin to develop from within their faith and eventually one of John’s followers disavows Christ’s divinity and breaks away from the community and threatening to change the course of Christianity. When the Roman emperor lifts the banishment of Christians, John and his disciples make their way to Ephesus, now a chaotic world of competing religious sects. And it is among this turbulence and inspired by the words of Jesus Christ, that John comes to dictate his gospel. This book is based on historical events with Niall Williams giving us a provocative rendering of the life of the last remaining apostle. A perfect read for this holiday season.
February 18, 2015
Without knowing anything about this novel except that I had liked other books by this author and that I liked the cover, I brought this book home from the library. If I had known it was about the apostle John, I may not have brought it home. But it was a day of a child screaming in the library and I had to get out, so I never read the back cover blurb as I normally would do. Before you get the wrong idea, it is not that I am against religious or historical novels. John is in fact my favourite gospel writer, which is why I may have hesitated to read a novel about him. But circumstances decreed I did bring this book home and even though there were some parts to do with people suffering from leprosy and disease that were hard to read, I could not put it down for long. When it is not dealing with the excesses of illness it is beautifully written. Some passages just leave you breathless with their beauty.
Most of the novel is set on the Isle of Patmos. John reflects on his life and the teaching and his experiences as a disciple of Jesus. Scripture is seamlessly woven into this novel. It also raises a lot of questions that I suspect may be on people’s minds today as we look at our world and the things that are happening. Questions like if God exists why doesn’t He act? ‘Why does evil and pestilence prosper?’ Why do people we care about die in painful and horrific ways? Is there one of us who hasn’t asked those questions at times?
I found this a thought provoking novel. I liked the way this novel raised questions and also the way it brought the apostle John and his followers to life. It also shows the conflict and doubts of some who initially were followers and that right from early days of Christianity there were those who sought to distort the message. It’s a novel that is not going to appeal to everyone but it is worth reading and I would thoroughly recommend it. It is interesting after having read the novel to read the author's note at the end too.
Most of the novel is set on the Isle of Patmos. John reflects on his life and the teaching and his experiences as a disciple of Jesus. Scripture is seamlessly woven into this novel. It also raises a lot of questions that I suspect may be on people’s minds today as we look at our world and the things that are happening. Questions like if God exists why doesn’t He act? ‘Why does evil and pestilence prosper?’ Why do people we care about die in painful and horrific ways? Is there one of us who hasn’t asked those questions at times?
I found this a thought provoking novel. I liked the way this novel raised questions and also the way it brought the apostle John and his followers to life. It also shows the conflict and doubts of some who initially were followers and that right from early days of Christianity there were those who sought to distort the message. It’s a novel that is not going to appeal to everyone but it is worth reading and I would thoroughly recommend it. It is interesting after having read the novel to read the author's note at the end too.
March 19, 2020
1.5-2 stars for me.
This is a novel about the apostle John, one of 12 disciples of Jesus. Williams does not mean it be a work of historical fiction.
It was exceedingly and unnecessarily long, for my tastes.
The novel takes up way too much time with John thinking to himself different thoughts for pages on end, and an acolyte, Papais, thinking to himself different thoughts for pages on end, where it got to the point where I was halfway through the 274-page book and I just wanted it to end. It was not enjoyable. You might ask why I would read a book to its bitter end when halfway through I was exhausted by it (not a compelling plot, boring, the author droning on and on). It’s because within the month I had read his latest novel, This is Happiness, and I just loved it. I loved the writing style and loved the plot. This novel “John” was nothing like that novel.
In the “Author’s Note” the first four first sentences are “I did not intend to write this novel. I intended only to find out the answer to a question that arrived in my mind one afternoon while I was working on another book. The question came to me out of the blue. It was: What was John doing the day before the wrote the gospel?”
But then he says he never got the answer (of course, how could he???). But that didn’t stop him from writing this fictional tome.
These are the last sentences of the “Author’s Note.”
• “Slowly I began to understand that what drew me was the idea of faith, and that portion of it that is doubt. What if it was so? is the novelist’s proposition, not It was so. So any questionable interpretations are my own, and should not be imputed to any of the sources listed above (JimZ: sources he is referring to here are commentaries by religious scholars on the Gospel and Epistles of John). This is a novel, not history nor biography. I hope it offers the rewards of a novel in depicting the inner life of a man of faith and doubt, and most important, perhaps, what it might be to love for a lifetime.”
Reviews:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200... Written by Barry Unsworth, a well-respected writer, and he liked the novel.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en... (Peter Stanford also liked it but he has this to say and that is how I felt….I guess it was not a bother to him: There is something terribly old-fashioned about this novel as it foregoes plot, pace and everything supposedly guaranteed to draw in the modern reader.)
This is a novel about the apostle John, one of 12 disciples of Jesus. Williams does not mean it be a work of historical fiction.
It was exceedingly and unnecessarily long, for my tastes.
The novel takes up way too much time with John thinking to himself different thoughts for pages on end, and an acolyte, Papais, thinking to himself different thoughts for pages on end, where it got to the point where I was halfway through the 274-page book and I just wanted it to end. It was not enjoyable. You might ask why I would read a book to its bitter end when halfway through I was exhausted by it (not a compelling plot, boring, the author droning on and on). It’s because within the month I had read his latest novel, This is Happiness, and I just loved it. I loved the writing style and loved the plot. This novel “John” was nothing like that novel.
In the “Author’s Note” the first four first sentences are “I did not intend to write this novel. I intended only to find out the answer to a question that arrived in my mind one afternoon while I was working on another book. The question came to me out of the blue. It was: What was John doing the day before the wrote the gospel?”
But then he says he never got the answer (of course, how could he???). But that didn’t stop him from writing this fictional tome.
These are the last sentences of the “Author’s Note.”
• “Slowly I began to understand that what drew me was the idea of faith, and that portion of it that is doubt. What if it was so? is the novelist’s proposition, not It was so. So any questionable interpretations are my own, and should not be imputed to any of the sources listed above (JimZ: sources he is referring to here are commentaries by religious scholars on the Gospel and Epistles of John). This is a novel, not history nor biography. I hope it offers the rewards of a novel in depicting the inner life of a man of faith and doubt, and most important, perhaps, what it might be to love for a lifetime.”
Reviews:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200... Written by Barry Unsworth, a well-respected writer, and he liked the novel.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en... (Peter Stanford also liked it but he has this to say and that is how I felt….I guess it was not a bother to him: There is something terribly old-fashioned about this novel as it foregoes plot, pace and everything supposedly guaranteed to draw in the modern reader.)
June 25, 2019
The Intention of Niall Williams:
"What was John [the Apostle and Evangelist] doing the day before he wrote the gospel?" This question popped up suddenly in the mind of the novelist Niall Williams. He wanted to know more about the man, who was a beloved disciple of Jesus.
The Next Step:
The novelist in his quest for the knowledge about the Apostle's life ended up doing some basic research. He collected all the materials that he could lay his hands on. Later basing himself on the details collected, the novelist let his creative imagination run free. Today we have the novel.
Novel:
It begins on the island of Patmos where John [already a very old man] along with his disciples are suffering the punishment of banishment. They had been exiled to the God forsaken island for their belief in Jesus Christ by the Roman authorities. How this Johannine community lives the exile waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord is the first part of the novel. Obviously the Second Coming is delayed and the Apostle who believed that in his time Jesus would return is advancing in age. There arise doubts. A group of disciples influenced by Gnostic philosophy revolt and separate themselves from the community. The Johannine community also move away from the island when they come to know that the emperor who had banished them is dead and that the new one is lenient.
The community comes and settles in the city of Ephesus. The community that had revolted against them is also by now in Ephesus influencing a great number of people. The Apostle sees that the time is not ripe for the Second Coming. He questions his faith again. He understands the Second Coming is not imminent and to prepare the world through his disciples to receive the Word and Faith, he at the end of his life asks the disciple write down the life of Jesus along with his teachings in an ordered manner.
But this realization comes only at the end of his life and after many physical/spiritual struggles.
Appreciation:
1. The prose is lyrical.
2. The imagination of the novelist does not succumb to stupid fantasies as is usually the case with modern retelling. Niall Williams is very much Christian and human in his re-imagining.
3. The Biblical quotes especially from the Gospel of John and from his epistles are effectively used.
Final Word:
If you are a devout Christian, you will find it interesting.
"What was John [the Apostle and Evangelist] doing the day before he wrote the gospel?" This question popped up suddenly in the mind of the novelist Niall Williams. He wanted to know more about the man, who was a beloved disciple of Jesus.
The Next Step:
The novelist in his quest for the knowledge about the Apostle's life ended up doing some basic research. He collected all the materials that he could lay his hands on. Later basing himself on the details collected, the novelist let his creative imagination run free. Today we have the novel.
Novel:
It begins on the island of Patmos where John [already a very old man] along with his disciples are suffering the punishment of banishment. They had been exiled to the God forsaken island for their belief in Jesus Christ by the Roman authorities. How this Johannine community lives the exile waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord is the first part of the novel. Obviously the Second Coming is delayed and the Apostle who believed that in his time Jesus would return is advancing in age. There arise doubts. A group of disciples influenced by Gnostic philosophy revolt and separate themselves from the community. The Johannine community also move away from the island when they come to know that the emperor who had banished them is dead and that the new one is lenient.
The community comes and settles in the city of Ephesus. The community that had revolted against them is also by now in Ephesus influencing a great number of people. The Apostle sees that the time is not ripe for the Second Coming. He questions his faith again. He understands the Second Coming is not imminent and to prepare the world through his disciples to receive the Word and Faith, he at the end of his life asks the disciple write down the life of Jesus along with his teachings in an ordered manner.
But this realization comes only at the end of his life and after many physical/spiritual struggles.
Appreciation:
1. The prose is lyrical.
2. The imagination of the novelist does not succumb to stupid fantasies as is usually the case with modern retelling. Niall Williams is very much Christian and human in his re-imagining.
3. The Biblical quotes especially from the Gospel of John and from his epistles are effectively used.
Final Word:
If you are a devout Christian, you will find it interesting.
May 7, 2012
This is one of the most intense and engaging books that I have ever read. I have recommended it to all the people I know whom might be able to appreciate it. In terms of historical fiction it is amongst the top. Length of read is not long. Wished it was much longer, but somehow it was just right all the same. Williams writing style in this book (first I have read) is something akin to lyrical prose. Truly brings out the dichotomy between faith and doubt; two sides of the same coin I believe although he doesnt say so explicitly in the book. Authors not at the end does allude to it. Also shows, I think what is truly the opposite of faith...fear. But enough of my metaphysical meandering. I finished reading it during a thunderstorm, which if possiblke, I highly suggest to anyone wanting the full theatrical experience, add to that some candlelight instead of electric light and...well hope for you the same as I received. Truly an inspiring book and the weaving of actual Scripture into the text is flawless in my opinion; immanently believeable. Can't say enough good things.
March 4, 2019
I listened to this as an audiobook, and it’s possible it wasn’t the best sort of book for an audiobook experience, because I kept losing track of what was happening. The narrator’s voice was great, so that wasn’t the problem. And I thought I’d be interested in a book written about the final years of John the Apostle, and I was at times, but there were some strange parts (some of which were to do with John’s vision of Revelation and that has to be one of the most strange and difficult books in the Bible!), and I think the strange parts made me less invested and then I switched off and missed other bits. And being an audiobook meant that I couldn’t flip back to remind myself of what was happening.
But, having said all that, the story had it’s good moments. I’d never thought much about John’s time in exile on Patmos, and what it must have been like to have lived through it. And what it was like to have been in exile following a faith that was still relatively new and not well-established and the doubts and questions that must have arisen.
But, having said all that, the story had it’s good moments. I’d never thought much about John’s time in exile on Patmos, and what it must have been like to have lived through it. And what it was like to have been in exile following a faith that was still relatively new and not well-established and the doubts and questions that must have arisen.
April 18, 2008
John is a fictional account of the Apostle John in his later years after his 'revelation.' The book begins with his exile on the isle of Patmos with his gathering of disciples.
This book is captivating and yet beckons the reader to slow down to the pace of life of exile. The author uniquely captures the imagery and descriptions of the island, the disciples, and the meditative life of John. The story line includes a disciple who begins an alternate faction and the apostles eventually release from exile and return to Ephesus.
This book was hard to put down.
This book is captivating and yet beckons the reader to slow down to the pace of life of exile. The author uniquely captures the imagery and descriptions of the island, the disciples, and the meditative life of John. The story line includes a disciple who begins an alternate faction and the apostles eventually release from exile and return to Ephesus.
This book was hard to put down.
April 4, 2013
Interesting that I noted on the last Williams book I read, The Fall of Light, that he had seemed to adopt an almost Biblical tone.
He takes it one step further here, imagining his way into the life of John the Gospel. As an unbeliever I approached it as the level of mere story, and as that it worked. The characters came to life, the setting and actions and plot all woven together by Williams deliciously descriptive semi-archaic prose.
Not an easy page-turner, but an ultimately satisfying study of human interactions and faith.
He takes it one step further here, imagining his way into the life of John the Gospel. As an unbeliever I approached it as the level of mere story, and as that it worked. The characters came to life, the setting and actions and plot all woven together by Williams deliciously descriptive semi-archaic prose.
Not an easy page-turner, but an ultimately satisfying study of human interactions and faith.
July 18, 2011
Tough read because it is written so starkly and because it is so relentlessly depressing - but I stuck with it, partly because I was so relentlessly depressed. In the end, I felt rewarded by its sheer power. I can understand why someone would give up on it, but for me its one of those books that stays with you (read it two years ago) when so many others just blend together. It's like watching a bunch of romantic comedies and then seeing "Schindler's List".
January 28, 2016
A story of the beloved apostle, now "the Ancient" as he leaves Patmos. The author notes, "This is a novel, not history, not biography...." This is a book of dread and melancholy braided with faith filled expectancy. The writing is so precise, I struggled to name it.... until I found another review describing as "starkly written." Can heartily recommend a worthy read, both as story and as craft...
May 25, 2012
Interesting book about what life might have been like for John the Apostle. A little hard to get through at times, but the book was written with as many facts as could be verified. I'm glad I read to the end, I got a good idea of the way of life in those times, and how difficult life was for followers of Jesus Christ.
June 29, 2024
I didn't expect such a novel to exist but it does and was everything it should be. A thought-provoking insight into the hopes and fears of the earliest Christians, and the dangers (both physical and spiritual) they faced. Doesn't claim anything too big, just a novel to stir your faith and inspire perseverance. (And Niall Williams always writes beautifully.)
March 27, 2022
His style of writing is not straight forward in my view, but once I got used to it I enjoyed this book. It caught a picture of the desolation and hopelessness of Patmos, and the struggles, even “back in the day”, to live as a believer in a secular world. Once the story unfolded I found it was hard to put down.
August 22, 2024
Oh Niall. I'm not sure why you wrote this book, and it was only my love of your other writing that compelled me to keep reading this one. Rambling and inherently boring - even if you were religious (I'm not) this would be a hard one to get behind.
May 24, 2010
An intriguing, unusual book. About 2/3 of the novel is set on the island of Patmos, with John as an exceedingly old man with a small community of disciples in exile long after he has recorded his Revelation; the last third takes place in Ephesus, as their exile is ended and they try to renew their evangelizing efforts in that hotbed of new religions. The likely fluidity of the Christian faith in those early years is effectively portrayed, as is the fervent expectation that Christ's Second Coming was imminent. The author also effectively weaves in familiar (and not so familiar) passages from John's Gospel, his letters, and the Book of Revelation. Ultimately, the message is the same as in Williams's earlier novel, As It Is in Heaven, that the really important thing is not so much the details or large visions that religious communities vacillate about focusing on, but the small expressions of love in community. This is all expressed in very poetic language. For example, as the small band travels from Patmos to Ephesus on a fishing boat, we read, "As has been their way for years, they pray the twelfth hour, and, bent in the boat travelling the sea waves, are as in the side gallery to an invisible altar. The blue is unbroken above them. Seeing them so the fisher captain is moved and steadies the sail. Abashed by the reverence and being witness to the peculiar intimacy, he looks away into the wake. In the trailing white water he sees a silver school of fish. It glitters just below surface, a great wide V, following, fleet, as if pulled in undertow. In all his years of throwing nets he has never seen so great a number. He studies the waters about them, what might betoken this uncaught catch, what manner of thing is happening. But the sea on all sides is as ever and reveals nothing. He takes a step on to some wooden crating for a better view outwards and down. In the full scope of his vision, as far as the furthest ripple they have left in the sea, is this gleaming arrow of fish. It comes in their after-waters catching light, then shadow, then light again. [Such images of light are prevalent throughout.:] Though the boat moves cross-current toward Ikaria, the fish follow, a silent suite, opaque as souls, profound as mystery. Such might last a moment, might in ordinary fish life be the happenstance of tide and timing, a brief meeting of man and creature in the sea hectic, but this is something other. The fish follow. While the disciples pray, bowed in the boat, the multitudinous school swims after and grows greater until it seems a portion of light itself fallen from above and by means unknown attached to this strange cargo of Christians."
Or, during a storm near the end of the novel:
"The storm proper comes in the night. The sky over Ephesus booms with thunder. Such noise as is makes shake stone jars and statues. The moon and stars are taken. The sea comes inshore on a high tide, throws boats like toys, makes mud of dust and slides it elsewhere. In the dark all huddle and pray. . . . What is thrown about but entire kingdoms? one tells. Here in the heavens is battle engaged. How the sky holds it is mystery. Something must fall through.
And at first this is lightning. A rend is cut and forth flashes a white spear. Of jagged edge a sky javelin flies. The city is illumined, made small by the vastness of light; its antique history, its fabled greatness are as nothing beneath the force loosed from the dark.
Again the thunder. Now with it further javelins. A first she of rain pelts down. Drops larger than the eyeballs of camels. Wind whips, takes down what is upright. Cloths, coverings, poles, lengths of netting, rope, stools, crates, all fly.
The storm does not stop. Unabated in the dark is the fierce conflict. A hundred crashes of thunder, more are counted. Lightning whitens the arrows of the rain.
And in this broken night, the disciples come to the bedside of the Apostle. They, too, are fearful and seek assurance.
What happens? Is this weather only? Or is it now at last that the end of time comes?
The thunder crashes. The lightning illumines their frailty.
'Master?'
'We pray,' John says.
They pray then the Introit of their community. The words that may be their last in this ending of the world.
'In the beginning was the Word,' John says, and the others are enjoined. 'And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.'
If the ending is now, it will come on the words of the beginning. If it is now, it will be on their profession of faith."
Or, during a storm near the end of the novel:
"The storm proper comes in the night. The sky over Ephesus booms with thunder. Such noise as is makes shake stone jars and statues. The moon and stars are taken. The sea comes inshore on a high tide, throws boats like toys, makes mud of dust and slides it elsewhere. In the dark all huddle and pray. . . . What is thrown about but entire kingdoms? one tells. Here in the heavens is battle engaged. How the sky holds it is mystery. Something must fall through.
And at first this is lightning. A rend is cut and forth flashes a white spear. Of jagged edge a sky javelin flies. The city is illumined, made small by the vastness of light; its antique history, its fabled greatness are as nothing beneath the force loosed from the dark.
Again the thunder. Now with it further javelins. A first she of rain pelts down. Drops larger than the eyeballs of camels. Wind whips, takes down what is upright. Cloths, coverings, poles, lengths of netting, rope, stools, crates, all fly.
The storm does not stop. Unabated in the dark is the fierce conflict. A hundred crashes of thunder, more are counted. Lightning whitens the arrows of the rain.
And in this broken night, the disciples come to the bedside of the Apostle. They, too, are fearful and seek assurance.
What happens? Is this weather only? Or is it now at last that the end of time comes?
The thunder crashes. The lightning illumines their frailty.
'Master?'
'We pray,' John says.
They pray then the Introit of their community. The words that may be their last in this ending of the world.
'In the beginning was the Word,' John says, and the others are enjoined. 'And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.'
If the ending is now, it will come on the words of the beginning. If it is now, it will be on their profession of faith."
April 12, 2022
Lent read: this was an interesting tale about the disciple John’s life after Jesus.
November 16, 2012
The last of the Apostles that followed Christ, John (almost 100) is blind and his body ravaged by old age. Him and his apostles have been exiled by the Romans to the island of Patmos for the last two years. During this time a schism erupts between his loyal followers and a group that renounces Jesus as being the Son of God and John as anything but an old man. As sickness and storms plague the island, John gets word that the exile has been lifted and they can leave the island. John must decide to risk the hate and mistrust of the outside world or risk dying on the island.
Overall, this was a good story. I like how the author leaves it up to you to determine if some of the events in the book are divine or just mundane.
My only problems are:
1. At times it felt like there where too many characters. Some would only be mentioned once at the beginning and then brought up again near the end.
2. The story could easily have been shorter. Too much time was spent on describing what Papias (John's servant) does during the 40 day fast.
3. No resolution to what happened to two main characters who where left on the island. Did they die or not?
Probably good for 13 and up. Younger readers will probably get bored, plus there is an extended sequence with a character and two dead infants that might cause some nightmares.
Overall, this was a good story. I like how the author leaves it up to you to determine if some of the events in the book are divine or just mundane.
My only problems are:
1. At times it felt like there where too many characters. Some would only be mentioned once at the beginning and then brought up again near the end.
2. The story could easily have been shorter. Too much time was spent on describing what Papias (John's servant) does during the 40 day fast.
3. No resolution to what happened to two main characters who where left on the island. Did they die or not?
Probably good for 13 and up. Younger readers will probably get bored, plus there is an extended sequence with a character and two dead infants that might cause some nightmares.
May 3, 2012
This story starts nearly at the end of John the Evangelist's life as he is exiled on Patmos with a small cadre of followers, all waiting for Jesus' return. John was promised that Jesus would come back before John's death. As the community has aged, younger members start wondering how much longer John can possibly live...and then wonder if he is mis-remembering...and then thinking that it must be because of [some unnamed] sin that Jesus hasn't returned...and then that Jesus may not return after all because after all the Son of God couldn't actually die....
OK, so if you haven't followed the early fractiousness of the Church in the first century after Jesus' death and resurrection, much of this is going to come over as completely confusing, and some as absolute heresy. Well, some if it was determined to be heresy in a later council (Nicaea? I'm not sure).
What this book is doing, I think, is trying to show how John got from being a follower and friend of Jesus to evangelist to Church Father and author of the fourth gospel. It also explains why the tone and focus of the gospel of John is so different from those of the other three gospels.
Nice book. Confusing, a bit, and it would be good for a book club for that reason.
OK, so if you haven't followed the early fractiousness of the Church in the first century after Jesus' death and resurrection, much of this is going to come over as completely confusing, and some as absolute heresy. Well, some if it was determined to be heresy in a later council (Nicaea? I'm not sure).
What this book is doing, I think, is trying to show how John got from being a follower and friend of Jesus to evangelist to Church Father and author of the fourth gospel. It also explains why the tone and focus of the gospel of John is so different from those of the other three gospels.
Nice book. Confusing, a bit, and it would be good for a book club for that reason.
January 4, 2014
John: A Novel (by Niall Williams, Bloomsbury, 2008) is about the last years of John the Apostle, exiled on the Island of Patmos and then, after the persecution by the Emperor Domitian, at Ephesus where he died aged a hundred, or thereabouts. I’d been given the book by a friend with a warning: I can’t think of who else I could recommend this to. Why me, I asked. Well you’re a Catholic, she replied, as though that self evidently explained all. Yeeees, I said – that always helps. Used to be, by the way...used to be. She was right, of course - being herself a Once-a-Catholic-Always-a-Catholic, and therefore congenitally responsive to the kind of cosmic drama that suffuses such spectacles as High Mass or the Sacrament of Ordination ... "You are a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchisidech"... It took me a while to get into it - to find my Once-a-Catholic feet - but, OMG! when I did …. I was so moved by the experience that I actually went to the Good Friday service a few days later. And who knows....
April 7, 2008
most of this book takes place on the island of patmos, and as such there is abundant imagery regarding weather and the sea. as someone who's spent a lot of time by the ocean, i enjoyed many of williams' images.
naturally williams also dedicates a vast amount of the book to one's inner dialogue of faith. it was nice to read a book, finally, where such multifaceted battles of the heart and mind rang true. each of the characters primarily only have one viewpoint, and i would argue that most believers cover the entire territory of the book in themselves, at some point, at least williams covered all that terrain.
in the end, my primary compliants relate to the above - not much character metamorphasis, and even when it comes, it's awfully predictable. and the only twist, near the end, does not live up to its promise.
naturally williams also dedicates a vast amount of the book to one's inner dialogue of faith. it was nice to read a book, finally, where such multifaceted battles of the heart and mind rang true. each of the characters primarily only have one viewpoint, and i would argue that most believers cover the entire territory of the book in themselves, at some point, at least williams covered all that terrain.
in the end, my primary compliants relate to the above - not much character metamorphasis, and even when it comes, it's awfully predictable. and the only twist, near the end, does not live up to its promise.
July 18, 2019
There are books by Niall Williams that make me want to write and read 24 hours a day. I hated this book. I think some of it was just the religious part. I felt like Williams was trying too hard and the lovely lyricisms of his other novels just wasn't there. I have purchased so many volumes of History of the Rain for people. It is up there in my top 15 books.
May 24, 2008
I just could not get into it, even after a few chapters.
March 25, 2009
I kept changing my mind about this book throughout the whole read- between, "This is disturbing" and "This is enlightening."
October 21, 2009
I gave it 3 stars for being well-framed. It's not the clearest read ever...wait that's kinda like me
February 21, 2018
A wonderful imagining of John's life, character, and witness. Lyrical and dramatic.
July 10, 2015
What an amazing journey through faith.
January 12, 2016
heh? It was a book after reading, I have no idea what I read. It is not the topis, I usually enjoy biblical stories, it was the writing style - horrific.
December 16, 2019
I liked the idea of this book, but not the writing style.
March 18, 2021
An honest attempt to get inside the mind of the Apostle John, writer of the fourth Gospel and Book of Revelations. But one I think that failed.
The story starts on Patmos to which the apostle and his followers, all male, have been exiled by the Romans. There is dissent and disharmony among his followers in the camp that comes to the fore during a bad Winter after an unspecified number of years on the bleak Greek island.
John is old, blind and nearing death. He expects Jesus to come in glory before his demise and is preoccupied in awaiting this day. It distracts him from the disturbance within his community being orchestrated by the malevolent Mathias who has ambitions himself for leadership.
The second and I think better part of the novel is set in Ephesus to which John's diminished band set off when they hear of the death of the Roman Emperor who had instituted vicious cruelty against Christians.
I find it difficult to square William's interpretation of the early church members with the dynamism that must have been the reality. After all by any historical objective interpretation a small cult, Christianity, an offshoot of Judaism, came to dominate the religious life of the Roman Empire only a few hundred years later. They didn't achieve that by taking the back seat. William's Christians are timid, pious and monastic in the worst possible ways. They seem to lack joy or fellowship. The Gospel of John is the most profoundly theological of the four. It seems odd that he waits until his dying days to share his beliefs with his followers. The author presents these men as eking out a frugal dull life hanging on for tidbits from the Apostle's fading memory. I didn't find the Mathias character convincing; having followed John for years he turns into an egotistical charlatan healer.
There are letters from St. Paul to the Ephesians so I found the secretive timid reception John receives in Ephesus at odds with what one would have expected from a vibrant Christian community to which John appointed a bishop.
It's almost as though the author has transposed the life and experience of the Apostle John to the harsh monastic settlements of Western Ireland and Scotland. It didn't ring true for me on many levels, although I thought the ending a least finished on a note of transformation and hope.
The story starts on Patmos to which the apostle and his followers, all male, have been exiled by the Romans. There is dissent and disharmony among his followers in the camp that comes to the fore during a bad Winter after an unspecified number of years on the bleak Greek island.
John is old, blind and nearing death. He expects Jesus to come in glory before his demise and is preoccupied in awaiting this day. It distracts him from the disturbance within his community being orchestrated by the malevolent Mathias who has ambitions himself for leadership.
The second and I think better part of the novel is set in Ephesus to which John's diminished band set off when they hear of the death of the Roman Emperor who had instituted vicious cruelty against Christians.
I find it difficult to square William's interpretation of the early church members with the dynamism that must have been the reality. After all by any historical objective interpretation a small cult, Christianity, an offshoot of Judaism, came to dominate the religious life of the Roman Empire only a few hundred years later. They didn't achieve that by taking the back seat. William's Christians are timid, pious and monastic in the worst possible ways. They seem to lack joy or fellowship. The Gospel of John is the most profoundly theological of the four. It seems odd that he waits until his dying days to share his beliefs with his followers. The author presents these men as eking out a frugal dull life hanging on for tidbits from the Apostle's fading memory. I didn't find the Mathias character convincing; having followed John for years he turns into an egotistical charlatan healer.
There are letters from St. Paul to the Ephesians so I found the secretive timid reception John receives in Ephesus at odds with what one would have expected from a vibrant Christian community to which John appointed a bishop.
It's almost as though the author has transposed the life and experience of the Apostle John to the harsh monastic settlements of Western Ireland and Scotland. It didn't ring true for me on many levels, although I thought the ending a least finished on a note of transformation and hope.
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