The Tongues of Men or Angels

by Jonathan Trigell

Who was the man we know as Jesus? In The Tongues of Men or Angels, Jonathan Trigell performs an act of literary resurrection. After the crucifixion, Jesus’ brother James and his right-hand man Peter remained devout Jews, vigorously opposed to Roman occupation. But a rival faction emerged, led by the charismatic itinerant Paul of Tarsus. While the Judeans were being massacred in their millions, Paul’s followers desperately tried to prove that their Messiah was peaceful: and in doing so they began telling stories which would transform a small sect of Judaism into a world religion.

Over time, those stories turned to stone – while other truths vanished, crushed beneath the heel of orthodoxy, altered by the passing of years. So who was Jesus - the warrior or the pacifist? The Tongues of Men or Angels is a dazzling act of imagination and learning. It is a literary resurrection, unsealing a tale that has been waiting through long ages.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2014

About the author

Jonathan Trigell is a British author. His first novel, entitled Boy A, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004, the Waverton Good Read Award and the inaugural World Book Day Prize in 2008.

Jonathan completed an MA in creative writing at Manchester University in 2002. He spent most winters in Alps working in the Ski Industry and now lives in Chamonix, France.

Boy A is the story of a child criminal released into society as an adult. It has obvious and presumably deliberate parallels to the fates of the murderers of James Bulger, although the crime itself differs significantly.

Highly acclaimed critically, Boy A was described by Sarah Waters, Chair of the Judges for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, as "a compelling narrative, a beautifully structured piece of writing, and a thought-provoking novel of ideas. It's a wonderful debut."

Trigell's second novel Cham, familiar name of Chamonix , also acquired by Serpent's Tail publishing house, was published in October 2007.

He is currently working on his third novel, Genesis.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The death of a single man will never change much…”

This is the story of the – often painful – birth of Christianity, told from the point of view of a host of characters and ranging in time from twenty years before the crucifixion to sixty two years afterwards. Characters range from the central ones of Yeshua (Jesus) himself, Cephas “the rock” (Peter) and Saul (Paul) to runaway slaves, bored noblewomen and Pontius Pilate. Useful is a runaway slave who is urged by Paul to write his story and, indeed, much of his life will be known to us. Yet, the author takes history and helps make it feel as though we are there. From the dirt and dust on the roads, to the way purple dye is manufactured, to snobbery and status, the divisions between the poor and rich, there is a real glimpse of this long ago world and what mattered to them.

Much of this book deals with the divisions between Peter and Paul; particularly the way that Paul feels his vision of the faith if the true one. Of course, we have Paul’s famous conversion on the way to Damascus, compared to Peter being a disciple who actually knew Jesus, the man. Interestingly, although Jesus himself is central to the story – the whole book hinges on the crucifixion itself – it is other peoples interpretations of him and his message which drives the story on. Peter was obviously compelled to leave everything to follow Jesus, but his return to a group of baleful, hungry children and a mournful wife, helps show the reality of what was asked of the disciples. Likewise, did Paul’s personal resentments and circumstances cause him to be welcoming of change or were the voices he heard simply delusions? This will be a controversial novel I feel. However, it is a novel, and, as a fictional look at how religions begin, it is extremely interesting. At times, it jumped around a little too much, but I found that I always wanted to read just one more chapter and that is always a good sign. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Latkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book essentially rewrites the New Testament, portraying the rivalry between two interpretations of Christianity. 'The Way' is a new branch of Judaism which emerges after Yeshua's (Jesus's) crucifixion, from his brother James and his friend and disciple Cephas (Peter). Saul is a Jew who works for the Romans, and he persecutes The Way's followers, sometimes having them stoned to death, as he does Stephen. Then he has his famous conversion on the Road To Damascus, and becomes a believer, changing his name to Paul. But his brand of Christianity is very different to that of Cephas and James, he believes that you don't have to be Jewish to be a Christian, and that you don't have be circumcised or follow the old laws of the Torah. Despite having never met Yeshua when he was alive, Paul thinks his version is the true one, and that Yeshua was actually the son of God, not just the King of the Jews, and regards Yeshua's disciples as blasphemers. He throws in some other elements, such as Yeshua's mother being a virgin, and wine and bread being turned into Yeshua's body and blood, which he's picked up from other religions. But does Paul actually believe (he endures hardship and torture for what he preaches), or is he just making it up? A fascinating novel which really brings the story of the Bible to life, and makes you wonder about how religions are formed. Probably best not to read it if you're a devout Christian...

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Galilee, this story moves before and after the crucifixion.Brutal in its depiction of life under Roman occupation it is a wonderful tale.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am thoroughly fascinated by religious history, and as an atheist, do not take any kind of offence when that history is fictionalized.

I’ve always wondered: when did the “split”/“evolution” of Judaism to Christianity occur? Was it a single moment? A long-awaited build-up? How can Jesus (if he did exist) be both a devout, pious Jewish man, but also usher in a completely “new” religion? How did Christianity go from being a death sentence to the official religion of one of the world’s greatest empires?

I do not believe there is any evidence for a god; I do not believe that any god sent his only son to represent himself on earth, ultimately to have him(self?) tortured and killed, and then resurrected three days later (which kinda cancels out the sacrifice). But I can and do enjoy a story that begs the question: who decides what is right?

A great read that alternates between the months/weeks/days/hours leading up to the crucifixion, and the years/decades afterwards. On one side you have the apostles of Jesus, who believe that Jesus is the anointed one - a king, but not a god - who walked with him. On the other, a former Jewish man turned devout follower of Jesus who wants to convert the Gentiles to a new belief wherein Jesus is lord. The catch: Saul, rechristened Paul after his encounter with a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus, never actually met Jesus in his lifetime, nor does he espouse the teachings of the earthly Jesus; rather, he speaks of Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, whose appearance would signal the completion of the Torah. Peter, James, and John are sort of the original “Jews for Jesus” - they want to spread the message of the earthly Jesus while maintaining Jewish laws and customs. Paul, on the other hand, is really the one who introduced the idea of Christianity to the world. While both sides revered Jesus, his contemporaries focused on his earthly accomplishments, while Paul wanted to elevate him to that of a divine being.

[Bored to Death book club · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the author of Boy A and Cham comes The Story of Stories, the story of Jesus Christ told from the perspective of the disciples. The Tongues of Men or Angels centers around the question who Jesus really was, the harmless Messiah or a aggressive rebel? Trigell attempts to answer this question, by writing about Jesus and Christianity from different perspectives.

First of all the book is well written. It has a lot of beautiful sentences and it reads quickly, but I don't see how this story adds something new to the range of stories that already exist about Jesus. I do think Trigell finds an interesting way of telling the story, using a lot of shifts in time, moving between Jesus' life before and during the crucifixion and the aftermath, but all in all it doesn't really add a new perspective to the already vast body of work surrounding this specific event. The book itself is very angry and Trigell writes about how a lot of people lose their mind while preaching the words of the resurrection of Jesus.  Apparently there are some 'controversial' twists in the novel, but to find them you have to know more about the bible than I do. It's definitely a book for people with this specific interest, because otherwise all the work Trigell put in the historic and religious details goes to waste.

So, no I didn't really like it. It was a nice and quick read, but not really something for me. If you like a 'new' take on the story, definitely give it a try. Jonathan Trigell is a good writer after all.

Written by Charlotte de Heer
This review was written for American Book Center’s You Review. The advanced reading copy of The Tongues of Men or Angels was gracefully provided by ABC.

[M F]

I'm not sure I'd exactly say I enjoyed this book. It's interesting, and thought-provoking; I have to admit, I spent most of it unsure what the writer was trying to do or what point he was trying to make, and that made it hard to figure out if I agreed with him or not. I'm not sure, having finished it, that I ever figured that one out. But yeah, 'enjoyed' might be the wrong word.

Also, the actual writing itself... well, it had a lot of quoteable quotes but in places it felt it was trying too hard, like it was trying to be full of quoteable quotes. Does that even make sense? It was full of these short, dramatic statements that are great for quoting but they don't sit entirely naturally when they dominate the prose.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it an interesting read and is somewhat compelling alternative history. But likely a blasphemous one.

It jumps around a lot with time which became annoying, but it was well done enough not to be rendered confusing.

I certainly didn't love it, and doubt I would have picked this out myself. It was interesting enough but towards the end I was just looking forward to it ending.

I did receive this book for free as an ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

[Steven Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable read. The animosity between Paul and the original apostles is intriguing and adds a different dimension to this well-known story

[Kristi Duarte · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into it, as it skips between narrators and points in time. But its beautiful prose won me over in the end, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last third of the book.

[Ronnilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking.

A well known story but bought to life in a new and believable way. Suddenly the saints and sinners area normal men.
Read it and enjoy.