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Brothers
Book by Zeldis, Chayym
556 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
6 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Chayym Zeldis
17 books3 followersBorn in Buffalo, N.Y., noted author and educator Chayym Zeldis went to Israel in 1948, where he worked on various agricultural settlements. He served in the Israel Defense Forces and in the Sinai campaign of 1956. He returned to the U.S. on a Creative Writing scholarship to the New School for Social Research.
Zeldis and his wife, Nina, are now settled in Israel, where both currently teach at Tel Aviv University.
Zeldis and his wife, Nina, are now settled in Israel, where both currently teach at Tel Aviv University.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 14, 2014
This will contain some potential spoilers, so be ready.
Before I begin, I want to note that I'm a non-church-going Christian. I believe in Jesus and I have a complicated but strong faith. Sometimes that faith makes it difficult for me to read books that show a different side of the story I learned for years from the Bible. HOWEVER, I am also open-minded and while I have no idea how this book ended up on my Kindle, I'm quite glad it did.
To my knowledge (and I could be entirely wrong), but the main character and his brother are never actually named. However, it was (to me) apparent that the main character was Judas Iscariot and his brother was Jesus.
The book starts with Judas as a young child. From the very beginning of his childhood, practically, he has had a dark streak, a destructive streak, which grows to become conniving, brilliant, and evil. His father, who he orginally (and maybe forever) hated had an enormous influence over his son's wish for power.
Jesus was given to Judas' uncle as a baby (Mara and Yosef)and for the majority of the book, he plays no part. The book is about the politics of cities and countries that are at war and the tenuous relationship between Roman and Jew. Against all odds, Judas becomes the Minister of War and meticulously plans a coup that will make him the most powerful man in the land.
I was interested to see how the author would handle this -- would he succeed, and the book take a drastic turn from history, or would he be betrayed? Ultimately, Judas is betrayed, but escapes, and once again begins his life over again from nothing.
In the months before the coup, Judas had Jesus imprisoned so he could watch him. It was a bit disturbing to read the description of how wasted and withered his body was, and his ramblings about God and being his Son often wandered to the point of being incoherent. I thought about how amazingly difficult it would be in ANY age for a man to show up and say he was the son of God. Jesus never comes across as strong, and his accomplishments from the Bible are only mentioned peripherally. Judas even puts a woman in Jesus' cell (Mary Magdalene) and they eventually act as man and wife, having a child that is still born.
The end of the book had me on edge... I couldn't wait to see how this all would end as I knew the crucifixion was near. Judas joins Jesus as the final disciple, and of course, betrays him. But rather than hang himself, as is written in the Bible, he take Peter and a few other disciples to remove Jesus' "rotting body" from the crypt, take it out in the desert and destroy it, and then begin perpetuating the "myth as reality". Judas sits the disciples down and begins dictating the Bible to them.
The entire book was fascinating. I got a little bogged down (sadly when Jesus went a little mad in the prison and made no sense) but this book will stay with me for a long time, and is deserving of five stars. You need an open mind to read it if you have any religious beliefs about Jesus and God at all, but who are we to say exactly what happened? I just know my own faith, and I can't condemn a book that doesn't read the way I learned.
Very different from what I've ever read before. Recommended.
Before I begin, I want to note that I'm a non-church-going Christian. I believe in Jesus and I have a complicated but strong faith. Sometimes that faith makes it difficult for me to read books that show a different side of the story I learned for years from the Bible. HOWEVER, I am also open-minded and while I have no idea how this book ended up on my Kindle, I'm quite glad it did.
To my knowledge (and I could be entirely wrong), but the main character and his brother are never actually named. However, it was (to me) apparent that the main character was Judas Iscariot and his brother was Jesus.
The book starts with Judas as a young child. From the very beginning of his childhood, practically, he has had a dark streak, a destructive streak, which grows to become conniving, brilliant, and evil. His father, who he orginally (and maybe forever) hated had an enormous influence over his son's wish for power.
Jesus was given to Judas' uncle as a baby (Mara and Yosef)and for the majority of the book, he plays no part. The book is about the politics of cities and countries that are at war and the tenuous relationship between Roman and Jew. Against all odds, Judas becomes the Minister of War and meticulously plans a coup that will make him the most powerful man in the land.
I was interested to see how the author would handle this -- would he succeed, and the book take a drastic turn from history, or would he be betrayed? Ultimately, Judas is betrayed, but escapes, and once again begins his life over again from nothing.
In the months before the coup, Judas had Jesus imprisoned so he could watch him. It was a bit disturbing to read the description of how wasted and withered his body was, and his ramblings about God and being his Son often wandered to the point of being incoherent. I thought about how amazingly difficult it would be in ANY age for a man to show up and say he was the son of God. Jesus never comes across as strong, and his accomplishments from the Bible are only mentioned peripherally. Judas even puts a woman in Jesus' cell (Mary Magdalene) and they eventually act as man and wife, having a child that is still born.
The end of the book had me on edge... I couldn't wait to see how this all would end as I knew the crucifixion was near. Judas joins Jesus as the final disciple, and of course, betrays him. But rather than hang himself, as is written in the Bible, he take Peter and a few other disciples to remove Jesus' "rotting body" from the crypt, take it out in the desert and destroy it, and then begin perpetuating the "myth as reality". Judas sits the disciples down and begins dictating the Bible to them.
The entire book was fascinating. I got a little bogged down (sadly when Jesus went a little mad in the prison and made no sense) but this book will stay with me for a long time, and is deserving of five stars. You need an open mind to read it if you have any religious beliefs about Jesus and God at all, but who are we to say exactly what happened? I just know my own faith, and I can't condemn a book that doesn't read the way I learned.
Very different from what I've ever read before. Recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2011
The title of the book seems to lead the reader to believe that this story is about a struggle between two brothers, symbolizing the struggle between good and evil, Judaism and Christianity. The main character is diabolically ambitious and amoral, his brother is poorly developed as a character and comes across as a shallow simpleton. The reader is left with a feeling that both Judaism as well as Christianity are poor substitutes for a moral standard. It is difficult to enjoy a novel in which the reader hates the main character because he is evil, but impossible when there is nothing to admire in any of the characters.
September 26, 2007
It brings into light what people believe and what could have been. Just another reason to give up faith-based religions.
Read
August 2, 2011Probably my all time favorite story. I have read this at least 5 times. The charater depth, and descriptions of ancient rome are awesome.
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August 6, 2016Reading the Kindle addition, but in between paper books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews