Ісусове життя

by François Mauriac

François Mauriac ci presenta un Gesù lontano da qualsiasi tipo di intellettualismo o storicismo e invece vicinissimo alla vita e all'umanità ferita dell'uomo. Il racconto si snoda veloce e fedele lungo il percorso segnato dagli appunti evangelici, cogliendo l'umanità e la divinità di Gesù attraverso le pieghe e gli istanti degli incontri e dei rapporti che egli intraprese nei suoi anni di vita terrena. Come ebbe a rimarcare il cardinale Paul Poupard, "tutto il talento del geniale romanziere è già presente in questa Vita di Gesù. Le scene della samaritana e dell'adultera, del cieco nato e del buon samaritano, del figliol prodigo e del giovane ricco sono di una bellezza meravigliosa e sconvolgente". Così si può seguire il cammino terreno di Gesù, fino alla via crucis e poi alla resurrezione, quel fatto prorompente che anticipa la permanenza e l'immanenza amorosa di Gesù nella storia.

Genres: Biography Memoir, Religion, Christian, Nobel Prize, Nonfiction, Theology

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

François Charles Mauriac was a French writer and a member of the Académie française. He was awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life." Mauriac is acknowledged to be one of the greatest Roman Catholic writers of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Ernesto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro eccellente

[Sean Meade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I saw that CS Lewis once praised it in a letter to Dorothy L Sayers. It was well worth reading. Mauriac does a good job of treating the Gospels like a story (which of course they are, at a minimum). The main thing he does is a running characterization of Jesus. It's kind of like a semi-novelization. He characterizes others, too. Overall, his characterizations (though undoubtedly wrong on some details) are good and plausible. And thinking about Jesus this way can be profitably devotional. In addition, I think his treatment of Judas is the best one I've read. Nothing flashy: he didn't trust completely (though none of the disciples did), he was ambitious for Jesus and himself and he helped himself from the purse.

My biggest criticism of Mauriac's book is the specifically Catholic interpretations that could not be derived from the text. Two examples are the perpetual virginity of Mary and eucharist popping up in unnatural places.

[Dayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judging by the price of this paperback (50 cents) and my handwritten name on the first page, this book has been mine for many, many years without ever being read. It was my loss and I am filled with thanks that it survived long enough for me to finally read it. M. Mauriac has used the Scriptures to show us Jesus the Man as He is depicted in Rembrandt van Rijn's oil painting, Head of Christ. The author believes that we can know Him better if we know Jesus the Man, and his proof is stunning. I've often thought that we do not really choose books to read but that they choose us according to our needs and it seemed true when I picked up this old, yellowed paperback book.

[Gina Dalfonzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I had to read this when I saw that C.S. Lewis had put it in the same category with Sayers's "Man Born to Be King," as two retellings of the life of Jesus that had moved him deeply. Like Lewis, I found this book beautiful and moving.

At certain points, I did think there was a little too much stereotyping of the Jews. I read up on Mauriac and found (with gladness and relief) that he hated anti-Semitism and actively opposed it, to the point of aiding Jewish refugee children during WWII and mentoring Elie Wiesel after the war. But no one is 100 percent self-aware at all times, and it may be he allowed a little stereotyping to creep in unawares. On the plus side, though, he shows himself well aware that Jesus and His loved ones were Jewish themselves.

On the character of Jesus Himself, it's a splendid and touching portrayal, stressing equally the human side and the divine side of His nature. And like Sayers after him, Mauriac provides a storyline that connects up the biblical episodes in ways that make them clearer and easier to follow. If I might have made different choices about some things, I think most of his choices still made sense. As with "Man Born," I will definitely come back to this one.

[RobertoF · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro particolarmente interessante, scritto in modo semplice ma piacevole. Si legge senza alcuna difficoltà, apparte ovviamente le piccolezze dovute all'anno di pubblicazione non recente. Una biografia fatta con tatto e, mi tocca dirlo, ricerche approfondite su un uomo che non ha bisogno di presentazioni, ma che i più stentano a riconoscere se non per pochi dettagli.
La forma del libro è piacevole, anche se non concordo con chi lo vede come un libro utile a chi voglia davvero avvicinarsi a Lui. L'autore si è preso alcune licenze, tutte libere, ma che rischiano di fuorviare chi non ha almeno una discreta conoscenza della Bibbia; cito come esempio le frasi attribuite a Giuda Iscariota, che seppur possibili, a volte solo ipotizzabili, possono essere prese per vere, e dare un'idea fuorviata di Gesù stesso. Anche gli sforzi dell'autore per mostrare Gesù più umano (leggi soggetto alle debolezze umane) li trovo inappropriati, quanto meno azzardati.
Detto questo lo trovo un bel libro, semplice eppure profondo nell'intento dell'autore, per quanto io non lo condivida.

[Ivana Futrikaničová · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ježiša ako postavu mám inštinktívne rada, ale viem o ňom v podstate malo. Dúfala som, že táto knižka mi o ňom povie viac, ale nesadol mi štýl rozprávania. Naozaj bolo Ježišovo správanie take nepochopiteľne, raz hnev, potom milosť, rozporuplne príkazy a nariadenia? Teraz mu rozumiem ešte menej. A vrcholom je, že ešte aj z literárneho poňatia som sklamaná... nudilo ma to, ťažko som chápala výrokom ako ‘a preto všetci vieme, že...’ no lebo mne to z textu vôbec neprišlo že by som zrazu niečo vedela. Škoda, téma mi prišla veľmi zaujímavá, len prevedenie mi neposkytlo tie odpovede, ktoré som hľadala.

[Graychin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Lenten reading this year. Mauriac puts his talents as a novelist to excellent use in his retelling of Christ’s life. In fact, I liked this better than anything else I’ve read by Mauriac, and I'm certain to read it again. My only complaint is the editing. Cluny is (literally) doing the Lord’s work by keeping this in print, but the English translation is sometimes clunky, and several chapters are thick with typos.

[William Ramsey]

DNF at Page 100. in my quest to read novelizations of the new testament, I've discovered a genre of books that are somewhere between novel, sermon, and academic. Three in one but fully boring, it's not doing a good job at doing any of those things.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldn't remember much of this, and then reread the first chapter. Now I remember - it was worth reading. That chapter made me feel I was in safe hands.

[Gabriella Rovere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro che meriterebbe una nuova edizione e traduzione eliminando la ridondanza poetica data da Angiolo Silvio Novaro.

[Olga Ivkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the best version of the biographies of Jesus. It will help you put the four Gospels together in one piece.

[Pierre Jeanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! Deep and injsightful. Food for the soul at every page.