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Where did Jesus go from the age of 12 to 30? The Secret Books is an epic adventure of a young man in the Crimea who is drawn out of his world by an eccentric female journalist, leading to a life as a Russian spy infiltrating anarchist circles and going undercover in British India where, seeking refuge from a confrontation with a British officer, he discovers a manuscript which holds the secret of Jesus' lost years. But is this gospel true? Parcel Theroux takes the reader on spellbinding journey through 19th-century Paris, the Russian Empire and high plateau of India through a world of spies and double cross, propaganda and revolutionary violence, lost-love and anti-semitism, and into a modern world where lies have the power of truth. Based on real events, The Secret Books is at once a page-turning adventure, a meditation on the nature of belief and an examination of the stories that humans are willing to kill and die for.… (more)
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“There will be many massacres in the decades ahead. Some will seem to merit the coining of new words: holocaust, genocide, ethnic cleansing…Some dreadful deeds will take place in a kind of historical
A complex and idiosyncratic story based on stories. A story based on truths, partial truths and untruths. An unusual writing style that is initially difficult to follow with many false starts, bloated with unnecessary fancy language. Yet, before you know it, the story has begun and you are hooked. Still confused, but hooked. There were plenty of elements that made me stop and truly think about the atrocities of the human past, as seen from both sides. It was especially interesting that the protagonists was a real person who claimed to have lived the story portrayed (even if the dates didn’t add up). He certainly lived many lives; a journalist, adventurer, spy. The question is whether he genuinely lived such a remarkable life or simply had a remarkable imagination.
Unfortunately the many anachronisms often became too distracting and interrupted the flow of text. The promised twist didn’t live up to expectation and it took an age to reach the final conclusion. Yet, in the era of fake news and reinvention, this story is very ‘now’.
At times this was rather philosophical, clever and thought provoking. Unfortunately however, the author explaining himself in the closing chapter was pretentious, awkward and disappointing. If you are able to cope with a heavy, information filled book, then I would recommend this. If you struggle with complex story telling that requires your full attention, then you’d best skip this one.
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| 823.92 |