Gospel

Rating:
Summary: Juggling passe religion with high octain spirituality.
Review: There are few books who can intellegently and diligently chronicle the foibles of the catholic church and see through to the essence of faith and spirituaility. This book achieves that with a sardonic sense of Irish catholic humor and a great visualization of life on the road. I recommended it highly for anyone who ever went to catholic school or knows someone who did. Great insight with a wry sense of humor.

Rating:
Summary: Who cares?
Review: When I first read a synopsis of this book, I was really intrigued. I normally enjoy novels which involve extensive research and are crammed with information. However, this book was a huge disappointment. Time-consuming research isn't enough. The material has to be integrated into and support the story. This author did neither. All of the historical data is in either vignettes that interrupt the flow of the story or are crammed into footnotes (Yes, footnotes!) which only a graduate student could love -- and then only a very boring one. Having spent so much time on research, the author then appears to have been too exhausted to write a good narrative. The characters are flat, uninteresting and ofter caricatures of a particular type. And the conversations with God are just TOO cute. Finally the book is at least 200 pages longer than it should be. Pass this one by. It's not worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: A Portrait of the Author as Intellectual Wannabe
Review: I came to this book with high hopes. Wow, an "erudite detective story" was what I had been told to expect... but what I got was an endless book of information dropping. I'm sure the author is exceedingly impressed with his own wide array of knowledge, but I found it tedious. It's one thing to know a lot of cool stuff and to use it in a great story, and quite another to use a story to show how cool your brain is. And as for the plot, I offer a sampling: Professor has a lead. He goes there. Girl follows. Interesting fact surfaces. Girl is interested. Professor goes somewhere else. Interesting tidbit on something loosely related to plot. Use of ethnic-looking or non-Roman font. Girl is insecure. Girl thinks about her dissertation. Strange person drives by. Professor acts mean. And so on, all the way to the disappointing end. If you're into books that are truly intellectual, or, for that matter, contain a measurable percentage of transitional phrases and complex sentences, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: A magnificent book. Right up there with "Bonfire of the Vanities" as one of the masterpieces of 20th century American literature. It's truly "serious" fiction--but I never laughed so hard. Bravo Barnhardt! More, more!

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: After I read this book, I wanted to immediately start it again. I loved this story (especially the crusty old men) -- it beautifully mixes fact with fiction . I have since read "Emma . . . " his first book - didn't enjoy it nearly as much

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Summary: lost, then found: "listening" almost as good as reading
Review: Sometimes I DO wish that I had read Gospel before listening to it on audiotape, but the editing of the audio version did speed up the pace of the story's necessary (?) characters. Wonderful detective fiction, surely in a more lighthearted mood and accessible plot format than Robertson Davies' outstanding work. Like most of the other reviewers, I still await Mr. Barnhardt's next novel. Our library's ONLY copy of the book & the audiotape both vanished for 1 year. Happy to report that the book was re-ordered due to demand. I have encouraged H.S. seniors to read Gospel as part of an Ethics course. However, I do not personally know of any adult who's read it. A Greek Orthodox friend tried the first 25 + pages, then reported it as too precious! Glad to have located some other fans through Amazon

Rating:
Summary: As erudite as it is entertaining.
Review: A great romp of theology and theatrics, history and humor. Filled with scholarly reference, yet never condescends to the reader. If you like this one, try books by Robertson Davies

Rating:
Summary: Tops my list of all-time favorite recent American fiction.
Review: This intelligent book, told as a sprawling, racing adventure, informs and spawns inquisitiveness just as much as it entertains. The story of the search for a lost scripture of the Bible, it initiated my search into the history of religions and has changed the way I think of all faiths. Are they based on works of fiction, mere stories like this very book? I desperately await Mr. Barnhardt's next work..

Rating:
Summary: 'Gospel' delights as it enlightens.
Review: Reading 'Gospel,' a story about a sometimes spiritual quest, is like a quest of its own. When man goes in search of God, he often finds what he's looking for and similarly, you may find God in 'Gospel.' If on the other hand you seek proof to the opposite, you will also find just that. The characters in this story get just what they are looking for as humans often do. I'd have given this book a 10 but I'm saving that for Barnhardt's next. I just wish he'd hurry up

Rating:
Summary: A great book and he used to write for S.I.
Review: From the opening words, "I had lost my faith, Josephus.", to the final page, GOSPEL is a high action, high suspense, high humor chase across Europe, Africa, and North America. The characters are lovingly developed and intelligently written. Father O'Hanrahan is representative of all that is wrong and in many ways right with organized religion. And, you feel all the growing pains Lucy Dantan feels as she is drug along, or tags along, on a great adventure. In the past three years, I've read this book as many times and I'm in the middle of it again right now. What other book could keep you turning page after page while teaching you religious history and which saints had what cut off. Barnhardt's new gospel is truly an inspired work.