The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold by Henri Daniel-RopsMy review
The Book of Life: The New Testament Retold is a translation from the French L'Evangile de mes Filleuls by Henri Daniele-Rops. Originally written in 1955, it attempts to rewrite the New Testament in pseudo-story form.
Daniele-Rops' attempt to make the Bible palatable to the young fails, I'm afraid, at least in the English translation. The "story" portions of his book are interwoven with more preachy-sounding Biblical exegesis which, while interesting in and of themselves, are too abrupt and do not weave seamlessly with the rest of the text.
The book is also too self-aware. It keeps drawing attention to the fact that it is being written by an outside author and never draws the reader into the story. We are too aware that we are being read to (or preached at) and are never allowed to lose ourselves in what is arguably "the greatest story ever told."
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Book of Life.
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Wow, another place you are reviewing for. You have quite the list now. It sounds like this book did not do a good job in the author's attempt to turn the New Testament into a story form.
ReplyDeleteSadly, no, it didn't. Its a good idea, though, for someone who could do it well.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree with you about this book. I wonder though how much of the problem is that we are reading an English translation of a French work, and that we are reading something written over fifty years ago, when styles were different.
ReplyDeleteI wondered that too, RAnn. I have "Those Terrible Middle Ages", which is also translated from the French, with similar results.
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