The Last Temptation of Christ

By Daniel Smith and Daniel Smith

Book Overview

The internationally renowned novel about the life and death of Jesus Christ. Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels that brilliantly fleshes out Christ's Passion. This literary rendering of the life of Jesus Christ has courted controversy since its publication by depicting a Christ far more human than the one seen in the Bible. He is a figure who is gloriously divine but earthy and human, a man like any other--subject to fear, doubt, and pain. In elegant, thoughtful prose Nikos Kazantzakis, one of the greats of modern literature, follows this Jesus as he struggles to live out God's will for him, powerfully suggesting that it was Christ's ultimate triumph over his flawed humanity, when he gave up the temptation to run from the cross and willingly laid down his life for mankind, that truly made him the venerable redeemer of men. "Spiritual dynamite." --San Francisco Chronicle "A searing, soaring, shocking novel." --Time This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671672576
• ISBN13: 9780671672577
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Touchstone
• Length: 506 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.5" x 5.0" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

Was what was advertised

Came in fast timing and condition was as advertised. Clean.

It requires a lot of thought and effort

This book is well written and even translated is brillant. It is a difficult read. This is not for the light reader or someone's whose religious traditions make the reader predisposed to condemning the book and the author. The story is familiar but not exactly as remembered from Sunday School and the results aren't pleasant for the Christian. It's a serious piece and deserves read in that understanding. While I can't...

Great Books are not often Easy Reads

The Last Temption of Christ may be the greatest theological exploration of the 20th century. The topics it deals with are deep and complex, so to expect that this book is going to be an easy read is wishful thinking. That said, it is a very worthwhile read for anyone who struggles with issues of religion and the indentity of the divine.I should say that I am not a Christian, so the the central drama of the book, the apparent...

Addressing some prior reviews as well as my own thoughts

The most common complaint people have of this book is that it moves too slowly. Maybe that can be blamed on the translation, but don't fault the translator - fault the English language, which is a barbaric piece of work compared to Greek. Anyone who has studied Biblical Greek or even modern Greek, or read a New Testament translation with commentaries on the original Greek, will understand that Greek is an amazingly complex...

Vivid and engrossing

This book is thought-provoking, vividly painted, and emotionally powerful. My religion teacher in 7th grade mentioned it one day in class as a suggestion for a book report, and mentioned the fuss about it, and so I had to read it.Maybe the fuss was because some people simply can't stand the humanization of religion. This book portrays Jesus as a man, which is in direct contrast to the currently accepted version of him,...