John Stewart (18) (1931–)

From the very first page of The President, the reader has the impression to be facing something new and fresh, and this impression keeps alive until the very last page of the work.

A fast-paced, punchy and poignant prose mix with a more essay-like side, giving light to a brilliant combination. Stewart is amazing in his characters’ creation, but he is also remarkable in his ability to depict a fictional world with many points in common with the real one. Last but not least, the show more philosophical, political and sociological message lying beneath the story leaves space to more and more interpretations.

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It's certainly readable and interesting but ultimately I found it was too ambitious for its own good.

The basic plot is: Emperor Tiberius sends a special legate to Judea who, while there, meets the centurion of the title who has already fallen under the influence of the 'Rabbi Jesus', and the events of the novel are basically the weeks leading up to the crucifixion and the months afterwards, and how they affect the various Roman characters who find themselves in the region. There are various show more linked sub-plots too.

The book is trying to be a straightforward historical novel, but it's also trying to be a political novel and a romantic novel --- and a religious novel that has clearly and overtly Christian sympathies. For the non-Christian reader, this seems more than a bit forced and not justified by the rest of the novel. I guess it is trying to set the crucifixion in its political and historical context, whilst at the same time relating to some fictional and factual characters. It doesn't really succeed. And the ending is too happy ever after...

Interesting but flawed. show less