Richard Beard (1) (1967–)

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Brimming with wit and humor, Lazarus Is Dead transcends genres as it recounts the story of a great friendship lost and re-found.

In the gospels Jesus is described as having only one friend, and when this friend dies, Jesus does something that he does nowhere else in the Bible. He weeps. Novelist Richard Beard begins here. Mixing Biblical sources, historical detail, fascinating references to music, art, and writers as diverse as Kahlil Gibran and Norman show more Mailer, and abundant reserves of creative invention, Beard gives us his astonishing and amusing take on the greatest story ever told about second chances.

As children, Lazarus and Jesus were thick as thieves. But following a mysterious event, their friendship dwindled in early adulthood. One man struck out and became a flamboyant and successful businessman, the other stayed behind to learn a trade, and ultimately to find his calling in an unprecedented mix of spirituality and revolutionary zeal. Lazarus Is Dead is set during the final period in each man’s life—or, to be more precise, each man’s first life. Both know the end is near and, though they’re loath to admit it, they long for reconciliation. For that to happen they will need to find reasons to believe in each other before time runs out.

My Review: *Europa Editions sent me an ARC for review.*

Lazarus has always bothered me. In the times of my life when learning about the holey babble was a survival mechanism, I was always verschmeckeled by the point of bringing the dead guy back and then just dropping the storyline like the actor got a better part somewhere else. Okay! Cool! Back among the living, and...and...?

Looks like Beard had much the same response. He did something about it. (Well, I did too, but kicking christianity to the curb wasn't Beard's response.) He imagined the story again, from the top, and made sense of it without deviating from the biblical account. He added to the biblical account, but didn't change what was there.

And you know what? This is a good damn book, because it's based on a damn good story. Is it gut-bustingly, raucous-guffawingly funny? No...it's sly and witty and erudite, like a joke Voltaire would tell, not one Adam Sandler would tell. The pleasure of reading the book is in savoring, not in slurping it up.

Beard's not one to waste time on explanation, though, so if you're interested in getting the maximum amount of smirk per page, read this with Wikipedia open and look up things you don't know about. I promise you Beard didn't do that, but you're reading the book where he had to think it up and write it. His is a heavier burden. You get to skate on the surface.

But what a surface. Lazarus...the dead man walking...the holy zombie, my father called him to the screeching fury of my mother. Is there a better story in the bible? Well, apart from the rape and incest bits. They're all over the place, just open 'er up and start skimming. He rose from the dead! How cool is that! Beard's imagining of it is pretty cool, and very human. How many writers would think to have the resurrected guy take a bath, and smell his breath to be sure it's not stinky? Human details like this make the story one to savor.

And as a teaser, pay attention to how the chapters are numbered. There's a game in there. These are sixteen well-spent dollars for you who will buy the book. show less

This was a compelling read; I was hooked within two pages. Superficially it's a (very engaging) police procedural set in a Roman Empire brought into the 21st century, complete with the internet, airport lounges and lock-up garages. Added to that, there's a fantsy element: many of the key events bleed through time, happening almost simultaneously in the 1st and 21st centuries, both real-time and with effects reverberating 2000 years later.

The real story, though, offers a much deeper show more reflection on the nature of terrorism and religion, leadership and loyalty. It's this that stayed with me well after finishing the book. You won't look at early Christian history quite the same again. show less

I don't know how to express how impressive this book is. Intelligent, inventive, funny and different is how I'd describe it. Richard Beard takes on the story of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead and draws a picture of a man who is Jesus' only real friend and who needs to die. Lazarus is not a particularly sympathetic character but is precisely what this story needs, a sort of anti-Christ. It is well written and thoughtfully put together, especially the quotes and themes he draws in show more from other novels, plays, and artwork. The only Biblical mistake I found was a mention of King Samuel trying to talk to the dead Saul at the witch's house - it was actually King Saul trying to reach out to the dead prophet Samuel.

* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads. show less

Not all books have you starting conversations with friends and family, even ones you thoroughly enjoy, but this has had me sharing and chatting away because it really made me think. It counts down its chapters through the 7 main miracles in the gospel of John from Cana's 'water to wine' through to Bethany and the resurrection of Lazarus then counts up 7 chapters as the 7 days take us through to the death and resurrection of Jesus. It uses biblical quotes, religious art and show more documents/histories of the period to build up a real flavour of the time and cleverly extrapolates a story of Lazarus from just a few snippets.
As a Christian I had no problem with the jumps and leaps, although not all were ones I found believable, because the joy of this book is that Beard gives us several questions that have you rushing off to explore more:
* would Joseph have shared the information from his dream just after the birth of Jesus, where he is told to flee to Egypt, or would he have selfishly neglected to tell anyone?
* how did Lazarus die?
* how did Lazarus become the only person referred to as a friend of Jesus?
These questions, and the answers suggested, made for intriguing and thought-provoking study.
The one aspect that slightly disappointed is that from the blurb I was expecting more of the 'after the resurrection' story and felt this aspect was a little curtailed and under-explored but overall a brave step out stylistically that will have me looking out for more by Richard Beard. show less