Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

A Novel

By: Anne Rice

Narrated by: Josh Heine

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Having completed the two cycles of legend to which she has devoted her career so far, Anne Rice gives us now her most ambitious and courageous book, a novel about the early years of Christ the Lord, based on the Gospels and on the most respected New Testament scholarship.

The book's power derives from the passion its author brings to the writing and the way in which she summons up the voice, the presence, the words of Jesus who tells the story.

Listen to Anne Rice talk about Christ the Lord on Charlie Rose.

©2005 Anne O'Brien Rice (P)2005 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rice's painstaking historical research is obvious throughout." (Publishers Weekly)

"Riveting....Rice's book is a triumph of tone (her prose lean, lyrical, vivid) and character. As he ponders his staggering responsibility, the boy is fully believable, and yet there's something in his supernatural empathy and blazing intelligence that conveys the wondrousness of a boy like no other." (Kirkus Reviews)

Too Slow for my taste

I found this book plodding and slow and filled with too many names, dates and places.
It didn't pick up until almost the end.
I see where many others found it glowing, but sadly I did not.
In fact it bored me for much of it and I am one who, in general, adores biblical history.
Anne Rice is a fine writer(I've read all her others) but this book just didn't move me.

Don’t bother - the Trilogy won’t be finished

Wouldn’t start these books unless you like being left hanging. The author got a bit confused in what the meaning of what a Christian is - saying she was disillusioned with the Catholic Church - understandable. And that was why she wasn’t finishing the trilogy.
But she also said she was no longer a Christian. BUT she was still devoted to Christ. What she doesn’t understand that being devoted to Christ, believing in Him, believe in his teachings- that makes you a Christian.

Not her best work

Let me start by saying, I have been a fan of Anne Rice for many years. Her work has always been a sensual literary treat. Her novels are teaming with tidbits of historical fact and wrought with vivid description. I was hoping for more of the same, but was more then a little disappointed. Regardless or your belief in Christianity, most would agree that the life and death of Jesus is one of the most passionate subjects in human history. Yet it seems she saved most of her own passion on the subject for the afterword.

The book itself was bearable, but by no means a representation of her previous work. The story was often slow and the material poorly connected. It was missing much of the beautiful detail characteristic of her earlier novels. The language, while clearly an attempt at emulation of biblical speak, came across as ineffectual and tedious. The characters were at best two dimensional, and at worst, a pale reflection of the vivid iconography drawn by the bible and historical research.

I was actually saddened by the afterword. Anne Rice did a disservice to her readers. She spends a very long repetitive time on an extremely biased pulpit. She crams a bibliography down your throat in attempts to convert the ?skeptics? and those who might see the bible as an allegory versus a history. I actually found myself saying out loud ?I get it already; you believe the bible is historical fact and the Gospels were written by actual witnesses to Christ.? Instead of pouring so much time and passion into convincing us of the accuracy of her portrayal, I would have rather been moved through the telling of the story.

The Cure for Insomnia

When books come with high expectations, they most often cannot not live up to them. This one is no exception. Not only did this one not fill expectations, but it failed to meet any whatsoever. I wanted to be moved, inspired and be enraptured with the story. I can't tell you whether it ends well or not -- every time I listen, I fall asleep. I am not sure if it is the monotonous voice, the annoying unimportant details that go on and on or even the plodding story line -- maybe all. If I could, I'd get my money back. Rice should go back to vampires and witches -- they at least were interesting.

I am a very disappointed Anne Rice fan

Boring, disjointed story line, childish dialog. Total waste of money. Bring back Lastat!

An interesting purely fictional history

It's a good thing that this book is listed as fiction, because that's all it is. While the historical facts may be pretty concise, the image of the young Jesus Christ is more like Harry Potter than who Jesus Christ really was as a man and as a youth. Just disregard the fact that Jesus was born of our Heavenly Father and Mary and that he knew who he was and that he was immortal and implant magical powers in him, aka Harry Potter and there you have it! I kept expecting Hagrid to come in any moment and swish Jesus off to Hogwarts!

I appreciate why she wrote this book and I applaude her on her renewed faith, but she really needs to understand the central character before writing about Him and it is very clear that she has much to grow and understand regarding Jesus.

I might recommend Talmage's "Jesus the Christ" for a MUCH MORE accurate study of Jesus' life and times.

Narrator was terrible

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

My biggest issue was the narrator. I know he is trying to sound like child, but I think my 13-year would have been a more interesting narrator.

What was most disappointing about Anne Rice’s story?

The story was OK, but it's hard to listen to a story of Christ when you know it's virtually all fiction. And again, the narrator was so unlikable that it was hard to focus on the story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Josh Heine’s performances?

No.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Christ the Lord?

I didn't get that far. I could only take about an hour.