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cecicastro's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
iba tan bien pero a la mitad se puso aburrido. no tenia una meta final que cumplir, lo cual claro puede ser una decisión a propósito, pero personalmente eso no me gustó. igual mucho del lenguaje usado no fue de mi agrado, aunque eso puede ser culpa del traductor y no el autor original.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
Barabbas is the guy who was acquitted in Christ's place - and, so, the only person Christ literally died for. And so, perhaps he might invite a parable for the whole Christian world? Personally, I can't see this book as a parable though. Personally, I think the story is called Barabbas because author talking about humanity in general needs a person around whom story could pivot (the word always reminds me of Ross) around and Barabbas happened to be a good choice. Since he is living because Jesus died for him, he has a very direct connection with him, he is closer to Christ than anybody else and can't get him out of his mind.
But this connection exists only in blind side. He hasn't talked with same - and has seen him only in the last moments when he was being humiliated and suffering miserably for having spread the message of love. Plus, Barabbas himself has a past filled with hatred - his father was a bandit, his mother gave him birth cursing the world Jesus was to bless, his own brother tried to kill him, and he is himself a bandit. Naturally, he finds the idea of 'loving one another' lunatic. And thus, even miracles he comes across aren't enough for him to believe in a messiah he doesn't understand.
As I said Barabbas is only a pivot thoigh, the story is just as much about characters around him. Despite being the Son of God, Jesus doesn't seem to have bother considering much as to who shall have the luck of being in his divine presence during his tour de Earth; asking total strangers to his scriptures to follow him and so on - there is hardly anything to suggest they deserve it. Just think some Roman soldier must have got the chance to nail Christ divine hand to cross and we don't know the name of notorious fellow! This seems a common problem with other Abrahamic messiahs too - God decided to put Mohammad in a desert too. Mosses was an exception, being born in a royal family of one of best civilizations of his time - but he quickly corrected it by taking his folks to deserts.
Anyways, the point being that like Barabbas, the early Christian folks seem to be mere everymen lacking any charisma whatsoever. So, what chance than did the followers had of understanding the divine message? Christ's 'love each other' is a riddle to people living in times when physical violence is common, slavery is exercised, people enjoying torturing victims - whether it be crucifixion or stoning. It is so far beyond everybody's head that understanding is not the way to it. All that is left, despite miracles and all is faith.
Such are troubles for Barabbas in his path to believe - for he wants to believe.Before he was acquitted he had to live for days in dark prison with nothing but the idea of a painful and humiliating death to look forward. Now that he is free - he has that awareness of inadequacy, of powerlessness of a human and his short life. Like Lazarus, whom too Jeses saved, the 'saving' hasn't restored him to what he was before. There is this craving in him - to believe in something. And unlike, many of us modern folks, he doesn't have any alternatives in forms of the philosophical system, nor is he gifted in any art forms or has a family to support. And so, like a star-crossed lover, he keeps in turns refusing and returning to Christ.
While there are miracles in the book, they only serve to raise questions. Christians are constantly persecuted but that doesn't The book has one foot each both in boats of belief and lack of same and it manages to balance brilliantly.
But this connection exists only in blind side. He hasn't talked with same - and has seen him only in the last moments when he was being humiliated and suffering miserably for having spread the message of love. Plus, Barabbas himself has a past filled with hatred - his father was a bandit, his mother gave him birth cursing the world Jesus was to bless, his own brother tried to kill him, and he is himself a bandit. Naturally, he finds the idea of 'loving one another' lunatic. And thus, even miracles he comes across aren't enough for him to believe in a messiah he doesn't understand.
As I said Barabbas is only a pivot thoigh, the story is just as much about characters around him. Despite being the Son of God, Jesus doesn't seem to have bother considering much as to who shall have the luck of being in his divine presence during his tour de Earth; asking total strangers to his scriptures to follow him and so on - there is hardly anything to suggest they deserve it. Just think some Roman soldier must have got the chance to nail Christ divine hand to cross and we don't know the name of notorious fellow! This seems a common problem with other Abrahamic messiahs too - God decided to put Mohammad in a desert too. Mosses was an exception, being born in a royal family of one of best civilizations of his time - but he quickly corrected it by taking his folks to deserts.
Anyways, the point being that like Barabbas, the early Christian folks seem to be mere everymen lacking any charisma whatsoever. So, what chance than did the followers had of understanding the divine message? Christ's 'love each other' is a riddle to people living in times when physical violence is common, slavery is exercised, people enjoying torturing victims - whether it be crucifixion or stoning. It is so far beyond everybody's head that understanding is not the way to it. All that is left, despite miracles and all is faith.
Such are troubles for Barabbas in his path to believe - for he wants to believe.Before he was acquitted he had to live for days in dark prison with nothing but the idea of a painful and humiliating death to look forward. Now that he is free - he has that awareness of inadequacy, of powerlessness of a human and his short life. Like Lazarus, whom too Jeses saved, the 'saving' hasn't restored him to what he was before. There is this craving in him - to believe in something. And unlike, many of us modern folks, he doesn't have any alternatives in forms of the philosophical system, nor is he gifted in any art forms or has a family to support. And so, like a star-crossed lover, he keeps in turns refusing and returning to Christ.
While there are miracles in the book, they only serve to raise questions. Christians are constantly persecuted but that doesn't The book has one foot each both in boats of belief and lack of same and it manages to balance brilliantly.
tamara_joy's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Slavery
Moderate: Physical abuse and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Sexual content
coolvald's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lindquist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
angeladobre's review against another edition
3.0
2,75
https://booknation.ro/recenzie-baraba-de-par-lagerkvist/
https://booknation.ro/recenzie-baraba-de-par-lagerkvist/
kristinvdt's review against another edition
3.0
Denne burde jeg lese igjen, den er så kort. Gode personbeskrivelser og tidskoloritt. Noe helt annet enn jeg pleier å lese.
briandice's review against another edition
3.0
Like a lost gnostic gospel (The Gospel of Christ according to Barabbas?), this novel strums the chords of belief, regret, yearning and loss. Using the death and resurrection of Christ as the backdrop for the released prisoner Barabbas's story is clever and there are many unique and ineresting fictions created by Lagerkvist to tell his hero's tale.
It might have been the translation, but Lagerkvist's writing style didn't resonate with me at all. I'm not ready to give up on him; I'll try a couple of his other works with different translators before moving on.
It might have been the translation, but Lagerkvist's writing style didn't resonate with me at all. I'm not ready to give up on him; I'll try a couple of his other works with different translators before moving on.
koreilly's review against another edition
4.0
Distant, remote and cold this book can seem almost stand offish at first, aimlessly describing the days of Barabbas, the killer released in Jesus' stead after the crucifixion. The book expands though and grows outward to encompass the entire life and piritual journey of Barabbas the man with no God and really takes off at the end. There are some passages here that I would point to for anyone who wanted to understand the beauty of mid-century modernism.
The book is a spare and haunting tale that will leave you deeply affected by the suffering it contains and the characters inability to fight back against it. People in the world fighting against that universal pain with either love, indifference or outbursts of violence.
The book is a spare and haunting tale that will leave you deeply affected by the suffering it contains and the characters inability to fight back against it. People in the world fighting against that universal pain with either love, indifference or outbursts of violence.