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A review by agile76au
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
4.0
I was asked by a friend what made this is a book worth reading.
Tsiolkas brings out the humanity and sincerity of his characters in a novel that is clearly well researched. These characters think like people of their time, rather than acting as modern and progressive people misplaced in the Ancient World. Whether you're a Christian (as I am) or someone who rejects Christianity and what it stands for, you cannot be anything but impressed by the way characters are brought to life in a brutal world in which the murder of female babies, the feeding of Christians to lions, and the brutalisation of slaves is common.
Tsiolkas writes at the end of the novel that he grew up as a Christian, but subsequently rejected his early faith as he found it impossible to move past the Apostle Paul's stance on homosexuality. The theme of male friendship is evident throughout the novel, and the boundaries between friendship and attraction are not always clear between Paul and Timothy in particular.
This novel does have a subtly expressed central thesis. There are no signs, miracles, or other supernatural events in the story. Even Saul/Paul's Damascus Road experience is not described in any detail. Instead, the reader is left with a sense of the respect, and perhaps reverence, that the author has for the teachings of Christ which were so counter-cultural to the first century Ancient World.
Tsiolkas brings out the humanity and sincerity of his characters in a novel that is clearly well researched. These characters think like people of their time, rather than acting as modern and progressive people misplaced in the Ancient World. Whether you're a Christian (as I am) or someone who rejects Christianity and what it stands for, you cannot be anything but impressed by the way characters are brought to life in a brutal world in which the murder of female babies, the feeding of Christians to lions, and the brutalisation of slaves is common.
Tsiolkas writes at the end of the novel that he grew up as a Christian, but subsequently rejected his early faith as he found it impossible to move past the Apostle Paul's stance on homosexuality. The theme of male friendship is evident throughout the novel, and the boundaries between friendship and attraction are not always clear between Paul and Timothy in particular.
This novel does have a subtly expressed central thesis. There are no signs, miracles, or other supernatural events in the story. Even Saul/Paul's Damascus Road experience is not described in any detail. Instead, the reader is left with a sense of the respect, and perhaps reverence, that the author has for the teachings of Christ which were so counter-cultural to the first century Ancient World.