I quote from the book "The history of mankind is the history of our misunderstandings with god, for he doesn't understand us, and we don't understand him." And that on page 73 was the essence of this hilariously lighthearted yet potently sharp critique of the Biblical God.
My wife who had a better understanding & knowledge of Biblical Religious literature, tells me that the Old Testament God is mostly an angry one. That is exactly what troubles Jose Saramago in this book, and he manifests the unforgiving, selfish and egoistic God through the story of a time traveling Cain.
Everything about the book is brilliant, the translation in my mind actually added another layer, though one can't say that with certainty without reading the Portuguese original.
The story covers a wide set of episodes from the killing of Abel, destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, destruction of Tower of Babel, Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, Job's agony, Lot's rescue, Noah's ark, Moses's golden calf and in each of the cases the author systematically and logically with agonising pain exposes the flawed God.
P.S. I doubt literature like this could ever be produced India, given our total lack of ability to debate any politically and religiously controversial point of view with any sense of openness or tolerance. And that makes me sad.
Rating : 4.5 / 5
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