Alanah's Book Review of Anne Rice's "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt"
I’ve just finished Anne Rice’s, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. I knew before reading this novel that Anne Rice had done away with her vampire tales and atheist beliefs for a more pious view to be carried out in her everyday world as well as in her writing. To be honest that was one of the differences that attracted me to read the novel in the first place. In my younger days her vampire chronicles blew my mind, instantly making me a fan of her writing for life. The Queen of the Damned is still one of my favorite books to this day. So, being able to see how her style of writing would come across in a religious matter piqued my curiosity.
The differences were evident from the start. My attention was caught with the event that started from the very first page, as it stayed true to the seven years old Jesus that told the story. Ms. Rice’s work has been known to be beautifully wordy and this seemed to be beautifully simple instead. I actually liked the simplicity in her character’s telling for more than one reason. First, it makes sense a child would see things the way he did. Second, it doesn’t alienate any person that wanted to read the book. Just as Jesus’ teaching didn’t alienate anyone that wanted to follow. I would be lying if I said that didn’t take some getting used to at first, but once I let go of the pretense of her old style of writing I quite enjoyed her new form. However, I do hope that Jesus’ voice grows with him as he matures.
Ms. Rice hasn’t lost any of her descriptive flare in her world building capabilities as she painted a captivating picture of the ancient biblical world long gone from our reality. She flawlessly wrote on the historical recollection of the intellectual value of Alexandria to the tight city roads that led to the temple in Jerusalem. There were times I swore I could smell the animals waiting to be sold for sacrifice. On a historic standpoint, this book of fiction stood firm on what we’ve learned to have been their day to day life in that time.
With that being said, I finished this book with a new found respect on how Anne Rice has reclaimed her faith as well as morphed her writing to fit. As I’ve said earlier, there will always be a place in my heart for all that she has written earlier, but my heart definitely has space for her new work as well.
