I found the premise of this novel more intriguing than the actual experience reading it. The voice was a bit distant for my liking, making it hard to fully empathize with the characters. And yet it was well chosen for the purpose of the story. The tone felt as Biblical as the many references to Jesus’s miracles. The idea of Jesus returning to the world as a Black boy from Martinique is appealing, and the tongue-in-cheek pleasure that the author seemed to take in her idea entranced me. I kept wanting to read on and discover what new Biblical reference she would place in the story and how she would turn it into something completely true to the Caribbean setting of her tale. My favorite quote (among many memorable ones: “This time, the Creator had taken care to make His son of mixed blood so no race might take advantage over the others, as had happened in the past.”

It's readable and enjoyable at times, but also a bit haphazard and meandering. If I had to place it's style it'd be something like a manic cross between My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Zorba the Greek

“He had chosen the autobiography as a genre which allowed him to tell the truth about what really happened in the colony, since the novelist has a serious problem with truth. Who is the person talking about his experiences and his adventures? Is it the novelist himself or an imaginary character or both?”

From: The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (translated from the original French by Richard Philcox)

This was my 4th book from the International Booker Longlist and if you followed my stories you know that I was struggling with this one. I don’t really know what to tell you about it. To me the writing was too detached and “van de hak op de tak” (a Dutch saying that fits perfectly in my mind and can be translated roughly to “choppy”) and it failed to spark any emotion in me except after a while boredom.

The story is a parody of the life of Jesus Christ and it feels like it should be funny but to me it just wasn’t. I found his meanderings repetitive and sometimes downright annoying, especially his relationships with women.

At parts I was wondering if maybe it just all went over my head, as I am not enormously familiar with biblical stories, however I still know the basics and it just felt too forced.

So this turned out to be my least favorite read of the longlist so far (and I also haven’t seen it on anyones shortlist prediction post…), I am curious to hear from people that did love it. Sometimes a different view helps you appreciate a book more than you can on your own.