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Christ The Lord
Out Of Egypt
by Anne Rice

4.3 based on 17 reviews read critic reviews how did we calculate this? based on 9 votes read user comments rate this book

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The former New Orleans resident takes a break from writing about vampires with this novel about Jesus at the age of 7.

Knopf, 336 pages
11/01/2005
$25.95

ISBN: 0375412018

Fiction
General Literature & Fiction
Historical Fiction

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Kirkus Reviews

A riveting, reverent imagining of the hidden years of the child Jesus.

Library Journal Tamara Butler

In her attempt to breathe life into a historical religious figure, Rice's superb storytelling skills enable her to succeed where many other writers have failed. [1 Nov 2005, p. 70]

Publishers Weekly

The childlike language can be simplistic, though as readers persevere they will discover the riches of the sparse prose Rice adopts.

The Independent Victoria James

On one level, this is a coming-of-age tale about a child exploring the things left unsaid in family life, and on that level it succeeds.

Boston Globe Julie Wittes Schlack

[Rice] relies on simple, declarative sentences and repetition to create a sense of innocence, but the effect is merely tedious. Despite that, the story she's chosen to tell is almost engaging enough to appeal as much to fans of vampire stories as to those of Bible tales. As literary feats go, that's a near-miracle.

Salon Laura Miller

Readers more accustomed to and enamored of the broadly drawn lifestyles of the rich and undead in Rice's previous works may find all this a bit slow. However, the meticulous attention in "Out of Egypt" to the way faith and communal bonds permeate every aspect of Jesus' family life makes for a far more persuasive picture of spirituality than the operatic agonies of Lestat and his immortal friends.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

The restraint and prayerful beauty of "Christ the Lord" is apt to surprise her usual readers and attract new ones.

Booklist Kristine Huntley

A decided and daring departure from her usual fare, Rice's latest should draw many curious readers. [1 Nov 2005, p. 5]

Daily Telegraph Damian Thompson

However noble her intentions, Anne Rice must know that, if her work is embraced by the born-again Christians of America, then this clay sparrow will really fly.

Daily Telegraph Matt Thorne

One hopes that in the subsequent volumes she can refrain from... supermarket horror novel tactics and instead concentrate on the compelling recreation of a period for which she clearly feels an enormous passion, and sees as her moral obligation to bring to life for Christian readers of all denominations.

The Onion A.V. Club Noel Murray

There's some charm to imagining how people in ancient times fed themselves and entertained themselves and loved each other, but aside from some passages toward the end that deal with Jesus learning his origins and embracing his destiny, the book's exercise is too limited.

USA Today Susan Kelly

Rice is not playing it safe. In ending her own exile from the faith in which she was raised, she is reinventing herself as an artist with the hope, but not the certainty, that readers will follow.

The Guardian Jenny Diski

In Christ the Lord, Anne Rice has conscientiously taken all the drama, elegance and urgency of the Gospels and the Apocrypha, and flattened them into a tedious and mediocre potboiler. Which is a pity, because it's still a hell of a good idea for a novel.

Los Angeles Times Bernadette Murphy

This novel, it seems, is [Rice's] answer to skeptics. And though the afterword makes for an interesting look into the author's motivation and meticulous research, it also reveals an agenda, which effectively robs the novel of some of its intrinsic joy. [31 Oct 2005]

Entertainment Weekly Mark Harris

Christ reads like a bland young-adult novel, written in language that's supposed to be unadorned and poignantly simple but is instead as flat and leeched of poetry as the Good News Bible.

Chicago Tribune Alan Cheuse

Ill-conceived, ill-wrought and, worst sin of all, quite boring. [13 Nov 2005, pg. 1]

Washington Post Melvin Jules Bukiet

Rice has sucked the life out of the greatest story ever told.

The average user rating for this book is 4.3 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Millie J gave it a3:
I am a long-time fan of Anne Rice and was really looking forward to this novel. What a disappointment. I found the book tedious at best. Yes, her attention to historical detail is there but that's about all. The characters are all one-dimensional and flat. Cleopas, the brother of Mary, was almost a "breakout" character, despite Rice's refusal to flesh him out. Perhaps she was afraid that he might upstage Jesus. I think the critic who wrote that Rice had an agenda that ultimately worked against the novel was right.

Jeff P gave it a6:
I suppose it depends upon what you are looking for. The book seems to lack the sense of urgency, for lack of a better term, of her other books. It also kind of reads like a fifth-grade book report. "Today we had supper, and my mother made bread and sauce....and then she took away the sauce......but the sauce was good........" It seems to do well however on its main goal which appears to be to describe what Jesus might be feeling and experiencing as the Son of God. Many of the characters are a little shallow and almost too good to be true (Joseph for instance, is practically a saint). The Cleopus character who I had never heard of before seems to upstage almost everyone else, not sure why. But it has a good message about life in general, larger issues, and an appeal to religious beliefs. Appears to have taken great care not to offend anyone.

Diane T gave it an8:
What Kirkus said about this book -- "a triumph of tone" -- is supremely true. The voice of little Jesus feels absolutely real, as reflected in some of her odd phrasings, as though a precicious child were trying to speak clearly with complex language and sentence structures he had learned just that week. And Ann Rice paints convincing portraits of good people, something extremely hard to do. Loved it!

Kelly H gave it a3:
Although not a "long-time fan" of Anne Rice, I have read many of her books, but was most interested in reading "Christ the Lord" because of the subject matter. I was horribly disappointed by her novel, not merely because of her adjusted, simplistic writing style for this book, but because of her actual treatment of Christ. I am astonished that in many of the reviews I've read, Rice is accused of handling the character of Jesus in an overly reverent manner. Has no one noticed that her Christ commits murder (breaking the 5th commandment, for anyone paying attention) on page 1? And no one seems particularly concerned that this Jesus, (who came to earth to reunite us with the Father) has NO actual personal relationship with his heavenly Father at all? He prays, certainly, and believes in and reveres God, but the peace of God is conspicuously missing in His life, which seems more than odd for a boy who IS God incarnate. He is alarmingly fearful, and cries constantly, both sometime characteristics of human little boys. The only aspect of His deity that we see clearly is His supernatural ability, and although we are told also of his "blazing intelligence," I would argue that this characteristic is stated more than developed in the character. All in all, it is perhaps the best attempt of a person who has researched the subject of her book, but, it seems, doesn't really know Him at all.

Gerald J gave it a9:
As a long-time fan, I eagerly read Anne Rice's interpretation of Jesus. I agree with her assessment that he is the "ultimate supernatural hero." I look forward to the next installment. The simplicity that has been complimented...and criticized...will become less as Jesus grows older. I can't wait to see him grow up in her interpretation. I recommend it to all. I can't wait for the next book.

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