I really regret my selection for this month. I guess I was expecting Passion of the Christ material. Instead I was bored and was not able to connect with any of the characters.
Yesterday at our meeting, everyone seemed to agree. If you want to read about the life of Christ, you are better off reading historical documents or the Bible.
As a fictional piece, it still did not have the elements to make it an interesting read.

"Christ the Lord" provided one of the most interesting discussions our book club has had. This book might be considered slow-moving by readers who are used to a "standard"/conventional narrative line for a novel. It does not center around action and plot twists. It centers around epiphany and revelation. The prose is spare, beautiful, and even poetic at times. Like all novels that are based on well-known literary or historical figures, Anne Rice's book fleshes out the "holes" in Christ's life, makes the reader see the social, political, and religious background of the time. As a long-time reader of Anne Rice, I was not disappointed by this novel. Rather, I was intrigued and, at the end, engrossed by the struggles of Rice's Jesus.

I would recommend this novel to Christian and non-Christian readers alike. A great book club selection.

Having read Anne Rice's vampire series, I was eager to discover how she approached Christianity in her writing, and she does so with finesse. The development of young Jesus throughout her book is artfully driven by setting the book in the first person with all of the encumbent experiences and observations of a young child. When Christ understands the truth of his existence, knows something of the pain and suffering he is to undergo, it is an emotional passage. When Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple, and come to take him home, it is my favorite excerpt. At the last chapter, I wanted to pick up the next book and continue on. I look forward to Anne's next chapter in Christ's life.