God Knows | Joseph Heller | Hilarious Sleeper

God Knows | Joseph Heller | A humorous and ingenious approach to a revered biblical tale.

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God Knows

	God Knows Joseph Heller Simon & Schuster, 1997 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Joseph Heller's powerful, wonderfully funny, deeply moving novel is the story of David -- yes, King David -- but as you've never seen him before. You already know David as the legendary warrior king of Israel, husband of Bathsheba, and father of Solomon; now meet David as he really was: the cocky Jewish kid, the plagiarized poet, and the Jewish father. Listen as David tells his own story, a story both relentlessly ancient and surprisingly modern, about growing up and growing old, about men and women, and about man and God. It is quintessential Heller.

Hilarious Sleeper

This book is certainly a new take on the Old Testament story of King David. Lots of irreverence and so much that is virtually upside-down. David himself talks to us - a lot - and tells us all. Some might find this depiction of an over-the-top King of Israel kind of blasphemous. I ended up with the wonderful feeling that God is good, all the time!

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A humorous and ingenious approach to a revered biblical tale.

`God Knows' is quintessential Heller. Perhaps that is all you need to know if you are wondering if you should buy this book.

Despite the considerable shadow of `Catch 22' being forever cast over his life and subsequent works, `God Knows' deserves to stand by itself for its witty and hugely original approach.

The premise of the novel involves a fictional twist of the life of the biblical figure King David (that is, the David who beat Goliath and went on to become King of Israel).

Heller shows this holy, reverential figure in a new light, with the reader confronted by an arrogant, cocky and jaded figure retelling his life as he procrastinates over choosing an heir he knows he will have no faith in. Yet despite David's arrogance, Heller manages to draw the reader to feel a close bond with the protagonist, much like he did with 'Catch 22', 'Something Happened' and 'Good as Gold' (all novels with vastly different lead characters).

What makes this book so endearing is the satirical expansion of what was a serious and humorless subject matter. Whether it's David boldly swaggering through the terrified Israeli ranks of soldiers towards Goliath, the young teenager proclaiming his imminent victory over the giant; or as David critically rates which of his numerous; the reader is drawn to this enthralling character. For all of David's arrogance, captured by statements like `I am David, not Oedipus, and I would have broken destiny to bits.', and `Destiny is a good thing to accept when it's going your way. When it isn't, don't call it destiny; call it injustice, treachery, or simple bad luck,' there are still numerous moments where David speaks sincerely to the reader, candidly opening up about the loss of his first born, his subsequent rage at God, and his numerous attempts to win the love of his father figure, King Saul, despite Saul's frequent, violent rebuffs. Underneath the charismatic and proud exterior, there is a tormented man. And as David muses over what his greatest achievement has been as the book nears its climax, the reader cannot help but feel that David's greatest achievement has been to present such an honest account of his life story.

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An interesting read

Classic Heller style, but not nearly as clever or insightful as Catch-22. Some monotonous repetition abounds. Still, God Knows has some laugh-out-loud scenes and a very interesting spin on religion and the Old Testament. I loved the many embedded references to classic proverbs and quotes, and how King David recites the poem "Ozymandias" verbatim to his son Solomon to make a point. Solomon's character also came as a shock: a half-witted miser and plagiarist instead of the Biblical profound philosopher. Overall, an interesting read.

An Original Take on an Old Story

This rambling narrative is told by the biblical King David as he approaches the end of his life while simultaneously trying to entice Bathsheba back into his bed and avoid naming her son Solomon his heir.

Don't look for history here. Oh, yes, David recounts multiple biblical stories - frequently amending, editorializing, and re-assigning authorship - but most of his time is spent recalling the details of his life, speculating about the characters of biblical patriarchs, commenting on the motives of his family members (many of whom spend large portions of the book trying to kill him), bragging about his writing and musical skills, reminiscing about his multiple wives and their various connubial talents, and kvetching about inaccuracies in Michaelangelo's statue of him.

Oh yes ... about that last ... Heller's David is unfettered by linear history. He quite happily claims authorship of virtually every famous line ever written (up to and including Tennessee Williams) as well as the musical masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, and Haydn, discusses the American Civil War, dissuades his nephew from going off to conquer Russia, Korea, Japan, Turkey, England, Germany, France, and "Poland, too, if there is one", and complains about the relative scenic wonders and cultural opportunities offered by Hollywood and Cannes as compared to those of Jerusalem.

And when he's not doing that, he's thinking about God. Talking to God. Arguing with God. Convincing himself and his contemporaries that God is dead -- or a homicidal madman.

It is Heller's genius that he manages to make all this eminently readable and laugh-out-loud funny.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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