I’m currently reading God Knows by Joseph Heller. I bought this from an online business partner who sells second hand books that are quite hard to find. This book, when I picked it, was a great risk because I haven’t heard of the title and I am not quite familiar of the author. But that’s where you find treasured tales from unknown storytellers, right? Risks. Although I’ve heard of the book Catch 22, I’ve never gotten the chance to read it. Plus, I usually refrain from purchasing or acquiring books with titles that suggest heavy religious or spiritual content. Obviously, this books is an immediate contradiction.
I read the synopsis at the back and true enough, the book is about biblical characters centering on David. King David and David the Goliath are the same. But for the few first chapters, it was anything but boring. It’s humorous to be exact. The writer somehow tries to tell the story based on David’s point of view, from a human, from a scornful, lusty sinner. The book offers realizations that are repressed to say the least. The insights are based from a normal person’s point of view, untainted by the glorification of religion. Perceptions, sacrifices and miracles taught in school may somehow bear a superficial nature in biblical passages. But not here. The writer only speaks of DAVID “humanized” bearing anguish, desire and developmental struggle.
I reckon this might not be a perfect material for my grandmother who visits a church ever 6 pm in the evening. Some might find this scandalous as words and terms involve everyday colloquialisms and slangs to perfectly depict human feelings. It may or may not influence your take on religion. But God knows that this is a literary material intended for varied interpretation and god knows we need a little laugh at these trying times.
