[tinamasak]

In its short span Par Lagerkvist?s novel deftly conjures its setting: the Holy Land at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The sights, smells, beggars, and brutality of that place and time vividly come to life in this spare story. The Swedish Nobel-winner was held in esteem by his colleagues and was one of the few Scandinavians whose Nobel failed to arouse grumblings from the international literary community of favoritism by the committee towards regional writers. Sixty years later Lagerkvist is one of the numerous largely forgotten winners, at least in the English-speaking world, of the prestigious prize: few translations of his work remain in print in English, and those that are were made decades ago. If Lagerkvist is known for anything it is for this simple parable about the man who was saved while Jesus went to the cross (it even got a Hollywood movie version with Anthony Quinn). The Bible has no more to say about Barabbas after his freedom won in exchange for the prophet?s life ? Lagerkvist imagines a character and a future for him. After being set free the sullen ex-convict begins to furtively find out more about the crucified one whose followers call the Son of God. When Barabbas asks the simple harelipped girl what the prophet?s teaching was she can only say, ?Love one another.? Along his road Barabbas finds himself wanting to believe in the God of the disciples, but cannot. He can only say that he wants to believe.

I say Lagerkvist?s ?simple parable? without following it with ?but not simplistic.? I would like to have started with another book by this author, but Barabbas was all I could find. As someone who has little interest in Christian mythology the novel left me indifferent. It?s written in a plain, direct style and its ability to paint certain scenes has an economic effectiveness to it, but the book ultimately seemed little more than a bedtime story for earnest, middle-class Christian children. While some have found this novel affecting and even earthshattering, what prompts such responses is a mystery to me.

[KevinDonae]

It is a good enjoyable novel but I think it doesn't add up much to the Jesus crucifixion theme, much like Pappini's The History of Christ.
I found The Last Tempation of Christ by Kazantzakis and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, much better books in terms of analysis of facts, narrative development and richness of language.

[banditorfv]

It is a good enjoyable novel but I think it doesn't add up much to the Jesus crucifixion theme, much like Pappini's The History of Christ.
I found The Last Tempation of Christ by Kazantzakis and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, much better books in terms of analysis of facts, narrative development and richness of language.

I agree. I loved Barrabbas when I read it in high school. It was just ok when I reread it a couple of years ago. The Last Temptation made for much more interesting discussions and debates. One might disagree with Kazantzakis' 'take' on the life of Christ, but he certainly made his points well.

[imictiorume]

I can only ad my reaction to reading this pretty much concurs with those posted: bleh

I have Sybll and The Dwarf, and they actually sound intersting if you put any stock in the back cover blurbs..But it will be awhile before I start another Lagerkvist.

[KevinDonae]

I can only ad my reaction to reading this pretty much concurs with those posted: bleh

I have Sybll and The Dwarf, and they actually sound intersting if you put any stock in the back cover blurbs..But it will be awhile before I start another Lagerkvist.

I read them as well. Ok but nothing impressive.

[bypeTeenehalT]

Lagerkvist's "Barabbas", "The Death of Ahasuerus", "The Dwarf", "The Sibyll" (maybe) were the first Swedish literature I ever read, at about the age of 16, several years before I learned Swedish. They were all written in the 1940s and 1950s. Curiously, they were available in English translation in a rather nondescript branch library.

What I remember about "Barabbas" is that it was pretty bleak. I believe that Lagerkvist was an athe?st, so I don't think the "harmless Christian bedtime story" is quite right. I think his approach to religion was more existentialist than Christian. He certainly reacted against the Church as a young man in rather the same way as Ingmar Bergman did. The Swedish Lutheran Church was rather grim and uncompromising in those days. Nor do I think that Lagerkvist was trying to add to the cruxifixion theme. He was examining the role and psychology of Barabbas, the outcast, who is but a minor character in the original Bible story. Barabbas was the one criminal who was set free, by Passover tradition. Unfortunately, Jesus was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and got picked to substitute him. But the key psychology here is surely the guilt of escaping death. Whatever the case, a very thorough study guide for "Barabbas" is here:

Barabbas Study Guide by P?r Lagerkvist Study Guide

But it's not all free access. They want money, if you want to read the whole thing.

The anti-Semitic German Nazi rag "Der St?rmer" called Lagerkvist a "Judenknecht" (Jewish lackey), which he took as being a badge of honour. He was also on the Gestapo death list. And his allegorical novel (also a play) "The Executioner" was burnt by the Nazis.

P?r Lagerkvist had quite a long writing life: 1912-1967.

[tinamasak]

I don't know much about Lagerkvist. My judgment was based on the book itself, and I don't take back my "nice story for children" comment, even if I do wonder if it wasn't an unnecessarily nasty swipe. Like I said, I would have preferred to start with another of the author's books (ideally the autobiographical A Guest of Reality) but took what I could get. If Lagerkvist was indeed an atheist, it puts the book in a different light, but doesn't actually make it any better for me. I have a friend who thinks that Barabbas is the bee's knees and would probably be horrified if I told him how little I thought of it. Yes, yes, a matter of taste...

[bypeTeenehalT]

Liehtzu: in all fairness, I haven't read the book for about forty years, and that was in translation. I'll try and look at it again some day, and read it in Swedish, so that I cannot blame or praise any translator who comes between the original and me.

[Pyuvjzwf]

Let my shadow disappear into yours.
Let me lose myself
under the tall trees,
that themselves lose their crowns in the twilight,
surrendering themselves to the sky and the night.
-From Eveningland

Lagerkvist is my favorite Swedish writer (Above Strindberg, yes. I rate him no higher in "artistic merit" then any of hundreds of great writers but the feeling of something awesome in Lagerkvist corresponding to the aloneness of a man before the cosmos appeals to me, as he might of put it "a man with a desert soul pierced by the spheres of the stars".)

He was also a playwright (I think better known for this then his novels in Sweden), know best for political works such as The Hangman 1933 which keenly anticipated not so much the ideological atmosphere but the emotional vortex which led up to the Holocaust. This is not the stuff that I like best though. My favorites include the collection of short stories The Eternal Smile the play The Philosopher's Stone and his last novel written around his eightieth year, Herod and Mariamne.

Reading the Norwegian Newt Hamsun's (Known best for the Dostoevsky like short story Hunger {which is unlike his other work}) Growth of the Soil has led me to believe Lagerkvist greatly admired this writer and made homage to him in his latter novels.