The Tongues of Men or Angels - Softcover

Trigell, Jonathan

3.57

53 ratings by Goodreads

9781472102232: The Tongues of Men or Angels

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1472102231 ISBN 13: 9781472102232

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group, 2015

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After the crucifixion, Jesus?s followers - led by his brother James the Just - remained devout Jews, vigorously opposed to the Roman occupiers. But a rival faction emerged, via the charismatic itinerant Paul of Tarsus. Some called him a Saint and some a liar. But Paul began telling stories that would transform a small sect of Judaism into a world religion.

The Tongues of Men or Angels is a dazzling act of imagination and learning. Jonathan Trigell shows the night sky of the Galilee lit not by guiding stars, but by flames of terror; he shows contested soil, on which miracles were performed and battles raged; he shows men of flesh and of blood, by turns loving and brutal. In doing so he unseals a tale that has been waiting through long ages.

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About the Author:

Jonathan Trigell was born in Hertfordshire, but now lives in Chamonix Mont Blanc in France. He is the author of four thematically very different novels: Boy A; Cham; Genus; and The Tongues of Men or Angels, published 2015.

Much acclaimed, Jonathan has won the Waverton Award for best first novel; the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, for best book in the commonwealth by an author under thirty five; the Italian Edoardo Kihlgren Prize, for a translated novel; and the inaugural World Book Day Prize, for the most discussion worthy novel by a living writer.

Jonathan's first novel - Boy A - was dramatized by Cuba Pictures, Film 4 and the Weinstein Co. The production was directed by John Crowley and starred Andrew Garfield, Katie Lyons and Peter Mullan. Boy A subsequently won four BAFTA Awards, the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and the Jury and Public Prizes at the Dinard Film Festival.

Review:

The Tongues of Men or Angels is Jonathan Trigell's bold attempt at an ironic, modern retelling of the events surrounding the crucifixion and Paul's subsequent evangelising of his version of Jesus's message ... an ingeniously structured, lively narrative of the birth of Christianity.―The Sunday Times

a committed attempt to compare the harsh reality of Jesus's life with the embroidered versions that spread following his death... This is a story that invents in order to see through invention―the Independent on Sunday

Trigell's version is ingenious and riveting. He is brilliant in his recreation of the visceral baseness of being human; this is a Judea mired in dung and blood and superstition.―The Times

Trigell's fourth novel is a high-octane take on the post-Crucifixion schism that emerged between Judaism and Christianity amid the brutality of Roman rule. Written with an inventive wit and verve, this is an impressive distillation of the Christian myth in the earthy poetry of the everyday vernacular; his portrayal of the Crucifixion is particularly visceral... a bravura and original performance.―the Mail on Sunday

Trigell is a very good writer - and also knows his text inside out. This really helps, because it gives him a very rich support cast: Philemon's slave is a fictional triumph, really well fleshed out from the scanty available evidence... It underpins what must be Trigell's greatest achievement: he has created a Saul/Paul (with back-story, complexity, real psychological depth) who might actually have written the epistles - welding that extraordinary mixture of commitment, self-righteousness, touchy insecurity, surprising moments of sweetness, and mystical passion into a single coherent character.―Church Times

Trigell has researched his subject thoroughly and fairly, and is able to reinterpret events in an interesting light... a lively, engaging, ambitious, nuanced and thought-provoking novel―The Work Shy Fop

This daring novel tells the story of Jesus and his followers in the years leading up to and following the Crucifixion. Trigell's interpretation of the origins of Christianity, particularly the factional struggle between the disciple Cephas (Peter) and the convert Saul (Paul), will spark controversy, but there's no denying the raw power of the writing.―Mail on Sunday, paperbacks of the week

This ambitious book by Jonathan Trigell captures the battle for the soul of the early church ... the best of it ranges from thought-provoking to stunning. Trigell is superb on capturing the blood, dung and superstition of Judea in the 1st century AD.―The Times

The settings and events are described in such muscular yet sensuous language that you almost feel you're there.―The Historical Novel Society

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