Untitled Classic: A Book Review

The encouragement of a friend, the recommendation from a pastor, and the involvement of my wife in Classical education have all conspired to peak my interest in the literary classics.  Whether lack of opportunity or lack of initiative I must confess my ignorance in them.  So to get up to speed I have been relying on Wikipedia and Youtube to learn of Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Tale of Two Cities and Middlemarch.  

Just this week I finished a book that was written several years ago by a mid-eastern physician and a world traveler.  From his own life experience he writes a story of inclusion for those excluded.  “As he tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance now find the doors wide open.”

The protagonist (main character, hero) is presented as a common person who is also unusually inspiring.  While kindhearted and winsome there is an unpredictability that is polarizing.  Even as we come to understand him, he retains a certain amount of mystery. 

The unusual circumstances surrounding the protagonist’s birth give a prologue to his life and leaves the reader guessing at what might be coming.  Then entering into his life, we are introduced to a cast of characters who span a wide spectrum of society.  His interaction with them leads to many unexpected turns that develop an intriguing plot.       

As the narrative progresses we come to realize there is more to his life than we might have initially thought.  We get a hint of an arising conflict and eventually come to understand that the protagonist’s life mission is wrapped up in this conflict. 

The obstacle he faces and the end resolution takes not only the characters of the story by surprise but the reader as well.  You will find yourself indentifying with this story on many levels, and it will open the door for your own inclusion into an even bigger story. 

There is one forewarning to consider.  This story is filled with the supernatural.  Demons are encountered, the miraculous of nature occurs, and the dead are raised to life.  Even the protagonist makes a strident supernatural claim about himself that plays deeply into the story.