The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Phillip Pullman just gets it. He has that way of using really intriguing narrative techniques and depth of character to address those little issues like the many moral complexities of organized religion and the ideas that start them. By splitting the mythic Jesus Christ into two very human twin brothers, he invites you to love, hate and relate to both of them. Jesus is passionate and pure, but horribly naive, and often times angry and bitter. Christ is rational and contemplative - not malicious like the title might lead you to believe, but definitely insecure which leads to his cowardice. With this new twist, Pullman reinterprets the old Bible stories, and spins a great moral tale that has much more grounded with us here on earth, than in heaven and hell.