The Life of God (as Told by Himself)

by Franco Ferrucci

Book Overview

At the center of Franco Ferrucci's inspired novel is a tender, troubled God. In the beginning is God's solitude, and because God is lonely he creates the world. He falls in love with earth, plunges into the oceans, lives as plant and reptile and bird. His every thought and mood serve to populate the planet, with consequences that run away from him--sometimes delightfully, sometimes unfortunately.

When a new arrival emerges from the apes, God...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226244962
• ISBN13: 9780226244969
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

beautiful blasphemy

I don't understand why anyone would judge this book on its historical or Biblical accuracy, which is in fact rather childish. This is literature at its best, where the pages come to life as the history of humanity is altered to fit the tale. Nothing is sacred in this book, and thank God for that. In fact, better to say that humanity is made sacred in this work, for all its mistakes and errors. Look elsewhere for a cruel and heartless diety of scripture, look here to find a God gifted with the highest quality--that of being human.

Lovable, Sweet and Utterly Charming

The Life of God (As Told by Himself) is a charming knit of secular and ecclesiastic views of the world told from the viewpoint of God, Himself. God rises out of chaos and brings into being, with a scientifically approved chronology, the universe as we know it. "The truth is that the world began when it dawned on me that I was all alone and I tried to do something about it. Everything that came later was a consequence of that moment..." God creates the sun, the other stars and the planets, of which he much prefers the Earth. So, God decides to settle on Earth and proceeds to create life, marine and amphibious. He soon grows tired of reptiles, however, and wanting "life to meditate upon itself so as to better comprehend itself," he shifts from eggs to live birth and mammals are born. Eventually, he finds in the monkey just the right blend of melancholy and humor to impel him to create the human soul."I would have a notion of a tree and bang, there it was roots and branches and leaves and trunk and bark, rooting in the earth, with arms flung wide in the open air." God can mold his creations, but he cannot alter or destroy them. As he, himself puts it, "I could not play around with the created world, and make and unmake as I pleased."Ferrucci's God is likable, sweet and utterly human but he is neither omnipotent nor omniscient. More importantly, he his constantly learning from his own creations. God's world is inhabited by characters whose relationships are independent of him. who know more than he does about certain topics and who have power over one another with which he cannot interfere.This is an extremely mobile God, capable of skimming through the cosmos and merging with any one of his creations, yet he cannot save Christ from Crucifixion, he cannot paint as well as Caravaggio nor can he understand Einstein, although he listens appreciatively. Most of the Great Minds with whom God interacts recognize him; some understand him, some ignore him and some blatantly reject him. Mozart is, of course, irreverent, Freud is quite unpleasant and Dante sees him as he is..."father and son of my very own self, the fire of intelligence that circulates through the cosmos and pours into humankind in order to attain the form of thought and words."Translated freely from the original Italian, we are told that "it often departs freely from the Italian original and at points is better characterized as an adaptation." Translation or adaptation, the prose is always delightful, the writing is consistently witty and intelligent, sometimes even hilarious.The Life of God does a wonderful job of reconciling the chaotic progress of human events with a higher but endearingly non-absolute power. It begins toward this end buoyed by a deft usage of anachronistic simile; the dinosaurs are "extremely conservative and not particularly bright...like old aristocrats in remote provincial towns, handing down to new generations both their idleness and a disquieting physi

In Which the Creator is Created in Man's Own Image

Clever and thought provoking, the protagonist (God) details his efforts to understand his creation (man). Ferrucci's God is a rather amiable fellow who can't seem to fathom what makes his creation tick, nor why man insists on creating a deity in his own image - angry, vengeful, and unforgiving. A number of discourses with Moses all prove futile - Moses insists on reading more into God's simple message than is intended. Conversations with poets and philosophers throughout the ages; God also takes a hand in murder to, hopefully, come to grips with what he has created. Still, if man cannot come to understand his maker, how can the creator hope to understand his creation? Humorous at times, but it is a rather melancholy humor as, in the end, God abandons his creation in the hope of better success elsewhere. A philosophical read, I found myself questioning my ideals, both spiritual as well as societal. Not recommended for everyone, but for the thinkers among us, a real gem.

Philosophical and compelling

This book should become a classic if it hasn't done so already! It's the sort of book I can imagine on future reading lists in schools and colleges. It is a mind-blowing, deeply thought-provoking book, following and challenging the history of creation and mankind, right up to present day, with plenty of nail-biting yarns along the way!. You will be drawn in by the humble, bewildered character, God, who longs to communicate with man and find out what he's doing here on earth, and why these creatures worship him so much, when he, God, is just as flawed, imperfect and base as man himself. It's God's own personal journey (like all of us) trying to make sense of life, trying to follow different philosophies, trying to understand man and at the same time, falling in love with beauty, nature and all the pleasures that life entices us with. Ferrucci shows an extensive knowledge of history, philosophy and religion, but he also writes a compelling story too. I bought this book for several friends, dying to hear their reaction too.

A delightful read

Though this was fiction (obviously), it truly made me reconsider my already skeptical point of view of God, mankind, and the universe. It was creative and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it!