"Nikolaj tiene catorce años cuando sus padres mueren. Durante años, su hermana es su único refugio. Cuando ésta empieza a vivir su propia vida, él, para llamar su atención, se convierte en un adolescente destructivo que a menudo pone en peligro su vida y la de los demás. Un día se produce la tragedia. Meses después, al volver a casa, Nicolaj encuentra a un motero sentado en su sofá. Grande, barbudo, en sandalias y algo parecido a Jesucristo, el tipo aconseja a Nikolaj que cambie de vida. Nikolaj, que ha tocado fondo, empieza a ser una buena persona. Las consecuencias son sorprendentes…"

(edit. promo.)

Lo típico que pillas un libro de la balda para leer algo en plan de transición y te acaba enganchando. La historia en sí, peca de un buenismo que deforma un poco la percepción que puedas tener de ella (el pavo es demasiado megachungo y manipulador al principio como para que resulte del todo verosímil el viraje que da a partir del segundo capítulo) y tiene algún «Jesus ex machina» (como cuando se encuentra otra vez con Satán (es el mote de uno de los personajes. No creo que lo haya querido poner en plan metáfora, porque entonces ya sí que me cago en el libro) que no acaba de convencer. Pero me ha gustado, qué le vamos a hacer.

Supongo que esa capacidad que tiene de crear situaciaciones y personajes potentes le vendrá de su escuela como guionista. No lo sé, pero el tema es que la novela funciona (por lo menos, para mí).

Me ha chocado: que aparecieran fotos de los protagonistas en la especie de artículos periodísticos que inserta a lo largo de la novela. No me ha gustado mucho (para ver personajes físicamente veo una película) pero me ha parecido curioso porque resulta que la foto de Nicolaj, que se me hacía conocida, era la del autor. Por lo visto, el número de teléfono que da en ese artículo también debe de ser el verdadero. ( )

Seeking redemption, let alone finding it, can be a long and tortuous path. But what happens if Jesus Christ -- or at least a man claiming to be Jesus Christ -- is making suggestions here and there? That's the road on which Nikolaj Jensen is set in Danish writer Lars Husum's first novel, My Friend Jesus Christ.

When we meet Niko, as he's known to friends and family, he is struggling with a never-ending and always growing pit and ache in his stomach. Although Niko's mother became a Danish national treasure as a pop singer, she and Niko's father die in a car accident when Niko is 13. He was cared for by his older sister, who also manages and invests the earnings from their mother's songs. But Niko's fear of losing her increases as she begins living her own life, gets married and has a family. Niko increases his carousing and fighting, gaining the reputation of "an up-and-coming young psychopath." His path of self-destruction includes suicide attempts, trying to erase that knotting pain in his stomach.

Niko believes things may finally be changing for the better when he meets Silje, who turns out to be the singer in a tribute band to Niko's mother. Niko falls deeply in love with her but can't control the demons inside. During a minor argument he ends up savagely beating Silje and then attempts suicide in his sister's home. His actions eventually drive his sister to suicide herself, an event that crushes him.

The knot is tearing down everything to make room for itself. Walls, rooftops, floors, everything is being smashed to pieces in the loudest possible way. Suddenly the noise and pain stop, because what's the point of giving me a stomach ache when I no longer function? All is silent, the demolition is over, the knot is everywhere and I am no longer me. I am the knot.

It's at this point that Jesus Christ steps in. Actually, he breaks in. Niko wakes up early one morning to the sounds of a prowler in his apartment. Niko sees a man who's "tough, long-haired, bearded and big and strong, and [who] oozes confidence" entering his bathroom. When the man comes out, Niko clocks him in the head with an ashtray. Niko meet Jesus, or at least someone who claims to be Jesus and there to make Niko "a better man."

This encounter reflects part of the tone of My Friend Jesus Christ. Husum takes a light, at times humorous, touch to the issues Niko faces. At the same time, the sparse language of the work, translated from the Danish by Mette Petersen, retains a balance of seriousness and sincerity. That quality may reflect Husum's time as a screenwriter prior to the book, first published in Denmark in 2008 as "My Friendship with Jesus Christ" and now in its first English translation.

Although Niko is relatively convinced that Jesus is a "nutter," when Jesus touches him the knot disappears. Jesus advises Niko to move from Copenhagen to Tarm, the village in Jutland where his parents grew up. Niko's mother never returned to the town and refused offers to perform there after running away with Niko's father to escape her own abusive father. Figuring he has little or nothing left to lose, Niko moves there.

Once in Tarm, Niko quickly comes to treasure the area and makes a handful of friends and acquaintances, including a friend from his childhood who shows up in town, a promiscuous hairdresser, and an attractive Jehovah's Witness who comes to Niko's door. Acting again on the advice of Jesus (or the "nutter"), Niko convinces his friends, a group he calls "NATO," to return with him to Copenhagen to help him try and right the wrongs he's done. With a variety of twists, turns and complications, the group devotes itself to that mission with Niko getting occasional advice -- and even some assistance in a fight -- from Jesus.

My Friend Jesus Christ is about a search for individual redemption, not Christian fiction or even markedly religious. In fact, some Christians might even object to the book's portrayal of Jesus. Like Niko, the reader gets hints that the evidence supports the man's claims that he is Jesus but we are never actually sure.

Husum seems at his best in describing Niko before he meets Jesus, doing a first-rate job of portraying a soul in agony. That effort, though, makes some of the balance of the book seem a bit of a misfire. Niko's easy acceptance of the idea of moving to Tarm and his mollification there and later don't quite fit the self-destructive and tormented Niko of the first third of the book. Likewise, at times events in Copenhagen seem a bit too much like a blithe excursion than the struggle of an anguished soul. Additionally, although the ending is certainly appropriate for a story about a search for redemption, it is a bit confusing.

Despite those flaws, My Friend Jesus Christ entertains in its own idiosyncratic way.

(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie.)

"Wat doe je als op een late zaterdagavond Jezus opduikt in je appartement? Nikolaj twijfelt geen moment. Hij gooit een asbak naar zijn hoofd. Na het plotselinge overlijden van zijn ouders raakt Nikolajs leven in een negatieve spiraal van geweld en zelfdestructie. Totdat er een man met baard en sandalen in zijn leven verschijnt, die een beter mens van Nikolaj wilmaken. Het is het begin van een bizarre tocht van Kopenhagen naar West-Jutland. Een reis vol schuld, schaamte, popmuziek, seks en rare Jutlanders."

Het is een beetje een eigenaardig boek. De eerste helft moet je vooral wennen aan de staccato vertelwijze. Bovendien is de hoofdpersoon Nikolaj niet echt sympathiek. Halverwege wint hij de sympathiek wel enigszins terug, maar het blijft allemaal een beetje gek en vreemd. Het zijn meer Nikolajs nieuw geworven vrienden die je hart stelen en die je laten gniffelen.

Uiteindelijk leest het boek wel lekker snel weg (onder andere door die staccatovertelwijze) en het heeft ook wel de nodige humor. Het is niet doorzeeft met religie en de overtuiging dat Jezus alle wonden heelt, hij is gewoon een personage in dit boek als de vele anderen.

Het einde vind ik weinig bevredigend en zelfs wat onbegrijpelijk. Alsof er te veel moeite is gedaan om een ander einde te bedenken dan datgene waar het in de tweede helft van het boek naar afstevent.

Mijn conclusie? Een beetje een gek boek, dat wel lekker wegleest. Een 'tussendoortje'. ( )

Sjov, rå, intens og overraskende. Et moderne eventyr med fuld knald på. ( )

Lidt svært at anmelde denne bog for mig. På den eneside var jeg enormt godt underholdt, jeg grinede og blev rørt og følte med flere af personerne, og syntes at selve plot og historie var skidegodt - og på den anden side synes jeg ikke, at det er en særlig god bog. Hvorfor har jeg ikke helt fundet ud af endnu, men jeg tror, at den på en eller anden måde alligevel klinger hult og føles falsk - og jeg er ret sikker på, at det er en bog jeg hurtigt vil glemme.
Men jeg tror godt, at LH kan blive en rigtig god forfatter med sine skæve vinkler og lette og skægge måde at skrive på - og sine gode ideer især i enkeltscenerne. ( )