Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days (Left Behind #1).  Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1996. United States.

Book Review by Jane
I had been told by some that this was a must-read book, and quite frankly do not know what took me so long to pick it up. That being said, I had trouble buying into this story. Perhaps it is the difference in the time, now being after 911; perhaps it was something deeper. I think it is the absence of the John the Baptist factor, as I will call it. John the Baptist was a colossal weirdo of his time. But all the characters in this book were fairly normal people, some with very distinguished careers--or perfect students. These were the ones left behind, as the title states. But, some people were taken up to heaven suddenly. These people were described also, and they were all what you would call nice church people or children. My point is, I don't think John the Baptist was exactly a nice church person. What about a homeless person? Or a person who makes a minimal income? Or a woman CEO with children at home? Would no one miss them if they just disappeared? It's lack of dealing with these issues leads the reader down the wrong road I think. There was one example of oddity, at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, there were two strange characters declaring the second coming of Jesus. That almost saved the story somewhat for me; but that reference comes straight out of scripture and does not reflect so much the current political climate on what is believed to be proper, which in most cases, this book adheres to.

Of course, this story is supposed to be based on biblical prophecy. It should be mentioned that there are many people who don't believe the rapture is represented in scripture; that is, the taking up of Christ's people before the time of Tribulation. The rapture is probably something that people can argue about and miss the main point entirely, though.

This story just makes evil too clear to see. I am not sure it is always that clear, just dealing with the day to day of now. I guess they were trying to make the main villain look ultra good, thus ultra evil. It was a bit of a stretch. The book itself seemed contrived--perhaps coming from a marketing department, content to package, sell and not much else. I realize there are many sequels to this book. I don't think I will read any more of these.

Jane.

 

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