Barabbas

Barabbas is the acquitted; the man whose life was exchanged for that of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified upon the hill of Golgotha. Barabbas is a man condemned to have no god. "Christos Iesus" is carved on the disk suspended from his neck, but he cannot affirm his faith. He cannot pray. He can only say, "I want to believe." Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair Barabbas is the acquitted; the man whose life was exchanged for that of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified upon the hill of Golgotha. Barabbas is a man condemned to have no god. Christos Iesus is carved on the disk suspended from his neck, but he cannot affirm his faith. He cannot pray. He can only say, I want to believe.

Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair

The story of the agnostic whose life was exchanged for that of Jesus, by the Nobel Prize winning Scandinavian novelist.

Barabbas, the thief, was acquitted when Christ was crucified, but he cannot put the thought of that man out of his mind. He finds himself drawn to the Christians who remain. Swift, sparing, limpid, and hauntingly intense