Footnotes. Footnotes on every 2 pages. Footnotes that take sometimes up to half of the page. I get that they are trying to make this a factual historical writing. From the introduction:
“In the writing of this fact-based book, Martin Dugard and I do not aim to suggest that we know everything about Jesus. But we know much and will tell you things that you might not have heard. Our research has uncovered a narrative that is both fascinating and frustrating. There are major gaps in the life of Jesus, and at times we can only deduce what happened to him based upon the best available evidence. As often as possible, we relied on classical works.” (O’Reilly, B. 2013, Killing Jesus, pg 2).
I feel like I am reading a college paper (one of many I wrote) that has as many footnotes as story. Which I know is necessary. Give credit where credit is due, right? Maybe I have read so many fiction books based on Jesus that I wasn’t expecting this kind of format.
In all fairness, I am only a couple chapters in, and will continue reading this book. I just don’t like having to stop what I’m reading to read the footnotes and then go back to where I left off at. I am also anal enough that I cannot read this story without reading the footnotes. What if I missed something important? I have to read everything 🙂
So there’s my gripe for the day, and Happy Monday and Happy Reading!
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