“All my life I have wanted to be in love.”“God Knows” is a unique work. It is Joseph Heller’s retelling of the story of the Biblical King David as a bitter old Jewish man facing the end of life without his God and the greatest love of his life (Bathsheba). I will say off the bat that biblical knowledge is a big plus (and possibly also necessary) in order to get the most enjoyment out of this text.The novel is a funny one, and many times while reading I laughed out loud or at least chuc [...]

Originally published on my blog here in May 2004.Even for the most dedicated Heller fan, and the impact of Catch-22 created vast numbers of them, his second and third novels are frequently heavy going. But then eventually (over twenty years into his career, for he was never a particularly prolific novelist) came God Knows - immediately accessible, hilariously funny and wickedly subversive.The idea behind God Knows is simple. David, King of Israel, author of the psalms, recounts his life while on [...]

In Joseph Heller's novel "God Knows", the Jewish protagonist is an old man named David, looking back with bittersweet fondness but mostly regret at his turbulent life: numerous marriages, ungrateful children, constant battling with in-laws and relatives, and a God that seems to have either forgotten or forsaken him. It may help to know that the David in the novel is King David, of the biblical account, kvetching on his death bed about what a mess his life has become but mostly because he can't g [...]

I was the kid in Sunday school the poor teachers must’ve hated: peeking behind the curtain, pulling the strings on our tidy little Bible lessons to go wide-eyed and watch the real, wild Bible go up in flames. I guess it’s a habit I never outgrew. So there you have me, ever the rebel kid still, relishing the secret that behind all those prettily bow-tied morals are wild kings and bloodbaths and blasphemous sacrilege that no one’s paying any mind. And here you have Joseph Heller. Since Catch [...]

Having been a huge fan of Catch-22, I had been curious to read more of Heller's work for a long time. Something Happened, his follow-up to Catch-22, is the book that I had heard the most about- mainly that it was a challenging read that left many of his fans reeling and wondering whether he had lost his knack for finely honed satire. I had never even heard of God Knows until it was placed in my hands last week with the recommendation that it was "like Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's [...]

Heller's take on the story of King David. More emphasis on humour than his other books, but with a healthy helping of satire. A great (and quite alternative) retelling of the story by a great author.

Best laugh ever. King David's autobiography. Must read about one-quarter of the Old Testament first to truly appreciate Heller's genuis.

God Knows is a powerful modern retelling of the story of David, leaving out the God and including the ramblings of a king near death. He is the same David who slayed Goliath, who ruled Judah and Palestine as King, the Biblical character who is most mentioned. One pre-read if you are not into religion is the Wiki page on David. I was under the impression Joseph Heller has chosen religion to satire (which he does by taking on the Bible). But surprisingly, for the large part of the book, it is abou [...]

I'm sorry but I just couldn't finish this book. I got to page 70 and decided to move on. Just been picking it up and putting it down all week. It was trying hard to be funny but I just found it boring.

I have to admit I did not finish reading this cover to cover as one would expect from a novel; however, I am quite done with this book. That is not to say it's bad in any sense, not by a long shot, it's even quite good. Thing is, to really appreciate this book, one should know really well the biblical story of David. Moreover, one should be familiar with critics of the story, the fact it appears twice in the old testament and each instance has its own version of David.What Heller does, is make D [...]

One of the best books I have read for a very long time. I absolutely loved it. In my younger days I was a Bible nerd so I recognised the Bible stories and allusions that were peppered everywhere, I don't think someone who was not steeped in the Old Testament would get nearly so much out of it. Then the irreverence, just breath-taking. And the anachronisms - delightful.An amazing book for me, but not entirely sure who I could recommend it to. The humour is very niche - Biblical scholars and tradi [...]

Sort of a madcap version of King David's story, told in the first person, of course including more vivid descriptions of some of the bawdier details than the Bible does. Heller doesn't sacrifice the real account at the expense of entertainment though, so I came away really being amazed by David's story told again, and reminded of many details I had forgotten. I was impressed by his steadfastness in the face of serious hardship and adversity and his faithfulness to God, even though there is plent [...]

For the first time in years I didn't finish a book. I was about 100 pages from the end and just could. not. go. on. Heller writes about King David's last days and memories, and it's one long complainfest. There's bits of humor, but for my money I enjoyed Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal written by Christopher Moore much better. You know how the Bible has those long chains of "xx begat xx who begat xx who begat xx"? This is very similar but with "then I went to Giza to s [...]

I really enjoyed this book, laughed my way through it, and also learned a bit about King David's life that I never knew. Of course, I know this is fiction, seeing King David's life through his own eyes, but if you're like me and was only familiar with the David vs. Goliath story, then you might enjoy at least his own take on the great event. This was my first Joseph Heller book (I know - gasp!), and it is because of this book that I went on to Catch-22. Heller's ability to take somewhat familiar [...]

I am so relieved to be done with this book. I didn't enjoy it very much - there were a few funny snippets here and there but for the most part I felt like I was force-feeding myself monotonous Heller prose. The book is the story of King David, slayer of Goliath, King of Israel, father of Solomon, husband of Bathsheba, etc. Heller attempts to modernize the story by adding some fiction into David's story. It just didn't really gel very well for me. This was one of those books that I found myself n [...]

Laugh-out-loud at times, this irreverent take on the life of David is thought-provoking, distinctive, and, unfortunately, fairly tedious. Heller employs the same storytelling technique he used in Catch-22, introducing stories and referencing them several times before actually laying them out in full. I thought this approach was quite effective in Catch-22, a good example of technique enforcing theme. Here, however, the repetition as you get closer and closer to the whole story is tiresome. I thi [...]

I'm getting a slow start here probably because I wasn't expecting to have to read THE WHOLE OF 1ST AND SECOND SAMUEL in order to access this story--but the story is hilarious. Totally irreverent narrative of King David (not so hard to do), by King David.The really fun aspect of this book is the shameless anachronisms, blending of ancient hebrew culture (harems, rape, pillage, war) and casual reference to modern culture (mini skirts, Coney Island, the Holocaust). On the topic of his supposed roma [...]

At first this book really seemed offensive, but by the end, I believe that it just paints King David as a human being. O fcourse Heller deliberately makes things sounds as offensive as possible, but if you can make it through the whole thing, you can see that David wrestles with feelings about himself, his family and his relationshoip with God that everyone probably wrestles with. It still isn't that great of a book. It pales in comparison to Catch-22.

de mit olvassak? kérdeztem Bakat, akin látszott, hogy érti. Isten tudja-felelte, és később a kezembe is adta. David király visszaemlekezesei. ez még bármi lehet.Azóta, ha felmerül a kérdés, mit olvassak, mindig kezembe rakja magát. és osztom is a világban, mert olyan sok humor, emberismeret, különleges és mégis annyira evidens és egyszerű istenkép van benne, hogy csak na. Dávid pedig király.

I am naturally interested in the Old Testament and especially King David (I think he's one of the most screwed up yet passionate figures in the Bible) but his angst-driven hoopla and paranoia annoyed me after the first 300 pages or so.

Catch-22 is a tough act to follow.

Had it been shorter it would've got a 5Any longer though it would've been a 3.In short - this is the biblical story of King David, as told by Heller's version of David on his deathbed.And its wild. He hates, he lies, he adultrates, he thinks he knows bestl told with fascinating details and very clever anachronistic gems ("I wanted to send him a telegram, but we didn't have those", talking about his statue by Michaelangelo)The good: It's very clever and jumpy, filled with intricacies and monarchy [...]

„Wyliczyłem, że do obrzezania jednego żywego Filistyna potrzeba sześciu silnych Izraelitów. Praca stała się prostsza, kiedy w końcu oswoiłem się z projektem uprzedniego zabijania Filistynów.” [1] Znany z biblii król Dawid przeżywa właśnie swoje ostatnie dni na ziemi. Stary, schorowany władca niedługo odejdzie, a tron odziedziczy jeden z jego synów – próżny Adoniasz, albo tępy Salomon. Dawid wspomina swoje bujne życie. W swojej opowieści nie zachowuje chronologii. Kr� [...]

David repeats himself boasting his is the greatest story told in the Bible. Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, is telling us this through his protagonist's mouth. Heller uses the grand story of King David to tell a modern tale of a man disillusioned at the end of his life. He jumps back and forth from his biographical account, end of his life, and posthumous being with cynicism and wit. Time is a murky concept in, God Knows. Bathsheba talks about being on birth control pills. Joab plans a wo [...]

Oh, this is a long book, and unnecessarily so what with all the repetition and jumping back and forth in time. But this novelisation of the life of King David, focussing particularly on the consequences of David's sin with Bathsheba, still has much going for it. The first two chapters are practically stream of consciousness, leading me to wonder if the whole thing was going to be like that. Fortunately it's not, once the extended flashbacks kick in. The characterisations are interesting (even if [...]

Joseph Heller wrote an excellent commentary on life, morality, and religion by letting David tell his own Biblical story. David is a revolutionary, a poet, a great leader, a womanizer, a lover, and a complete egomaniac. The story is lively and funny and profane. A good read with great supporting characters. Some parts of the story get repetitive and this would be a masterpiece at 200-250 pages instead of 350. As it is Heller still wrote a very worthwhile story.

Although nowhere near as inane as "Catch 22", I definitely won't be inflicting another Heller on myself. His idea of humour and mine are light years apart. I found his bouncing around through time horribly annoying.

I thought it was brilliant writing. Joseph Heller writes from the POV of King David of Israel, but in the tone of a 20th century American Jewish man. A word of warning: If you are not familiar with I and II Samuel (Old Testament books), you will be hopelessly lost while reading this.

Okay, I read this a long time ago, when I was just becoming religious. But this time, I stopped about halfway through, because it was kind of boring me.

The 9th century BC Biblical King David with the sensibility of a 20th century Brooklyn Jew. An old story with comic flourishes.