Behold the Man is a novella, later rewritten as a novel, by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1966 in New Worlds. It was published as an expanded novel in 1969 by Allison & Busby It is the story of Karl Glogauer, a man who travels to 28 AD in a time machine constructed by Sir James Headington, physicist and wartime inventor, in search of the historical Jesus.

Plot summary

The novella begins with Glogauer arriving in 28 AD in the Holy Land, where his time machine is destroyed. We find out later through flashbacks that Glogauer has chronic problems with women, an interest in Jung, and a messiah complex. He meets and lives with John the Baptist and a group of Essenes. Eventually, Glogauer gets lost in the desert and wanders off, leaving John and the Essenes. He makes his way to Nazareth in search of Jesus. When he finds Mary and Joseph, their child Jesus turns out to be a mentally retarded hunchback. At this point, Glogauer himself begins to step into the role of Jesus.

In the end, he becomes Jesus, and dies on the cross. This novella is about the philosophical issue of whether or not it even matters whether the historical Jesus ever existed. Does something need to have happened historically for the myth surrounding it to be powerful? Which is more important, myth or history?

Behold the Man won the Nebula Award for best novella in 1967.

References

External links

Michael Moorcock books | 1966 novels | 1969 novels