Some serious reading

As a Driven Leaf
by Milton Steinberg

Absolutely gripping narrative of the life of Elisha ben Abuyah, a rabbi turned philosopher in the early years of the CE.  He was described in both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem, and from the slim details in those documents plus a lot of historical data, the author has fleshed out a living, breathing person.  Elisha is neither a hero nor a heretic, but a brilliant philosopher who trusted that the sure proofs in Euclidean geometry would carry over into the realm of human--and godly--existence.

Milton Steinberg does an unbelievable job of making ancient times seem real.  Of course, since he was writing in 20th century English, there were a couple of places where he used a term or description that sounded a little too modern.  But that's being picky.

I'm reminded of both Siddharta and Arrowsmith...to say any more would be spoiling.