Bible

Ignore how long that took me. please.

There are emotions I have that disallow me from giving a book of the bible an outright negative rating, but this is certainly the worst of the books of Moses I have read so far. Why is it so difficult to get through, and honestly not nearly as rewarding as Leviticus? because instead of a directory of rules, it is errant rules, mixed with difficult to follow conflicts, followed by paragraphs of naming, followed by The rites of Rosh Hashanah (happy Jewish show more New Year!), and concluding with the journey from Egypt. Line after line of tribes and locations that I cannot imagine. Its necessary, its a book of Moses, but man is it dry and slow. Not wholly useless though, for some interesting perspective on the formation of Judaism, Christianity, and an entertaining argument between an Ass and Balaam. show less

This has two possible reviews. One: A magnificently fearsome litany of tribal bloodshed, what happens when the hungrier, better-united desert people descend upon the fat, happy farmers of the valley. Brrrr--and just think, this happened all the time. 3.5 stars.

Two: People still believe this is the way to live and mock people who feel bad for the Canaanites, because, like they deserved what they got cos they were "sex worshippers"? I'm all for cognitive dissonance if it lets me live in a show more world where the Biblical literalists are just deeply confused and not clear-eyed advocates of genocide. We tame this, and our supergroups sing songs about it (you are missed, The Travelling Wilburys), but it is vicious and wrong and Joshua is the Bible's Genghis Khan. Half a star.

I split the difference, with a lean in the direction my natural human revulsion takes me. 1.5 stars. show less

From certainty to doubt--from unity in conquest to falling-out and kinslaying, from the leader-prophet to weaklings and tyrants and a powerful suspicion about the ability of human kings to play a role that perhaps should remain with God, from triumphalism to something matter-of-fact and kind of dark, from belligerent tribalism to the understanding that every victory is pyrrhic and all things fall apart, from racism and rage to a bland relating of the story of the war against the Ammonites show more that even, perhaps, contains some regret of a Melian Dialogue sort, from the relentless focus on man's uselessness without God to a rich pageantry of heroes and villains (Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Micah) and an annals of leaders working against time and often with nothing to show for it but ash. It's still full of every kind of horror--this is still the Bible, after all--but the Book of Judges is what the Book of Joshua could have been, what it would have been if it had continued the story instead of doctoring the books by ending things on a high note. Often when the Bible is at its best, I think (relishing the rich irony, although I've heard it recently said that thinking your arch awareness that the dumb or selfish or offensive things you say are dumb, etc., and saying them anyway cos hur hur hurrrr is the irritating hallmark of the current generation) "this is Tolkien-worthy," and this certainly is worthy of the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings, the history of heartbreak (be it the sinking of Numenor or the civil war against the Benjaminites) and the rise of evil (be it Sauron and his legions or Molech and Chemosh and Baal. "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." Makes this a weirdly modern book. show less

A fable of state power, tribal boosterism, and individual caprice. I can't say I liked any of the characters in this book very much, except perhaps "feminist icon" Queen Vashti, but it was interesting to see everybody trying to figure out how to appeal to the king to kill their foes in a way that would get the desired results (as preferential to just massacring everybody all the time), and like, nobody really knows how, not even the king himself, sending out decree after contradictory show more decree. Anyway, everyone seems to know that you mess with the Jews and you get the backhand of God, so why do they do it? Haman also courts punishment by building a seventy-five-foot-high gallows (hubris!). And punishment comes. Happy Purim! show less