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Loading... The Secret Chord: A Novel (edition 2015)by Geraldine Brooks (Author)
Work InformationThe Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) milbourt | May 11, 2024 |   ) jemisonreads | Jan 22, 2024 | Author of the people of the book pollycallahan | Jul 1, 2023 |  ) karenchase | Jun 14, 2023 | The story is narrated by the prophet Natan, who first encounters David as the leader of an outlaw band in the time of Shaul. David kills Natan's father, whereupon Natan is seized in a prophetic fit and foretells David's future as a great king. David takes Natan under his wing, and he gradually becomes one of his key advisers. The book starts out with David reaching middle age and facing the fact that he can no longer lead his army in battle. He gives Natan his blessing to write a full account of his life from his very youngest days, talking to all of the people who have cause to love and hate him. In doing so, Natan learns that there is more to the story of David than even he suspected. That story is a rattling good yarn full of betrayals, intrigue, battle, love and ambition, with an over-arching sense of destiny. The familiar characters are all there: Joav, Batsheva, Shlomo, Avshalom, Shaul, Avner and Goliath all appear. Brooks brings them to life and gives this well-known tale a freshness and an occasionally lyrical beauty that the story of a great musician-king deserves. (  ) gjky | Apr 9, 2023 |
 "It isn’t for me to argue with Scripture, but I will say that Geraldine Brooks’s latest novel, “The Secret Chord” — a thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David — makes a masterly case for the generative power of retelling."  "Though she offers no compelling alternative read of David, the fact that she manages to faithfully reconstruct the story is itself something of a feat, as is her evocation of a highly complex character in a manner that is at once critical and also deeply sympathetic." "But in making David so satisfyingly human, Brooks has crafted from The Secret Chord a compelling read, contemporary in its relevance." "From the texture of wool tunics, the fragility of clay tablets, and the easy grazing of goats to the outsized pride of the men, the unquestioned subjugation of women, and the hot brutality of the nonstop battles, Brooks’s vision of the biblical world is enrapturing." "In many ways, “The Secret Chord” reads like a prose poem, with battle after battle recounted in detail, but it’s a page turner of a poem." AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
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HTML:â??A page turner. . .Brooks is a master at bringing the past alive. . .in her skillful hands the issues of the past echo our own deepest concerns: love and loss, drama and tragedy, chaos and brutality.â?ť â?? Alice Hoffman, The Washington Post A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prizeâ??winning author of People of the Book and March. With more than two million copies of her novels sold, New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. Now, Brooks takes on one of literatureâ??s richest and most enigmatic figures: a man who shimmers between history and legend. Peeling away the myth to bring David to life in Second Iron Age Israel, Brooks traces the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage. The Secret Chord provides new context for some of the best-known episodes of Davidâ??s life while also focusing on others, even more remarkable and emotionally intense, that have been neglected. We see David through the eyes of those who love him or fear himâ??from the prophet Natan, voice of his conscience, to his wives Mikhal, Avigail, and Batsheva, and finally to Solomon, the late-born son who redeems his Lear-like old age. Brooks has an uncanny ability to hear and transform characters from history, and this beautifully written, unvarnished saga of faith, desire, family, ambition, betrayal, and power will en No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.77)
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