The Source: A Novel by James A. Michener Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Source: A Novel
Book Review: This Will Change Your Perception of Religion
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Source" maps the development of Judaic culture, while presenting a story of a resilient faith's development and survival.
Each chapter takes place during a specific date at a single town, Makor ("The Source"), located in what is now known as Israel. And each chapter introduces a Jewish hero (or heroine), beginning with cavemen nearly 10,000 years ago. With each age, the Jewish religion develops further, and survives another attack from competing cultures, including those of the Cananites (2200 B.C.), Babylonians (605 B.C), Muslims (635 A.D.), Crusaders (1099 A.D.), and Turks (1880 A.D.).
The most interesting character of the book is God, whose presence is portrayed through recurring character traits of the persons who live and die at Makor. "The Source," is both a town and, indeed, the source of religion.
This book was written many years before I was born, so don't worry that it is out of fashion. It's worth the time and money. Best of all, one need not read it at one sitting, since, each chapter can be read alone, allowing the reader to return to it later.
Book Review: Three religions, one source
Summary: 5 Stars
Michener, in his usual style, created a masterpiece of well-researched historical fiction in this novel. The book begins in the 1960's (the present at the time the book was written) on an archeological site. As the scientists dig through time from top to bottom, Michener starts from the beginning, the bottom layer of the site. The location of the dig, a site in the then newly-founded Israel, makes the stories of the city which once stood there hugely important to the history of the world. The interesting thing about this book is that the stories are still important today. Take one quote from the book..."...they had been promised certain heaven if they killed an infidel." Sounds familiar, right? But this quote is in a different context than you might think. It was the Thirteenth Century then, the ones promised heaven were Christian Crusaders, and the infedels were Muslims. The cyclical events of the area around the archeological cite, where the three major religions of the world were birthed, are told in great detail in this book. The inability of people to learn from history also is told. "When men ignite in their hearts a religious fury, they inflict at the same time a blindness upon their eyes," says the Muslim character in the book. One of the Jewish characters says,"...all of us, Catholics, Arabs, Jews, have got to work out some sensible pattern of life for the world..." This forty year old book has several insights to offer the modern reader. First, it shows us the world as it was when man differentiated himself from the animals. Then, it shows us as it was when man decided to serve one God. Finally, it shows us how it is now that we serve one God in many different ways. You must read this book if you have interest in the history of Israel and the Jewish people (which you should if you live in America). After all, as Michener described one of his characters, "...this reasonably intelligent professor was aware that those who worked in Israel lived under the hammers of history, under the constant threat of annigilation, but he seemed not to be aware of the parallel fact that he in New York and his brother in Washington lived under precisely the same threat." Hopefully, this time, we learn the lessons.Book Review: Timeline of religon
Summary: 5 Stars
JAM always changes my knowledge of an area of the world. Can see the time line of the development of religon in this book. I bought this copy for my grandson.Book Review: Two stories, but one not so enjoyable - to me
Summary: 3 Stars
This was a challenging book in a few different ways. Firstly, it's long and dense. I'm a pretty quick reader, but at 900+ tightly printed pages, the reading of The Source was definitely a marathon, not a sprint. Secondly, some of story was very slow moving and not very enjoyable.
I'm not totally slamming the book here. There were parts I found fascinating, that really held my attention. It's just that long passages were the exact opposite.
The book comprises two running narratives. On the one side there is the modern time (relatively speaking, of course) story of an archeological dig. This starts as the main thrust of the text, but gradually takes up less and less of the author's focus. The other is the running story of the site of the dig over the history of human inhabitance. The dig is located in what is now Isreal, so you can imagine the scope of timeframes covered.
The issue I had with the book is that the modern story was, to me, much more interesting than the historical one. Since that part was ever-shrinking, and the latter ever-expanding, you can see my problem. I'm definitely a history buff, but I just couldn't get into much (though not all) of the story Michner was presenting. I was bored with it.
All that said, I definitely came away from the book with a deeper understanding of Jewish culture and the history of the Middle East.
Book Review: Whiplash (An FBI Thriller)
Summary: 5 Stars
Cathrine Coulter truly understands the way to keep you involved in her books, good read.