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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
- Genesis
Greenblatt traces the story/myth of Adam and Eve from its origins (a Jewish reaction to Babylonian rule and myths) down to a post-Darwin world. He focuses a lot of time on the literature (Milton), philosophy (Lucretius), doctrine (Augustine), and art (Dürer) while maintaining a rough chronology of time ( from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts*.).
It was fascinating and moved quickly. I don't think it was as good as [b:The Swerve: How the World Became Modern|13707734|The Swerve How the World Became Modern|Stephen Greenblatt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346836299s/13707734.jpg|15872618], but still worth the time and energy; comparable to [b:Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare|25622782|Will in the World How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare|Stephen Greenblatt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457121871s/25622782.jpg|1221914]. The big negative for me was its unevenness. Some chapters made me want to eat the fruit myself. Others made me pray for banishment. OK, that is probably a tad dramatic. I thoroughly enjoyed the sections on Milton, Durer, Augustine, and the first chapters that looked at Babylon and [b:Gilgamesh: A New English Version|138371|Gilgamesh A New English Version|Stephen Mitchell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1394420249s/138371.jpg|57200665] in relationship to the Jewish people and the story of Adam and Eve.
I also appreciated the discussion that the story of Adam and Eve invariably brings up concerning sex, guilt, marriage, gender, power, faith, science, and our need to tell each other stories and understand where we came from and where we will eventually end up.
* Moroni 10: 3
- Genesis
Greenblatt traces the story/myth of Adam and Eve from its origins (a Jewish reaction to Babylonian rule and myths) down to a post-Darwin world. He focuses a lot of time on the literature (Milton), philosophy (Lucretius), doctrine (Augustine), and art (Dürer) while maintaining a rough chronology of time ( from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts*.).
It was fascinating and moved quickly. I don't think it was as good as [b:The Swerve: How the World Became Modern|13707734|The Swerve How the World Became Modern|Stephen Greenblatt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346836299s/13707734.jpg|15872618], but still worth the time and energy; comparable to [b:Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare|25622782|Will in the World How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare|Stephen Greenblatt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457121871s/25622782.jpg|1221914]. The big negative for me was its unevenness. Some chapters made me want to eat the fruit myself. Others made me pray for banishment. OK, that is probably a tad dramatic. I thoroughly enjoyed the sections on Milton, Durer, Augustine, and the first chapters that looked at Babylon and [b:Gilgamesh: A New English Version|138371|Gilgamesh A New English Version|Stephen Mitchell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1394420249s/138371.jpg|57200665] in relationship to the Jewish people and the story of Adam and Eve.
I also appreciated the discussion that the story of Adam and Eve invariably brings up concerning sex, guilt, marriage, gender, power, faith, science, and our need to tell each other stories and understand where we came from and where we will eventually end up.
* Moroni 10: 3
The story of Adam and Eve- I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and readable this was. I'm definitely looking at Adam and Eve, the garden of eden, and the fruit (was it definitely an apple, by the way?) on a different level than before.
As usual, Greenblatt is stunningly smart and offers a deeply researched history of our biblical ancestors. Well written, clearly organized, and an utter joy to read.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5 stars. Meh. I wanted this book to be great, but it wasn't. For starters, most of the book focused on England (and sometimes France) in the early modern period, which I know is Greenblatt's area of study, but I was expecting a wider scope. He did do a good job of talking about the early Christian period and how Romans and Greeks viewed the story, but that portion was brief in relation to the three slogging chapters on Milton's Paradise Lost. That seemed a bit excessive, especially since Greenblatt spent a lot of time detailing Milton's life, many bits of which felt irrelevant and had nothing to do with Adam and Eve. He does a similar thing with Augustine, but to a lesser degree. I was also a bit disappointed with how Eurocentric (specifically western Europe) this book was. Islam was mentioned maybe twice in passing and, despite being Jewish himself, the author devoted little time to Jewish interpretations. His examinations of colonialism and the creation myth were interesting, and I understand that Adam and Eve play a huge role in western society, but I wish he had a broader scope. I'm sure his focus as an academic limited his work some, but it seemed like a lot was left out here. Additionally, he had no modern interpretations in here. What about feminist theology in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, creationists or race theologians? The book felt very cut off, since he jumped from Darwin to his epilogue and kind of ended his story neatly with the sense that this story is less relevant and no new interpretations have emerged since Darwin's time (Spoiler alert- that's wrong!). He also just didn't give the story the literary merit it deserves! Regardless of belief or not, the Bible is a complex text with a ton of literary value. I don't think Greenblatt is a Hebrew bible scholar, so that may be why his book lacks an examination of Genesis' power as an emotional story. His focus on interpretations and whether people thought it was true or not hindered a deeper examination. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but the gap just didn't feel right to me. Overall, this was an okay read, with some interesting bits, but it's flaws were too big to ignore.