Reviews with content warning for Death - Il libro dei desideri

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Il libro dei desideri by Sue Monk Kidd

37 reviews

butilikeit's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

elisegmusic's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Book of Longings imagines a world in which Jesus takes a wife, Ana, before starting his ministry. Ana is the daughter of a wealthy family, and she is taught to read and write, something uncommon for women in those days. She is entranced by stories and longs to have a voice for people to listen to. Instead, her parents engage her to a man twice her age. Ana falls in love with Jesus and, when her fiancé dies, she and Jesus get married, which lowers her station dramatically, but she gains a partner in life who believes in her dreams and encourages her.

If you are not familiar with the Bible, I think the political situation is a little confusing. I had to research what was going on in Palestine at that time - The Holy Roman Empire was controlling the land, and many Palestinians wished to be free, particularly for religious reasons, as they believed the land was promised to them by God, and they did not wish to be ruled by polytheists.

Ana was such a beautiful character, and she will feel familiar to most women - in a world where women are being silenced, Ana longs for an equal voice in society and on the page. All the ideas in her world belong to men, and Ana is well ahead of her time and wishes to change that. She is the hope to the oppressed.

Ana also has two powerful women by her side - Yaltha, her aunt, who teaches her everything she knows about spirituality, and Tabitha, her cousin whose tongue is cut out for speaking out against her rapist.

There is no condemnation of Jesus or religion in this book - instead, it’s a reimagining of the lives of all the women left out of the Bible. In her afterword, Sue Monk Kidd says, “It could be argued that in the first-century Jewish world of Galilee, marriage was so utterly normative, it more or less went without saying.” Much of Jesus’s early years are not written about, so it is certainly possible that he got married ten years before his ministry.

Content Warnings

_cararichardson's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

As always, I enjoyed Sue Monk Kidd’s beautiful writing and lifelike characters. The community of women and relationships were very touching and inspiring. However, I didn’t find myself particularly enthralled in the story, and I felt the plot moved a little slowly (especially considering the fact that everyone knows how Jesus’ story ends). Not my favorite, but a compelling concept and quality writing nonetheless

Content Warnings

kmae314's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Beautiful!

Content Warnings

dizzyizzyy's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

eeamiller's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I read this on the recommendation of my friend, Kim. I have been on a Sue Monk Kidd reading kick, having finished "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" earlier this month on audiobook. I also read this on audiobook. It started a little slow for me, but I was hooked from the first page when it said it would be told from the perspective of Ana, the wife of Jesus.

I have enjoyed Sue Monk Kidd's nonfiction lately (I'm currently reading "Traveling with Pomegranates"), and it makes me want to go back and read more of her fiction. The themes she explores are the ones that resonate with me right now - spirituality, the divine feminine, women's perspectives and voices.

I admit that as the book reached its inevitable climax (the crucifixion of Jesus), I sort of felt a sense of dread. I have never liked crucifixion narratives or descriptions. Even "Jesus Christ Superstar" is hard for me in the end. I never watched "The Passion of the Christ" because my imagination is already graphic enough - I don't need visual representations. But what moved me the most about the crucifixion narrative was the perspective of the women, particularly their faithfulness in Christ's suffering and when they all gathered together at home after (I think in Bethany with Mary and Martha) and felt a sense of fellowship. It felt very real. Women are always in the trenches in the messiest moments of human experience. They walked with him, kept vigil as he died, cleaned and tended him after his death.

I was puzzled that she didn't really explore the Resurrection, by having Ana leave the day after the crucifixion to return to her ascetic community. But I guess the point of the book was not to explore Jesus' voice, but Ana's own.

Content Warnings