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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
A little far fetched for my taste and the writing was not terribly interesting.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is hands down, the weirdest, most bizarre book I have ever read. Not mad about it.
Not quite sure what to say about this one. It felt like a fever dream, and I was interested but not... super interested? I started another book b/c I found myself not feeling like reading this one at times. So, whatever that means. Interested if I'd enjoy this more at a different season in life (maybe one where focus and attention are not so hard to come by...)
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Naamah: Inundating the Noah’s Arc story with Queerness
The novel is a meditation on loneliness at the beginning of the reborn world and the struggle to believe in a creator that can be so cruel. We follow Noah’s wife, named Naamah in Judaism, as she struggles to maintain her faith (in more ways than one) after the great flood.
My favorite part of this book is how unapologetically queer it is. in combination with the queerness of wlw sex experienced throughout the text, the book of genesis is also queered through the personhood Blake floods Naamah with. Naamah is not swept along by the great rains, and is not a passive entity at Noah's command; instead, she is a leader within her family. Even in the midst of emotional turmoil, she stands strong to protect and support her children.
The second best part of this novel is the religious structure it is told within. Dreams and reality meld together as Naamah communicates with angels and the dead. The imagery of these dream sequences is so carefully crafted and poetically written. I won't write much since I don't wish to spoil anything, but the imagery is tremendously executed.
I have few critiques, my first being that the novel loses speed, due to the assiduous attentiveness that Sarah Blake has when approaching storytelling. She leaves nothing to the imagination, we are receiving a scene-by-scene experience of the 150 days Naamah and her family spent on the arc. Meaning that the middle portion of the book grew monotonous, and I was left feeling just as exhausted as Naamah was from being trapped on the boat.
My second critique is that the feminist narrative is muddled. As Naamah unpacks with a talking partially dreamt bird named Jael what it means to be a woman, she hones in on her positionality as a mother. However, Naamah comes to realize she doesn’t want to be a woman, but this is the only part of our universe that I wish had been more explored. The story of Naamah being a nonbinary journey would have been an exciting story to unpack, but I appreciate the story mostly as it stands already.
Final thoughts, I appreciated the family's apprehension at God's plan and Naamahs reinterpreting of god’s words. However, there was far too much detail. As most people will, I came into this knowing very little about Noah’s arc, so any Genesis references are lost on myself. Thus, I felt that there were repetitive moments and subplots that felt inventive but not interesting. Blake continued to build out the world until there was no corner of the painting uncolored. Yet, that made my experience less enjoyable as I had no room left for interpreting and imagining.
The novel is a meditation on loneliness at the beginning of the reborn world and the struggle to believe in a creator that can be so cruel. We follow Noah’s wife, named Naamah in Judaism, as she struggles to maintain her faith (in more ways than one) after the great flood.
My favorite part of this book is how unapologetically queer it is. in combination with the queerness of wlw sex experienced throughout the text, the book of genesis is also queered through the personhood Blake floods Naamah with. Naamah is not swept along by the great rains, and is not a passive entity at Noah's command; instead, she is a leader within her family. Even in the midst of emotional turmoil, she stands strong to protect and support her children.
The second best part of this novel is the religious structure it is told within. Dreams and reality meld together as Naamah communicates with angels and the dead. The imagery of these dream sequences is so carefully crafted and poetically written. I won't write much since I don't wish to spoil anything, but the imagery is tremendously executed.
I have few critiques, my first being that the novel loses speed, due to the assiduous attentiveness that Sarah Blake has when approaching storytelling. She leaves nothing to the imagination, we are receiving a scene-by-scene experience of the 150 days Naamah and her family spent on the arc. Meaning that the middle portion of the book grew monotonous, and I was left feeling just as exhausted as Naamah was from being trapped on the boat.
My second critique is that the feminist narrative is muddled. As Naamah unpacks with a talking partially dreamt bird named Jael what it means to be a woman, she hones in on her positionality as a mother. However, Naamah comes to realize she doesn’t want to be a woman, but this is the only part of our universe that I wish had been more explored. The story of Naamah being a nonbinary journey would have been an exciting story to unpack, but I appreciate the story mostly as it stands already.
Final thoughts, I appreciated the family's apprehension at God's plan and Naamahs reinterpreting of god’s words. However, there was far too much detail. As most people will, I came into this knowing very little about Noah’s arc, so any Genesis references are lost on myself. Thus, I felt that there were repetitive moments and subplots that felt inventive but not interesting. Blake continued to build out the world until there was no corner of the painting uncolored. Yet, that made my experience less enjoyable as I had no room left for interpreting and imagining.
2.7 stars
I'm going to hazard a guess that Naamah is a book that's best read in print rather than listened to and/or not read at the same time as watching Good Omens. I found Naamah a bit tedious. I didn't understand why she kept losing the ability to see the animals and I found the dreams confusing. I did love that the angel and, to that matter, God, were accepting of queer sexuality, but I found the sheer amount of sex to be a bit much and I liked Jesus of Savannah Sipple's WWJD more than I liked God in Naamah.
I'm going to hazard a guess that Naamah is a book that's best read in print rather than listened to and/or not read at the same time as watching Good Omens. I found Naamah a bit tedious. I didn't understand why she kept losing the ability to see the animals and I found the dreams confusing. I did love that the angel and, to that matter, God, were accepting of queer sexuality, but I found the sheer amount of sex to be a bit much and I liked Jesus of Savannah Sipple's WWJD more than I liked God in Naamah.
challenging
emotional
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:
Complicated
A compelling subject and some poetic language. So much of the sex seemed gratuitous.
"'God cannot be judged because He cannot be understood.'
'I judge Him just the same,' Naamah says."
'I judge Him just the same,' Naamah says."
I don't get this book! I wish it was written to be more historically accurate and I wish Naamah was more in love with her lovers, it seemed like everyone was using each other. I really didn't understand the whole Naamah goes swimming and meets with an angel but no one else on the boat even questions it thing? Why was the angel there, why were the dead children there? was Naamah just guilty, why were Naamah and Noah so close if they seemingly had such drastic ways of looking at God and the flood? this book just makes zero sense to mmeee :( Why did she just randomly sleep with ther daughter in law if she has such a good relationship with her sons and Noah? Maybe she was depressed and didn't think anything mattered ? WHOOO KNOOWSS. I hate this book