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A review by jennifer_c_s
Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson by David Grossman
4.0
‘Out of the eater came something to eat/Out of the strong came something sweet.’
The story of Samson forms four chapters (13-16) of the Book of Judges. There are a number of aspects to the story, but the best known is that of the strong man who loses his strength when his hair is cut, thanks to Delilah. Samson is imprisoned by the Philistines but, in his final act, is able to bring down a building on himself and three thousand Philistines.
In this brief (145 page) book, written for The Myths series, David Grossman writes of Samson as an individual, an outcast whose freakish strength sets him apart. Samson may well be a national symbol of Jewish fight-back, but in David Grossman’s telling of the story he is also a man who wants to belong, to be accepted by others for himself. Samson is in an impossible position: ‘A lonely man, forever tortured, enslaved by a God who has chosen for him a demanding mission - the salvation of Israel - for which his personality and character are too weak.’
In trying to understand why Samson, finally, breaks down and tells Delilah his secret, David Grossman speculates that it was ‘with the foolish innocence of one who believes that if he were to confide everything to another person, all at once, in a kind of innocent transfusion, he would finally achieve a feeling of genuine intimacy’. Poor Samson.
It isn’t just Samson the man that David Grossman is concerned with. Samson can also be seen as a metaphor for both the Jewish people and the modern state of Israel. David Grossman writes: ‘Jews throughout the ages took pride in the tales of his [Samson's] heroism and yearned for the physical strength, bravery, and manliness that he represented. They esteemed, no less, his ability to apply force without any restraints or moral inhibitions, an ability which history withheld from the trod-upon Jews for millennia, until the establishment of the state of Israel.’
This is the first book in The Myths series that I have read, and I picked it up purely by chance. I enjoyed it. The publisher’s blurb for this series states: ‘Myths are universal and timeless stories that reflect and shape our lives — they explore our desires, our fears, our longings, and provide narratives that remind us what it means to be human. The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way.’
I will be looking to read more books from The Myths series, as time permits.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The story of Samson forms four chapters (13-16) of the Book of Judges. There are a number of aspects to the story, but the best known is that of the strong man who loses his strength when his hair is cut, thanks to Delilah. Samson is imprisoned by the Philistines but, in his final act, is able to bring down a building on himself and three thousand Philistines.
In this brief (145 page) book, written for The Myths series, David Grossman writes of Samson as an individual, an outcast whose freakish strength sets him apart. Samson may well be a national symbol of Jewish fight-back, but in David Grossman’s telling of the story he is also a man who wants to belong, to be accepted by others for himself. Samson is in an impossible position: ‘A lonely man, forever tortured, enslaved by a God who has chosen for him a demanding mission - the salvation of Israel - for which his personality and character are too weak.’
In trying to understand why Samson, finally, breaks down and tells Delilah his secret, David Grossman speculates that it was ‘with the foolish innocence of one who believes that if he were to confide everything to another person, all at once, in a kind of innocent transfusion, he would finally achieve a feeling of genuine intimacy’. Poor Samson.
It isn’t just Samson the man that David Grossman is concerned with. Samson can also be seen as a metaphor for both the Jewish people and the modern state of Israel. David Grossman writes: ‘Jews throughout the ages took pride in the tales of his [Samson's] heroism and yearned for the physical strength, bravery, and manliness that he represented. They esteemed, no less, his ability to apply force without any restraints or moral inhibitions, an ability which history withheld from the trod-upon Jews for millennia, until the establishment of the state of Israel.’
This is the first book in The Myths series that I have read, and I picked it up purely by chance. I enjoyed it. The publisher’s blurb for this series states: ‘Myths are universal and timeless stories that reflect and shape our lives — they explore our desires, our fears, our longings, and provide narratives that remind us what it means to be human. The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way.’
I will be looking to read more books from The Myths series, as time permits.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith