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katiekarnehmesh's reviews
686 reviews
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans
4.0
I read an advance copy of the book and my review is based on that copy.
I have loved Rachel Held Evans's work since I first read The Year of Biblical Womanhood; her next book, Searching for Sunday, was one of the most beautiful things I read in 2017. I have always appreciated her masterful organization, her research, and her sometimes light-hearted, sometimes somber personal experiences throughout the text.
Inspired did not disappoint on these counts. Her book is organized by the various kinds of stories we find in the Bible--Origin Stories, Deliverance Stories, Resistance Stories, etc. She groups books based on the genre of the biblical text, which helps readers better understand how to read ancient texts composed for a very different audience. In particular, her chapter "Church Stories" helped me reconcile my decades-long feud with the Apostle Paul. For those of us who grew up in churches who would have preferred to only read the books of Paul (and sometimes use them as a club) her gentle unpacking of what Paul wrote (and didn’t) as well as why he wrote the way he did in certain books was extremely helpful.
Evans is able to write this way because she does phenomenal research work. She reads widely and deeply, and not just from theologians who agree with her; her inclusion of conservative and liberal theologians helped me better understand the scope of the Bible. Additionally, she points out how both conservative and liberal Christians cherry-pick from biblical text, and some of the consequences of those readings.
Finally, Evans’ personal connection to the text is lovely as always. Since writing this book she has become a mother, and her experience of telling stories to her son makes for a beautiful epilogue. “We may wish for answers,” she writes at the end of the book, “but God rarely givesus answers. Instead, God gathers us up into soft, familiar arms and says, ‘Let me tell you a story.”
Writers are human, and two aspects of Inspired prevent me from putting it in the same category as Searching for Sunday. Evans tried something new this time--at the beginning of each chapter is a short creative exploration of a Bible story, her take on the Jewish practice of midrash. I love this idea in theory, but at times in the book it felt clunky (the screenplay of Job was especially hard for me to get into). I also wish they had all been the same genre, rather than a mix of fiction, poetry, drama, etc. However, I don't necessarily wish she had removed these sections, for some of them--the story of Hagar, for example--were quite powerful. This is my personal taste, and I will be interested to see what other readers think.
Additionally, the lingering specter of the 2016 election was very present in the book. I was very aware at times of Evans's frustration with the current political climate and the evangelical church (I am too, which is why I am the perfect reader for this book). However, sometimes I wish the Trump administration had been a little less present. It seemed to put a date stamp on a book that will otherwise be timeless, and some of the zingers did not add anything to the otherwise stellar biblical exploration.
Despite these two aspects, I loved the book, and I think it's going to be a crucial read for millennials and GenZ readers who are coming of age in a world that seems to be going sideways. I teach at an evangelical institution, and this book might help some of my students save their faith. I also cannot emphasize enough how important RHE's writing is to my gay students of faith. She consistently offers them a way to stay Christian without denying their sexuality, and I have seen her ability in that regard be life-saving for some of my students. I also cannot say enough about the value of Evans discussing how the Bible has both been used as a weapon as well as a form of liberation for the racial minorities in our country. In a time when not enough Christians are challenging the privilege and toxic supremacy in our country, Evans is using her platform to challenge us to do better by also challenging us to read the Bible better. In short: go read this book, and see the Bible, and perhaps your perspective of faith, transformed.
I have loved Rachel Held Evans's work since I first read The Year of Biblical Womanhood; her next book, Searching for Sunday, was one of the most beautiful things I read in 2017. I have always appreciated her masterful organization, her research, and her sometimes light-hearted, sometimes somber personal experiences throughout the text.
Inspired did not disappoint on these counts. Her book is organized by the various kinds of stories we find in the Bible--Origin Stories, Deliverance Stories, Resistance Stories, etc. She groups books based on the genre of the biblical text, which helps readers better understand how to read ancient texts composed for a very different audience. In particular, her chapter "Church Stories" helped me reconcile my decades-long feud with the Apostle Paul. For those of us who grew up in churches who would have preferred to only read the books of Paul (and sometimes use them as a club) her gentle unpacking of what Paul wrote (and didn’t) as well as why he wrote the way he did in certain books was extremely helpful.
Evans is able to write this way because she does phenomenal research work. She reads widely and deeply, and not just from theologians who agree with her; her inclusion of conservative and liberal theologians helped me better understand the scope of the Bible. Additionally, she points out how both conservative and liberal Christians cherry-pick from biblical text, and some of the consequences of those readings.
Finally, Evans’ personal connection to the text is lovely as always. Since writing this book she has become a mother, and her experience of telling stories to her son makes for a beautiful epilogue. “We may wish for answers,” she writes at the end of the book, “but God rarely givesus answers. Instead, God gathers us up into soft, familiar arms and says, ‘Let me tell you a story.”
Writers are human, and two aspects of Inspired prevent me from putting it in the same category as Searching for Sunday. Evans tried something new this time--at the beginning of each chapter is a short creative exploration of a Bible story, her take on the Jewish practice of midrash. I love this idea in theory, but at times in the book it felt clunky (the screenplay of Job was especially hard for me to get into). I also wish they had all been the same genre, rather than a mix of fiction, poetry, drama, etc. However, I don't necessarily wish she had removed these sections, for some of them--the story of Hagar, for example--were quite powerful. This is my personal taste, and I will be interested to see what other readers think.
Additionally, the lingering specter of the 2016 election was very present in the book. I was very aware at times of Evans's frustration with the current political climate and the evangelical church (I am too, which is why I am the perfect reader for this book). However, sometimes I wish the Trump administration had been a little less present. It seemed to put a date stamp on a book that will otherwise be timeless, and some of the zingers did not add anything to the otherwise stellar biblical exploration.
Despite these two aspects, I loved the book, and I think it's going to be a crucial read for millennials and GenZ readers who are coming of age in a world that seems to be going sideways. I teach at an evangelical institution, and this book might help some of my students save their faith. I also cannot emphasize enough how important RHE's writing is to my gay students of faith. She consistently offers them a way to stay Christian without denying their sexuality, and I have seen her ability in that regard be life-saving for some of my students. I also cannot say enough about the value of Evans discussing how the Bible has both been used as a weapon as well as a form of liberation for the racial minorities in our country. In a time when not enough Christians are challenging the privilege and toxic supremacy in our country, Evans is using her platform to challenge us to do better by also challenging us to read the Bible better. In short: go read this book, and see the Bible, and perhaps your perspective of faith, transformed.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
5.0
Michelle Alexander has written an excellent, well-researched, at times daunting (because of the magnitude of the problem) book. I am actually considering adding this book to a research writing course because her research and argumentation is just so excellent. I didn't know I should care about criminal justice reform until I read this book and saw the 13th, and now I can't stop thinking about them.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
4.0
A tough, stream-of-consciousness read that gets better with each re-read (except the priest sermon in the middle, Lord Almighty I felt like I was in hellfires of boredom but perhaps that's the point).
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
4.0
I love/hate Hemingway. This is my favorite book by him, mostly because of the descriptions of Spain and Spanish culture.