Om eerlijk te zijn: het horrorgenre ligt niet echt binnen mijn comfortzone. In dit geval gaat het om een bundel met tien van elkaar losstaande verhaleOm eerlijk te zijn: het horrorgenre ligt niet echt binnen mijn comfortzone. In dit geval gaat het om een bundel met tien van elkaar losstaande verhalen. Ze volgen elkaar op, beginnend bij de Romeinse tijd, en dan telkens vooruitspringend tot wat ik veronderstel 鈥榥u鈥� te zijn. Wat ze gemeen hebben is dat ze zich allemaal afspelen in de Lage Landen, en dat er behoorlijk gruwelijke dingen in gebeuren. De auteur slaagt er zeker in een sfeer van mysterie en dreiging op te roepen, waarna meestal een opeenvolging gebeurt van niet zo鈥檔 fraaie dingen. Het ene verhaal zit al vernuftiger in elkaar dan het andere. Zo vergen vooral het 6de en het 10de verhaal wel wat aandacht van de lezer om in te schatten wat er precies gebeurt (zeker het 10de is mooi gedaan). Een pluspunt is zeker de historische kennis van de auteur: onrechtstreeks schetst hij op adequate wijze de betrokken tijdsperiode; ik kon geen anachronismen of historisch foute beschrijvingen en toestanden ontdekken; en dat is al een prestatie op zich. Maar zoals ik al aangaf: dit is niet mijn 鈥榙ing鈥�, en af en toe werd ik verrast door taalfoutjes, zinsconstructies en metaforen die een beetje rammelden. Maar hier zit zeker potentieel in....more
A few weeks ago I read Understanding Genesis by the Jewish Bible expert Nahum Sarna, a commendable little book, but already 60 years old. And so I optA few weeks ago I read Understanding Genesis by the Jewish Bible expert Nahum Sarna, a commendable little book, but already 60 years old. And so I opted for one of the most recent commentaries on Genesis, by the American writer Marilynne Robinson, whose heavily loaded novels (especially the Gilead series) I read with increasing enthusiasm. Much of what Robinson writes was similar to Sarna, and that is not surprising: I guess there are only a limited amount of views on old texts like this one possible. But Robinson writes in her typical very condensed writing and reasoning style, which automatically makes this a much richer book, with many valuable insights. But a few things bothered me. For instance, that she systematically quotes passages and references from the New Testament to illustrate and explain the texts of the Old Testament; as a historian I have a hard time with that. But also the lack of structure in Robinson鈥檚 argument is disturbing and even discouraging: at times this seems more like a rather loose collection of reflections and explanations, where certain aspects are seriously explored, others not at all. And finally, Robinson completely ignores the discussion about the redaction history of the Bible stories and their historical value. Bothersome, because it is precisely from this redaction history that it can be concluded how constructed and multi-tracked the Bible texts are, including Genesis. In her introduction she refers to this briefly, and then claims that despite this complex redaction history there still is a great deal of coherence and homogeneity in the Old Testament: 鈥淚 take it that in the course of their development the Scriptures were pondered very deeply by those who composed and emended them, and that this created a profound coherency, stabilizing difficult concepts or teachings to the point that earlier and later passages can be seen as elucidating one another鈥�. Now, I don鈥檛 understand that. It is precisely those contributions by so many anonymous writers (scribes), from different times, with different backgrounds, inspirations and intentions, that make the coherence of the Old Testament writings not so great at all. And that鈥檚 no problem: it is precisely that diversity that seems to me to be the richness of those texts. It is a pity that Robinson, like many others, so stubbornly sticks to that one track, and that one truth, narrowing rather than enriching. Too bad....more
Het woord vooraf omschrijft perfect wat je van dit boek mag verwachten: 鈥淒it heeft geen wetenschappelijke pretentie, het houdt de balans tussen badineHet woord vooraf omschrijft perfect wat je van dit boek mag verwachten: 鈥淒it heeft geen wetenschappelijke pretentie, het houdt de balans tussen badinerende anekdotiek en (hopelijk) originele invalshoeken, tussen het vrolijke en het wijze, tussen ernst en goedbedoelde luim.鈥� Het meest interessante deel vond ik de toelichting bij de citaten die aan Caesar worden toegeschreven. Als pleidooi voor sterk geschiedenisonderwijs is dit boek een beetje vreemd, want het lijdt aan alles waar de critici van klassieke kennisoverdracht zich aan ergeren. Maar wie houdt van een opeenstapeling van weetjes, krijgt hier waar voor zijn geld. ...more
This book is almost 60 years old, which at first seemed to me to be rather problematic in my reading program on the earliest history of Israel/PalestiThis book is almost 60 years old, which at first seemed to me to be rather problematic in my reading program on the earliest history of Israel/Palestine. But, apparently, Nahum N. Sarna (1923-2005, Brandeis University US) is still well regarded for his pedagogical work in translating the biblical texts to a contemporary audience. In this book he emphasizes the relationship and the striking differences of the Biblical book of Genesis with Mesopotamian myths, such as on the creation, the flood, and so on. According to Sarna, Genesis was a clear reckoning with those 鈥榩agan鈥� stories, and that comes across well. The other components of the Genesis story are also well described and interpreted.
This book is much less up-to-date with regard to the historical background of the biblical stories. For example, Sarna clearly still assumes that the patriarchal stories (Abraham and his descendants) are based on a historical core, and that the extensive Joseph story (the stay in Egypt) is also historically true. He even refers to the classical Hyksos theory, which has now been dismissed by almost all experts. Perhaps there are better introductions that deal with both the substantive relevance and the historical value of the book of Genesis in a much better way. Of course, as a mythical and religious document this Bible-book still appeals to the imagination....more
This was hard work. I read this in the original Italian (English: 'Down in the Valley', no translation yet), and although my knowledge of that languagThis was hard work. I read this in the original Italian (English: 'Down in the Valley', no translation yet), and although my knowledge of that language, in my opinion, is not that bad, I had trouble finishing this story. On closer inspection, that has more to do with Cognetti's dry style, and with the gloomy content of this book. In his epilogue, the author himself refers to the American Raymond Carver, the grand master of the sadness and emptiness of human existence. That is certainly recognizable here. But to my mind, Cognetti also emphasizes the contrast between people who undergo fate and life, and others who manipulate it to their will.
As in the previous novels, we again find ourselves in the mountains, although now the gaze is not directed towards the peaks, but downwards, as the title (鈥済iu鈥�) already clearly indicates. And that is apparently deliberate, because the loftiness of the mountain peaks and the ecstasy they inspire have made way for gloom, depression, emptiness, with men who are drunk and wandering, who cannot cope with the complexity of family relationships, and with the past that haunts the present. Cognetti's style is adapted to this with short, very dry descriptions, a slow pace, few dialogues and very short sentences. It is sometimes said that the Italian always writes the same, but this book proves that this is not true. To me he鈥檚 still captivating....more
Smoothly written book that provides some insight into who the authors were behind the Hebrew Bible and related writings. 鈥楢uthors鈥� is a misleading terSmoothly written book that provides some insight into who the authors were behind the Hebrew Bible and related writings. 鈥楢uthors鈥� is a misleading term here, because we spontaneously think of individual writers. And although the books of the Bible are often attributed to a specific author (the Prophets, for example), there usually is a tangle of scribal communities behind them. William Schniedewind (掳 1962 University of California, Los Angeles) is an expert in the archaeology of Israel and the study of ancient Hebrew. And his focus in this book is to outline exactly how the scribal communities in Israel/Palestine and the diaspora evolved and what role they played in the creation of the biblical texts. It is a commendable and very interesting approach that provides a good insight into how ancient cultures in the Ancient Near East and specifically the Levant functioned. But also how limited our view is of the specific scribal communities behind the Bible. Ultimately, I found that Schniedewind鈥檚 approach doesn鈥檛 add much to the whole debate about the historical value of the books of the Bible. More in my History account on 欧宝娱乐: /review/show.......more
Dani毛l De Waele (docent aan het Hoger Instituut voor Protestantse Godsdienstwetenschappen te Brussel) geeft een heel goed beeld van de rijke literaireDani毛l De Waele (docent aan het Hoger Instituut voor Protestantse Godsdienstwetenschappen te Brussel) geeft een heel goed beeld van de rijke literaire traditie van het vroege jodendom. Hij overloopt kort de vroegste geschiedenis van het gebied Isra毛l/Palestina, en volgt daarin nogal getrouw de Bijbelse overlevering, waarbij hij ook kiest voor een vroege datering van de redactie van die overlevering. En licht daarna het oneindig complexe geheel toe van boeken, vertalingen, commentaren en interpretaties die voortgesproten zijn uit de cultuur van het gebied. Uiteraard nemen de Bijbelboeken, in hun diverse versies, daarin een vooraanstaande plaats in, maar de auteur wijst ook op vele andere, aanverwante geschriften. Dit is eerder een inleiding dan een bloemlezing, want in zijn citaten is De Waele eerder selectief gebleven. Het boek geeft een idee van de enorme diversiteit en ontwikkeling van het joodse denken. Al blijf ik wel een beetje op mijn honger voor meer systematische schets van de etappes die het joodse geloof doormaakte, zoals de vraag vanaf wanneer we echt van een exclusief monothe茂sme kunnen spreken. Maar misschien komt dat aan bod in 鈥淥ntwakend Jodendom鈥� (2024), 茅茅n van de andere vuistdikke boeken van deze auteur. ...more
I have absolutely no connection with the fantasy genre: for me, fiction must respect a certain degree of realism, otherwise it does not appeal to me. I have absolutely no connection with the fantasy genre: for me, fiction must respect a certain degree of realism, otherwise it does not appeal to me. And fantasy, as well as a large part of science fiction, therefore largely remains outside my radar. Perhaps prejudice and ignorance play a role here. But my youngest daughter convinced me that this book would be something for me. And she was absolutely right. To start with, there is the historical setting: the United Kingdom, and then especially Oxford in the 1830s, and partly also the British-Chinese relations. As far as I know, Kuang has done a pretty good job and she respects the historical reality quite well. That is already an achievement in itself. The many references to writers of the time, for example Dickens, are a nice plus. There are a few exceptions to that historical realism, and even quite weighty ones. To start with, she lets 鈥渟ilver bars鈥� play a leading role in the technology of that time. These bars are the secret with which the United Kingdom conquers the world and expands its Empire. Of course, this is a purely fantasy element (which is quite reminiscent of the wands in the Harry Potter series). These bars also are inextricably linked to linguistics and in particular to the art of translation. How that works would take me too far here, but Kuang regularly discusses the subtleties of these two domains. Of course, here an anachronism emerges, because the real linguistic theories are a twentieth-century invention. And also the anti-imperialist discourse that is extensively discussed in this novel only matured much later than the 1830s. Finally, the central issue: is it allowed to use violence to serve a 鈥榞ood cause鈥�? (cfr the title), is something that only became topical with the rise of anarchist terrorism at the end of the 19th century. But Kuang may be forgiven, because she has created a very interesting book with these ingredients, a book which both teaches and entertains. Of course, it all remains a bit superficial, because ultimately this novel primarily is an (fantasy) action thriller, another genre that does not really suit me. I do not know if I will venture into fantasy territory again, but this was a pleasant surprise. Thanks, Lise!...more
Net als in zijn vorige boeken vermengt Koen Peeters hier feit en fictie. Het boek bevat vier min of meer aparte verhalen, maar ze zijn wel verbonden dNet als in zijn vorige boeken vermengt Koen Peeters hier feit en fictie. Het boek bevat vier min of meer aparte verhalen, maar ze zijn wel verbonden door de naam Georges en de varianten daarop in verschillende talen. Ik was vooral gecharmeerd door de eerste twee, met James Joyce in Oostende en Georges Lema卯tre in Leuven in de hoofdrol. Of was die weggelegd voor de nevenfiguren, die trouwens familie blijken te zijn van de auteur? Voor het derde en vierde verhaal verplaatst Peeters zich naar Georgi毛. De auteur is duidelijk in de ban geraakt van het land; zeker het derde verhaal 鈥� soms meer een reisgids 鈥� laat zich lezen als een gepassioneerde ode aan het Kaukasus-land. In het vierde voert hij de fictieve vriendschap tussen de Georgische kunstenaar Pirosmani (1862-1918) en de latere Jozef Stalin, ook een Georgi毛r, ten tonele.
Het is duidelijk dat Peeters een spel speelt met associaties, verbanden, mixen van fictie en historische werkelijkheid, en zich daar heel erg mee amuseert. Dat plezier spat van de pagina鈥檚 af en slaat in die zin zeker over op de lezer. Maar voor mij was zijn Georges-spel soms wat vergezocht. En dat hij er op het einde ook W.G. Sebald bij haalt, had voor mij niet gehoeven. Rating 2.5 sterren....more
Lester L. Grabbe (掳 1945, emeritus University of Hull, England) is one of the most eminent experts on the early history of Israel and the Hebrew BibleLester L. Grabbe (掳 1945, emeritus University of Hull, England) is one of the most eminent experts on the early history of Israel and the Hebrew Bible. And, apparently, he is a very methodical person. In this book he explores in a systematic way which sources are available to reconstruct that history and especially to assess the historical value of the Hebrew Bible. That is very useful in a field of research where many experts sometimes stand opposite each other with drawn knives. Very interesting, but I fear that this is not immediately for the layman. Anyone who wants to take a short cut will find what they are looking for in the summary of this book. More in my History account on 欧宝娱乐: /review/show.......more
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