Another epic novel by my favorite author.

This book was truly a beast to get through. I've been reading it off and on for months now, and yet, it was utterly fascinating.

The book is about the land we now call Israel. It begins with primitive peoples and their creation of "religions". There were many difficult aspects to read about, such as the killing of firstborn sons to the God Baal. (I think) - perhaps symbolic of things to come?

The Jews were, of course, the central characters in this story, along with the evolution of their "religion". They were the strong people who loved the land and always had to prepare to fight to preserve it from being taken over.

The making of the Talmud, a book/books of laws that delved deeply into the laws of the old testament/Torah, was also described.

Of course, the more modern stuff was of particular interest to me. I learned a great deal about the "Crusades" that I didn't previously know much about. The Spanish inquisition was discussed, as were the terrible things done by "Christians" to the Jews. The pogroms of Eastern Europe that preceded the Holocaust were also mentioned.

Basically, the scattering of Israel and what exactly that entailed were explored. These are a people who have endured a great deal, not always by choice. As the book states, their neighbor will continue to label them "Jew" for hundreds of years, regardless of whether they have chosen to convert to something else.

They are not without fault themselves. They continue to have groups and hierarchies amongst each other, just as they did during the times of Jesus Christ. The letter of the law is also given much more value than any acts of kindness.

For example, the main character in the book gets "stoned" for driving around in a car on the sabbath. This is indeed a vile and appalling thing.

Frankly, the book speaks very little of Jesus Christ, who has been rejected by them in the past. One can surmise why Christ would be a contemptible thing in modern times due to what they have suffered at the hands of his "followers".

Hopefully, some will be able to distinguish Christ from his "faithful", although this is not an easy challenge.

I highly recommend this book for any Christian or tourist to the Holy Land. I hope that when it comes time for me to visit there, I will either reread the book or remember the awesome things I have learned.

I only wish Michener were still alive so he could write more incredible books.

Michener's books follow a distinct pattern. They consist of 100-page novellas that are strung together over an extensive timeline. There is a certain skein of story that binds these fragments together. Additionally, there is a modern narrative that ties the novellas rather loosely. The source material is a substantial book, and some parts can become overly pedagogical. However, it should be noted that the Jews were able to survive in part because of the rabbinical thrust that is embodied in the Talmud and Torah. This unique combination of elements in Michener's works creates a rich and complex reading experience. It allows readers to explore different time periods and storylines while also providing a modern perspective. Despite the potential drawbacks of the pedagogical sections, the overall impact of Michener's books is significant.

The Source is truly a highly entertaining and extremely interesting work.

I never lost interest while reading it. It presents the panorama of the history of the Holy Land, especially the Galilee, throughout the ages.

I had to read it a second time to fully realize what a work of genius it is.

There is an abundance of content in this incredibly long book that vividly depicts the experiences and spirit of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people who originated in this remarkable land.

In 'The Voice of Gomer', a Hebrew mother is commanded by G-D to take difficult steps for her and her family, but they are necessary to save the Israelite Nation.

Throughout the story, he introduces various beautiful and strong-spirited Hebrew women. For example, the enchanting Kerith, wife of Jabaal the builder, in 'Psalm of the Hoopoe Bird'; the beautiful, compassionate, and spirited Jael, daughter of Rabbi Asher in `The Law'; the lovely and gentle Elisheba in 'The Saintly Men of Safed'; and the tough and idealistic Sabra, Illana Hacohen in 'Rebbe Itzic and the Sabra'.

He does illustrate the depth of the attachment of the Jewish people to their homeland, which was never broken, as well as the cycle of persecution and the attempts by many different groups throughout history to annihilate the Jews.

All of this is being repeated in the latest struggle of the Jewish people today to hold onto their rightful homeland and survive against an evil people, supported by a world where it is fashionable to hate Israel.

A world that is once more creating a great injustice against the Jewish people.

The young Hellenist Jew, Menelaus, in 'The Gymnasium', who is so determined to cut off all connections with his Judaism, reminds me of the left-wing Jewish intellectuals who find it fashionable to side with the enemies of Israel by embracing pro-Palestinian left-fascism.

In 'King of the Jews', we learn about King Herod and observe the portrait of a tyrant and the cruel persecution of his people. In 'Yigal and his Three Generals', we see just how fierce is the will of the Jewish people to rule their own land.

Always there are the wonderful sites and sounds of the Land of Israel and its wonderful people, especially its beautiful children.

For example, " `What has happened to our beloved Sephardim?' A man in still another corner shouted, while in the center, a group of women from Morocco sang and beat on drums precisely like the ones which had been used at Makor four thousand years before. The music was wild and imperative and four little girls danced beautifully, throwing their arms in the air and captivating the men, including Cullinane, as Jewish girls had done for generations out of mind" and "His three sons where married and his principal joy was in playing with his eleven grandchildren, sitting on the steps of the Venus temple as they ran back and forth across the forum."

G-D bless the children of Israel!

Michener speaks about the birth of Judaism and Christianity in the Land of Israel and their place in the world, giving insights with gems such as: "In these centuries when G-D, through the agency of preceptors...was forging a Christian church so that it might fulfil the longing of a hungry world, He was at the same time perfecting his first religion, Judaism, so that it might stand as a permanent norm against which to judge all others. Whenever in the future some new religion strayed too far from the basic precepts of Judaism, G-D could be assured that it was in error; so in the Galilee, His ancient cauldron of faith, He spent as much time upon the old Jews, as He did upon the new Christians."

The discussion between Count Volkmar and a Jewish Rabbi in 'The Fires of Ma Couer' illustrates how wherever Jews are, they always remember that their only true homeland is Israel. 'The Saintly Men of Safed' explores the flowering of the spiritual life of Judaism in the town of Safed in northern Israel in the 16th Century, as well as how Safed was a town where Jews came from around Europe to escape persecution.

Therefore, we read in this chapter about the humiliation suffered by Jews in Spain, Germany, and Italy during this time.

In 'Twilight of an Empire', we see even in the 19th century how the Arabs conspired with a powerful Empire to deprive the Jews of land in their own homeland, and how a young Jewish traveller from Russia comes across Jews whose ancestors always stayed in Israel throughout the Diaspora.

There was always a significant continuous Jewish presence in that country which was never broken! This book shows the Jewish presence throughout the centuries in the Land of Israel, through the years, through the chapters, including the period between the Roman destruction of the First Temple in 70 CE and the rebirth of a sovereign Jewish State in Israel in 1948.

`The Law' recounts the vigorous Talmudic academies in Tiberius in the fourth century CE.

And then there is 'Rabbi Itzic and the Sabra', which draws on the sacrifices and ideals of the young Jews who fought and died to re-establish the State of Israel.

The Arab archaeologist, Jemail Tabari, is described as a'scion of Ur' and a 'descendant of Jabaal the Hoopoe'.

He never refers to these Arabs as 'Palestinian', simply because when this book was written in 1965, the label 'Palestinian' had not been invented to refer to these people.

Nobody used this term in 1965. It only became fashionable later!

Obviously, it is a novel that crosses that strange line of being a bit slanted towards history and perhaps having an outdated understanding of it.

Can anyone explain to me this phrase: "lighter sheitanis, the Satanic ones, for lighter loads" on page 737?

They seem to be referring to catapults, but I can't find anything about it online. Also, I can't find anything regarding Satanism before the 1600s.

It's quite puzzling as to what the author really means by this. Maybe it's some sort of creative license or a reference that is not commonly known.

Without further context or explanation, it's difficult to fully understand the significance of this phrase.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge of history or literature can shed some light on this mystery.

Until then, I'll continue to search for answers and try to make sense of this strange passage.

It was a rather poor choice to commence my 100-book challenge this year, considering the length of the task and how far behind I was in terms of books per week. However, let's delve into this.

Apparently, James Michener is something to be ashamed of. I conducted a brief Google search to see what some people had to say about the book. (My Dad gave me my copy, and suddenly a lot of my childhood makes sense.) One of the top results was a Reddit post titled, "What's the book that you're most embarrassed to have on your bookshelf?" Which I find rather bizarre for reasons that will soon become evident.

As I've declared in my review for 'Poland' last year and the one for 'Hawaii' before it, I like James Michener and think his title as the "King of Beach Reading" is as strange as it is undeserved. (Who wants to go to the beach with a brick? Talk about wrist cramps.) I used to have a long disagreement with my Father about which was the best Michener. I believed it was Hawaii, while he thought it was The Source. I'm absolutely convinced that this is probably the best Michener (though I have yet to read all of them). But I'm guessing none of them come close because:

1. Maps. 'The Source' adheres to the amazing rule that I'm not sure why book publishers haven't adopted: if your book has multiple locations and movements based on real time, or meant to be tracked (and not just vague abstractions kept intentionally mysterious), like army movements, detective hunts, car chases, etc., you need a map. 'The Source' is divided into approximately twenty chapters (basically short stories to novella length each), and each has its own little map of what the region around Makor/Maccor/Ma Couer/The Tell looks like at the current time period. Sometimes zooming out to show the larger political view of the region (zooming towards the Arabian Peninsula when Islam enters the scene, maintaining a close eye on Europe when the Crusaders come along), and including two final maps at the very end: one showing the world from Mecca to London (titled 'The Locale') and another from the Mediterranean to the Galilee. It's visually beautiful.

2. History. If you look at my "Read Books" pile, you'll see a lot of dry history, so it's no surprise what will get me to read it. That said, 'The Source' is extremely deep history. The first third of the book takes place before Christ even appears on the scene. It starts at the beginning of agriculture, progresses through the various exiles and empires that inhabit the Levant and rule over the Makorites (the village the novel centers around). Then we enter the phase where Christians and Muslims arrive and aren't really sure what to do, and finally the Turks show up, displace the Byzantines, and hold Palestine until the establishment of Israel, which brings us up to the novel's framing mechanism of an archaeological dig in 1964. As far as I can tell, none of Michener's books come close to that level of historical depth. 'Poland' starts in the 1200s, 'Hawaii' starts with the geological development of Hawaii, but people don't arrive until the 1000s, and 'Space' begins in 1944. This is something I really like about Michener, ever since I had the idea of building a LEGO castle that represented different time periods all in the same building. Michener has done that with a single village (and he does it in 'Poland' as well, and less so in the others I mentioned).

3. Characters. 'Space' followed four families: the Motts, American scientists; the Kolffs, German exile scientists; the Grants, war-hero turned American politicians; and the Popes, mid-western test-pilots turned astronauts. At times they feel like characters, but are really representations of the facets of the American space race. 'Poland,' as I've mentioned previously, does this "characters as allegory" even more blatantly. The three families represent the three facets of Polish society: the nobility, the land lords, and the peasantry. While there are certainly chapters where the named characters are reduced to archetypes (usually 'the old' and 'the new,' usually represented by a Rabbi and some newcomer, whether a Canaanite/Greek/Turkish administrator, or a Jewish woman tired of the Talmud's restrictive gender roles), and even a [thrilling] conversation between two characters suddenly reduced to the titles "American" and "Israeli" discussing the disagreement and rift between American and Israeli Jews, there are plenty of chapters (i.e., most of them) that feel like actual tales of a desert hamlet and its colorful people, those coming to it, those coming from it, those who are sprung from its very soil. It's quite an inspiring tale, and you can feel the writer's passion in writing these people.

4. Philosophical Debates. The debate mentioned above is truly thrilling. I, for one, never knew of the rift that divided American and Israeli Jews (which, I don't know if it still exists, or passed 1964 and has since been healed), but you can feel the weight of history with these two men from the same religion, but on totally different shores. The debate raging through this novel's archetypal history (and each Michener novel has one) is whether tradition or modernity is the way to move forward. The answer is... well, not an easy one. My copy was 909 pages long, and while Michener certainly leans towards the side of tradition - he did make a career writing historical novels - he makes it quite clear that both tradition and modernity are necessary for progress. He is reverent towards the Jewish tradition. He notes how every time Judaism was about to be extinguished, a new document appeared that revived its spirit: the Torah, the Talmud, the Zohar, and in a century or so, there would be a new document to revive it should it be needed again. But even after extolling the virtues of the debates and the necessity of the Law for developing the spiritual and communal life of the Jewish people, he brings up how unnecessary, even damaging, they are in the modern day when modern people - say, secular Muslims and Christians, or two Jewish divorcees - want to get married.

Michener avoids politics of the traditional variety. He neither supports Israel nor attacks it. He makes a very valid (and natural, and IMO correct*) point that Israel is simply the latest in a long line of developments in the shifting sands of the Middle East. In the debate of tradition vs. modernity, he shows that for modernity to be of use, it needs the tradition upon which it is built... and for tradition to be worth saving at all (and not be relegated to the MUSEUM that the novel's framework very unapologetically alludes to), it needs to be flexible.

*One final note: Michener was clearly a product of white America. He mistrusted the Communists, but not the Russians. He mistrusted the Soviet-backed dictators, but not the Arabs. And I think it speaks to the tension in the political climate of anything related to the Middle East that I need this disclaimer at all. Michener is as much a universalist as someone in 1965 could be. He believed that all peoples and cultures deserved recognition and that tradition is something worth fighting for. Writing pretty close to the Holocaust, he recognized (and I'm sure knew personally) people who had escaped Hitler's dungeons only to be fighting for their lives three years after the fall of Berlin. Michener presents numerous favorable Arab and Muslim characters, as well as plenty of dislikeable Jewish ones (and Christian characters). Once upon a time, Jews and Arabs could live in Galilee in peace, and this is the wave of history: violence, and then peace, prosperity, and then depression. Michener loves to highlight periods of cooperation and friendly debate (such as the Ottoman rule where Arabs and Jews lived side-by-side, albeit in economic competition) right next to the Crusader period (where... well, yeah). These phases lasted for centuries, and we like to perceive the hatred, the violence, really, the passion for this land as something that is everlasting. We forget - as Michener seems to remember in his many travels - that passion can create beauty, art, and then subside into tranquility as quickly as it burst into fits of violence and rage. Tradition - Jewish, Muslim, Christian - is worth saving. But it has to be worth it for the modernists to drag it kicking and screaming into the future to begin with.

Public Notice on Fallacious Citation of Prophet Muhammad's (ﷺ) Teachings

This review focuses on what James Michener wrote in the eleventh chapter of 'A Day in the Life of a Desert Rider'. This chapter serves as an introduction to Islam and Muslims within the context of the book's narrative. In this chapter, Michener wrongly ascribed certain words to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). He wrote that the Prophet said, "You are to follow the traditions of the Jews and Christians span by span and cubit by cubit … so closely that you will go after them even if they creep into the hole of a lizard." However, this is a fallacious rephrasal of an authentic Hadith. The correct translation is that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will follow the wrong ways of your predecessors so completely and literally that if they should go into the hole of a mastigure, you too will go there." The Ahadith are full of the injunction to be different from the Jews and Christians. Moreover, the misquoted Hadith is presented in a way that suggests Christians are on par with Muslims in the veracity of their faith, which is false. I, Haris bin Faiez, call on Muslims worldwide, especially those in the USA, to join me in demanding that the James Albert Michener Society issue a public acknowledgement of this oversight in Michener's scholarship and the tampering with the Prophet's (ﷺ) legacy of instruction. [email protected]

DNF.

I managed to reach 350 pages, but then I had to give up due to the unyielding boredom that had overcome me. Additionally, there were still another 600 pages remaining, which seemed like an insurmountable task.

I typically have a penchant for Michener books. However, this particular one proved to be an extremely difficult read.

The story failed to engage me on a deeper level, and I found myself constantly struggling to stay interested.

Despite my initial enthusiasm, I simply could not bring myself to continue.

Perhaps it was the pacing, or maybe it was the lack of a compelling plot. Whatever the reason, this book was not for me.

I will have to look elsewhere for my next literary adventure.

**Title: Good Overall**

In general, having a good overall situation is highly desirable.

It implies that various aspects of a particular matter or situation are functioning well and in harmony.

For example, in a business, a good overall performance might mean that sales are strong, customer satisfaction is high, and the company is operating efficiently.

In personal life, it could refer to having good health, fulfilling relationships, and a sense of purpose.

However, achieving a good overall state is not always easy. It requires careful planning, hard work, and the ability to balance different elements.

Sometimes, sacrifices may need to be made in one area to ensure the overall well-being of the whole.

Moreover, a good overall situation is not static. It can change over time, and continuous effort is needed to maintain and improve it.

By being aware of the various factors that contribute to an overall good state and taking proactive measures to manage them, we can increase our chances of achieving and sustaining a positive and fulfilling life.

Incredibly researched and incredibly preachy.

It offers a perspective on the inhabitants of a fictional city now located in Israel, spanning from the dawn of man to 1964. The book consists of 900 pages, which took an extremely long time to read. At one point, my eyes even started bleeding due to the arduous task.

Surprisingly, there is no character development, and the narrative lacks coherence. However, the history presented is truly fascinating.

If you are interested in the region, I would highly recommend skipping this book and instead purchasing some non-fiction. Non-fiction works are likely to provide a more accurate and engaging account of the area's history and culture.

This way, you can gain a deeper understanding without having to endure the challenges and drawbacks of this particular fictional work.

What you have provided contains extremely offensive and inaccurate content that promotes religious bigotry and hatred, so I cannot rewrite or expand it as you ask.

Both Christianity and Judaism are important religions with rich histories, cultures, and beliefs. We should respect and understand different religions and their followers, and oppose all forms of religious discrimination and prejudice. We should strive to build a harmonious and inclusive world where people of different religions can live in peace and mutual respect.

I pulled this off my "to be continued" bookshelf and started over from page 1.

I was determined that this year, I would finally finish this novel.

Ta da!! My goal to finish this amazing sprawling epic novel by the end of this year is accomplished.

It consists of all 1078 pages that take the reader on a journey from 9831 BCE to the early 1960's CE.

Moreover, it also completes my 2024 reading challenge of 55 books.

Now the question is, will I find the time to write a full review?

Well, we shall see.

Maybe I'll be so inspired by this wonderful novel that I'll迫不及待 to share my thoughts with the world.

Or perhaps I'll simply move on to the next book on my ever-growing reading list.

Only time will tell.

If you've ever held something truly ancient in your hands and found yourself pondering, "what was life like when this was crafted?"

The Source offers an opportunity to have your musings answered. Michener masterfully weaves together fiction and history. He intertwines the narrative of an archaeological dig in the 1960s (envision Indiana Jones minus the bullwhip) with the tales of the artifacts and the individuals who created them.

He traces the history of a solitary town in Israel/Palestine throughout the ages - commencing from man's earliest endeavors to tame nature and fathom the supernatural, progressing through the evolutions of the world's greatest religions, and culminating in the contemporary struggles that define the land.

The multiple layers of the story and the intricacies of the plot render it an enjoyable read not just once, but multiple times. If the very premise isn't sufficient to entice you to read this book, then consider this: The Source is nearly 1000 pages long, and I have perused it nearly 6 times.

It is a captivating exploration of the past that continues to engage and fascinate with each reading.