DNF @ 35%

I was in a reading slump the entire month of May and this is not a good book to read when I'm just coming out of it. The writing and story concept are good, actually, it is just so dang slow. Let's say the pan is not warm enough to make the butter sizzle ha.

I really really really want to get into this series but the text is physically dense and uncomfortable to read. Maybe it is easier to read in paperback... idk.

DNF at 70%

I think the writing in itself is good and the plot & descriptions are unique. I'm just finding the pace to be slow and I'm kinda bored with it.

DNF @ 25%

The language and setting reminded me of The Book Thief but the characters are half as interesting and the book *feels* twice as long

DNF @ 20%

Not a bad premise or writing, tbh. It just felt kinda flavorless to me since I have been reading a lot of fantasy lately and YA fantasy is such a derivative genre.

DNF @ 20ish%

It's giving Handmaid's Tale. It's giving bleak. It's giving dull.

Pausing for now - The audio isn't working well for me (narrator sounds kinda robotic?) and I don't have access to a print version.

--
James Kugel - 4 assumptions for exegesis:
1. The bible is a cryptic text. Texts need not mean what they obviously seem to mean.
2. Scripture is primarily an instructional text. As such, it is fundamentally relevent. A prophet is not only speaking to his generation, but future generations as well. A text must be reinterpreted to remain relevent.
3. Scripture is perfect and perfectly harmonious. It is the interpreter's job to harmonize contradictory texts.
4. All scripture is somehow divinely sanctioned, of divine providence or divinely inspired. Scriptural language is not quotidian human language. (Eg 70 years not being literal)
(+5. NT texts assume the scriptures of Israel are primarily concerned with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.)

Pardes - persian orchard/paradise
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardes_(exegesis)
13th c jewish exegesis
Peshat - simple contextual meaning
Remez - allegorical meaning
Derash - homiletical/comparative meaning
Sod - mystical meanings

DNF @ 30%

I wanted to read this book because a lot of contemporary Christian teachers I like have cited it re: exploring biblical narratives through the literary lens, looking at narrative techniques and literary devices, what the point of view and repetitive phrases intend to signal the reader, etc. The Bible Project has been credited in a renewed interest in the Old Testament because of their teachings in this line. This book is short and accessible, for an academic work, but I was hoping for more discussion on repeated motifs and their meaning than an explanation of literary techniques such as characterization and POV.