alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

First of all, Manon is the best character.

Second, girl powerrrrr!!!

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

This story was great! I was totally shocked by some of the developments, honestly did not see that coming. The characters and art were very cute, too.

Very wtf-y. I didn’t really like how the stories resolved so quickly, and how the boy is like a Sherlock Holmes genius. I would have liked it better if it was less episodic, like draw the stories out more. Amazing illustrations, though.

This manga is everything I was hoping it would be. It is so funny that, even though I don’t get any of the Buddha jokes, there is still plenty to laugh about.

Some of the jokes are quite sophisticated and require a depth of knowledge of the religion to work so well. I am impressed because most Japanese people don’t know much about Jesus, so the author must have really studied!

There are lots of notes at the end that explain the Japanese cultural jokes and puns (as well as the religious ones). This must be amazing to read in Japanese lol.

Whew, this story is intense and hard hitting.

I read an interview with the author where she said that she doesn't actually read a lot of fiction even though standard advice for authors is to be well read in the genre you are writing. She prefers to read non-fiction, history, because there is so much untapped inspiration for stories there. I think her approach is working well for her because honestly I haven't read fantasy that felt this sharp in a long time. It very explicitly criticizes colonialism, the patriarchy, and religion that underpins both.

"Here was the cage that kept women in, made them fearful, made them small. Here was the barrier that kept Kwen from plenty, siphoned their lives, and starved them into ravenous hordes. The cage and the barrier weren't different structures. They were components in the same machine, cast and forged for the same ultimate purpose."

Reminds me of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin.

I liked the art but overall I think it was too text heavy. It is being very true to the book, but I think the adaptation could have been looser and more interpretive. Like it could ask some of those questions about god and the purpose of life on a more dreamscape background, rather than showing an image of a journal page. It’s a big missed opportunity for some lovely expressionist art.