sapphicpenguin's Reviews (109)

A Jewish perspective on confronting religious violence,  primarily written for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. At its best when analyizing texts and making theological points. It uses the phrases "the West" and "Judeo-Christian values" a few times too many—especially strange because of what the book is about, and these are never defined. I would have liked analysis of modern instances of Christian violence—I honestly felt like Christianity (and Christian-dominant countries) got too much of a pass in this. While definitely taking Islam into account and quoting a few Muslim writers, I would have liked a lot more material in this regard and less repetition of other points. The book in general is too long (while still leaving some things unaddressed). Making up for most of that for me: the Scripture analyses were life-changing. The author really shines as a teacher, which of course makes sense.

EDIT: I'm changing my rating to 4 stars, in appreciation of the sections on dualism. 

Very accessible read and so informative. Because of the vast time periods and subjects involved, a lot is condensed/summarized, but it's a good primer and a well thought out thesis. Sometimes repetitive and occasionally too condensed for my taste, but very worth it.

Read this only if you genuinely care. Very dense and not a quick read. Assumes full familiarity with the complete works of at least Austen/Brontës/Mary Shelley/George Eliot/Dickinson. Wikipedia will need to be open especially if you have not read all authors mentioned. Gets a bit too Freudian for my taste at the beginning. All that said, amazing book that taught me so much and I feel so much solidarity with the lineage that female authorship has. And you could skip around to what you do care about/have read.

One of my new favorite pieces of introductory commentary. Not too dense, but a thorough investigation of multiple books through the historical-critical method. Should be read by anyone interested in the texts in either academic or religious contexts.