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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling take on Creation and the Book of Genesis, March 7, 2003
This review is from: Adiel (Hardcover)
There's not much point in recounting the plot of "Adiel", as it is probably a fair assumption that anyone who picks it up will be familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, their fall from Grace, and expulsion from the Garden. Likewise, they are most likely familiar with the story of Noah and his Ark. It is these two moments from the earliest book of the Bible that form the centerpiece of "Adiel". DuNour brilliantly sets at odds the creation, and the loss of grace, and destruction and the redemption of mankind.
DuNour's muse is the angel Adiel, who has been called upon by God to record the works of men until such time as they can record history for themselves. As a result, Adiel bears witness to the first ten generations of mankind: from the temptation of Eve to Noah's offer of thanksgiving. As I alluded to earlier, DuNour weaves these two elements, the dawn of humanity and its near destruction, alternately into the story to great effect. By offsetting the beginning and the end, he makes a powerful statement about a God who is learning to accept the path His Creation takes. In lesser hands, this might come across as blasphemy, but DuNour paints a portrait of a God who is wise enough to know when to change course, and when to stand quietly by.
Moreover, the eponymous Adiel is a brilliantly conceived literary device. By turning over the narration to a being whose whole will is bent utterly to God's will, but whose mind is his own, DuNour is able to offer insightful commentary on a variety of subjects. Why does God allow man free will, when He knows wrong choices will frequently be made? Why does He suffer evil in His creation? Is He pleased with what He has created? I suspect that each reader will draw different conclusions from these questions, as DuNour never attempts to answer them definitively. That said, it is the very asking of such powerful questions that sets this book apart.
Ultimately, DuNour suggests that it is mankind's ability to overcome its mistakes that is most pleasing to God. Moreover, this seems to be because it echoes God's own displeasure with the path his most beloved creation initially followed, and how He eventually grew out of that displeasure (perhaps sadness would be more appropriate) to love what man had become. I am by no means a biblical scholar, and while I do believe in God, I've never taken the Book of Genesis literally, but there is something immensely comforting in DuNour's take on these ancient stories. That's because, above all, he writes of God who wants only the best for us, and while He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our actions, it is His fervent wish that we overcome them.
Jake Mohlman
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An old story with a new twist, December 2, 2002
This review is from: Adiel (Hardcover)
Well, I have a few differing thoughts in my head about this book. I think it is a hard to give an old story a new & exciting twist, but Dunour did a pretty good job handling that. I'm not sure if the story could have "flown" better though...what he did was combine two stories, one of Adam & Eve & another of Noah & the Ark. And he would go back & forth with each story until the end where they reached their climaxes together. I think I would have enjoyed it better if it would have just been one story after the other, in chronological order, but then again, I see how this concept added to the eventful ending. So, I'm not decided on that yet...The other criticism I have is that the story should have moved a little faster, or included more action (activity). At many points the story dragged, but it picked up towards the middle where both stories started picking up. However, it seemed to take the author many chapters just for small things to happen. Over all, the book was enjoyable. Definately interesting to see old stories like these re-written. Helps people relate to them a little more I think. I'd recommend reading it & see what you think.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Voices from heaven, February 7, 2002
This review is from: Adiel (Hardcover)
Reading the Book of Adiel by Shlomo Du-nour is like floating through heaven and earth using the character of Adiel. Looking at the same events, so well known to us, of the biblical story of Adam, Eve their family and ancestors, from a different angle is a marvels experience. The watching spot of an angle looking at the beginning of the human kind, allow Adiel to tell the story with a lot of sympathy but yet with some criticism. Reading the story written so well, allow us to look at the biblical characters, stripped to be just plain human beings, straggling through a new world and trying to fight the nature forces and their internal forces of their soul at the same time. In our days, where religions and religious people seems to take their understanding of god to evil and dark places, Adiel shed a light of sanity to the biblical story, possessed only by religious leaders. In summary - Read and don't stop until the end.
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