Customer Reviews

Samson's Walls

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As a reader not well-versed in the biblical fiction genre except for
Anita Diamant's Red Tent, I found Samson's Walls by Jud Nirenberg to
be approachable, relatable and most important, interesting.

Over the years I've seen references to the ultimate betrayal to Samson
and Delilah in films, literature, and music. Until I read this novel,
I never understood the reference except that it was obviously a love
story gone wrong. Boy, if a betrayal could be measured, then this was
the monster of all betrayals. Nirenberg has researched carefully and
crafted a story based on these two biblical figures with little
available context to work with. This kind of attention to detail and
storytelling reminded me of Diamant's approach to Red Tent, giving
life to female biblical figures who were otherwise barely mentioned in
traditional biblical literature. Nirenberg has also created several
conflicts in the story that are universal: loneliness, desire to love
and be loved, and ambition. All themes came together in a man who was
blinded by love and his own ambition to lead one battle after another
and a woman who was determined to see the "most powerful" man killed
through seduction.

What made this novel approachable was the use of modern spoken
language which may have, on occasion, seemed out of balance and
context. However, the intention was to give us a sense of universal
emotions by using words that are relatable to us. In essence, I now
have a better understanding of the betrayal of Samson and Delilah when
I see modern text references to the storied couple.

"Samson's Walls" - a powerful tale of love, loss, deception, and religious fealty which rings true in the 21st Century. Jud Nirenberg has taken a bible story we think we know and transformed into a mirror within in which to examine how far and how little we have evolved as individuals and societies capable of building and sustaining love and trust.

At first, one may be lulled by the declarative style, plain, candid speech of the characters, and be persuaded that one is engaged with a mainstream/predictable work of historical fiction. However, as the reader learns more about the historical antecedents (Samson and his family of origin/paternity issues, the burden of being selected as a Nazarite) and maturation of Samson (his disappointing and ultimately tragic experiences with local Philistines, including his wife) during pre-Delilah life, an understanding of the loneliness, isolation, and deep sadness emerges. His legendary male strength co-exists with enormous male vulnerability. Indeed, one realizes this novel embodies a truly unique biblical re-telling - it is forcing us to reflect upon human socialization: how we become men and women, how we understand ourselves as having particularistic (ethnic, religious) and universal (citizens of the world) identities which influence the degree to which mutual affection and respect inform our conduct.

Another surprise is the characterization/voice of Delilah. Instead of being portrayed as a garden-variety siren/seductress and betrayer of Man, Mr. Nirenberg envisions her as the determined leader of her diverse, frontier village. Delilah is childless, a trader, fishmonger, living strategically outside the box, on her terms. She, too is given emotional complexity and depth - a vulnerable woman feeling her age, (Indeed, Mr. Niernberg has given her some slight wrinkles!) who, given that Canaan is a man's world, must simultaneously hide and deploy her many talents in the intereset of protecting her community and honored place within it she has built.

"Samson's Walls" resonated with me as a person conversant with loneliness and solitude, an independent yet entrapped woman, mother of a gifted child/young man, Reconstructionist Jew, and political outsider. I am truly impressed by how Mr. Nirenberg wrestled with the challenge of taking a misunderstood, underappreciated yet epic story of love gone bad and infused it with relevance. Samson seethes with passion, rage, desire, struggling with his limitations and, alas, unable to transcend them. One can look at this literary work as a humanist and feminist statement about what divides and may, potentially, unite us, in efforts to make our world just and loving.

In a Canaan where Philistines and Hebrews vie for dominance, it is important to know one's place. Samson is isolated in his, trapped by unusual rules and expectations. He was promised to his parents by an angel, destined to grow into a great man and make his people strong.Raised with Philistines for playmates, he aches to be a part of their world. At marrying age, he chooses a Philistine wife and, when his new family denies him the acceptance he craves, he releases years of frustration and loneliness in blood.

Samson goes into hiding, seeking to make peace with his wife's people.Soon other young Hebrews join him with their own reasons for war. Even while longing for peace, he leads a growing army. He is trapped by his successes and grows in fame, wealth and power, taking enemy territory.As always, he is without close friends and alone.

With Delilah, the unlikely prostitute-queen of a village in no-man'sland, he tastes love. She is the opposite of the clannish divisions he hates, with unclear ethnic origins and leading a mixed community. They become intimate as Philistine spies gather around them. Samson and Delilah are both ensnared in his fight to fulfill his own heart's need despite his tribe's and religion's expectations.

"A word to the world, that we must believe and have faith in one another, to strive for equality...an old tale with new sense and forms...a beautiful book, a beautiful idea that brings great philosophical strength..."
Imam Gjuner Abdula, Amsterdam

I truly enjoyed this book and found I could not put it down! Author Nirenberg's re-telling of the Samson/Delilah story, which I had not re-visited since religious classes many years ago, held me in thrall. The main characters came alive, grew and found their own truths in the course of the book. Not only was it entertaining, it was meticulous in research and settings and enlightening in its portrait of the times and peoples of the era. I learned from and enjoyed Samson's Walls very much.

Samson's Walls is a modern retelling of the Samson and Delilah story -- modern in terms of its narrative, which elevates the Spartan biblical parable to level of full-fledged novel, and in terms of its theme, which pits the cult of the Individual against a life of religious devotion. Ostensibly a military tale, what's really at stake in this version is not any one people or belief as much as it is Samson himself, whose humanness demands true and immediate appreciation and love, needs so innate that they supersede both the soldier's judgment and the believer's acquiescence. Nirenberg's take turns the "love thy neighbor" moral on its head: can we truly love our neighbors without first knowing what it is to love ourselves? To seek worth through military power, money, or physical prowess -- or from the adoration of others -- will lead to destruction; we must seek it within our souls.

In this fictional recreation of the biblical Samson story, a young woman is visited by an angel who announces that she will soon bear a special child to be raised as a Nazarite among her people. Growing up as a Nazarite, Samson must never pollute his body with wine or grapes, must not defile his spirit by being in close proximity to the dead, and must show his obedience to God through study and prayer. All of these guidelines that the boy must follow make finding real friendship and companionship with others a very difficult task for him, and when he decides to take a wife, he hopes that things will begin to change. Unfortunately, the family of the bride insults Samson in a way that he can't tolerate, spurring him to abandon his wife and take to the road in hopes of revenge. Thus begins the true tale of the life of Samson; warrior, scholar, and man of God. As Samson moves among the desert cities, he amasses followers and land, becoming a formidable leader of men. Both brutal and misunderstood, Samson longs to find someone to share his life with and discovers Delilah, a woman who will change the course of his destiny. Written with soberness and pragmatism, Samson's Walls gives a fresh voice to the tale of the man who had the strength of a hundred warriors and the lonely and angry heart of a nomad.

I must admit that the only thing I knew about Samson going into this book was the G-rated Sunday School stories of my youth. That is why I was so surprised and pleased to get a chance to pour over this retelling of Samson's story. First off, I think that Samson's character was really amped up in some great ways. I didn't have any trouble seeing why he was so distant and felt so superior to those around him. It was made very clear throughout the beginning sections of the book that Samson's every movement had been segregated from those of others and that he was never one to mix with those in the crowd. In addition, the fact that the relationship between him and his father was distant and stilted and the fact that he received more responsiveness from the Nazarite priests all came together in a really believable way and stressed the point that Samson was alienated and had a huge chip on his shoulder. I think creating the character in this way was a clever way for the author to make Samson multi-layered and to outfit him perfectly for the things he later attempts in the tale.

I also thought that the politics of the story were very well integrated into the narrative. There is a whole subplot running through the book dealing with the friction between the Hebrews and the Philistines that I thought was very well done. Since I am not really that well versed in Scripture, it was really very enlightening to me to discover that these two factions lived peacefully among each other but had skirmishes regularly and that each side wished to subjugate the other. When Samson comes along to fight for his people, the Hebrews begin to get a leg up on the battle that they could never dominate. This section of the story was very well developed and candid, and I really enjoyed the added intensity that it gave to the plot of the book. Had this not been the case, the book would have probably seemed very thin and underdeveloped.

The one thing that I had trouble with was Samson's eventual naiveté regarding Deliah's schemes. I couldn't believe that a man so cunning and strong could be so weak and trusting when it came to her deception. Of course, this was not the fault of the author. This is the actual meat and bones of the story as it appears in the Bible, so to change that aspect of things would have ruined the author's credibility in the area of fictional augmentation. In fact, Nirenberg does a wonderful job in his efforts to explain Samson's behavior, making his character mentally dance and twirl to the crazy ramblings of lust and hope that he feels for Delilah, despite the things she has already done. It just made me so mad that he couldn't see what was going on, and some of the time I was reading, I was screaming aloud to Samson not to be so stupid as to trust her again. But as a side note, I felt very appreciative to have become so invested in Samson and his story after having been so unmoved by my past few reads. I was grateful to the author for giving me such meat to sink my teeth into, and for creating a hero of such complex moral structure.

I think this is a book that would have wide appeal to many different types of reader. There is something here for almost everyone, from history to romance to battle scenes and action. Even though I knew the basics going in, I felt that this story was told with great novelty and skill and I had no trouble investing myself in it at all. I felt that this book had the perfect mix of modern storytelling mixed with a historical flavor that not only felt accurate, but believable as well. I enjoyed this read and think that both its unimposing length and accessibility would make the perfect drop-in read between heavier works.