Customer Reviews

Sarah: Women of Genesis (Women of Genesis (Forge))

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you think that Card is just a science-fiction or fantasy writer, this book will set you straight. He takes the story of Sarah, wife of Abraham, and give it fictional, but balanced treatment; that is, all the heroes and heroines are still heroes and heroines, and miracles do happen. But, Card is no Biblical Literalist; he assumes that stories can be garbled or told twice (for example, it is only once, in this book, that Abraham claims that Sarah is his sister.)It is like reading Genesis with new eyes; as if an old dirty picture had been cleaned, and you see details you never saw before. Give it a try, and prepare to be delighted. This is Card's best, up to now.

No matter what genre he chooses, Orson Scott Card can't seem to write a bad novel. Biblical fiction isn't a "hot" topic, but after reading "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamont, I was curious as to how one of my favorite sci-fi authors would approach such a story.

The story of Sarah and her husband Abraham is one I half-heard about in Sunday school as a child. Orson Scott Card brings it vividly to life so that the characters become more than just biblical figures, but real people with real lives, real doubts, and real faith. The book does start slow, but as I read on I found myself appreciating Card's ability to take time with the everyday aspects of Sarah and Abraham's lives rather than focusing entirely on the dramas and miracles of biblical proportion.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with Card's basic religious assumptions or his interpretation of Sarah and Abraham's story, this book is still a great example of Card's artful storytelling at its best.

While reading Sarah the above question kept occurring to me. Sometimes I thought Card created a female character that was convincing, appealing, and heroic. Other times I found Card's depiction of Sarah unbelievable. Many times while reading this novel, I thought to myself: "No woman I've ever known would act that way . . ."

However, I really did enjoy this novel. It is an easy read. I would highly recommend this book as a young adult book. Adults will enjoy it but it is not as engaging as I expected it to be.

Card does play with Biblical stories in order to make the novel more interesting. For example, Lot's wife is Sarah's sister, which creates several subplots including the destruction of Sodom.

I also thought Abraham was a little two-dimensional. And the treatment of the other female characters in the novel was stereotypical. Every female was "evil" or bad except for Sarah, who oftentimes lacked a certain depth and complexity.

Sarah is not a book I would reread again but I think it is worthwhile reading material.

Unlike what one other reviewer has written here, I believe this book is very much in keeping with almost all other novels Card has written: characters of strength and integrity committed to some grand cause, sometimes misunderstanding each other, coming to equality in relationships by the end. Of course, a little politicking/social maneuvering is thrown in as well, as well as historicity of customs and action (oooh, how racy =were= those Egyptians, anyway? One wonders if today's fashions of tight Tshirts and bun-hugging jeans, though not as translucent as the Egyptian linens, would have been found objectionable by the modest desert nomads?)

While Card adds details not found in the original Biblical source (and he also admits to adding some details that are not found in the Old Testament, but are in Mormon scripture), he also edits the story to sew up some plot holes - not unreasonable, considering, as with many of the Genesis stories, there is more than one source (checking my Bible, it mentions that both the Eloist and Yahwist sources both contribute (so named because of their words for God - either Eloi or Yahweh)). One sees the repitition of the device of the man claiming his wife to be his sister in the Bible - not only twice in the case of Abraham and Sarah, but also in Isaac's story. Many of these plot changes may irritate a Biblical fundamentalist, but they are not too glaring. I had to go back to the Bible to figure out what was changed -- the story pretty much agreed with the tale I remember hearing as a child.

However, the best part of this book was Sarah herself. Like most women in Card's fiction, she gets to be a strong person in her own right - not pretending to be less intelligent or skilled than she is, not bowing under men's authority or words simply because they are men. People might complain about the less attractive female characters Qira and Hagar, but he also gives these women autonomous characters. They do not blend into the background, but are shown as captains of their own souls, even if they turn out to have made poor choices.

Most importantly with Sarah, Card shows how a person of faith lives when they do not get to hear God's voice directly. Abraham gets to hear God speak, so he is sure in knowing that he shall be the ancestor of a great people, he is sure that he shall win military conflict, he is sure of eventual success. Sarah must hear the words of God through others, and in a world that offers many gods, she doubts and is hurt by the conflict between her doubt and her faith. I see this book as being popular among people of faith, whatever their religions, for it mirrors some of their own conflicts (If there is a benevolent God, why is there so much suffering? Am I being punished by God for something?) in their souls.

"Sarah" sets out to take the light sketch of Abraham's wife in the Bible and extend it into a full novel telling much of her life's story from her point of view. If "Sarah" is any clue, OS Card set out with the "Women of Genesis" series to loft a feminist retake on the biblical story of the patriarchs: What were the wives of these great prophets up to? Why do they, despite sparing reference in the Bible, get a lot more attention than almost any other women in the male-dominated scriptures? Could it be because they were as intelligent, brave, righteous, and powerful in their service to the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," just as much as their famous, credit-hogging husbands? Sarah turns out to qualify, not just as a co-equal with the revered Abraham, but his indispensable support without whom he could not have lived up to greatness. In keeping with this 20th-century revision of 4,000-year-old nomadic culture, Sarah is also outspoken and liberated, with Abraham not batting an eye, as both of them talk like modern Americans. Those easily offended at irreverent takes on revered religious figures will not appreciate Abraham teasing the aging Sarah about her saggy breasts, though those offended by religious stuffiness will have a ball with the refreshingly human portrayals. Nor will purists of the historical novel appreciate the dialog, though the author has made a genuine effort to depict an accurate milieu of nomadic life. Actually, since depicting ancient culture really accurately is ultimately an intractable challenge, substituting the audience's culture into the unknowns makes as much sense for the story as anything. Purists of whatever flavor of orthodox Biblical interpretation are also bound to get riled, not least by the substitution of less miraculous replacements for the brimstone from heaven and the punishment by transformation into a pillar of salt. Card also sneaks in a few Mormon conceits hinting at the Book of Enoch, and the Pharaoh's sacred rituals as an apostate form of the real temple ceremonies.

Although "Sarah" functions admirably as a distant prequel to Card's fantastic "Stone Tables" (the story of Moses), I started losing patience with Sarah and Abraham at the same time Pharaoh was losing patience with them in the story. Although it starts out in characteristic Card form with appealing character development as Sarah learns of Abraham and they launch off on their adventure together, my credibility was stretched by the summary execution with which their romance together was dispensed. As the story continues, it started to dawn on me that Sarah and Abraham are both a little too confident in their righteousness for much doubt to remain as to where the story is going. After all, we have read this story before; the devil has got to be in the details; but the details are filled only with God. This ideal faith leaves little to be resolved.

Although Hagar is introduced as interestingly tragic, and her talent for frank analogies to bedchambers endears her, the following setup explaining the biblical story of Abraham fathering a child with her is too pat, and the pain it inflicts on Sarah too tidy. Worse, Hagar's character is disingenuously contorted to fit the artificial demands of the new plot, going from sympathetic up until the impregnation to repulsive, redemptionless witch afterward. This uncomfortable pattern is repeated with Sarah's sister, who marries Lot and is also tagged with a "rejected-by-God" sign on her back that apparently requires the story to turn her into a shrill, putrid scab of a human being to get us to understand that it was really for the best for God to wipe her out. I can understand giving more background to show a God who reserved punishment for more than just a minor infraction like looking back homeward after he said not to, but a dumpster-full of justification was served where a single pie would have done nicely. The same goes for the general population of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose depiction was ripped out of the Clockwork Orange complemented by a genuinely hostile commentary on homosexuality, coming from a writer with a stable-full of sympathetic gay characters in earlier novels. That combined with the heavily slanted depiction of the Isaac Versus Ishmael story as backdrop for the next four thousand years and counting of Jew Versus Arab conflict, will potentially put off a significant slice of potential readers who do not share with the author his professed admiration for the Fox News Channel worldview.

Despite its flaws, "Sarah" remains at least serviceable and often compelling, as an exercise in historical and religious revisionism. The dependable Card trademarks of compelling character-driven storytelling and insightful moral and psychological exploration are still here to merit a four-star rating. But don't go away - the series takes a huge leap forward in Part Deux with "Rebekah." I've noticed the Amazon sales rank is lower for "Rebekah" than for "Sarah," suggesting there are lots of you out there doing what I almost did and foregoing the second installment due to less-than-expected delicious Card storytelling in the first. But if you at all enjoyed this one, the best is yet to come.

"Sarah" is a novelization of the life of Sarah from the book of Genesis. Orson Scott Card, who's a Mormon (and who's better known for his science fiction and fantasy novels), creatively fills in the details of the sketchy biblical account and does an impressive job of making some sense of the stranger biblical scenes.

I found this book a bit disappointing after Card's "Stone Tables" (about Moses) and "Saints" (about one of Joseph Smith's wives). Some of the characters in "Sarah" never quite came alive for me, and I thought it was an odd and unnecessary choice to make Sarah and Lot's wife sisters. But I liked Card's exploration of the relationship between servant and "master" and how this relationship can never be a true friendship. And I liked Card's interpretation of the sin of Sodom, which seemed not necessarily to be the act named after the city but the forcible, deliberate, and organized use of people as objects for sexual pleasure. I also liked the exploration of the difference between a faith based on hearing God directly (Abraham's) and a more "blind" faith (Sarah's).

I also enjoyed the other two books in Card's "Women of Genesis" series: "Rebekah" and "Rachel and Leah."

I picked up SARAH after the terrorist attack on New York and the Pentagon. I honestly believe that because of all that I witnessed during the week I read this book that I actually drew comfort from this book. Sarah's struggle with her faith is one I experience, but what struck me were the passages in which she expressed feelings that I and so many others right now, a week and a half after the attacks, are feeling--and oh so much more eloquently. I enjoyed this book very much. My TBR stack is huge, mostly consisting of dark, mysterious, somewhat frightening subjects--including several books involving terrorism. With my present mindset I simply could not pick one of those books up and enjoy it, at least not right now. Card's SARAH was moving, fascinating (a time period I have read little about outside Sunday School), and also, as I said before, comforting. In case Mr. Card should stroll by Amazon.com to read reviews from his readers, I'd like to say thank you for SARAH.

I was familiar with the Abraham/Sarah story from long ago, but the depth that Mr. Card gives to these characters in this novel truly brings them to life in the mind's eye. Abraham is shown by his faith in God and how it never wavers. Sarah, with all the insecurity of being new to Abraham's faith, often wonders if she made the right decisions or if she is being punished for disobeying her father's wishes. Sarah's relationships with her sister and Hagar show how outward appearances often mask what is really going on. Hagar seemed to be Sarah's friend, but that masked the true feelings of hatred because of the master/slave relationship.

I would recommend this book to anyone, and can't wait until I can get my hands on "Rebekah."

This is an entertaining story of the life of Sarah, a woman who is portrayed as intelligent, strong, and faithful. The way in which Card weaves the storyline is creative, and I must admit that I found myself much more comfortable with the content of this book compared to Diamant's Red Tent, and the style of writing is almost as good as Diamant's too. I recommend both books, but this book is probably more appropriate for those that might be offended by the slightly irreverent nature of Diamant's work. I liked the way that Card ended the novel, however I did wish he would have added at least one more chapter, so that the reader might see how Sarah could have possibly reacted upon the return of Abraham and Isaac from Moriah. I understand why he didn't include this, partly because of the difficulty it would have posed, and partly because at the end of the story, we know Sarah so well that the reader can run the scenario through his or her own mind. Oh, and I should also mention that I felt a bit of guilty pleasure in seeing Lot's wife disappear from the pages of the book. [...]

Orson Scott Card is a great writer. I do not use the term lightly but it is justified in his case because I have yet to read a book by him that I did not love. Sarah is no exception.

Card brings this Biblical character to life and makes her choices and decisions understandable. We will never know what the real Sarah was like but if she was half as compelling as her fictional counterpart then she was worthy of her place in the Bible.

Card's Sarah truly seems capable of being what she was in the Bible - the mother of a nation. Neither Sarah of Abraham are perfect - they have faults. Abraham doubts Sarah when she should have had his trust, Sarah doubts the power of God when her whole life was proof of his power but ultimately they are compelling characters drawn artfully.

Card has a gift of accurate and real portrayals of women. They are not cardboard cut outs existing to prop up the male but fleshed out characters in their own right.

Like many of Card's tales I hated it to end. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I realised that it was time to leave Sarah. Even if you usually read Card for his sci-fi and fantasy give this one a try. Everything that makes him a compelling author in those genres are in evidence here.