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hinalovestoread's review against another edition
3.0
Took me more than a month to finish this but finish it, I did.
The full review is at Hina Loves to Read
The full review is at Hina Loves to Read
marie_gg's review
4.0
Lesley Hazelton was a visiting professor at PLU when I was there--an expert in Israeli culture and history--so I was particularly interested in this book. I read one of her earlier books, Israeli Women, years ago.
Outstanding biography of the woman whose name has come to symbolize harlotry and idolatry. Through historical research and analysis, Hazleton proves that Jezebel represented tolerance and open-mindedness, and she was framed in the bible. And Elijah, who has come to be considered a hero in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, was no hero.
Outstanding biography of the woman whose name has come to symbolize harlotry and idolatry. Through historical research and analysis, Hazleton proves that Jezebel represented tolerance and open-mindedness, and she was framed in the bible. And Elijah, who has come to be considered a hero in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, was no hero.
runslikesnail's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Even though it makes me very angry about all the lies that were presented to me as cold hard facts in my youth, Lesley Hazleton never fails to open this skeptic's eyes even wider. Men writing with agendas will always turn the "facts" to their favor - and they will consistently slur and belittle women to do it.
And holy crap! When biblical stories of intrigue and power aren't disguised in self-serving and often archaic language - you realize where Shakespeare and the writers of Game of Thrones got their ideas.
And holy crap! When biblical stories of intrigue and power aren't disguised in self-serving and often archaic language - you realize where Shakespeare and the writers of Game of Thrones got their ideas.
krisrid's review
5.0
What a fascinating, insightful and educational look at a number of things: bibilical history [and how it is created - more like creative writing than historical record keeping], the role of women in history, the role of nationalism and fear of "foreigners" in history, the history of Israel and how that history still affects things today.
I really don't believe I can do this book proper justice in a review, because the author has done such a tremendous job in documenting the story of Jezebel through the Kings account that anything a reviewer might say pales in comparison to the experience of reading the book.
The author has also clearly done exhaustive amounts of historical research to place all the events in the Kings story of Jezebel into their accurate historical context, and she even physically visited as many of the actual locations noted in Kings herself - which provides some interesting byplay for anyone interested in the current situation in the Middle East.
But I think what I enjoyed most about this book, was how the author "speaks for" Jezebel as the story plays out, suggesting what Jezebel might have said and thought about the various events that were directly or indirectly related to her own story, both while she lived and for hundreds of years thereafter, right up to the present day. Placing the story of Jezebel, and the events that overtook her into religious, cultural and basic human folly contexts really makes this an utterly engrossing and interesting book to read. I greatly enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical or bibilical information. Although this book is non-fiction, it was written in an extremely engaging and accessible manner.
I really don't believe I can do this book proper justice in a review, because the author has done such a tremendous job in documenting the story of Jezebel through the Kings account that anything a reviewer might say pales in comparison to the experience of reading the book.
The author has also clearly done exhaustive amounts of historical research to place all the events in the Kings story of Jezebel into their accurate historical context, and she even physically visited as many of the actual locations noted in Kings herself - which provides some interesting byplay for anyone interested in the current situation in the Middle East.
But I think what I enjoyed most about this book, was how the author "speaks for" Jezebel as the story plays out, suggesting what Jezebel might have said and thought about the various events that were directly or indirectly related to her own story, both while she lived and for hundreds of years thereafter, right up to the present day. Placing the story of Jezebel, and the events that overtook her into religious, cultural and basic human folly contexts really makes this an utterly engrossing and interesting book to read. I greatly enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical or bibilical information. Although this book is non-fiction, it was written in an extremely engaging and accessible manner.
bucket's review
4.0
This book was extremely easy to read and contained a lot of interesting well-researched information without being dry. In fact, much of the writing was full of emotion. I thought that there would be more about Jezebel here (Elijah, especially, and also King Ahab got just as much focus; both were also recast as being different than we think). However, it didn't really bother me that the book was a description of the whole history of Israel from Jezebel's marriage until her death and even a little after because it was extremely interesting. I was especially interested to read towards the end about the Israelites' creation of monotheism while in exile.
Themes: Jezebel, biblical/ancient history, dogs as lowest of the low, harlot=infidel, not prostitute, unreliability of ancient texts, Israel, birth of monotheism, warfare, royalty
Themes: Jezebel, biblical/ancient history, dogs as lowest of the low, harlot=infidel, not prostitute, unreliability of ancient texts, Israel, birth of monotheism, warfare, royalty
hekate24's review
4.0
Eminently readable book that's part non-fiction, historical fiction, travelogue and rant. It has a similar agenda to [b:Cleopatra: A Life|9722923|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1319719099s/9722923.jpg|12020129] and suffers a bit in comparison. I think the passages where Hazleton tries to get inside Jezebel's head ultimately weaken the book. How much do we know about the polytheistic religious practices of the time period? How much do we know about what female rulers acted like? Is there information on all this? As of reading this book I'm not 100% sure. I think it would have benefited from that information, so the reader could make inferences, rather than any of the "but surely Jezebel thought..." portions. The beginning of the book condemns previous authors for molding Jezebel into their image, but Hazleton does that quite enthusiastically, with frequent allusions to modern day politics.
There's a lot about this book I enjoyed however. I'm very fond of analyses that try to put the bible into historical context, and this book does a great job of it. And even if I take issue with some of Hazleton's methods, I always approve of attempts to understand vilified women in history.
There's a lot about this book I enjoyed however. I'm very fond of analyses that try to put the bible into historical context, and this book does a great job of it. And even if I take issue with some of Hazleton's methods, I always approve of attempts to understand vilified women in history.
hinalovestoread's review
3.0
Took me more than a month to finish this but finish it, I did.
The full review is at Hina Loves to Read
The full review is at Hina Loves to Read
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