Books Recommended by Bible Scholar Robert Alter
Robert Alter, a respected Bible translator and scholar (see, for example, The Five Books of Moses and The Literary Guide to the Bible), was asked by the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) to recommend five books on the Bible. On Saturday (8/19/06), the Journal published his recommendations, with his comments. It's an interesting list, containing no book that I'm familiar with:
1. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, by Erich Auerbach (Princeton, 1953). Alter explains that only the first chapter of this book is focused on the Bible, but it's important because it "mak[es] us see that the Bible is not somehow apart from literature, sequestered in a special preserve of theology and spirituality, but is rather a manifestation of a high literary art."
2. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative, by Hans W. Frei (Yale, 1974). Alter says this "is a deeply instructive investigation of the history of ideas."
3. The Book of God, by Gabriel Josipovici (Yale, 1988). Alter: "[A]n imaginative overview, sensitive to narrative detail and to stylistic nuance, of both Testaments[.]" I really want to get my hands on this one.
4. Leviticus as Literature, by Mary Douglas (Oxford, 2000). Alter: "[S]he shows that modern condescension toward biblical writing is misguided[.]"
5. The Biography of Ancient Israel, by Ilana Pardes (Univ. of Cal., 2000). Alter: "[S]he shows us an epic tale that has as its subject not an individual hero but the Israelite people itself."
Robert Alter, a respected Bible translator and scholar (see, for example, The Five Books of Moses and The Literary Guide to the Bible), was asked by the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) to recommend five books on the Bible. On Saturday (8/19/06), the Journal published his recommendations, with his comments. It's an interesting list, containing no book that I'm familiar with:
1. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, by Erich Auerbach (Princeton, 1953). Alter explains that only the first chapter of this book is focused on the Bible, but it's important because it "mak[es] us see that the Bible is not somehow apart from literature, sequestered in a special preserve of theology and spirituality, but is rather a manifestation of a high literary art."
2. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative, by Hans W. Frei (Yale, 1974). Alter says this "is a deeply instructive investigation of the history of ideas."
3. The Book of God, by Gabriel Josipovici (Yale, 1988). Alter: "[A]n imaginative overview, sensitive to narrative detail and to stylistic nuance, of both Testaments[.]" I really want to get my hands on this one.
4. Leviticus as Literature, by Mary Douglas (Oxford, 2000). Alter: "[S]he shows that modern condescension toward biblical writing is misguided[.]"
5. The Biography of Ancient Israel, by Ilana Pardes (Univ. of Cal., 2000). Alter: "[S]he shows us an epic tale that has as its subject not an individual hero but the Israelite people itself."
posted by iohannes | 8:57 AM
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