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Summary: One Woman's Roar
Review: Sarai, later to become Sarah, is a character who can help women who are both intellectually and emotionally gifted see all that a woman can be with faith in herself and faith in her God. Although she begins as the profound woman behind the man/prophet, she shows herself to be a person in her own right because she can deal compassionately with people at all positions in life. She can do this because she is insightful and honest, above all else. Sometimes she is so honest and so unself-serving, that others are able to take advantage of her goodnesses and able to cast her in a bad light. But, she sticks with her beliefs and her personal ethics and the truth, and she overcomes all to remain admired and respected. Throughout the story, the reader ached for her barrenness and for the slights she suffered at the hands of maid, Hagar, and at the words of her own sister who can conceive but only daughters. Nonetheless, Sarai holds to her path and remains true to her love for Abram and her to hope that she shall conceive a son, all the while fighting off the belief that she is being punished for marrying in the first place. In her later years she gives up her hope to bear a child and comes up with an alternate, perhaps unwise, solution. Abram in old age gets the vision for her to become Sarah and for him to become Abraham, she laughts at the notion that her womb can still carry a child. They are old, and realistically she cannot AND he cannot... Yet, the miraculous brings them Isaac. From here we follow the path of a cautions and protective mother. He is the heir, and he has threats to his life and his future at the hands of Hagar's, the maid's, son conceived with Abram. Sarah lives to be 90 and to follow her son into manhood. She even teaches her prophet husband to see past, through, and into a situation before he judges. Even those who betray her, she understands their motives and refuses to hate them. Living in her head in this novel and being witness to the logic of her hopes, fears, and comprehension of the world in which she lives should earn her the respect of any reader. This is written in the usual intellectual style of Card, a cannot-putter-downer!
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Summary: A biblical tale, well told
Review: The Bible seems to bring out hypersensitivity in people today (either they want to hear nothing from it, or it can't be touched as it is too sacred.) While the Bible is sacred scripture, the stories from the Bible are wonderful material for creating living, vivid stories. This book reminds me of the out-of-print and rare Joseph and his Brothers by Thomas Mann, although much smaller in scope. Both books tried to put ancient life in the light of human behavior that is timeless. This is the novelistic trick that makes the characters come alive with drama and realism. Sarah is a Bible figure with many sides that are hinted at in scripture; the conflict with Hagar, her long and difficult period of infertility (a total tragedy in her society) and her marriage to the powerful Abraham. The side story of Lot is also wonderfully fleshed out. Orson Scott Card always creates memorable characters, especially woment characters, and this book is immensely enjoyable.
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Summary: Loved this book
Review: The title says it all. If you liked "The Red Tent", then you should read this book. I read this after "Ender's Game" and I enjoy his writing...My 13 year old just finished
"Ender's Game" and loved it...I am going to try to get him to read this too!
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Summary: A Card Like No Other
Review: This book is much different from anything else Card has ever written!! He came to my college and read us the 1st chapter (before it was published) and I was hooked. this is defiantely a book to stand in line for. It gives one a new appreciaiton of the biblical characters, as well as a good story. Maybe life wasn't so bad living in a tent surrounded by sheep and goats. Religious fiction just isn't my thing, but I can't wait to read the other books in this series (he said there would be three total).
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Summary: (3.5) A Biblical woman for the ages
Review: This historical novel offers an unusual look at the life of a woman from the Old Testament, Sarah, wife of Abraham. Well-researched, the story follows Sarah through her long life, her marriage to Abraham, and how that marriage enriched her life. The difficulties of a shepherd's wife are gratefully accepted and they live in abundance, even in the midst of want. Joined to Abraham, Sarah becomes an integral part of the foundation of the Tribes of Israel.
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Summary: Brings History Alive
Review: This is a fascinating story. Starting with Sarah at the age of 10, it tells the story of Sarah and Abraham. Sarah springs to life from the very first page. Abraham, while more of a sketch and seen only through Sarah's eyes, is a vivid outline. To successfully describe a deeply religious man, one who spends hours every day in prayer, is an almost impossible task, but Card succeeds. In the same way, it seemed impossible to make the pharoah who holds Sarah captive for a year into a real person but the pharoah of Egypt and his court and his motives make complete sense. Card successfully avoids cliches. The Hagar-Sarah relationship is also well-done and becomes, through the character of Hagar, a searing commentary of the effects of slavery, abuse and powerlessness on the human soul. Sarah is kind to her slave Hagar and Hagar simply cannot accept the unfamiliar kindness. Card makes only one departure from the Bible. He makes Sarah's sister also be Lot's wife. This works very well up to a point. The sister, Qira, is a good foil for Sarah. Her selfishness points up Sarah's generosity and loving nature. Unfortunately, Qira's character is so bad that she stops being a real person. However, that's a minor flaw in an otherwise good book. At the end of the novel, the author makes comments on the writing of the book and how he solved the Biblical-historical dilemnas. I highly recommend reading that section as well as the story.
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Summary: Genesis brought to life
Review: This is a great novel! When I bought it I was mainly interested in how the author would bring to life this ancient story. As soon as I started reading the book it was hard for me to put it down. The characters in the novel are very believable as are the events. As a result of reading this I found myself referencing the Bible for validation and was amazed. I was amazed at how a story I had read, and "Known" for so long could be brought to life so masterfully. Please don't get me wrong, this book could never replace it's source, the Bible. If anything it should make one want to pick up the Bible and read it more often. I feel bad that it took this novel for me to appreciate the story of Sarai/Sarah.
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Summary: Sarah
Review: This is an amazing book. OSC took a few chapters from the Old Testament and created wonderfully deep characters. I laughed and I cried. He has a wonderful understanding of a woman unable to have children. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: Thoughtful and entertaining study of a strong woman
Review: 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. [...]
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Summary: another amazing tale
Review: This man never fails to amaze me! I really didn't know what to expect with a biblical tale. After surviving Catholic school I never really expected to enjoy Bible stories that much but Card really made the characters come to life for me in a way the nuns never had! I felt as if I has stepped into the Old Testament and was living in a tent along side Sarah. The way he fleshed out the characters and gave you insight as to what they may have been thinking really grabbed my attention and actually made me get out my Bible again to see if maybe there are more stories like Sarah's I may have missed.
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