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I'm not quite done reading it, but I wanted to throw this out there to see what you guys think.
So far, I'm feeling really attached to this book. The first three Biblical works that Card did were an interesting ride for me. I found Stone Tables to be one of those books that spoke to my very soul (with DRAMA!!) and I also really felt connected with Sarah. Rebekah was really hard for me though. I seemed to have a lot more trouble connecting with the characters in that one and I found that I was constantly being yanked out of the story because they just didn't seem to react the way real people would react....but then, that's just me.
This book has been a wonderful read for me so far. I was very curious to see how Card would tackle the "Rachel is lovely and good" theme at the same time that he tackled the "Laban had to trick Jacob into marrying Leah cause she was rather ugly and annoying." I was worried that I would love Jacob (I always love OSC protagonists) and really be annoyed with the girl he wanted to marry--namely, Rachel. I was worried that it would end up being a "Leah's just the annoying sister" thing, and that we'd sympathize with her, but inevitably understand why Jacob wanted Rachel in the first place.
But, I should have known that it couldn't be so simplistic. I'm so glad for this!! Card has managed to flesh out the characters of Rachel and Leah, and is also doing well in developing the characters of Jacob, Bilha and Zilpah. Rachel and Leah are REAL sisters. I have a sister that's about the same age apart from me as Rachel is from Leah, and I know some of the feelings that I've had and that she's had. They're in this book and they're honestly portrayed. And I like both characters. A lot. I even find myself liking Leah a teensy bit more, but that could change. Rachel is lovable because she's so completely honest with herself as she grows up. I love watching her thought processes...everyone's thought processes!! The act and react like real people in a real family.
(The camp setting somewhat reminds me of the dynamic of the middle Homecoming books....just another random thought.)
I did something bad and read the afterward BEFORE I read the book. Silly, I know. So, I know that the trilogy *cough* isn't really a trilogy, but only in the Douglas Adams sense of the word. This is good, but I'm rather sad that this book is about to end in 150 pages...and the story won't be finished. I'm still excited to see where it ends up. I don't think I'll be left disappointed.
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I was very frustrated when I realized I was ninety percent through the book and no one was married yet. When I peeked at the afterward, I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. Hopefully it won't be too long before the next one comes out.
Pooka- Maybe you should be asking if Reuben is in the book. *grimace*
(Edited repeatedly for bad spelling, and I still can't promise it's all correct.)
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Ah... Well, that's one way to meet a deadline. Glad he did it though. It is, after all, about two women. I thought Narnia was implying there would be further stories about other women.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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So now that I've finished it, I was irked by the ending. Simply because it ended where it did. I guess it would have been unbelievably long if he had taken it to the point in the story where he wanted to take it (After RAchel has Benjamin.)
But still. We've waited a long time.
AND...the actual wedding, discovery of the deception, explanation for the deception, etc...
Well, it made me really really dislike Rachel, like Leah even more...and I was kind of disappointed in Jacob. Mostly that we didn't see ANYTHING of Jacob after he was mad at Leah. We just hear about him marrying Rachel and FINALLY getting what he wants.
I ended up feeling bad for Leah. She's now stuck in a marriage with a man that is annoyed to be married to her. As mentioned before, I am annoyed with Rachel for her fickle about-face. I'm annoyed that Jacob never found out the real reason why they did what they did with Leah and the switcharoo. It ends up making Leah look pathetic and she wasn't at all....and I really wish that Jacob could KNOW a little more about the way Rachel felt...and that it was her fault that it all happened that way (well, at least in this version of the story.)
I liked the book though, and I love what OSC decided to do with the sisters and their characters. I also really love the character of Laban. He was one of my favorites. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Based on your feelings after reading the book, Narnia, I think OSC did a good job of representing the true Bible story.
But did Jacob get to marry Rachel right away? I thought he had to wait until the end of the second seven years. I could be totally wrong, though.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I'll have to reread that chapter in the Bible to see if that's the way it goes. I seem to remember him having to wait the entire 14 years as well...
I feel like we kind of lose sight of Jacob in the last half of the book. His development toward the beginning of the book was so good and promising, albeit very similar to the previous looks we had at Abraham and Isaac at the beginnings of their respective books. Toward the end we hardly get anything. I guess that's the point since these books are about the women and not the men...but I'd REALLY love to hear more of what he's thinking and feeling about the whole situation. I guess that OSC left me wanting more so that I'll read the next book. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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In the bible, Jacob is able to marry Rachel and then do the work. Your spoiler warning is false advertising! How did the switch happen? Why did Rachel permit it? linkage... I trust the chapter heading.
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*sigh* I just finished the book. I didn't know until finishing it that there was going to be a continuation! It totally made sense in retrospect, but I *really* wish I'd known going into it! I kept reading thinking, "there's not enough space left for the real story!!!" Grrrrr.
I loved it. It was stunning. I can't wait for the next one. OSC is my hero!
I also was really wanting, just once, to get inside Jacob's head. You never ever get to--in *this* book. You have to kinda figure it out from the things he says. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will see into his mind in the next book. (If not, I call foul!!) But it was maddening for me wanting to know how this all looked from his perspective and not getting the gratification.
My heart aches for Leah. But my heart has always ached for Leah. I see myself in her, if just a little bit, for I have just one sister, a younger one, who was not nearly so awkward as I, and I often felt that she was the "well favored" one while she also looked at me with envy in other ways.
All my life I hated this story, because I always identified with Leah and what she had to suffer. It seemed to me the worst thing in the world would be to go through what she did. The story sure does make a strong case for eschewing polygamy. But then, it isn't hard to find awful examples of monogamy also.
(Consequently, when I was dating Porter I found that the one *he* felt most sorry for was Jacob. I was outraged at his insensitivity! But I have come around--I feel sorry for Jacob myself now! Man, I feel sorry for all of them.)
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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So does this mean your husband gets a turn with the book now?
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It's funny, I never found a single story in the Bible that actually made polygamy look desirable. Everytime I saw it brought up, I thought "Look how much trouble this caused!"
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You know, I handed it to him, and he said, "Not right now, I'm reading another book." Tee hee hee.
PSI, it does certainly seem to cause problems, if we look at the few cases described in the Old Testament. That doesn't mean it never worked out though.
Eek! My smilie graemlins are on hyper-fast speed!
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I didn't hear any complaints from David until after he coveted Bathsheba. But I haven't read that section over carefully. Still have no copy of R&L Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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David had complaints about polygamy -- or at least about having lots of kids who were half-siblings of similar ages (a common result of polygamy, I would think).
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Now that I have discovered that this book isn't really a novel at all, but just the first half of one, I don't have any desire to read it right now.
My biggest dissapointment in reading OSC was when I read Xenocide. I was furious. That wasn't a novel! That was part of one!
I was so excited to read Card's telling of the story of Rachael and Leah. But now I learn that I still can't read it. I'll probably just wait until I can read it all at once.
This is not a criticism of OSC nor his writing. If he feels that the book needs to be broken up into two volumes, he's probably right. I just am not excited to read it like I was before.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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The Bible seems to show Leah in a more sympathetic light than I remember. But then again, I'm recalling a children's story that painted Leah as a sort of ugly, wicked step-sister type and Rachel as the beautiful, Cinderella type. What a crappy way to dumb down (or Disney-up) the story.
Anyway, I've been rooting for Leah for a long time now, so I loved Rachel and Leah. What a powerful, wonderful piece of work that was! Too bad it had to end.
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Sure thing, pooka, especially since I have decided not to read it now. Instead, I have immersed myself in Dune. (part-way through God Emperor right now)
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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FINALLY my R&L copy came to my library yesterday. I'm done. I loved it. But I had a cartoon moment at the end where I sped off the cliffhanger of the STORY part of the book without seeing the "LOOKOUT" sign of the "AFTERWORD" heading and glanced around while hanging motionless over a 3000foot drop of not understanding why the plot doesn't continue and then plummeting oh no whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy does it have to be over.................
Do you think maybe I get too invested in my fantasy world? I was non-functional for weeks after getting tossed off the cliffhanger of The Subtle Knife, and this one was just as bad. Oh, sure, its the Bible, but you know what I'm talking about unless you haven't finished the book, in which case you should stop reading forum posts and READ IT!!!!
I'll be back with more mad ravings later. "I'm baaaaaaaaack..." *crashes into alley between parked cars* "oh my back..."
Posts: 866 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I should start by saying that my name is actually Leah and I feel some connections with Biblical Leah. She's the "ugly one" whose sibling excells at everything and has the love of her family and all that jazz. I really, really wanted to like OSC's Leah. This was a problem at the beginning. She's such a whiner.Did I spell that right? I mean someone who whines. Anyway, even though I didn't like her, I STILL identified with her, possibly even more, because while I try to avoid talking to my family to avoid me getting mad at them and them getting mad at me, my parents still say the stuff to me that everybody says about Leah (If I use the name, I'm talking about the book!). But as usual, OSC did NOT dissapoint, and I saw all sides of every character.
In fact it just occured to me that there are no real antagonists in R&L. It's really a book about fighting with yourself, I guess, so the hero and enemy are the same person. It's that, I think, that allows me to read the stories of the Bible as told be OSC without feeling disillusioned, which happens when I read the actual words of the Torah. Again, identifying myself with Leah even more: She finds that the Holy Scriptures aren't written for her and wonders if God loves her or cares that she can hardly SEE.
Leah later realizes that her anger isn't actually about the things or people that spark her rages. Its toward God, really, for giving her tender eyes. Why must she live like this? Why doesn't God heal her? Does she deserve it? Does God love her at all?
I asked myself these questions over and over about about four years ago when I was thirteen. I was diagnosed with diabetes. I decided that God hated me and that I did deserve my life. No good came of THAT conclusion, as you may have guessed. I have decided since that I do not wish to acknowledge the existance of God, as when I think about it I still feel that God hates me and that I deserve my life.
When I read the Torah you don't see the struggles that everyone goes through. 'Give me children or else I die' is about the extent of it. She gets children AND she dies. Hmmmm.
I liked seeing Leah struggle. I liked that she won the battle over her enemy: herself. I liked that there were still struggles after she did what it seemed like God had planned for her. I wept a little.
He's such a powerful writer, is OSC.
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quote: When I read the Torah you don't see the struggles that everyone goes through.
If you are interested, I can recommend some good books on the midrashim, the deeper stories that lie beneath the simple text of the Torah. (A couple examples about Rachel and Leah.)
I see all the struggles that you say you don't -- possibly because I grew up hearing and reading these midrashim.
Email and AIM id are in the profile. Or here works.
*grin* Or you can just say, "no thanks." That works too.
quote: Esau was destined to marry Leah, while Rachel was destined to marry Jacob. By deceiving his father, Jacob becomes Esau, and must fulfil Esau's spiritual role. Part of this role is the union with Leah. Leah explains to Jacob that their marriage is the direct result of his own actions, and ultimately is part of Rebecca's instructions, and the Divine Plan.
Very interesting. Though Card's book doesn't concern itself with the why so much as the how. That it is God's will for both women to marry Jacob is by the end revealed as a given.
The invocation of "God's will", however, is much more graceful than it seemed in Rebekah .
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Silly, I know. So, I know that the trilogy *cough* isn't really a trilogy, but only in the Douglas Adams sense of the word. 
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Glad he did it though. It is, after all, about two women. I thought Narnia was implying there would be further stories about other women.
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What a crappy way to dumb down (or Disney-up) the story.
