Lovely review for A Favorite Son:
A Favorite Son is a very clever retelling of the story of Jacob and Esau. The underlying story holds very strongly to the conflict of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca as described in the book of Genesis. However, just as reading the Torah is a lot about reading between the lines and interpreting what is said, and not said, so, too, does A Favorite Son provide the "inside story" from the viewpoint of all the major characters in this tale. The story is set in modern times, with modern conveniences, such as the stiletto heels Rivkah wears, and the reference to a Rolls-Royce when she demands a quadruple-humped camel from Isaac. This is a tongue-in-cheek satire that also makes the reader think about the motivations of the characters in the story in the book of Genesis. The story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis is well - known: Jacob steals Esau's birthright by convincing the dying Isaac that he is Esau, Isaac's favorite, with help from his conniving mother Rebecca, whose favorite is Jacob. In this amusing re-telling, Jacob is Yankel (a Yiddish-ized version of Jacob), and he is a snide, lazy, whining, well, schmuck, but his parents and brother are no better. While the book is very funny, the underlying story of family dysfunction and the consequences of envy, favoritism, and deceit, as told in Genesis, is made even more obvious in this re-creation. I have read other attempts to re-tell Bible tales and have been sorely disappointed; and so approached this tale with a great deal of hesitation. I was pleasantly surprised to find this so well done. I would like to read more by this author.
Clever retelling of ancient story, April 4, 2014
By
TucsonSusan (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Favorite Son (Kindle Edition)
A Favorite Son is a very clever retelling of the story of Jacob and Esau. The underlying story holds very strongly to the conflict of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca as described in the book of Genesis. However, just as reading the Torah is a lot about reading between the lines and interpreting what is said, and not said, so, too, does A Favorite Son provide the "inside story" from the viewpoint of all the major characters in this tale. The story is set in modern times, with modern conveniences, such as the stiletto heels Rivkah wears, and the reference to a Rolls-Royce when she demands a quadruple-humped camel from Isaac. This is a tongue-in-cheek satire that also makes the reader think about the motivations of the characters in the story in the book of Genesis. The story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis is well - known: Jacob steals Esau's birthright by convincing the dying Isaac that he is Esau, Isaac's favorite, with help from his conniving mother Rebecca, whose favorite is Jacob. In this amusing re-telling, Jacob is Yankel (a Yiddish-ized version of Jacob), and he is a snide, lazy, whining, well, schmuck, but his parents and brother are no better. While the book is very funny, the underlying story of family dysfunction and the consequences of envy, favoritism, and deceit, as told in Genesis, is made even more obvious in this re-creation. I have read other attempts to re-tell Bible tales and have been sorely disappointed; and so approached this tale with a great deal of hesitation. I was pleasantly surprised to find this so well done. I would like to read more by this author.
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