Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Women of Genesis series

I never thought I would fall in love with Orson Scott Card's writing. I always knew of books like Ender's Game, but never took the time to read them mostly because they just seemed like superficial Mormon literature at first glance. However, recently I have read all three of the Women of Genesis series (on Tim's recommendation and I love them! His writing style is captivating, they are very well-researched, and it's the Bible from the women's perspective.... what more could you need? I am highly impressed with his ability to get inside of these women's minds while knowing so little about their life stories except the basics in the Old Testament. Moreover, it's really humanized these faithful and brave women for me, especially as I go back and reread the passages in Genesis that talk about them. Sometimes, I get angry at the lack of representation of women in leadership positions within the Church, past and present. But then I think about those select women who have status, somewhat, and I delight in their accomplishments. I think our vision is skewed by the world. Women have been made invisible for so long, even by righteous peoples. I think Card did us all a favor by bringing their stories to life and making them visible, though it is only works of fiction. It's a start, and it gives me hope that somewhere there are lost manuscripts of women's experiences with divinity. The book of Sariah. Of Rachel. Of Vashti. Of the daughters of Zelophehad. Of Mary. There are so many righteous and brave feminist women in the Bible. I just wish we knew more about them.

And I hope Orson Scott Card and his family got the wedding invitation we sent them :)

4 comments:

The Stells! said...

lol you are so cute! I love reading your blog :)

Austin said...

those are excellent books. I've read them all except the second Rachel and Leah one! You'll have to loan it to me after my mission :)

Lauren said...

Ender's Game has nothing to do with religion. It's a great book.

Have you read The Red Tent yet? You would love it.

Janssen said...

Just seconding (a month later) Lauren's comment about Ender's Game. . .totally not a Mormon book at all. It's been very popular and successful in the secular world. It's a terrific terrific book.