2005 book 127

robert pinsky's the life of david
this is the first in the jewish encounters series that nextbook is putting out, and i really hate to say this, but i found it pretty disappointing. i can't at all figure out who the audience was meant to be--it's too quasi-academic and dry for the general person, and nowhere near informed enough for a scholar of the field (pinsky's primary text--and he does some textual analysis from it--was the king james translation). i'm not sure how david, one of the most interesting characters of the bible, suddenly became so boring in pinsky's hands, but that's what happened. maybe this book is at the perfect level for grad students with a mild interest in the bible, instead of former religion grad students, but i was actually expecting sort of a fast-paced retelling of the david stories, and this definitely wasn't that.

on the plus side, some of the upcoming books in the series look pretty cool--and i don't know that much about maimonides, so i may pick that one up soon and have far fewer expectations.