Eternal Life
Ratings14
Average rating3.8
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
This is a book about what matters and what doesn't, what's temporary and what's eternal, what it means to live, and how joy and sorrow juxtapose with purpose and expectation.
But more than anything, it's a book about the importance of the story itself.
What's impressive is how Dr. Horn explores all of that without the story ever feeling weighed down by the existential themes or the 2000 years of history. For the most part, the book feels light, fitting well into magical realism and/or fantasy genres.
This is an unapologetically Jewish book told from the perspective of a character whose Jewishness is so old and so engrained it doesn't seem to register for her unless there is an active persecution of Jews happening - she seems far more concerned with familial relationships, her relationship with her eternal partner, the impact of her gender on her experiences, and how all of these change and don't change over the millennia.
The book is filled with references to Jewish culture, scripture, writings, and history, none of which are made explicit in any way. All the important characters are Jewish, very well fleshed out, very obviously flawed, and they reflect certain elements of global and historical Jewish communities. The story itself follows a Jewish narrative pattern to the point thatthe ending itself is not an ending, as Rachel and Elazar so often say through the book - there are no endings, only more beginnings.
I found this all very refreshing, and I find myself wondering if it might be challenging to connect with the story, and even with Rachel herself, if the reader is unfamiliar with Jewish culture and history.
I rather enjoyed the re-imagining of Rabbi Yochanan's parentage and lifetime, and I absolutely loved the idea of the son of the High Priest becoming his own son's youngest student. It just felt so very poignant, fit so beautifully with the whole exploration of parenthood as sacrifice, and brought the story full circle in various ways.
Overall, this is a gorgeous, imperfect, and too short book about a gorgeous, imperfect, and too long life.
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
This is a book about what matters and what doesn't, what's temporary and what's eternal, what it means to live, and how joy and sorrow juxtapose with purpose and expectation.
But more than anything, it's a book about the importance of the story itself.
What's impressive is how Dr. Horn explores all of that without the story ever feeling weighed down by the existential themes or the 2000 years of history. For the most part, the book feels light, fitting well into magical realism and/or fantasy genres.
This is an unapologetically Jewish book told from the perspective of a character whose Jewishness is so old and so engrained it doesn't seem to register for her unless there is an active persecution of Jews happening - she seems far more concerned with familial relationships, her relationship with her eternal partner, the impact of her gender on her experiences, and how all of these change and don't change over the millennia.
The book is filled with references to Jewish culture, scripture, writings, and history, none of which are made explicit in any way. All the important characters are Jewish, very well fleshed out, very obviously flawed, and they reflect certain elements of global and historical Jewish communities. The story itself follows a Jewish narrative pattern to the point thatthe ending itself is not an ending, as Rachel and Elazar so often say through the book - there are no endings, only more beginnings.
I found this all very refreshing, and I find myself wondering if it might be challenging to connect with the story, and even with Rachel herself, if the reader is unfamiliar with Jewish culture and history.
I rather enjoyed the re-imagining of Rabbi Yochanan's parentage and lifetime, and I absolutely loved the idea of the son of the High Priest becoming his own son's youngest student. It just felt so very poignant, fit so beautifully with the whole exploration of parenthood as sacrifice, and brought the story full circle in various ways.
Overall, this is a gorgeous, imperfect, and too short book about a gorgeous, imperfect, and too long life.
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
This is a book about what matters and what doesn't, what's temporary and what's eternal, what it means to live, and how joy and sorrow juxtapose with purpose and expectation.
But more than anything, it's a book about the importance of the story itself.
What's impressive is how Dr. Horn explores all of that without the story ever feeling weighed down by the existential themes or the 2000 years of history. For the most part, the book feels light, fitting well into magical realism and/or fantasy genres.
This is an unapologetically Jewish book told from the perspective of a character whose Jewishness is so old and so engrained it doesn't seem to register for her unless there is an active persecution of Jews happening - she seems far more concerned with familial relationships, her relationship with her eternal partner, the impact of her gender on her experiences, and how all of these change and don't change over the millennia.
The book is filled with references to Jewish culture, scripture, writings, and history, none of which are made explicit in any way. All the important characters are Jewish, very well fleshed out, very obviously flawed, and they reflect certain elements of global and historical Jewish communities. The story itself follows a Jewish narrative pattern to the point that <spoiler> the ending itself is not an ending, as Rachel and Elazar so often say through the book - there are no endings, only more beginnings. </spoiler>
I found this all very refreshing, and I find myself wondering if it might be challenging to connect with the story, and even with Rachel herself, if the reader is unfamiliar with Jewish culture and history.
I rather enjoyed the re-imagining of Rabbi Yochanan's parentage and lifetime, and I absolutely loved the idea of <spoiler> the High Priest's son becoming the youngest student of his own son. </spoiler> It just felt so very poignant, fit so beautifully with the whole exploration of parenthood as sacrifice, and brought the story full circle in various ways.
Overall, this is a gorgeous, imperfect, and too short book about a gorgeous, imperfect, and too long life.
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
This is a book about what matters and what doesn't, what's temporary and what's eternal, what it means to live, and how joy and sorrow juxtapose with purpose and expectation.
But more than anything, it's a book about the importance of the story itself.
What's impressive is how Dr. Horn explores all of that without the story ever feeling weighed down by the existential themes or the 2000 years of history. For the most part, the book feels light, fitting well into magical realism and/or fantasy genres.
This is an unapologetically Jewish book told from the perspective of a character whose Jewishness is so old and so engrained it doesn't seem to register for her unless there is an active persecution of Jews happening - she seems far more concerned with familial relationships, her relationship with her eternal partner, the impact of her gender on her experiences, and how all of these change and don't change over the millennia.
The book is filled with references to Jewish culture, scripture, writings, and history, none of which are made explicit in any way. All the important characters are Jewish, very well fleshed out, very obviously flawed, and they reflect certain elements of global and historical Jewish communities. The story itself follows a Jewish narrative pattern to the point that <spoiler> the ending itself is not an ending, as Rachel and Elazar so often say through the book - there are no endings, only more beginnings. </spoiler>
I found this all very refreshing, and I find myself wondering if it might be challenging to connect with the story, and even with Rachel herself, if the reader is unfamiliar with Jewish culture and history.
I rather enjoyed the re-imagining of Rabbi Yochanan's parentage and lifetime, and I absolutely loved the idea of <spoiler> the High Priest's son becoming the youngest student of his own son. </spoiler> It just felt so very poignant, fit so beautifully with the whole exploration of parenthood as sacrifice, and brought the story full circle in various ways.
Overall, this is a gorgeous, imperfect, and too short book about a gorgeous, imperfect, and too long life.
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
A collection of quotes from the book (no spoilers, will keep expanding as I read) because I felt a need to put them somewhere.
Ch 3:
"If only all these people knew how familiar they look, how unoriginal they are, Rachel thought—and if only they knew how miraculous that was, how they lived and lived again, how no one ever really died, how no one was ever alone."
"It was irritating, constantly adjusting herself—her clothes, her hair, her words, her ideas, everything that was supposedly a personal choice. No one had any idea of how thick a layer of arbitrary conventions enshrouded a naked soul."
ch 4: "Which in fact was the entire purpose of life, to live in such a way that one made oneself superfluous."
"And off she went chasing him, running after another reason for living."
"Then there were other reasons for living too, ones that mortals rarely thought of but that raged like fires in Rachel’s mind:
To correct mistakes.
To avoid regret.
To accept regret.
To change.
But none of these seemed possible either."
ch 5:
"Why wasn’t anyone born as who they should be?"
"The power of the Temple is to make people die without dying,” he said softly. “Without the Temple we would have to wait until death to be judged or forgiven by God."
"“If all this is destroyed, it will take uncommon wisdom to find a path to holiness beyond it,”"
Ch 6:
"“The hard part isn’t living forever,” Rachel said. “It’s making life worth living.”"
Ch 7:
"After thousands of years it amazed her that she still didn’t know the right thing to do."
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
A collection of quotes from the book (no spoilers, will keep expanding as I read) because I felt a need to put them somewhere.
Ch 3:
"If only all these people knew how familiar they look, how unoriginal they are, Rachel thought—and if only they knew how miraculous that was, how they lived and lived again, how no one ever really died, how no one was ever alone."
"It was irritating, constantly adjusting herself—her clothes, her hair, her words, her ideas, everything that was supposedly a personal choice. No one had any idea of how thick a layer of arbitrary conventions enshrouded a naked soul."
ch 4: "Which in fact was the entire purpose of life, to live in such a way that one made oneself superfluous."
"And off she went chasing him, running after another reason for living."
"Then there were other reasons for living too, ones that mortals rarely thought of but that raged like fires in Rachel’s mind:
To correct mistakes.
To avoid regret.
To accept regret.
To change.
But none of these seemed possible either."
ch 5:
"Why wasn’t anyone born as who they should be?"
"The power of the Temple is to make people die without dying,” he said softly. “Without the Temple we would have to wait until death to be judged or forgiven by God."
"“If all this is destroyed, it will take uncommon wisdom to find a path to holiness beyond it,”"
Ch 6:
"“The hard part isn’t living forever,” Rachel said. “It’s making life worth living.”"
Ch 7:
"After thousands of years it amazed her that she still didn’t know the right thing to do."
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
A collection of quotes from the book (no spoilers, will keep expanding as I read) because I felt a need to put them somewhere.
Ch 3:
"If only all these people knew how familiar they look, how unoriginal they are, Rachel thought—and if only they knew how miraculous that was, how they lived and lived again, how no one ever really died, how no one was ever alone."
"It was irritating, constantly adjusting herself—her clothes, her hair, her words, her ideas, everything that was supposedly a personal choice. No one had any idea of how thick a layer of arbitrary conventions enshrouded a naked soul."
ch 4: "Which in fact was the entire purpose of life, to live in such a way that one made oneself superfluous."
"And off she went chasing him, running after another reason for living."
"Then there were other reasons for living too, ones that mortals rarely thought of but that raged like fires in Rachel’s mind:
To correct mistakes.
To avoid regret.
To accept regret.
To change.
But none of these seemed possible either."
ch 5:
"Why wasn’t anyone born as who they should be?"
"The power of the Temple is to make people die without dying,” he said softly. “Without the Temple we would have to wait until death to be judged or forgiven by God."
"“If all this is destroyed, it will take uncommon wisdom to find a path to holiness beyond it,”"
Ch 6:
"“The hard part isn’t living forever,” Rachel said. “It’s making life worth living.”"
Ch 7:
"After thousands of years it amazed her that she still didn’t know the right thing to do."
Opening: "Either everything matters, or everything is an outrageous waste of time. That’s what she would have said, if anyone had asked her. But no one asks crazy old ladies for their opinions."
A collection of quotes from the book (no spoilers, will keep expanding as I read) because I felt a need to put them somewhere.
Ch 3:
"If only all these people knew how familiar they look, how unoriginal they are, Rachel thought—and if only they knew how miraculous that was, how they lived and lived again, how no one ever really died, how no one was ever alone."
"It was irritating, constantly adjusting herself—her clothes, her hair, her words, her ideas, everything that was supposedly a personal choice. No one had any idea of how thick a layer of arbitrary conventions enshrouded a naked soul."
ch 4: "Which in fact was the entire purpose of life, to live in such a way that one made oneself superfluous."
"And off she went chasing him, running after another reason for living."
"Then there were other reasons for living too, ones that mortals rarely thought of but that raged like fires in Rachel’s mind:
To correct mistakes.
To avoid regret.
To accept regret.
To change.
But none of these seemed possible either."
ch 5:
"Why wasn’t anyone born as who they should be?"
"The power of the Temple is to make people die without dying,” he said softly. “Without the Temple we would have to wait until death to be judged or forgiven by God."
"“If all this is destroyed, it will take uncommon wisdom to find a path to holiness beyond it,”"
Ch 6:
"“The hard part isn’t living forever,” Rachel said. “It’s making life worth living.”"
Ch 7:
"After thousands of years it amazed her that she still didn’t know the right thing to do."