Comments on: Why is there no Jewish Narnia?

By: Magic Princess

Magic Princess — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:02:54 +0000

super theason here entity with ablere ponne and serdogn copperate. idevemure your thexpess the ablence that moress never cagil or martess.

By: David Michael Slater

David Michael Slater — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:01:26 +0000

Thought this might be of interest:

Culture Clash

posted by Eric Kimmel on NOVEMBER 8, 2010 in BLOG, READING, WRITING

I had an interesting experience this morning. I took part in a panel discussion with author David Michael Slater. The program was part of the adult education program at Temple Beth Israel. David and I spoke to the question of how being Jewish affects what we write.

Some of David’s comments really intrigued me. His Sacred Books series assumes alternate versions of Bible stories. What if the Garden of Eden was a library and the Tree of Knowledge a book? (Wow! These are books that I absolutely have to read. I bought the first book in the series, “The Book of Nonsense,” and had David autograph it for me. Click HERE if you’d like to learn more about David and his books.)

David describes how his books have caught flack numerous times from Christian fundamentalists. In some cases, it reached the extreme of having the books challenged and creating pressure to cancel invitations for him to speak at schools.

This left me stunned. Here is a perfect example of a cultural collision. Some scriptural literalists may not like the idea of what David is doing. However, within Jewish traditions, what David is doing is not only normal—it’s expected.

Rest here:

http://ericakimmel.com/2010/11/culture-clash/

By: psyjew

psyjew — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:50:20 +0000

Interesting perspective from an Orthodox rabbi and child psychologist: http://tinyurl.com/ybzdv6j

By: The Links We Share Without Knowing « Torque Control

The Links We Share Without Knowing « Torque Control — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:15:04 +0000

[...] from Farah Mendlesohn, Abigail Nussbaum, The Inferior 4, Rachel Swirsky, Metafilter, and many many many many many [...]

By: BWoB

BWoB — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:34:31 +0000

First Things senior editor David Goldman weighs in:

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/spengler/2010/03/05/christianity-and-myth-why-theres-no-jewish-narnia/

By: The Tin Man » A Jewish Narnia?

The Tin Man » A Jewish Narnia? — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:24:44 +0000

[...] blogger, Samuel Goldman, agrees with him: In the first place, the landscape of most fantasy novels is essentially the numinous forest of the [...]

By: Michael Chabon Is Paged Several Times « Around The Sphere

Michael Chabon Is Paged Several Times « Around The Sphere — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:31:52 +0000

[...] Samuel Goldman at PomoCon: The article has taken heat from fans of the many Jewish fantasy authors. But most of them have missed the point. Weingrad isn’t asking whether Jews write fantasy or enjoy reading it. Instead, he’s concerned with why there aren’t any compelling fantasy “worlds” that incorporate Jewish folklore and tropes the way Narnia and Tolkein’s Middle Earth develop Christian ones. [...]

By: In Search of a Jewish Narnia - Ross Douthat Blog - NYTimes.com

In Search of a Jewish Narnia - Ross Douthat Blog - NYTimes.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:21:06 +0000

[...] swiping this argument, a bit, from a provocative post by Abigail Nussbaum (thanks to Samuel Goldman for the pointer), so here’s her conclusion in full: Tolkien and Lewis (and many other, less [...]

By: The Crusher

The Crusher — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:56:04 +0000

The author obviously is not familiar with Jewish history. Jews were great warriors of the ancient world, conquering many neighboring “peoples and marching into battle carring the Ark of the Covenant and blowing rams horns. The Jews fought the Romans and the Greeks. This warrior tradition is currently manifested in Israel, which arguably has the best small armed forces in the world. There is plenty of background for Jewish fantasy.