The Book of Longings, by Sue Monk Kidd (The first quarter)

 I liked The Secret Life of Bees when I read it ages ago. I liked the formal structure, where the facts about bees and their social structure and the science of beekeeping served as a framework for the story being told about a girl growing up in a largely female society. It resonated. It felt like Kidd was taking metaphors and examining them for the wisdom they could offer, but was also aware of the limitations of strictly equating bee and human behavior.

So I was willing to consider that she could do the same with her most recent book. The Book of Longings is described as a book about a first century Jewish woman who is married to Jesus and is sister to Judas. Based on the promotional materials, it promises to show Jesus as a fully human man, viewed through the filter of domestic life in turbulent times.

As of this writing, I have finished the first section of the book, and so far, I am not encouraged.

The first quarter of this book covers about a year, in which our protagonist Ana approaches the transition from a child in her parents' home to marriage. Structurally I expect this part of the book to show us the status quo--what is the social/economic/religious foundation that Jesus arises from, and which his teachings challenge. What are the attitudes and experiences that form the basis of daily life, as well as the exceptional experiences? What are the benefits--tradition, stability, power, wealth--and the draw backs--oppression, poverty, fear, violence? Who is our protagonist, how is she situated in this culture, and how does that affect what we will see about the value of the change Jesus and Judas are fighting for?

So far, the picture painted is not encouraging. I do not feel that I am in the hands of an insightful guide. (A quick search of the internet shows me that Sue Monk Kidd was raised Baptist in Georgia, but has moved to mystic Christianity over her life. Not necessarily the background of someone who can explain the soil from which the figure of Jesus was grown.)

In the first quarter of the book, Ana is 15. Her father is highly placed in society, a scribe to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch (ruler of a quarter) we know from the Bible as King Herod. Ana is not like other girls (have you read this book before, because I have) because she doesn't care for jewelry and shopping, she doesn't want to get married, she holds her traditional mother in contempt. Unlike other girls, her father has allowed her to learn to read and write, and that is all she wants to do. Which seems fine to me--it's not like we see that she has anything else to do in this book. She doesn't participate in any running of the household, seems to have no chores, no social life...honestly, no wonder she is bored.

But now she is 15, so it's time to get married I guess. Not clear why this is such a surprise to her, or why she doesn't seem to have any interest in getting away from the parents she obviously despises. I guess since she doesn't seem to know any other people, or have any siblings, she doesn't have any ideas about it.

Oh, there is this aunt who lives with them in the compound, who is herself a disgrace and is supposed to not be around Ana or give her dangerous ideas. Yaltha is a widow (which is a Bad Thing to be) whose husband beat her regularly until he died suddenly and she was suspected of poisoning him. Her brother has taken her in out of family obligation, but Ana's mother hates Yaltha and forbids Ana from spending time with her.

Not clear what Yaltha does all day either, but the two of them sneak out at night and sit on the roof and talk about how unfair the world is to women. Which--it is. No question. But they are the only ones who see it I guess. Because they are special and everybody around them are just sheep. Or evil. Or evil sheep (Ana's mother, I guess.)

Because Ana's big crisis is in this part of the book is that she is betrothed to an old man who has some kind of quid pro quo with her father and she is collateral damage. (Dad wants to own property, Husband-to Be wants to leverage Dad's proximity to Herod. HtB doesn't actually want to get married to Ana, and it's not clear why Dad threw her into the mix. What does he get out of it?) The day she first sees her betrothed is also the day she meets Jesus in the marketplace, and it is chemical attraction and love at first sight for her with Jesus. 

Look--these stories happen! They get told over and over because they can be powerful. But because of that, it is important HOW they are told. Pride & Prejudice, Shakespeare in Love, Tristan and Isolde, Monsoon Wedding, the entirety of Arthurian legend. Probably also many of the stories referred to in Ana's writings (she allegedly is writing out the stories of the women of the Torah.)  Many women are given few choices in life, and the conflict between who they are allowed to marry and who they love is powerful! Economic uncertainty, the struggle of the individual to find fulfillment with the strictures of their society--these are stories that surround us. But given that I have so many options to encounter this story, I don't want to waste my time with a dull and irritating version.

Which so far, this is. Ana doesn't actually do anything interesting--she is defined mostly by the awfulness of the people around her. Her mother is terrible--because her mother basically just tells Ana not to do the things that Ana wants to do. There is no explanation or understanding of WHY her mother doesn't want Ana to wander around the hills and caves with only a single servant in tow. Or why she doesn't want Ana spending her days reading the writing, or talking to Yaltha. Or why she is so anxious to get Ana married off.

But Ana manages to do all these things anyway, and then the two women just glare daggers at each other. And sure, I want everybody to get what they want--I am generally in favor of self-actualization! But Ana's condescension and reflexive opposition doesn't seem principled, or understanding of others. And this is a problem with the book, because while a 15 year old girl in first century Galilee might not understand much of anything, I want the author to! 

For example, compare this to Pride and Prejudice, where Lizzy is witty and smart, a bit rude, condescending her self, but also periodically redeemed by her love and admiration of Jane, her worry and care for Lydia, her kind ness to her father, and Austen herself makes fun of Mrs. Bennett, but you understand why she is so fixated on getting her daughters well-married. The economic anxiety is real. Mr. Bennet is not rising to the occasion, and Mrs. Bennet is ill-equipped for the job that has been dumped on her.

Austen shows empathy even while being quite cutting to people and their weaknesses. You don't actually like all her characters, but they have appealing moments, they have nuance. Wickham is appealing until his true colors are revealed. Lydia is obnoxious, but also pitiable. Mr. Collins is a subject of mockery and distain, until Charlotte marries him and then even Lizzie has to find something good in him.

But The Book of Longings so far doesn't trade in any such nuance. Ana is the smartest, richest, most educated and most beautiful girl in all of Sapphoris and so she is obviously the victim here. Oppression is fine for all the sheeple around her, but she is too good for this. Sure, she goes out to the hills with a single servant, and breaks all the social rules by meeting Jesus alone and eating with him. So--her mother was right then?

And when her repulsive betrothed actually dies of a plague, Ana is now "damaged goods." Betrothal is nearly the same as being married, and so now she is a widow, but also a harlot and a whore. So Jesus has to step in and prevent her from being stoned to death by a mob, by promising to marry her. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

(So we get Jesus's Greatest Hits too.)

Let's not forget Judas. Judas is fighting to get the Romans out of Galilee. He's part of a guerrilla/terrorist organization that has forced him into hiding. But he's a Good Guy, as he shows up and promises to get his sister (half-sister?) out of her betrothal to the old man Nathaniel. Judas burns down Nathaniel's date farm, while being very obvious and declaring who he is. 

Of course, this is dangerous--it threatens the entire family's income if Herod feels he can't use a scribe whose son goes around committing terrorist acts. But Dad disavows Judas and Dad is cast as the Bad Guy here, rather than Judas.  Mostly because the book is entirely filtered through whether Ana gets what she wants or not. Judas is against Ana marrying Nathaniel, Dad is in favor, and so that's the moral calculus. 

I know that everything is much more complicated than that, and I want this book to acknowledge it and explain just how complicated everything is. I fear I am going to continue to be disappointed.

Judas is fighting to get rid of the Romans. So far, the evil presented by "the Romans" has been limited to inciting Herod to install figurative decorations inside his palace in contravention of the Second Law of Moses (no graven images). I can't keep this scene out of my head. From Monty Python's Life of Brian.

REG: They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, and not just from us, from our fathers, and from our fathers' fathers. 

LORETTA: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers. 

REG: Yeah. 

LORETTA: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers. 

REG: Yeah. All right, Stan. Don't labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?! 

XERXES: The aqueduct? 

REG: What? 

XERXES: The aqueduct. 

REG: Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that's true. Yeah. 

COMMANDO #3: And the sanitation. 

LORETTA: Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like? 

REG: Yeah. All right. I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done. 

MATTHIAS: And the roads. 

REG: Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads-- 

COMMANDO: Irrigation. 

XERXES: Medicine. 

COMMANDOS: Huh? Heh? Huh... 

COMMANDO #2: Education. 

COMMANDOS: Ohh... 

REG: Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough. 

COMMANDO #1: And the wine. 

COMMANDOS: Oh, yes. Yeah... 

FRANCIS: Yeah. Yeah, that's something we'd really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh. 

COMMANDO: Public baths. 

LORETTA: And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg. 

FRANCIS: Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it. They're the only ones who could in a place like this. 

COMMANDOS: Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh. 

REG: All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? 

XERXES: Brought peace. 

REG: Oh. Peace? Shut up!

http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Life_of_Brian/10.htm

Will this get better? Will I even read it? As of now, there is no way to tell!