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Monday, 25 March 2024
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REVIEW OF HEIRS TO FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS Joe Igoe
Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms Review
Joe Igoe
I thoroughly enjoyed the topic of this book and saw reading it as a great chance to add depth and context to terms such as Zoroastrian and Druze, which were vague, undefined terminology in my head.
In that sense, this book achieved my goal- and I assume- its goal of informing and educating me about a part of the world and its religions that had neither been included in my formal education nor my further reading.
The depth and breadth of the information, including Biblical and modern political history and references, is impressive. I particularly enjoyed the insight into the story of the goodSamaritan and how it revealed the context of the story as opposed to the rather two dimensional moral drawn from it today. Similarly, the final chapter on the Detroit diaspora from Iraq- and the fact that Aramaic is still being spoken there with more native speakers than in Bagdhad- was very interesting and enlightening. Their experience in America as told mirrors, I believe, that of many immigrants. The positives of American society are many and powerful, but there is a cost. That cost is assimilation, which is almost complete over a few generations.
There were also many interesting stories of exploration and encounters with communities in Iraq, etc. I came away with more knowledge of and a better understanding of these religions and peoples.
Despite all of the positives, the text still read like a textbook in many places. The personal encounters were generally engaging, but all too infrequent and could have been framed differently (in my opinion) to make them more poignant and memorable. As an example of this I refer to works by John McPhee, an American author, who has written on a varied number of topics ranging among other things from the geology of the United States, how to make a bark canoe, tennis, oranges, and Alaska. He is a “pioneer of creative nonfiction” and a master of what I call “faction”- factual writing that reads like fiction.
I enjoyed this book and am glad I read it- I certainly would not have done so on my own. I will, hopefully, refer to it every now and then to refresh my memory about the many religions and areas it covered.
Joe Igoe
I thoroughly enjoyed the topic of this book and saw reading it as a great chance to add depth and context to terms such as Zoroastrian and Druze, which were vague, undefined terminology in my head.
In that sense, this book achieved my goal- and I assume- its goal of informing and educating me about a part of the world and its religions that had neither been included in my formal education nor my further reading.
The depth and breadth of the information, including Biblical and modern political history and references, is impressive. I particularly enjoyed the insight into the story of the goodSamaritan and how it revealed the context of the story as opposed to the rather two dimensional moral drawn from it today. Similarly, the final chapter on the Detroit diaspora from Iraq- and the fact that Aramaic is still being spoken there with more native speakers than in Bagdhad- was very interesting and enlightening. Their experience in America as told mirrors, I believe, that of many immigrants. The positives of American society are many and powerful, but there is a cost. That cost is assimilation, which is almost complete over a few generations.
There were also many interesting stories of exploration and encounters with communities in Iraq, etc. I came away with more knowledge of and a better understanding of these religions and peoples.
Despite all of the positives, the text still read like a textbook in many places. The personal encounters were generally engaging, but all too infrequent and could have been framed differently (in my opinion) to make them more poignant and memorable. As an example of this I refer to works by John McPhee, an American author, who has written on a varied number of topics ranging among other things from the geology of the United States, how to make a bark canoe, tennis, oranges, and Alaska. He is a “pioneer of creative nonfiction” and a master of what I call “faction”- factual writing that reads like fiction.
I enjoyed this book and am glad I read it- I certainly would not have done so on my own. I will, hopefully, refer to it every now and then to refresh my memory about the many religions and areas it covered.
#82 HEIRS TO FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS Gerard Russell
HEIRS TO FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS
Gerard Russell
A guidebook to seven minority religions which have survived the dominance of the world's big religions. Zoroasterianism, Druze, Yazedi, Mandeam,Samaritans, Copts, & Kalasha
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