Comment As You Read | The Dovekeepers By Alice Hoffman

[Sammee]

Leave your thoughts about The Dovekeepers By Alice Hoffman, as you are reading, just make sure you say what chapter & page you are on so that there are no spoilers. This way we can discuss as we read without ruining the ending for anyone. :)

[Mia]

Just ordered it from my local bookstore (Three Lives & Co) because I wanted to give them some business post-storm. I should have it within the week. Meanwhile, will turn to The Twelve...

[Lilybeth]

I'm only on page 8 of the hardcover but already I'm enjoying Hoffman's writing. It's beautiful.

[Sammee]

Page 61

OKAY...
That's how I feel so far reading this. I'm just not that into this story & I LOVE historical fiction but this just isn't captivating, at least not yet. I mean, how much longer do we have to hear about how you think you killed your mother. When she got all naughty with Ben Simon I thought the story would start to really pick up & it did but it didn't last long.

I think reading The Red Tent & Queenmaker: A Novel of King David's Queen have set the bar high & right now Dovekeepers seem to be more hype than substance to me but I'm hoping to eat my words as I trudge on through this tale

[Sammee]

***DIDN'T FINISH***
I tap out! I just couldn't go on. The story feel flat & one dimensional to me. The repetitiveness irks the mess out of me & it doesn't allow room for the story to deepen.

I might try again in the future but who knows. On to The Twelve

[Mia]

Tried to start last night but kept falling asleep. No reflection on the book, but a reflection on how sleeeepy I was and the fact that I was reading in bed. About to delve in...here goes!

[Lilybeth]

@Mia - lately I'm like an old lady. If I read in bed, within 10 minutes the book is hitting my face because I've fallen asleep. LOL!!

[Mia]

Yeah, I've given myself many a head injury trying to read in bed recently. :-)

[Mia]

Okay - writing is lovely, but I'm finding it difficult to get into this book. I wonder if it's my frame of mind at the moment. You know - sometimes you just have to be in the right frame of mind for a particular genre and historical fiction isn't grabbing me right now. I'm still on page 8.

[Carly]

OK - I've got my copy of the audio - going to start today.

(Alice Hoffman's always good - I'm currently reading Here on Earth on my Sony Reader)

I've thrown over 'Fifty Shades of Ho Hum' to start this one.

[Carly]

I just stepped into it - the water's up to what ... the tops of my big toes? I like it - so far ...

I really DO like this idea of discussing a book as you go along.

[Carly]

3rd disk this morning - as do many books about the middle east, whether it be the muslim culture or the jewish, seems like women got the short end of the stick.

I like the way she rallies around - becomes the lion!

If you're old enough to steal, why beg?

[Carly]

One dimensional? Read on ... I like the way a piece of history is being told here, from the inside out. The mens' way of thinking as well as the women's.

This book is giving me an understanding of the Jewish faith I've never grasped before.

Mind you, like others of its kind, there's something that aggravates me - that is the way the culture/religion itself is being upheld as being far superior to other faiths. Like they're selling something.

Every human alive has some kind of faith - even if it is to believe in no power above us at all. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, (Buddhist - though I don't really view Budhism as being a 'religion - I tend to think of it as a 'lifestyle'). Wiccan - and the same goes for me here - Wicca is a 'craft', a way of being, more than it is a religion.

Everyone has their faith; just as much as every man and woman has the belief they've either been raised with or acquired on their own, humans have one thing in common.

All are guilty and quite capable, to certain extents, of sin, of treachery, of violence.

No one's culture is completely free of this. Even the peaceful religions, such as the Quakers, the Mennonites - they work against their own kind by stifling the natural inclinations of a persons nature.

The women in the Dovekeepers, and the men, do shocking things - they do these things because of harm that has been done to them. The good things they do are done out of their being above all and firstmost - human. They are no more saintly than their Christian neighbours, their Muslim enemies.

What I am saying is that they are no more 'special' than you or I. Yet their narrators seem to hold them up saying - see? This is the way YOU should be living! Your way couldn't possibly be right.

OK ... so I've had my say. Love me or hate me, but now you have it.

[Carly]

Yes - The Red Tent - great story. This story reminds me of it in some instances. Something The Dovekeepers has in common with The Red Tent is that it makes the reader/listener feel every grain of sand as their characters trudge on.

[Lilybeth]

It's taking me a while to read this book only because I've been spending time with the kids and reading Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It...seems appropriate since it's The Doctor's birthday.
Anywho...
I really love the writing.
It's beautiful and draws me in to the scenes. Looking forward to getting deeper into the story.

(Ben Simon just got a little handsy for the first time.)

@Carly, interesting thoughts and I agree. If we were reading a predominately Christian story, rather than a Jewish one here, the Christian author would uphold their tenants as the truth. Every person does that. Anyone with a faith believes they are right and that's ok. I'm glad this book is entertaining you and giving you insight into the Jewish culture/religion. I love to read books that open my eyes and challenge my thoughts.

[Carly]

I finished the story tonight.

Here's something I came across - you folks might like it ...

Guide for Dovekeepers

http://alicehoffman.com/books/the-dov...

There are some discussion questions there.

I'm not going to read The Twelve at this time - to do so, I would feel compelled to re-read The Passage; I remember that as being a very exciting book.

I just don't have time right now. But I certainly will keep your group on as one of my own.

I like this idea of discussing books as you go along.

[Mia]

Carly, I love the idea of discussing books as we go along, too. Unfortunately, I have still not been able to get my head into this book, so I'm not entirely giving it up, but I'm putting it on the shelf for now. I think it's because I was so wrapped up in wanting to read The Twelve and it's been hard to shift to a different sort of book. I'll probably be posting about The Dovekeepers at some point in February or March! :-)

[Kai Hunter]

Page 110. After a very busy holiday season and a very nasty bout with the stomach flu I finally picked this one up and gave it a go. (After having it from the library for almost 6 weeks and having to return it in 4 days.) I just fell into it. In less than two days I'm 110 pages into it and that includes a shoe shopping trip with my son and going to see The Hobbit this afternoon. (Loved the soul of the movie but I think they padded it a little too much so they could get three movies out of the book.) Ok, back to The Dovekeepers.

Hoffman's narrative is beautiful, I felt for and what Yael has been feeling. I have to admit that I'm more of a New Testament kind of girl, but it is moving to see the Old Testament in action. I realize that this may seem like an odd viewpoint, but I enjoy taking glimpses of historical patriarchal societies so that I can realize how far we've come in the world today, even as I realize how much there's left to do for gender equality throughout the world. I find myself relating to Yael because she sees herself as the cause of so many sins, her own and others.

Ok, now back to the book!