Words on Wednesday: Recent Reading (Obsessions?)

One thing leads to another. . .
1. A few weeks ago, in our local Barnes & Noble, i saw a shelf with only two books on it, both facing me.
They arrested my sight and caught my imagination, though i hadn't planned to buy a novel. (Yeah, right. Of course that explains why i was in that row.)
i walked out with Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, by Nick Drake.
i was hooked.  A mystery, based on historical records of Ancient Egypt?  i finished it in two days.

2. However, if there is any Christian/ancient Jewish tie-in, it won't be revealed until later books.  Now i have book 2 of Drake's series, Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows.
i haven't actually started it yet (aside from the 1st & last chapters!), but i look forward to reading both it and his book 3,  Egypt: The Book of Chaos.

3. In the past  i've  read several books involving ancient Egypt.  
       - Agatha Christie's superb Death Comes as the End.
      - Angela Elwell Hunt's series, which begins with Dreamers, about the Biblical Joseph.  She has set this in the reign of Ankenaten, the same as Drake, but with much different emphasis.  However, like Drake, she shows the intrigue in the Pharaoh's court.

4. Since i don't have these in the house, i chose to begin another, which i do have.
     A book of five novels, Sons of Encouragement, by Francine Rivers.
The first two are, respectively, about Aaron, Moses' brother, and Caleb, the "other" spy into Canaan who encouraged taking the promised land.   Raamses' Egypt is quickly left behind in these, but figures  prominently in the early chapters.
  The third novel, The Prince, is about a very different man than Machiavelli's prince.  Jonathan, son of Israel's first king Saul and friend of the nation's second king David, struggles to do right and seek God amidst conflicting loyalties.
  In the fourth novel, The Prophet, God calls Amos from his sheep to warn God's sheep, Israel.  This book is the one that reminded me most of our own times: economic prosperity and moral laxity/depravity.
  Lastly, this volume contains The Scribe, telling the story of the encourager Silas, missionary companion to Paul and Peter, as he rests with friends and finds his convictions again after the martyrdom of those towering apostles.

5. i like to check things out.  i've also been reading numerous internet articles about Egypt's 18th Dynasty.  Since i prefer print to screen,  i printed out bunches of articles, sometimes resized & rearranged to better fit double sided pages, of relevant pharaohs and time periods.
  Maybe i'll write more of what i've found at another time.
  For now, i am astonished at the closeness of the well-researched novel to actual history.  In Drake's Nefertiti, the work seems like merely extrapolating conversation into the known facts of the time.

No comments:

Post a Comment

i look forward to your comments! Thank you for sharing them.