Type of bind: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780394582818
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
ISBN number: 0394582810
Label: Random House Audio
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
Quantity: 2
Printing Date: November 21, 1990
Publishing house: Random House Audio
Release Date: November 21, 1990
Sale Popularity Level: 653571
Studio: Random House Audio
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Michener presents a magnificent and spellbinding expedition through the history of the Holy Land--the source of Western religious heritage. 2 cassettes.
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Rated by buyers 
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The architecture of the 900 page story is comprised with a current day story at the Tell, an archeological dig in Israel, where artifacts and maps are introduced with a brief interpretation that are then woven into a story in humanity that may have taken place at that period of time. He begins with the family of Ur living in a cave and a story on how a wife urges her husband to farm as it brings about a more stable life style with a higher degree of predictability in feeding their own. In their trial and error attempts at farming, using primitive scientific method, she draws errant conclusion that lead to rituals. As the chapters progress, moving time forward in quantum leaps chapter by chapter, Michener maintains the lineage of the family Ur and their desire to simply figure out the laws of the universe or in other words reality. The rituals turn in to religions and the mystery of faith, which eventually gains a name Yahweh, or God. With that name, man humanized god, which caused them to drift away from God or in other words reality, and render themselves dependent on interpreters of the mysteries of faith, or in other words not yet explained phenomena of our universe, God.
Before the Jews got the ultimate Roman boot from what was finally called Palestine, many laws were written to interpret Moses' original Torah. Jewish priests congregated and spent days ad nausium codifying day to day life with every endeavor to build a fence around their faith in God. Circumcisions, cleanliness, health, marriage, and diet were some of the areas discussed in this book. Many of the laws would not pass the test of today's American justice system. What you learned was that the Jews take a degree of pleasure making life hard on themselves. They did this because of their feeling that strict obedience would be required to maintain a connection with God as opposed to the land, This inspired inappropriate rituals at times. Michener leaves the impression that Jews prompted their own exodus and built laws in anticipation of creating the mortar to hold them together as a people as they were cast to the wind.
In the course of the discovery of how things work Michener draws a parallel theme of the conquests of what we now know as Israel by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans, Muslims, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Turks, and the English. Yes believe it or not, the Jews fought against the Arabs and their English allies in 1948. I learn once again where our current Middle East problems lay at the hands of the colonists of the 19th century
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Rated by buyers -
A friend recommended The Source to me when I mentioned how much I loved Leon Uris's Exodus. While Exodus gave me a whole new appreciation for the Nation of Israel, The Source looked at the land in a much greater scale. There were always Jews present in the Holy Land, but Michener looks at all of the people who occupied the area, specifically Makor, where an archeological dig uncovers evidence from thousands of years of history. From the very first cave dweller to the days of Roman occupation to the Crusades to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Michener explores the lives of Jews, Christians and Muslims during various periods of history. As it followed a particular family line from the original Caveman to the Arab fighting for Israel's independence, the narrative returns back to the dig where the archeologist are trying to gain understanding of the times and the people they are revealing. But with so many narratives spanning 1,100 pages, I often lost track of earlier stories and forgot about connections that were made through the centuries. This being my very first experience with Michener, I will remember to take notes when I subsequent embark on one of his massive tomes. Overall, though, I enjoyed the Source and it enhanced my appreciation if the Holy Land and struggles it has endured throughout the ages.
Rated by buyers -
An excellent, rich book. But I gave up after 889 pages, thinking every other chapter would end in a massacre, just as the rest of the book seemed to. But it was terrific storytelling.
Rated by buyers 
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I am a lover of historical fiction and this book is one of my favorites. I highly recommend it for anyone familiar with some of the history but even more so for those looking to learn more about the evolution of religion.
Rated by buyers -
Michener, in his usual style, created a masterpiece of well-researched historical fiction in this novel. The book begins in the 1960's (the present at the time the book was written) on an archeological site. As the scientists dig through time from top to bottom, Michener starts from the beginning, the bottom layer of the site. The location of the dig, a site in the then newly-founded Israel, makes the stories of the city which once stood there hugely important to the history of the world. The interesting thing about this book is that the stories are still important today. Take one quote from the book..."...they had been promised certain heaven if they killed an infidel." Sounds familiar, right? But this quote is in a different context than you might think. It was the Thirteenth Century then, the ones promised heaven were Christian Crusaders, and the infedels were Muslims. The cyclical events of the area around the archeological cite, where the three major religions of the world were birthed, are told in great detail in this book. The inability of people to learn from history also is told. "When men ignite in their hearts a religious fury, they inflict at the same time a blindness upon their eyes," says the Muslim character in the book. One of the Jewish characters says,"...all of us, Catholics, Arabs, Jews, have got to work out some sensible pattern of life for the world..." This forty year old book has several insights to offer the modern reader. First, it shows us the world as it was when man differentiated himself from the animals. Then, it shows us as it was when man decided to serve one God. Finally, it shows us how it is now that we serve one God in many different ways. You must read this book if you have interest in the history of Israel and the Jewish people (which you should if you live in America). After all, as Michener described one of his characters, "...this reasonably intelligent professor was aware that those who worked in Israel lived under the hammers of history, under the constant threat of annigilation, but he seemed not to be aware of the parallel fact that he in New York and his brother in Washington lived under precisely the same threat." Hopefully, this time, we learn the lessons.
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