Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
EAN num: 9780449238592
ISBN number: 0449238598
Label: Fawcett
Manufacturer: Fawcett
Quantity: 1
Printing Date: March 12, 1982
Publishing house: Fawcett
Release Date: March 12, 1982
Sale Popularity Level: 1586345
Studio: Fawcett
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Product Description:
In his signature style of grand storytelling, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the Holy Land, thousands of years ago. By exploring the lives and discoveries of modern archaeologists excavating the site of Tell Makor, Michener vividly re-creates life in and around an ancient city during critical periods of its existence, and traces the profound history of the Jews, including that of the early Hebrews and their persecution, the impact of Christianity on the Jewish world, the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition. Michener weaves his epic tale of love, strength, and faith until at last he arrives at the founding of Israel and the modern conflict in the Middle East. The Source is not only a compelling history of the Holy Land and its people but a richly written saga that encompasses the development of Western civilization and the great religious and cultural ideas that have shaped our world.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Rated by buyers 
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Well, this was my very first Michener book. It won't be my last. It's an easy read and very informative. It would be a good companion piece to making your way through the Old Testament/Torah. The one odd thing is this: it's historical fiction that contains a lot of historical facts. As other reviews mention, the author takes you through important events in Israel's history from prehistory through the 1960s. The odd thing, though, is that the history is set in a fictional town rather than someplace important like Jerusalem...but ALSO...well, there's no other way to say it...God is a character. For those people who aren't religious and who wanted to read about HISTORY, this can be offputting. For those who ARE religious, it can be offputting to have an author put words in God's mouth. It's a bit presumptuous. In fact, although I think Michener was probably a man of faith, it almost shows how the Bible could be nothing more than a story, since he writes what almost amounts to a lost book of the Bible. If an author wants to incorporate scenes from the Bible in historical fiction, fine. If an author wants to tell verifiable historical facts and leave out religious events that only people of faith believe in, fine. To invent religious occurrences and call it historical fiction was entertaining but odd.
Rated by buyers -
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.
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