Jerusalem: The Biography - Book Chat
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- Опубліковано 12 лип 2024
- Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Other works mentioned:
Demian by Hermann Hesse
Definitely, Maybe by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
Great way to organize the chat on this and you made it very understandable and interesting to the viewer👍. When you started talking about finishing Demian and the next one being short I thought “Oh no, he is going to run out of books!” I guess since this was an emergency it was okay to make the next drawing without our help😬.
Thank you Peg! I like doing the drawings on the chat but unfortunately just had to do another one off camera. I hope to get back on track with filming the drawing when my travel settles down again. But I at least wanted to let a random drawing choose the next book rather than running out of something to read on my trip(s) and have to make my own choice from the electronic book editions off my priority reading list.
So many interesting facts. Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I’m so glad you chatted about this book, as it has been one I have been eyeing since reading his Romanov’s book. Definitely going to read this one too sometime. It’s interesting that right now, I am reading a historical fiction written by his wife, which I am enjoying. Have a great week!
I saw that he had written a book about the Romanovs which sounded interesting. I didn't know his wife was a historical fiction writer! I hope you chat about it when you finish as I'd like to hear more. Thanks!
Great review! I like how you summarized the different sections of the book. That National Geographic exhibit sounds really cool! Might go myself; always nice to have an excuse to visit a museum.
Thanks! I simply MUST go to the exhibit before it closes. It's the Nat Geo museum so you have to reserve your time slot and buy a ticket so requires advance planning which I'm not terribly good at : ) But I'm very curious about the exhibit. I went to Jerusalem when I was a teenager (which was quite a while ago) and believe it or not I didn't go! Among the major ancient sites of all the religions that is the one that I missed (long story). I'm due another trip especially now that I'm older and can appreciate the history a better than I could at 16.
This was a great chat Eston. I too enjoy the histories of places, some of them are quite interesting. It is amazing how a place can be as interesting as a biography or autobiography. There is just so much to learn and so little time. : )
Thank you Lillian! I think it's fascinating how people use place to create identities for themselves. Then the place itself can have it's own sort of timeless identity. Jerusalem is somewhat unique in that there are so many identities associated with it that often have and continue to come in conflict over it.
I'd guess the book was bought somewhere in Scandinavia, probably in Sweden. 'Hylla' means 'shelf' in Swedish. 179 would then be in Swedish krona ("crown", plural 'kronor'). I don't know what those 'ek.' and 'sam.' stand for, unfortunately. I'm not Swedish, but here in Finland we need to learn a bit of Swedish, whether we like it or not.
From my non-religious point of view the conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians seem just ridiculous, pointless and stupid. Can't they just held their hands while they pray to the same God and love thy neighbour in perfect harmony...
I've been meaning to pick the book up for ages now, I really need to understand better the history of the city. Biographies of cities are so interesting. Their focus on individual cities allows a nice gateway to history through which you can spread your interest to other parts of history that are related to it.
How interesting that the book probably came from Sweden! I like to think of the journeys that used books have taken and many times there are little clues like this sticker that is a mark of their journey. Thanks for letting me know that!
I love biographies of Cities/Places as well. Other than this one, my priority reading list for this year includes a biography of Istanbul as well as the story of Delphi in Ancient Greece.
I think Jerusalem is such a unique city of the world given it's history as well as the stories/myths that have developed around it by the Christians, Jews and Muslims that influence billions of people to this day. My hope is that one day there will be a Jerusalem at peace. Maybe that is what is meant by "the new Jerusalem".
You need a Powell’s t-shirt in your collection...
I know! Unfortunately, I didn't get to Powell's as I ended up spending my free time catching up with an old friend who moved to Portland years ago. Maybe I should send him a strong hint to send me one as a gift...haha.
Sigh...Isn't it mind-boggling how much devastation has been brought to humans through the guise of religion? The history of Jerusalem certainly illustrates how tribal we are as a species.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this book.
Yes, in the chat I didn't even share all of the gory details but the history of Jerusalem is definitely one that illustrates the violence and oppression that we as a species are willing to inflict on others who do not share our version of identity.
I just start reading the preface and I thought it is pretty dreadful. Many of the paragraphs were just shallow sentences that sounded good that also lacked logic. For example, if don’t accept that religion is fundamental to human nature it does not follow that therefore you cannot understand Jerusalem. There are many perspectives of the history of something and a secular one is valid. I urge readers to take the time to actually analyse the preface in order to get past the flowery writing and over the top rhetoric to see the core of what he is saying. It’s shocking