Then you might want to wrestle with the God of these texts. Jacob, one of the slimy characters within the narrative, does just that. He seeks a blessing, is given it, but he is the never the same again.

Crumb also wrestles with the God of the Bible. He doesn’t exactly give in to this God. But it’s a great cage match. I’m convince that God wins the cage match. But I may score in a different way than some other readers.

The trouble with the Bible is that it depicts people as they are. The greatest saints within its pages are complex and contradictory, from Moses to Paul, from Elijah and Elisha to Peter.

Most people prefer Disneyland fantasies, which end with a smooch.

The Bible is dark with tragedy, and redemption only comes through tragedy. Many people find this intolerable, even as they acknowledge its truth, even though they know it corresponds to reality. That is the Bible’s unforgivable sin: its faithfulness to reality.

As far as the Documentary Hypothesis goes well that comes from politics and ignorance on the parts of its all too human authors. When priests and other churchmen who wish to “prove” that they were the rightful owners of the Covenant, working without the benefit of a biblical education grounded with the Oral Law, of course you get something that doesnt add up. R. Crumb does not agree with me, but that does not reduce his work in my eyes in any way.

IMO much of the troubles people have now with things like “seven days” have to do with problems arising from mis-interpretations and mis-translations of the original Hebrew which more are accurately understood six time periods in modern English. In any case the initial creation story and that of Adam & Eve is allegory. Wonderful, beautiful poetry in the original Hebrew, and there is no denying the extreme influence the various translations have had on the languages and literature of western culture across the board.

All that said to put in context the extreme joy with when my copy of this book arrived. What R. Crumb has done here is not strict KJV, but mostly from Robert Alter’s 2204 “The Books of Moses” (as per the introduction of the book itself). As far as I’ve seen there are no cuts or skips from the text. All 50 chapters are there in full detail. There is no parody here, no satire. By including all the begats and giving faces to all named characters, Crumb has made parts of the text which people often gloss over quite engaging. The depiction of Noah as slightly broken with fear in his eyes, or the tears in Rebekah’s mother’s eyes as her daughter is about to depart to become Isaac’s bride, the look of shock on Jacob’s face when he wakes up with Leah instead of the expected Rachel and so many other examples really bring out the humanity of major and minor characters. The five years of work that Crumb put into this really show from beginning to end, full detail and attention never falter. If only R Crumb lived long enough and were able to complete the rest of the books of Moses with this kind of care, how fortunate we’d be!

One last thing which I noticed is that this book’s publication/shipping date co-incided almost exactly with this year’s annual rewind of Torah where we restart the public readings of the scroll from Genesis. Dont know if that was timed by some sly editor at Norton publishing or not but it did make it timely for me.

As to the others I say, “To deny your history is to deny yourself.” You are committing a blasphemy against the sacred text by denying it a a truthful representation of everything that came before. Abraham pimped his wife. Lot’s daughters got him drunk and had sex with him. Deal with it or pick a new religion.

Christianity and Islam actively proselytize. Judaism discourages conversion. Why rip on someone who’s already ignoring you?

It is clearly intended as a bit of fun and I have no objection to its publication (I’d consider getting a copy myself). It would be better if it kept the full text in, but at least it’s not pretending to be a Bible alternative (unlike several Christian Bible translations that mess about with the text, leave stuff out, etc.) Christians should remember that before they have a go at all this.

Having said that, like an above commenter, I await the equivalent telling the story of Mohammed’s life, and waiting for the inevitable violent protests that would accompany its release. Christians are easy targets. Publishers don’t have the guts when it comes to Islam.

Perhaps you did not read my comments carefully. I was saying the same thing when I noted, with obvious appreciation, that the Bible depicts people as they are.

I fully agree with you that Jacob is a complex figure. That doesn’t change the fact that he is a con-man with huge streak of cowardice. If Jacob is to be judged on his merits, he is a huge underachiever. Like Avraham, who passes his wife off as his sister.

BTW, Crumb renders the Patriarchs realistically. You will not come away with a sense that they accumulated zekuth, merit, for their ancestors, except insofar as they clung to God’s promises in the midst of chicanery and other failings. I don’t want to exaggerate their faults, but there is a long history of whitewashing the ancestors in a way that the text itself does not. Yours is a defensive approach.

On the other hand, we agree on the essentials. As you say, “the great thing about the Bible (tho I can only speak for the Hebrew Bible) is how it depicts people as they really are and that the faithfulness to reality is a merit rather than a sin.” Exactly. The same is true of the New Testament, as you will discover if you give it a chance.

I encourage everyone, Christians, Atheists, Pastafarians, and all, to buy this book and actually read it before jumping to any conclusions about it. (And if you can’t afford it, beg, borrow or steal it!)

It’s not a joke, as some others here have suggested. It took Crumb five years to make and is a remarkable work of art. He clearly treated the material with respect and took great pains with each and every illustration. There’s something naked and unflinching about Genesis that fits perfectly with Crumb’s unique style.

Like all great works of art, it illuminates all around it.

Ignore human nature at your peril, fool.

It seems to me that Crumb was very sensitive to the details of his illustrations.

Jacob is made of mush.

Tell that to the angel whose ass he kicked, handily. ;)

oh thats right. its christians, what did you expect?