James A. Michener, in his epic novel The Source, has written a history of the Jews from their genesis to the creation of Israel in 1948. Michener shapes this history into the form of a novel by anchoring the past with the present through the work and relationships of a group of archaeologists on a dig in 1964 in a fictional region of what is today Israel.
Michener grounds the story in this dig and in the changing eras which are represented by the finds on the dig. Through this method, Michener creates intrigue and tension among the archaeologists, in personal, professional, political and religious terms. The fact that the archaeologists live in the modern era allows them, and the author, to comment on, and argue about, the significance of the events which make up the history and evolution of the Jewish people.
The book is, therefore, an historical novel which takes great liberties as it weaves the past and the present, creating characters who live in the present as well as in the past at each stage of the development of the Jews and their culture and religion. It is especially about the evolving, often difficult, and always mysterious relationship between the Jews and their God.
Michener brings together a motley group for the dig
---an Irish Catholic from the United States, an Israel-based Arab, a German Jew and his Jewish/Israeli fiancee, and a rich American who finances the dig. Using this group as a focus, the author gives the history of the Jews an added fascination which some readers may feel it does not need. However, the book should be taken on its own terms, so that the best way to look at it is to focus on it as a history of a fascinating people told in a fictional framework.
The dig is a fictional mound seventy-one feet high which has been formed of many settlements in the history of Jewish history and development. This allows Michener to have the archaeologists dig down through the mound and explore the ...