Rick Sumner

Ancient Fiction and Early Christian Narrative. The title rather intrigues me, and I'm tempted to order it on that basis alone. Unfortunately, no information is provided on the SBL site, and I can't find any anywhere else either. While the title (presumably) belies some measure of its content, it's nonetheless a fair sum to spend knowing neither the authors of most nor the titles of any of the papers (Lest someone point me to the obvious suggestion in lieu of this choice, I already own but have not yet read Ancient Fiction: The Matrix of Early Christian and Jewish Narrative, another book from the symposium series presumably in the same vein). Any information would be appreciated, a table of contents would win my undying gratitude.

Secondly, Reading the Present in the Qumran Library: The Perception of the Contemporary by Means of Scriptural Interpretations. I'm decidedly more confident that I'll purchase this one, though 33 bucks US is still about 33,000,000 CDN, so a negative review might persuade me otherwise.

Best,
Rick Sumner

robto

I've read Ancient Fiction, wasn't too impressed. If you can't get it out of the library (or by inter-library loan), I wouldn't bother. The best article, IMO, was MacDonald's on parallels between the Oddessy and Mark - but this is covered in much more detail in his Homeric Epics. (or via: amazon.co.uk)

Rick Sumner

You've inadvertantly led me to the contents. A google for the title and Dennis R Macdonald's name brought me to this review, and saved me forty bucks (dilligent comparisons generally give me the heeby-jeebies. I only ordered the other Ancient Fiction book in the series for it's papers on 3Macc and Midrash).

I've read MacDonald's book, and was less than impressed--I found it too strained, too often. Further proof that Sandmel's '61 crucifixion of Strack-Billerbeck (Parallelomania) and Davilla's '01 The Perils of Parallels should be requisite reading for the field. At least IMHO, though since I haven't the time at the moment to persue a dialogue on the matter it's perhaps best left at that.

Thanks for the help!

Best,
Rick Sumner

Vorkosigan

Ancient Fiction and [Early] Christian Narrative (or via: amazon.co.uk) sits on my shelf. If you have no experience with the topic, it is an excellent introduction although the quality of the pieces varies.

Mimesis and Intertextuality in Antiquity and Christianity (or via: amazon.co.uk) is also good, but not as good as the AFCN.

I've read parts of Christine Thomas' Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel (or via: amazon.co.uk) and it looks very good.
However, I've found it best to simply delve into the ancient Greek novels and fiction techniques. Have you read Lies and Fiction in the Ancient World (or via: amazon.co.uk) yet? Great stuff....

Vorkosigan

Rick Sumner

Are the contributed essays more a comparison of technique and composisition? Or a hunt for parallels? If the former, then I might have put my forty away too quickly.

As I noted, I'm not a big MacDonald fan, but I have enjoyed Perkins, Hock and Brodie, and quite enjoyed Riley's Resurrection Reconsidered and The River of God. Plus it's on ABEbooks for the bargan basement price of 12 bucks. It's as good as mine.

This looks like exactly the type of thing I'm looking for.

That price almost brought tears to my eyes! I get paid in Canadian Dollars--it's not even real money! Fortunately, I can access a copy through the U of Calgary, so I didn't have to openly weep.

Thanks for the reccomendations!

Rick Sumner

Vorkosigan

Technique and composition. For example, there are pieces on plot, use of color, ecphrasis, and so on. There's no parallel hunt -- I think the writers are still operating under the spell of what Pervo derisively termed the need of NT scholars to keep the ancient novels and the NT as far apart as possible.

Vorkosigan