[The seven short stories in Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits and Legends] are gems of mystery and suspense that draw upon material from the Bible and the vast ocean of rabbinic legend and commentary. God plays a central role in each episode, yet the characters Wiesel vividly portrays are the biblical Adam, Jacob, Moses, Job, who pulsate with complexities and paradoxes, strengths and weaknesses known to everyman. The author is not one to idealize biblical heroes. Jacob's deceptiveness and fear of real challenge are shown to be the consequence of experiences that are so poignantly rendered they throw light on the reader's own struggle for self-discovery. At the same time, Wiesel relates these characters' own experiences to his traditional concerns: the nature and destiny of the Jewish people, the holocaust, the mystery of God's way with man. In so doing, he has been at pains not to minimize the darkness in life and the enigma of man's behavior, and he also offers guidance. (p. 35)
Bernard Mandelbaum, in Saturday Review (© 1976 by Saturday Review/World, Inc.; reprinted with permission), October 2, 1976.
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