Review of Koosed, Gleaning Ruth

BOOK REVIEW:

Jennifer L. Koosed. Gleaning Ruth: A Biblical Heroine and Her Afterlives. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2011. xiv + 173 pp. $39.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-57003-983-6.

Reviewed by Talia Sutskover (Tel Aviv University)
Published on H-Judaic (February, 2012)
Commissioned by Jason Kalman

The Book of Ruth: New Insights

Gleaning Ruth, by Jennifer L. Koosed, examines the characters of the book of Ruth and their relationships, and offers a pleasurable reading and learning experience. In part, it is pleasurable to read because in some of the chapters the author draws on her personal experience where it is relevant to her subject. For instance, in the second chapter, titled “Agricultural Interlude No. 1,” the author gives the reader a glimpse into her childhood summers in the branches of a cherry tree in Ohio. This writing technique does indeed have an effect on the reader, because through contemporary personal experience, we are gently taken into the ancient world of gleaning, the making of bread, and altogether, of surviving. The reader acquires a better understanding of the world of Ruth, and is better prepared for the fresh perspective presented in the book.

Koosed’s Gleaning Ruth is a also pleasurable learning experience, because aside from the author’s new findings, the discussion of each of the topics contains a thorough scholarship survey. Careful attention is given not only to the author’s own conclusions but to those of other interpreters, as well. I find that Koosed often offers a new and even brave perspective on various topics. For instance, when commenting on Agnès Varda's documentary The Gleaners and I (2001), she writes, “Even though Varda does not mention Ruth in her documentary, the biblical heroine might easily be considered a shadow presence, following behind and beside the contemporary gleaners Varda documents” (p. 6). Linking a modern documentary with the book of Ruth, even though there is no explicit reference in the documentary, and constructing an interpretation based on this link is, in my view, a courageous and creative act of interpretation.

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Follow the first link for the full review. Sounds lightweight but still interesting.