Review by raikyuu -- Roadmap to the End of Days

[raikyuu]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Roadmap to the End of Days" by Daniel Friedmann.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Roadmap to the End of Days is Daniel Friedmann’s 3rd book in his series “Inspired Studies.” The book is a non-fictional work that aims to show how the biblical history fits together as a part of the “Divine Plan”. He studies the biblical events to show that there is a repeating pattern in history which would ultimately end to what he calls the “End of Days”.

The book is written in a Jewish context, so some premises of the book can become difficult to accept due to people’s differing beliefs and skepticism. Nevertheless, this is a good book if you want to have a general idea on Friedmann’s understanding of the Tanakh. This book can also be read without reading the first two books in the series, as you can still get a good understanding of the book.

I find the book’s retelling of biblical events to be a fun experience as they are presented concisely and coherently. Friedmann also provides summaries after discussions to fit them in the bigger picture. One can learn so much about biblical Jewish history as he arranges a lot of these details in a short book. Because of this, I find the book engaging and easy to read, even if I don’t necessarily subscribe to the beliefs.

However, the book becomes challenging to read when he starts to talk about how exactly he came up with the repeating pattern. Friedmann provides an appendix, hoping to complement the chapters on how the pattern was produced, but the appendix doesn’t help much as it only contains a summary of these chapters. Some excerpts are given without providing reasons on why it is the case. An example is this excerpt from the book, “Nonetheless, the Bible tells us to follow a pattern of seven days per week, which is not tied to the motion of a cosmic body. We run our lives on this weekly pattern, and the weeks fit within the overall cosmic calendar of months, seasons, and years.” I am hoping for more details on how the weeks fit within the cosmic calendar, but he provides none of it. More of these excerpts can be found in the book.

But what troubled me the most is the subtle “religious racist” theme of the book in the form of the Amalek. Even if Friedmann doesn’t intentionally add this theme, it is still entrenched in some contexts of the book. Of course, maybe I just misinterpreted his intentions or I just read into it too much; I admit that I don’t have a complete understanding of the Tanakh. Still, I may not want to give this to children as they might only interpret particular excerpts without looking at the bigger picture.

However, despite the aforementioned flaws, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The book is still an enjoyable read as the author writes the book to ensure that most, if not all, details of the book is clear to the reader. This book is ideal for people who want to be inspired and to use a good 3 hours of their time.

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Roadmap to the End of Days
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Like raikyuu's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Onyinyechukwu]

Sounds like a really nice book to read. Thank you for your review.

[Donatelloo]

Impressed by your review .
I'll give this novel a try . Seems interesting to me

[kandscreeley]

I'm glad you liked this one. I started it, but it isn't for me. Thanks for the review.

[raikyuu]

Impressed by your review .
I'll give this novel a try . Seems interesting to me

But, it's not a novel. I guess my mentioning of the book being part of a "series" is kind of misleading in it's own way.

I'm glad you liked this one. I started it, but it isn't for me. Thanks for the review.

Well, "appreciated" is a more accurate word for what I feel about the book. Thank you for commenting.

[Ayokunle]

It is interesting to see a nonfictional text intersecting between religion and history. However, people of differing ideologies or religions may find it difficult flowing through. In other words, this effort stands the risk of being misrepresented as a product of the writer's bias or sentiment.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

Before reading your review I was ignorant to the existence of the Tanakh, now I'm interested in reading more about it. This book might be the right start. Thanks for the great review.

[raikyuu]

It is interesting to see a nonfictional text intersecting between religion and history. However, people of differing ideologies or religions may find it difficult flowing through. In other words, this effort stands the risk of being misrepresented as a product of the writer's bias or sentiment.

You're right. I guess a defense for the author (which is probably the same for the rest of us) is that it is hard to incorporate every perspective and every ideologies in a single work, since some of those ideas and perspectives are actually contradictory.

-- 22 Jul 2017, 07:33 --

Before reading your review I was ignorant to the existence of the Tanakh, now I'm interested in reading more about it. This book might be the right start. Thanks for the great review.

I'm glad my review helped you in a certain way. It would be a good idea to read on primary sources.

[Ayosinmi]

Hmmm. It's a bit awkward though because it's not my typical genre but maybe I should spend 3hrs trying to figure out his mind after all.
?

[raikyuu]

Hmmm. It's a bit awkward though because it's not my typical genre but maybe I should spend 3hrs trying to figure out his mind after all.
?

We all have our preferences. There are a lot of books in the market, so you can just read what you think you will like.

[GCamer]

Great review. I agree that the long appendix doesn't help much. I also realized something after reading your review. It is about

the subtle “religious racist” theme of the book in the form of the Amalek. Even if Friedmann doesn’t intentionally add this theme, it is still entrenched in some contexts of the book.

It's actually my first time to read about the Amaleks. But after reading the book, that theme left an impression on me. I agree with you that this book may not be something we should give to children as they might misinterpret things. I think that only an open-minded person should take the book or if a child would read it, someone knowledgeable should guide and explain things.
By the way, I also read and reviewed this a while back. Please check out my review and leave a comment. Thanks!

[raikyuu]

Great review. I agree that the long appendix doesn't help much. I also realized something after reading your review. It is about

the subtle “religious racist” theme of the book in the form of the Amalek. Even if Friedmann doesn’t intentionally add this theme, it is still entrenched in some contexts of the book.

It's actually my first time to read about the Amaleks. But after reading the book, that theme left an impression on me. I agree with you that this book may not be something we should give to children as they might misinterpret things. I think that only an open-minded person should take the book or if a child would read it, someone knowledgeable should guide and explain things.
By the way, I also read and reviewed this a while back. Please check out my review and leave a comment. Thanks!

I totally agree. It's also my first time to read it as well. It is sometimes challenging to be open-minded, especially when one is too dedicated to his/her beliefs.

[testing123456]

Good review!

[raikyuu]

Good review!

Thank you for commenting.

[testing123456]

I have a question. What is so racist about the book in the Amaleks?