Do you think the title is suitable for the book?

Use this forum to discuss the August 2019 Book of the month, "I Will Make of Thee a Great Nation: Old Testament Stories" by Val D. Greenwood.
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Oyedeji Okikioluwa
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Re: Do you think the title is suitable for the book?

Post by Oyedeji Okikioluwa »

I think it is suitable and also attractive.
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Ddennis88
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Post by Ddennis88 »

As someone with some religious background, I assumed this book would have something to do with biblical stories. Seeing as it does, I would say the title is suitable.
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Post by Nkembabe »

As a religious person, the title alerts you on what the book may say. I must say;
the title fufiled my expectation of a scriptural book, but in a more appealing way.
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Post by jasmine-louise »

I like the title of this book. I feel if you know your bible well then this title makes perfect sense.
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Post by Lindsey Klaus »

I echo the thought that the title might be unsuitable for the genre unless you're very familiar with the scripture. Casual Bible readers or someone who is less well-versed in that part of it probably won't catch the reference when browsing the religious section. There's a meaning behind it, but like others have said, I thought this would be a book about history, economics, or politics. If I hadn't read the review for this, I would've had no clue it was a religious book. That being said, I appreciate what the author was going for.
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Post by Kaitlyn Canedy »

I think the title is perfectly suitable! The Old Testament has many stories that point to the same idea- God promises that he will give his people a nation and that the number of people will not be countable. Having the "Thee" in the title was an attention grabber for me, as it sounds Biblical.
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Post by Purti10 »

I find the title of this book interesting,but
when I first read the title,I had no idea that the book is going to be based on bible stories.Only upon reading the review I got to know about it.
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Post by Andy_C »

I love an assertive title, a declaration. It reminds me of titles like Do Not Say We Have Nothing and You Know You Want This . They're active titles, where normally I find titles can be rather placid or bland.
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Post by MirageParul »

eastandalchemy wrote: 01 Aug 2019, 10:53 When I first read the title, without having an inkling what this book was about, I thought of social studies class. I didn't realize this book was covering a religious topic until I read the description.
Same with me! I thought this was an autobiography or something similar. However, the title doesn't seem out of place for a book dealing with the Old Testament either.
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Post by Sana Rabbani »

Bhaskins wrote: 01 Aug 2019, 14:14 When I first saw the title I thought this was going to be a book about politics, not religion. I haven't finished the book yet, but I can tell you I was put off by the title. I don't care for religious readings.
The same idea crossed my mind when I first saw the title. It was impossible for me to make a good guess at what is it going to be about.
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Post by Laura Ungureanu »

I really thought that this was a book about how to make America great again :))
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Post by Liana Mayhew »

At first sight, the title seems nice and I liked it. However, you have made very valid points. I would hope though that many readers would see past the Old Testament-like title as I did. ( I didn't realize this was religious until I read some reviews.)
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Post by juliusotieno02 »

i think it does; following the several citations and references made from the old testament. especially God's promises to Abraham
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Post by LeDiplomatique »

The title of 'I Will Make Thee A Great Nation' is absolutely relevant to the message in the book for various reasons but i will only provide one reason for now; The book speaks of the birth of a nation and progresses further to narrate the expansion of the nation, taking us on a journey of Israel. through the book we get a step by step narration of how it ended up becoming a 'great chosen nation'.
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Post by Nym182 »

ArriettyClock wrote: 01 Aug 2019, 09:47 I found the title an odd choice, seeing as the book is about promoting the teachings of the Old Testament in a new and modern way.
The title could be seen in two ways - firstly that by understanding the teachings in the book that people would make society better generally and hence create a great nation. However, it could also mean that only those undertaking the teachings of the Old Testament are able to create a great nation. This second version is a worrying thought, especially in current societies where religious conflict is still ripe in many countries.
This suggests to me that the title should have been thought over more and replaced with a more suitable title.
Do you think this title is suitable for the book?
I agree with this... especially the second aspect. It's too inclusive. Christianity/belief in god is not the only way to make a nation great!
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” HST
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