Review: Moses, Man of the Mountain

I finished Moses, Man of the Mountain last week and I thought I would write up a quick review.

What works:

• Hurston's writing style. I've always been impressed with Zora Neale Hurston's writing style. Her words often come off as poetic and if you are really paying attention you can find some really great quotes within her works. I honestly think she's one of the most underrated authors. 
• Character portrayal. The characters take on distinct personalities and voices in this novel. I think that this is a key to any great author. Hurston portrays the contrast between the many groups of characters with different motives, and unites them all in their humanity. You despise Pharaoh for being the captor of the Israelites, but at the same time you see the social pressures and personal flaws that have put him in the position he is in. Similarly you see the constant battle between Moses, who wants to teach the Israelites to prosper, and the Israelites, who want someone to hand them their freedom and prosperity. 
• The last two thirds of the book. This is where the book really shines. When Moses escapes into the desert (not much of a spoiler for those familiar with the Exodus story) the story really begins to pick up. Moses starts to become his own man and learn from new groups of people and experiences. Most importantly, Moses learns not to be content with his circumstances in this part of the book, and that's really a driving point for the rest of the story. 

What doesn't work:

• The beginning of the book. There are some really slow points in the beginning of this story. Moses is hard to like in this part of the book because he isn't that deep of a character. He wants to search for more knowledge and meaning, but never really fights to do so. Another problem I have with this part of the story is how far it deviates from the book of Exodus. Anyone familiar with Exodus knows that Moses was a Hebrew baby discovered on the river and taken in as part of Pharaoh's family. In this version of the story however Moses is simply just the Pharaoh's grandson and not a Hebrew. It may seem like a cosmetic change, but to me it really takes away from a part of the meaning behind the story. The famous line "Let my people go" has meaning as a message from God and a message from Moses, but in this story, they aren't his people. I'm glad to say that the latter part of the book does start to resemble the book of Exodus more than the beginning. 
• The very end of the book. At the end of the book Moses leaves Israel to let them grow on their own. While Moses is traveling up the mountain and looking down he does a retrospective of all that he has been through in the book. I'm personally not a fan of these. Yes it recaps the book, but if you were paying attention while you were reading, you already know all of what the character is recapping. It's kind of boring and frankly there are better ways to end a book.