The Grammar of God

A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible

By: Aviya Kushner

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Aviya Kushner grew up in a Hebrew-speaking family, reading the Bible in the original Hebrew and debating its meaning over the dinner table. She knew much of it by heart - and was therefore surprised when, while getting her MFA at the University of Iowa, she took the novelist Marilynne Robinson's class on the Old Testament and discovered she barely recognized the text she thought she knew so well. Kushner began discussing the experience with Robinson, who became a mentor, and her interest in the differences between the ancient language and the modern one gradually became an obsession.

In this eye-opening chronicle, Kushner tells the story of her vibrant relationship to the Bible and along the way illustrates how the differences in translation affect our understanding of our culture's most important written work.

©2015 Aviya Kushner (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Thrilled about topic. Conflicted about narration.

Definitely hits the mark with what it sets out to do and was exactly what I had been looking for. The information presented is endlessly fascinating and the reader is pleasant to listen to - BUT, but…unfortunately here’s the massive conflict. It is so jarring to listen to a book that is essentially about the deep love for Hebrew, read by someone with a dreadfully wooden ear for the music and pronunciation of the language. The pleasure of taking in all this wonderful information is marred by the inevitable and automatic flinch brought about by the dreadful mangling of Hebrew words, names and phrases.
Unfortunately that’s something I’ve noticed in other Audible narrations - readers often don’t seem to care very much about pronunciation of snippets in other languages. In this day and age that’s disappointing and could be easily remedied.

Good Information About Translations

While it was not as detailed as I had hoped, I think the author did explain enough to help the reader understand that translations really make a difference in how one understands what was originally written.

If you love the Holy Scriptures ...

My mother is Chilean and my father Jewish. My father took me aside when I was young and told me to study the scriptures, and my mom taught me how to pray, for both of which I will always be grateful. These two things are the stay and the staff of my life. But I have holy envy for families where the scriptures accompany mealtime conversations and are the fiber of everyday living. I recently read of one such family in The Grammar of God by Aviya Kushner, a Jewess. The book was very well written and extremely moving. I was smitten from the introduction forward and it was very difficult to put it down. I found myself frequently crying and laughing. The Audible version, despite some of the Hebrew pronunciation issues, was nothing short of marvelous. I loved the reading of the book by Kristen Potter. The book gave me much food for thought and contemplation and I will have to re-listen to it again and again and take copious notes. In addition, Aviya opened up her heart and her home for an outsider such as myself to join in the celebration of His Word. I feel as if I was one of her brothers at the dinner table for which I will forever be grateful. For those who love the Hebrew Bible, both Jew and Christian, this book will make you think and ponder and analyze, and think again. Thanks Aviya Kushner. May the Holy One of Israel bless you. Gregorio Billikopf, Llanquihue, Chile

Please!! Get reader who knows how to pronounce words!!

I am so very fond of this book and so very irritated by the reader’s poor pronunciation of Hebrew terms. It makes listening very frustrating and is shocking from a company that certainly should know better. I’m also surprised that the author didn’t assist or find this rendering of her work utterly unacceptable.

Fantastic read!

Lots of insights to be had here. Will be studying more texts with this in mind.

Conversational and warm/personal

Conversational narration that is realistic and warm and really makes the text a personal journey from the author to the listener. Important information about Bible meaning and translation and about the Holocaust.

a sobering read

I liked this book. it reminded me not to be too dogmatic about my views of scripture since my English reading of the text might be far removed from the Hebrew writing of the text.

Fascinating and Magnetic!

This book is an outstanding exploration of the Bible's themes, cultures, and language. Each chapter weaves Biblical knowledge with cultural knowledge, grammatical understanding, and personal history to create a work that is utterly mesmerizing. I finished this book over the course of three days because I simply could not put it down!

The chapters each handle a particular element of Biblical storytelling — Song, Memory, Man, etc. The narrator's performance is moving and expressive, and I especially love the way she handled the Hebrew and Yiddish elements of the book. I have no experience with these languages, but her delivery was powerful and thoughtful.

This is a book that will haunt you and make you weep. It is also a book that will make you laugh out loud and clap for joy. It's an absolutely fascinating experience for anyone remotely interested in the Bible's message.

Amazing book - Terrible Performance

As a Jewish Educator, this book will be a must read for future classes. Easy to read, delightfully poignant…BUT for a book that discusses the importance of translation, the audio CLEARLY was not edited or performed by someone who reads Hebrew. There were SO many mispronunciations, I found myself yelling out loud in frustration.