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Summary: Walking is a great adventure
Review: Walking the Bible is a great read. For those readers who've spent time in the Negev and the Jordanian dessert, it will be even better.
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Summary: A delightful documentary
Review: Though not light reading, Bruce Feiler's written documentary of his trip through the Holy Land is very interesting and readable. He appears to have made his study of Moses with an open mind and heart. While he didn't find absolute, archeaological confirmation as he sought to prove Moses' existence, Mr. Feiler's travels showed that all the stories in the Pentateuch are quite believable based on other archeological evidence from this time period. I enjoyed all of the interesting evidence and stories he presented from his interviews with many people living in both the Jewish and Arab countries, as well as his confession of his own enlightenment. If you are interested in Biblical history, this is a worthwhile read.
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Summary: Vague Walkabout Salvaged by Author's Personal Revelations
Review: Feiler's "Walking the Bible" is an interesting attempt to refresh the stories of the Old Testament. While it may be my own fault for not examining the title further, I expected the book to focus on the Bible's present and past messages in a Judeo and Christian context. Feiler specifically focuses on Judaic meanings of the text. At times, his insights are interesting; it is refreshing to see someone begin such a research assignment in typically rational-historic terms and admit that it is often unrealistic (and doing a disservice) to try and understand all aspects of humanity in a reasoned approach. It is very clear that Feiler goes through a great personal growth through this process. The book proves to be very frustrating because there is little content actually discussed. What is Feiler truly after? The book enters the realm of current day politics, searching for a universal acceptance that the Holy Land must remain in the hand of Israelites and then reverts to reflecting on the enduring legend of T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia). While interesting, these topics do not add to a better understanding of what Feiler might be after in his spiritual quest. I finished reading the book with a better understanding of how such a region, with its multitude of cultures, histories languages and religions may help one to understand how complex human issues are as leaving me with a greater desire to experience such an onrush of differences for my own personal development. If this is Feiler's aim, then he has accomplished it successfully. However, Feiler has failed in engendering a greater, coherent understanding of the trails and eventual settlement of Jews through the Middle East and in the Holy land (in the past and present).
Rating: 
Summary: Error by ommission
Review: Feilor writes a readable travelogue but manages to travel through the middle east drawing historical conclusions but (conveniently?) ignores most of the Arab cultural contributions made in a packed couple of millenia. Most of the Arabs who appear in the book are "extras", typically presented as ignorant laborers, or obnoxious children. In the light of the Israelis' aggressive and violent encroachments onto Palestinian territories on the West Bank, this viewpoint serves only to foster the myth that the current and recent historical occupants of this area are "non-people". Feilor, however, does not come across as mean-spirited: only callow. Don't read this book for insights into Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, or Egypt: go ahead if you want to better understand Israel's perceptual difficulties.
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Summary: Part travelogue, part history book, part pilgrimage
Review: This book really should have been called "Walking the Torah," since it covers the Five Books of Moses and is written from a primarily Jewish perspective. I suppose the marketing people felt that "Bible" would have a wider sales appeal or something. Be that as it may, the most interesting thing about this book was the profound change in attitude that the journey brought to the writer himself. No, he didn't "get religion" and run off become an Orthodox Jew. However, he did gain a new appreciation for the Bible stories themselves, as well as the various people and places that the Bible describes. By his own admission, Bruce Feiler was a secular/Reform Jew who started out simply wanting to connect to the physical places mentioned in the Torah, i.e., to literally walk where his ancestors had walked. At first, Feiler thought of the Bible as a sort of Baedekers travel guide. He spent most of his preparation time reading history, geography, and archaeology. Once he got on the road, however, he soon discovered that the Bible is also "in the people" (his words). Whether they are true believers of many faiths or secularists who see the Bible as literature, the people who actually live in these biblical locations have a deep, almost mystical connection to the land itself -- a bond which goes beyond merely occupying a particular piece of real estate. Feiler grew to have this inner experience, too. As he himself explains, somewhere along the line he stopped thinking of The Book as a travel guide, and started seeing it as The Bible. Feiler's prose style is both creative and highly readable. While some have criticized his incessant junk food metaphors (chocolate mountains, cinnamon hills -- he was getting hungry maybe?), I found them rather amusing. On the one hand, here he is, talking about places mentioned in a Holy Book that is sacred to millions of people. On the other hand, he doesn't pontificate, nor does he idealize. He duly notes the the rampant commercialism at holy sites and, with a wry sense of humor, he comments on many strange justapositions of traditional and modern life. (The fire extinguisher kept near the "true burning bush" in St. Catherine's monastery on Mt. Sinai had me laughing out loud. Was the burning bush was expected to catch on fire?) As with most personal travelogues, there are things in this one that Feiler doesn't get right, even with his famous tour guide, Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren. (Who, by the way, was paid by Feiler to do this project, but so what? Hiring a guide is a time-honored travel practice, and more than one scholar has financed his research with moonlighting.) What I got out of the book was a deeper understanding of how the lay of the land in the Middle East influenced the Bible. This, in turn, opened up many Torah passages in new ways for me.
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Summary: A Liberal Jewish Religious Memoir
Review: Feiler kind of dances around the question of whether God --however defined -- exists and how we can describe this God. However, he touches on some feeling of religion or something that he got in the deserts of Sinai, Israel and Jordan. Even this kind of personal religious narrative is actually rare among liberal (non-Orthodox) Jews. Being a non-Orthodox Jew myself I got a lot out of Feiler's recounting of his experiences. Indeed, I plan to read this book a second time to squeeze out some of its remaining nectar.
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Summary: From Jerusalem
Review: From my hotel room in Jerusalem, I can hear the Muslim call to prayer and see the nuns at a nearby Catholic Church. The rich texture of the city's religious history is all around. And since reading Bruce Feiler's personal and richly evocative account of a goodly part of that history, it is all the more meaningful. Whether you are religious or not, Jewish or Christian or undecided, this book is worth reading. You'll find out about the Bible and maybe yourself, too.
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Summary: ignorance is inexcusable
Review: I thought about reading this one until I caught part of an interview with the author. He was talking about the origins of agriculture in the middle east and his complete ignorance of the subject was painfully obvious to anyone who has even dipped into the topic. Ignorance did not stop him from spewing misinformation with confidence and fluency. I'd be surprised to learn that he knew any more about the other toopics in this book than he does about how farming began, and I certainly don't have the time to waste finding out.
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Summary: An entertaining and educational journey
Review: Feiler takes the reader on a field trip through the Bible, cooking up a delightful smorgasboard of theology, history, archeaology, geography, storytelling, religions, and wisdom. The way he is able to weave all of these scholarly pursuits together is insightful and inspirational, letting the reader enjoy the journey from home while simultaneously soaking up a great deal of knowledge. Much better than listening to Aunt Bertha's vacation slide presentation! This book will definitely give you a new appreciation for the Bible. It seems Feiler's project may have started out as a personal project which eventually evolved into this wonderful book. He says in the text that the idea for the book snuck up on him, saying that "suddenly, almost overnight, I wanted these words (i.e., the words found within the Bible) to have meaning again, to understand them." Those words definitely resonated with me, because that was the same inspiration that I had when writing my own book (A New Beginning by Eric Westra). He took an entirely different path of execution than I did, taking a trek of thousands and thousands of miles to be able to experience the territory firsthand in order to be able to give a better personal context to the first five books of the Bible. He writes, "I hoped this effort might deepen my appreciation of the stories by freeing them from their covers and replanting them in the ground." And so if you want to be able to glean this type of wisdom without having to actually take this type of journey on your own, pick up a copy of this book and join Feiler and Avner and others on this incredible and entertaining trek. In fact, pick up this book as well as my own (Eric Westra, A New Beginning) if you would like to have both sides of your brain sparked in re-igniting your passion for the Old Testament.
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Summary: A Fascinating and Fresh Look at the Lands of the Bible
Review: Bruce Feiler has the really great idea to visit all of the sites in the first 5 books of the bible accompanied by an expert in archaeology. Along the way we are treated to fascinating little known facts about the peoples and places in the Bible as well as opinions and insights from several Biblical scholars and archaeologists. It is very objectively and beautifully written. I have given it to several family members and friends.
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