Essays which resonated strongly
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I can't remember now where I first heard about Susan Scott's philosophical essay collection, In Praise of Lilith, Eve & The Serpent in the Garden of Eden, but it's a book I had wanted to read for a while so I was delighted when my sister chose to gift it to me from a wishlist selection. Having read and mulled over the essays for several days, it feels even more appropriate to have received this book as a gift, one woman to another. The seven essays range from very personal memoirs to the eponymous Biblical interpretation and I found myself surprised at the extent to which I connected with Scott's experiences.
The first essay, Gardening, describes her process of creating a hidden space within the expansive grounds of her South African home - perhaps a similar concept to A Room Of One's Own! I loathe gardening myself, although I appreciate …
I can't remember now where I first heard about Susan Scott's philosophical essay collection, In Praise of Lilith, Eve & The Serpent in the Garden of Eden, but it's a book I had wanted to read for a while so I was delighted when my sister chose to gift it to me from a wishlist selection. Having read and mulled over the essays for several days, it feels even more appropriate to have received this book as a gift, one woman to another. The seven essays range from very personal memoirs to the eponymous Biblical interpretation and I found myself surprised at the extent to which I connected with Scott's experiences.
The first essay, Gardening, describes her process of creating a hidden space within the expansive grounds of her South African home - perhaps a similar concept to A Room Of One's Own! I loathe gardening myself, although I appreciate opportunities to be in garden that other people maintain, but I could understand Scott's ideas around creating this space for herself and the way in which natural and found materials revealed their ideal purpose as the project progressed. Sometimes we need to step back and pause in order to gain awareness of how everything can knit together best.
The final essay, Mount Kilimanjaro, was another which particularly resonated with me as a hiker (although I've never actually climbed a mountain). Scott's memoir of her life-changing guided expedition is powerfully narrated and I loved the way in which she evokes the sights and sounds of Kilimanjaro as well as the sheer determination needed to complete its ascent and descent. This is the sort of walking that really enables a person to get to know themselves. I admire her bravery both in undertaking the expedition and in publishing such a candid account of her experience.
In Praise of Lilith, Eve & The Serpent in the Garden of Eden is actually the third essay in the collection and was a real eye-opener for me. I have spent several days mulling over its new-to-me ideas and have been struggling against feelings of anger and disappointment as a result. I wasn't raised in a particularly religious household so my Bible knowledge is pretty much just general cultural absorption and the Bible stories which were drummed into us at school. However, I'm confident that no one saw fit to mention Adam's First Wife back then! I'm familiar with the traditional Eve-as-villain narrative, and have also read its Sumerian forerunner, Shamhat (Eve) introducing wild man Enkidu (Adam) to civilisation in The Epic Of Gilgamesh, but Lilith? Her suppression feels like a betrayal of all women and this is something I want to understand more deeply so if anyone can recommend more books on the subject, please do let me know!