What we have of Herod is therefore far from a complete work. The final chapters in the Amistad edition are fragmentary, and the book ends abruptly ... It’s fair to publish an unfinished book, but it feels a little unfair to judge it ... The deluge of unfamiliar names and places can swamp the narrative.
Important if flawed ... Reads like the unfinished, damaged novel that it is. Structurally and mechanically, it needs a lot of work, despite being informed by deep research. The dialogue is frequently stilted, and the characters never become fully realized actors ... It is far from Hurston at her best, but it is nonetheless engrossing because of her unbridled enthusiasm for her subject, even when her passion works against her
An odd duck ... In transforming research into fiction, Hurston stumbles ... The result, while painstaking, is less than successful as a novel. Details come fast and thick, and a reader’s eye can’t help but spin at the parade of characters and confusing tangle of family lineages.
The sharp historical detail with which she constructs pre-Christian Judea contrasts with the dullness of her hero ... At its most interesting as a textual artefact. Stretches of narrative are missing; the text is kept together by stitching ellipses. The result is an attendant emotional threadbareness: the patchworked narrative misses important scenes, from the loss of a father to the disintegration of a marriage. Perhaps Hurston put off writing the most potent moments, and died before she could repair the scissions. Still, it’s a thrill to see a genius of the South at work. There’s fun to be found in the gaps.
Full of adventure, glamour, and historical figures, including Herod’s close friends Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, this is a fascinating addition to the Hurston canon.
Though the novel is cohesive, there are some gaps in the narrative ... However, there is much here for any reader to enjoy, whether they are fans of Huston’s fiction or eager for a deep dive into a subject rarely seen outside religious texts or histories.
Because Hurston left the manuscript incomplete, chunks of the plot are missing, particularly toward the conclusion ... Hurston completists ought to snatch this up.
