Review: For The Temple

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For The Temple  is a story I have been listening to for the past three weeks.  Heirloom Audio   is the producer of this captivating and dramatic tale, telling the story of the first-century Jewish revolt from the perspective of a fictional young Jewish man, John of Gamala. 

The Story

G.A. Henty writes a tale with John of Gamala at the centre of it.  It takes place during the years of Roman occupation.  Political infighting and lawlessness ruled the day.   In the end, the destruction of the Temple.

John ends up in the middle of a losing battle between Rome, greedy political groups and bands of robbers from Palestine.  He makes and loses friends along the way.

John, a fictional character, maintains his honour and integrity throughout this conflict, eventually becomes procurator.

What you Get

How do I break this down for you?   I could tell you that you get 27 tracks, cut into manageable sound bites running 4-8 minutes.  I could say that they tell the story in a logical manner that doesn’t jump around from past to present.

But how do I tell you an Heirloom Audio story differs from, for instance, an audible story?  Frankly, I LOVE listening to audio books.  Listening to a good story while I fold the laundry is one of my greatest pleasure in the course of a day.

Heirloom Audio is more than one or two people reading a story. It’s a whole cast of people, retelling a story. All the voices and dramatic action make it a compelling listen, you just want to know what is going to happen next. They have a well-rounded cast that presents their parts well. 

This audio comes with an excellent study guide with is formed out three basic sections: Listening well, Thinking further, and Defining words.   I have to admit, I looked them over, but I didn’t really use them.   As I looked through I found some questions I thought were good. 

“John says that the first duty of any Jew is to protect the temple.  Why should that be?”   and “Some people are opposed to violence in books, particularly in books meant for young people. What do you think of this? Is it wrong to portray war as it is? Does it need to be portrayed graphically? Why can’t the author just say “Many men died that day?”

I listened to the audio as an adult, the study guide is designed for parents who want help talking their younger children through the storyline and its lessons. It can also serve as series of written assignments for older students.   Each lesson is meant to go with each track. 

I have to tell you, this study guide was well put together and worth going through if you have your family listening with you.  It will also help you delve into the story of this battle deeper.

My Thoughts

Though I enjoyed listening to the story, I was completely lost.  I listened to it twice all the way through, and then bits and pieces just to see if I could figure out the entire story.  I know there was storm and boat scene, and I know there was a terrific battle.  But try as I might I couldn’t connect all the pieces.   I don’t know why.  I have listened to Heirloom Audio tracks before and not had a problem, I own a few of them as digital recordings.  But with For the Temple something just wasn’t working for me..  

I’ve been thinking about who would this audio drama be good for.   ANYONE, except perhaps not sensitive littles.  Mind.. I’ve never had one of those in my house, so I’m not sure.  I didn’t find anything objectionable.  

It’s an excellent way to learn history, to see how political infighting from the Jewish leadership harmed the Jews as they fought to save the temple.   How Rome got annoyed with bands of rebels making things hard for them.  There is so much history in this story.  

I strongly urge you to go check out other reviews.  🙂

 For the Temple
Heirloom Audio
Digital Download,
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