Hágase la luz. Todo sobre lo que ella creó

by Liana Finck, Julia Osuna (translator)

Hágase la luz es prueba de que las mejores historias nunca mueren. En esta atrevida reescritura del Génesis, Dios es una mujer: Diosa. No es perfecta y, como suele ocurrir, a veces duda de sí misma. También se siente sola.

¿Qué significa ser humano?, ¿cuál es nuestro propósito?, ¿cómo debemos tratarnos los unos a los otros? Las grandes preguntas de la Torá y del Antiguo Testamento todavía son las nuestras, y con perspicacia, humor y un trazo enternecedor, Liana Finck combina la sabiduría del texto original —que sigue de cerca— y la irreverencia propia para ofrecernos una versión tan contemporánea como espiritual del mayor superventas de la historia.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Religion, Comics, Jewish, Humor, Adult

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2022

About the author

Liana Finck is a cartoonist, illustrator and regular contributor to the New Yorker where she also authors the “Dear Pepper” advice-from-a-dog column. As the author of eight books, her work also frequently appears in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine and more. She is the recipient of Fulbright, Guggenheim and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships. She teaches creative writing at Barnard College. www.lianafinck.com
Photo credit: Jorge Colombo

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Liana Finck's Passing for Human and am familiar with her work in The New Yorker, so picked this up the other day, in part because my eyes focused on the attractive cover. This book is a more than 300-page adaptation of the Book of Genesis with God as a woman (which is of course not an original idea, but it's well done here, both humorous and insightful). Finck is respectful of the "original" that she read as the first book of the Torah, so her version is both whimsical and thought-provoking on this book's tales of Earth's and humankind's beginnings, our difference from other animals, and all the familiar stories in it.

It's a longish book, and way complicated, just as any translation of Genesis must be. I own Robert Crumb's The Book of Genesis, which includes every single word from the King James version of the Bible. Fundamentalists say every single word is literally true, and better to read than any other books on the planet, and it is a good collection of sometimes didactic, sometimes bizarre, but nevertheless interesting and instructive tales. Crumb was in part responding to the humorous assertion from some Christians who want to censor all sorts of books for excessive sex and violence and crazy flights of fancy. Read the Holy Bible! That's the one! Sure, read Genesis to your children, go ahead, and see if you can take this pastiche from different texts that is Genesis and make it into a sweet and straightforward tale. Whoa! Talk about sex and violence!

However, Finck does not get all graphic here about either the sex or the violence. She makes it clear that women are ignored or abused through the book, but seeing it all through the lens of God-as-Woman makes it for her more palatable and relatable. Finck says in her afterword that she hopes her book gives people the encouragement to develop for themselves a relatable version of God. Is this what when I grew up they called "relativism," as in make-the-Bible-say-whatever-it-is-you-want-it-to-say so you can justify your own behavior? No, Linck just thinks you can't believe in a God you can't relate to.

The "begats" are always a challenge in these early books. So much begatting! And the men seem to begat men, since there is no mention of women (so the illustration of men giving birth out of different parts of their bodies is amusing). So do you like reading about Noah and God's angry destruction of all the humans on the planet (except Noah and his wife) and most of the animals as punishment? Yeah, okay, you can have that story and make a picture book out of it (as people have!). But what about Noah's wife?! And the men in this book such as Noah who live to 950 years old?! Literally true? Old math vs new math? But hey, I want to find out the name of Noah's personal trainer!

In the end, Finck both 1) doesn't encourage you to take all of Genesis as literally true, though 2) it gives a fairly standard rendition of the core of the book, seen through a (softly, respectfully) feminist lens. The art is wonderfully light and colorful and engaging. One of the best comics works of the year.

[Karyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elegant and creative retelling of old tales, with a light but deft hand.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully inventive retelling of the book of Genesis by New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting graphic retelling of some of the stories in the Book of Genesis.

It was interesting to see God as a female who cannot tell a man he'd made a mistake by gendering her as male. So she hides her face from Man from that time forward, except for a few rare occasions. It's an interesting interpretation for why God has stopped appearing to us.

The stories within are also retellings with fresh perspectives. I can't say I "got" all the new interpretations but they are interesting.

The graphics are simple. They add to the stories in a sense that they don't detract from them.

[Ingrid Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a reimagined take on the Old Testament with God as a woman. (God has always been a woman to me so I see this more as a correction of the Old Testament than a reimagining...)

Finck starts at the very beginning, the creation of the heavens and earth. Seems God created the universe and earth because she was bored. Sounds about right. And man was created because she was lonely, and the creatures she had already made did not look or think as she did.

God gave the first man, Adam, the job of choosing the names for her creations, and like most men he took this way too seriously and decided that God was an old, bearded, angry man. Why God didn't set him straight right off the bat is still lost on me, but it seems she wanted her pet to be happy, and if that made him happy she would ignore the mistake.

The only creature that refused to allow Adam to give it a name was Lilith, his first wife. She refused to allow him to call her woman, and when God made a second woman, Eve, Lilith wanted her to understand who and what God was. This was why she gave her the apple from the tree of knowledge.

This was one of the most poignant illustrations for me. As Eve bit the apple, every fear, uncertainty, self-loathing, flowed into her as well as the knowledge of what these things meant. God had told them not to touch this tree to protect them from these feelings and to know nothing but contentment.

Liana Finck shows a wonderful sense of ironic and insightful humor. More than once I either chuckled or laughed out loud, something I never did while reading the Bible as a child or an adult.

I really loved this. If I had kids I would use it as a way to tell them the stories of the Old Testament in a way they could not only relate to but understand. When I was young I found the first book of the Bible frightening, as an adult I list it as one of the greatest horror books ever written. Such violence, betrayal, killings, slavery, revenge, and loss was and still are amazing to me as a basis for proving we were created by a loving being.

Highly recommended even if you are not the religious sort, no matter what religion you practice. It is a story that has been passed down for centuries, and these stories should never be lost. The expected publishing date for Let There be Light is April 12, 2022.

Thanks to @Netgalley, Randon House Publishing, and Liana Finck for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

[Hannah Garden]

I read this alone two summers ago, and reread it this month with a group of women, some of us familiar with the stories of Genesis and some of us completely unfamiliar, and I noticed that there's an extent to which this book kind of can't hit for you if you are in the latter category, maybe? Like if you haven't been exposed in some explicit way to these ancient parables, a strange and curious eye turned gently onto them is maybe not going to pack a lot of punch for you. Like why not just read any silly story.
But for anyone who's been exposed, I feel like this is a pretty fascinating book. Finck's Genesis isn't so much a "feminist adaptation," which category it gets tucked into in blurbs, less the story of "God" as a woman, and more the story of a woman as a creator. Any woman. The woman who happened to be telling the story at the moment when Finck caught up to it. Herself, that is to say. And how in one telling, one possible interpretation of this bizarre tapestry of stories with no narrative integrity the way we like to think about our stories as having, in one telling there is an onus on this creator to be gentle and let go of everything she thinks she's responsible for, and just keep showing up in the garden every day not only meeting snakes, but meeting them at the door laughing. No more floods.
I love this book. It probably would have been better for Finck to give up on the rigor of retelling all these weird specific stories and spend more time digging into the intersection of creation/creator/the word/light/lilith, but that's my taste, I am less a Genesis fan and more an ookie little meanderings fan.
Which is why I love Liana Finck's work in general and this book in particular.

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

LET THERE BE LIGHT
By Liana Finck

Let There Be Light by Liana Finck, a NYT cartoonist retells the Book of Genesis that features God as a woman and Abraham a New Yorker - among others in this fabulous retelling through gorgeously illustrated graphic novel.

I love Old Testament stories and this new take on these stories so well known through fresh set of eyes and imagining is truly brilliant.

[Vivek Tejuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just say this right at the outset: I love this graphic novel. This wonderfully smart and highly inventive reimagining of the Book of Genesis by Finck is a graphic novel for the ages. God is imperfect in Finck’s retelling. God is moody. God is neurotic. God is a woman, and God exists.

Let There Be Light is so much more than a retelling. It shatters so many myths, constantly rethinking stories and filing the gaps in the fables as it goes along, giving it a spin of its own, saying and depicting what it has to, seeped in its own philosophy of life, death, and including art.

Finck’s God is funny, adorable, wants to and does her own thing, carries a wand (well like witches do, isn’t it?), feels bad about herself and also the world as incidents happen, prone to self-doubts, and overall is a God that is also prone to punishing and providing hints to her people about what’s to come.

The art is minimalistic–in panels of black and white, sometimes spouting colour in-between, making very relevant points. This God also keeps on creating – nothing impresses her, and nothing will. The plot also jumps blending The Book of Genesis to present-time in a very interesting and fun manner. Finck also introduces us to Lilith – the first wife of Adam, as being the snake in the Garden of Eden – a monster. She makes Adam believe that she is a he – an old man with a beard and thus then creates Eve, the woman.

There is so much going on in this graphic novel – the Cain and Abel story, the story of their children and more, about how God doesn’t want to be seen at all, she doesn’t want to reveal herself, the tower of Babel and the story of language, and how God outshines in the first couple of chapters, only to become invisible in the rest.

The beauty of Finck as an artist is that she doesn’t provide explanations at every panel nor does she believe in giving the reader a template to follow. Her art is playful, sad, and all over the place just as it should be in the creation of life on earth and what came next.

Finck is a marvellous artist and a very engaging storyteller, constantly making the reader turn the page, and go back to start all over again. A must-read!

[Taryn Palmisano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liana Finck’s Let There Be Light is very much like her personal work you’d find on her Instagram. Even without her signature drawing style you’d know this is hers. This graphic novel is a reimagining of Genesis, with God as a woman and through Liana’s comical, morbid (in only the best of ways) lens. It is a very straightforward retelling, in that it is familiar, however with Liana’s spark it is also something quite new and strange. There is an art to taking something common or known and pointing out the absurdity of it. Fink has that quality in spades.

I would recommend this to those that have enjoyed David Byrne’s Arboretum, and The Adventuress, or The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger. All four have this same tongue in cheek, macabre story telling with magical and/or religious run-ins.

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty straightforward retelling of Genesis. God is depicted as a woman, which isn't particularly bold, as there is Biblical precedent for that. The art style isn't what I am normally drawn to. Overall, this was fine. I probably would have skipped this one if the publisher hadn't reached out.

[Jeanette Porcello · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first time reading a graphic novel like this - really cool & liberal retelling of the old testament. so glad stuff like this is out there :)

[♡ J U L I A ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a cute and fun ""graphic novel""" (idk if you could call it that)
i love the whole "god is a woman" perspective and OFC THE DRAWINGS.

[Beth C. Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Let There Be Light" is a great title for the illuminating graphic novel with God narrating the beginning of the world and human existence.

I gobbled this book all at once, laughing out loud many times along the way. Then, when I had finished tearing through it, I started over again and savored one page at a time. Getting inside God's head as a narrator is tricky - I know because I'm working on my own version of the Creation story right now!) Liana Finck manages to do so with wit, grace, and a clever, engaging style.

The cartoon drawings are so playful yet pack a tremendous punch. The biggest questions are addressed: Who is God? What does She want? Why does God create man/woman? How does She feel about Her creations? I especially loved the footnotes with humorous reader asides - we are inside on the jokes with none other than God Herself! Truly entertaining but in a clever and thoughtful way. This is the midrash I needed right now.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over on StoryGraph I’ll be rating this 3.75 stars.

[Sasha Rogelberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ariana did god is a woman first but that's ok

[April Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start, Liana Finck is a New Yorker cartoonist, so this book has that New Yorker cartoon vibe, that weird, indescribable but instantly recognizable energy that New Yorker cartoons have. I don't mention this as a good or bad thing, I'm just noting it; it worked well here.
In Finck's version of Genesis, God is female. A gender change doesn't make God better or worse than a male God, just different, which I appreciated. God creates the Earth essentially out of boredom and loneliness, and goes through bouts of depression (God has never been so relatable, no joke). She creates Man, and he immediately misgenders God, and rather than correct him, she just pretends to be male and never lets humans see her face from then on to avoid getting caught in a deception. We go through several story arcs from Genesis (the part with all the begetting is is quite amusing!), each with minor changes to the narrative but mostly intact (an author's note at the end explains some of Finck's choices, and I don't disagree with any of them). Throughout there's that New Yorker cartoon vibe, I'm not sure how to explain it, exactly; that feeling you're not quite getting it, is this meant to be funny or...?, that oddness, y'know? This is a trippy, weird (like Genesis isn't already weird), amusing journey that pokes fun at the stories of Genesis without being disrespectful to them. I wouldn't give this to a religious fundamentalist, but more casually religious/spiritual people and agnostic/atheists will likely enjoy this.

#LetThereBeLight #NetGalley

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually just picked it up based on the strength of Finck’s other book, her memoir. Didn’t know what to expect. Certainly didn’t expect a retelling of The Old Testament.
Finck herself says she isn’t religious and views the source material as a sort of story and stories, she believes, are for retelling, and so there she goes.
I still don’t care for her squiggly simplified art, but there’s something magical about her storytelling. Just a natural ear for narrative rhythms or something. Lovely.
And her retelling is…well, it’s interesting. Gender-diverse. Quirky. Probably not for everyone…but what is, these days, really?
A large book but a very quick read due to the art to text ratio. Irreverence aplenty. User mileage may vary.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Susan Cosden · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a feminist, as a Jewish educator, as a lover of graphic novels, as a teacher who specializes in Social Emotional Spiritual Learning, as someone who teaches Parashat HaShavuah, it was fantastic to read this book. I commend Liana Finck for sharing her own midrash of the book of Genesis and her own theology with all of us. I find I am still wrestling with parts of this, which on the one hand makes it an excellent book and on the other is why I am not giving it a fifth star as I didn't love it and I really wanted to love it.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was fun--and quick; an irreverent, awitty, feminist retelling of the most interesting stories from the biblical book of Genesis. It's only my second graphic novel ever (after Maus), but whets my appetite for more. Readers should not skip the helpful two-page Author's Note at the end.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular. I read it in one sitting. Imaginative and inspiring - Liana breathes childlike life into a book that is continually being suffocated.

[Lorri Steinbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

God as a story we tell ourselves, instead of a story forced upon us.

[Xochi Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the bible!

[Carol Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely romp.

[Hannah Bergstrom de Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A title will often speak to me and particularly titles recommended by a friend and nothing will speak to this preacher’s heart more quickly than a title with biblical language. So, when my colleague suggested I read, “Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation” by Liana Finck, it was an inevitable read.

Finck takes much of Genesis and offers the stories of creation, family dramas, intrigue and heartbreak through a new form and perspective. She breaks the stories from creation through Joseph and divides them into three sections: Past, Present and Future. Each section offers the reader a fresh perspective on these well known (mostly) stories from the Pentateuch which three of the major world religions share.

I loved Finck’s characterization of God and her work to create and be in relationship with that creation. It felt honest and authentic to the original texts, drawing out God’s shifts, changes and extreme emotions in some cases as well. Finck doesn’t shy away from, but leans into the more bizarre and perplexing stories from Genesis, such as Cain and Abel, Noah’s sons, Nimrod and others. I appreciate Finck’s courage to take on these stories and share them in a unique form.

I did not enjoy the form as much as I thought I would. Finck’s illustrations in this graphic novel, though beautiful, are simply not to my taste and her interpretation for the stories in the Present and Future sections left me perplexed. Though this form was not something I fully enjoyed, I am glad to have read this graphic novel and seen such care in the characterization of feminization of God. I am a firm believer that to have a fuller understanding of God, we have to allow her/him/they to present in a variety of forms. For this reason I recommend the book to both the faithful and those who do not ascribe to any faith.

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[Morten Jespersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let There Be Light - Liana Fink.
Instagramfænomenet Liana Fink har begået en længere tegneserie hvor hun genfortæller skabelsesberetningen med stor humor og vanlig løs og hurtig streg. Her er Gud kvinde, Abraham bor i New York og Rebeckah er robot.

Liana Fink er kæmpe stor på Instagram med sine hverdagsstriber som er helt utrolig sjove. Hun tegner for New yorker og tidligere udgivet længere tegneserier.
Hendes streg er løs og hurtig - nærmest skitser men meget effektfulde.

Let There Be light er en rigtig sjov og meget original (lidt lang ) genfortælling af de berømte beretninger fra det gamle testamente. En disciplin hvor egen Peter Madsen og selveste Robert Crumb også har begivet sig ud i. Den er bestemt værd at læse og jeg klukkede mig igennem de velkendte historier.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most graphic novels, this is a quick read, but it was an enjoyable one! I hadn’t heard of this until it made the Carol Shields Prize longlist, and I’m so glad for that introduction to this unique and creative work. A adaptation of the Book of Genesis, Finck imagines God as a woman and goes through the “highlight reel” from the Genesis stories: Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Jacob and Esau, Joseph… with both funny and poignant commentary on how our modern world sensibilities might interpret these stories in real time (like how Noah’s wife was so unimportant that she wasn’t named…. 😑), this story is an engaging and fascinating graphic adaptation.

[Kailyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Finck's work, but I wasn't the right audience for this book.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a graphic retelling of the biblical book of Genesis changed up with a female - and ironically, very human God. She is insecure and forgetful, and like us all, just trying to figure it all out. She watches from above and moves characters like Cain, Abraham, and Joseph like pawns on a chessboard, all the while dealing with patriarchal bias even though she’s, well, God.

Skillful drawing dumbed down is Finck’s milieu, as well as a thoughtful yet playful spin on Hebrew studies.

[juliette]

such a funny, creative, quirky, enjoyable biblical retelling

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flew through this irreverent graphic novel retelling of the Book of Genesis today. God as a somewhat insecure woman...enough said. I enjoyed the humor in this book.