Collins’ Biography of the DSS, Chapter 1

OK, so the silky smooth prose mentioned in my previous post didn’t carry over into the the body of the work, but that is not to say that the first couple chapters (what I’ve read so far) are poorly written. I agree with Geza Vermes’s blurb, which describes the book as “marvelously readable…”
Chapter 1 recounts the high points of the discovery of the Scrolls –as Collins terms it, the “birth” of the Scrolls, or perhaps re-birth. He tells the story in 32 small pages. If you have read fuller accounts, Collins’ presentation might seem a little choppy. It did to me, but I think that is because of how complex and multifaceted the story is; it’s not necessarily a knock on Collins’ writing. Collins points readers to Weston Fields’ history of the Scrolls for more details. Fields spends almost 600 pages telling only a portion of the story Collins tells in 32. Though it’s quite lengthy, Fields’ Full History is not boring in the least.

Related Posts: Collins on the Essene Hypothesis and Reading to Beau for the First Time