Curse of Ham Japheth? And why will Japheth "dwell in the tents of Shem"? Further difficulties include Ham's being referred to as "the youngest son", when all other lists make him Noah's second son. Per Sarna, the biggest challenge of the narrative is why Canaan was cursed, rather than Ham, and the concealed details of the shameful incident bear the same reticence of Reuben's sexual transgression. The narrative's short five verses indicate that Canaan's Hamite paternity must have had great significance to the narrator or redactor, according to Sarna, who adds, "The curse on Canaan, invoked in response to an act of moral
The Gospel According to the Son Times", pointed to a "lack of inventiveness", based upon the fact that Mailer took so few liberties with the biblical text. David Gelernter, writing for the "National Review", cited the "sheer arrogance" of the very premise of Mailer's book. Yet he went on to agree with Miles that much of the criticism of the book had been "unfair." Gelernter called the book "strikingly orthodox" in its basic view of the character of Christ. Mailer had largely anticipated some of the savage reviews he would receive for the book. He noted in an interview with Bruce Weber of "The New York