JL: Atonement is possibly the key word and relates to the idea of the writer (Borgesian one) as God -- and how can God need an atonement?
Every writer needs the integrity of his characters (creatures). Every fiction writer needs that at-one-ment. It is the basis of plot -- unless, of course, pace Pirandello and Beckett, it is in the struggle to get at-one that his or her characters show their stuff. Atonement precedes redemption.
And how does that relate to "God"? Read the end of JOB. Yahweh gives Job an increase in kine, everything he had and more, which is precisely the kind of ritual sacrifice one would make to *atone* for a mistake. YHWH is therefore coming close to an apology in JOB, admitting the need to atone, or so the JPS Tanakh notes indicate.
Best, EricPS: _Atonement_ is very good but _Saturday_ is his best book in my shameless opinion.
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