People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of People of the Book: A Novel
Book Review: Less ebb, more flow
Summary: 3 Stars
Geraldine Brooks's last book, March, was a Pulitzer prizewinner and found itself in Richard and Judy's Book Club reaching both ends of the critical spectrum. In that work, Brooks celebrated Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women, a childhood favourite of hers, by presenting the parallel story of the March family's absent father fighting in the American Civil War. The historical evocation of literature continues in Brooks's new novel, People of the Book, which describes the investigations by Hannah, an Australian rare book expert into the Sarajevo Haggadah, a Jewish sacred text which has survived for just over five centuries through wars and inquisitions.
The structure of the book is somewhat similar to Vincent Ward's luminous film The Red Violin, in which the titular instrument's life from ancient creation to contemporary auction was described through an intricate flashback structure, with near short films presenting the various owners of the violin. As Hannah discovers items stuck between the leaves and in the binding of the book, the action changes to the period in history where the book enveloped them from a priest during the inquisition to a museum working in Bosnia during the second world war. Linking these stories is a sense of a work of art forever being saved for future generations even when its Jewish religious utility conflicts with the prevailing theology of the time.
At times, this is an extraordinarily detailed text, keeping the reader aware of the sounds, images and particularly smells in an environment. One of the best scenes in the book occurs when Hannah comes into contact with the Haggadah for the first time, as pages are given over to putting the reader in the position of this privileged expert forensically turning the pages making us understand what she's expecting and also surprises her; the sense of the scent and feel of the pages is so clear that to the extent that we could imagine the new book we're reading the description from has similar properties. The author is careful to modulate this however and it's frequently the case that when scenes are set against a modern backdrop, the dialogue is more fluid and expository.
The problem is that although the Haggadah is an intriguing object, the structure of the novel, which is essentially an anthology with Hannah's story, told in the first person, weaving in and out, leads to a certain lack of impetus. There's a repetitiveness to the Australian's discover of a new property - an insect wing, a wine stain and then the appearance of a story which explains how it got there. The intent was possibly to mirror these ancient manuscripts which would feature a range of stories and ideas, some which only tangentially tie together, and perhaps it does work on the level of a short story collection with a connecting tissue. But Hannah's character is so attractively drawn, and the novel so comfortable amidst her observations, that it's a pity Brooks couldn't have found a way to present the whole story of the people of the book in her words.
Book Review: People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
Summary: 4 Stars
I won't rehash the plot here, I think that's been done better by previous reviewers.
Be warned: the opening of this book is dry, slow and somewhat turgid. We are introduced to Dr Hanna Heath as she informs us in great detail the nature of the chemicals and processes involved in conserving ancient books. Proves that Brooks knows what she's talking about, I suppose, but it's hardly riveting stuff.
Luckily, that changes once the historical aspects of the story come into play. From World War II Sarajevo to medieval Spain, the stories of the people of the Haggadah are vivid and fascinating, more than making up for the slow opening. Brooks shows a knack for setting and atmosphere, evoking images of cruel winters in Sarajevo, desperate Jewish families in Castille and dangerous games in Vienna. She skillfully weaves these fictional historical interludes in with the known history of the Haggadah, creating a real sense of authenticity.
Especially compelling is the story of the slave who provides the dazzling illustrations for the Haggadah. That was a character and a story I grew to love, and I could happily have read an entire book just about that. Hanna's side of the story never really matches up to the intrigue of the historical sections, but it does pick up from the poor beginning. As she works on the book, uncovering its secrets, she also uncovers her own roots. She struggles to come to terms with family losses and mysteries, and to find some resolution with the mother she's never really communicated with.
In the end though, the Haggadah is Hanna's undoing, her involvement with it threatening to wreck her career and destroy her chances at happiness. Her tale is, like the historical ones, bittersweet and sometimes bleak. The ending offers hope, but at a price. It's left to the reader to decide whether or not it's worth the price Hanna pays.
I'm glad I perservered past the dreadful opening, because this turned out to be an enjoyable read. Although I was personally more interested in the history side than Hanna's side of the story, I don't think one would have worked without the other. So: not without problems, but still worth checking out.
Book Review: Cardboard saves Parchment schlocker!
Summary: 1 Stars
This tale, based on the true story of the survival of an ancient illuminated Jewish manuscript from a recent Pulitzer prize winner should push all the buttons as far as I am concerned. But sadly it entirely fails to do so.
The story is of a unique illuminated "haggadah" (the Jewish tradition apparently did not use illumination in its texts) which found its way to the museum in Sarajevo and there survived Nazi iconoclasm and the recent Bosnian wars in part through the bravery of museum staff who risked their lives to save its treasures. Geraldine Brooks takes the outline history of the book and invents a history for it, each chapter a different age linked together by the brilliant, young and flawed (see clich?s below) female conservator who has to prepare it for exhibition.
Sadly, she appears to have little interest in the book itself which merits a fairly scant description, so the reader has no idea of quite what the treasure is that has been preserved. She then weaves a set of what are essentially soap operas around each stage in its "life". No clich? is unturned in her dramatic trivialising of the story as she seeks to invent its history. It is titillated with a peppering of gratuitous sex and violence, all of it laid on with a trowel to attempt to give life to the cardboard cut-out characters who populate the book; the career woman mother, the damaged daughter, the love interest (you can tell - he's tousled intelligent and good looking but she doesn't notice: 15 pages later, they're in the sack), along with many others - they're all there.
There is also the sense of the need to teach the reader history, but instead of just writing it, it comes out in ponderous, worthy chunks between characters explaining medieval history to each other in a clumsy, unreal narrative and in the end patronising the reader. Essentially what we are getting is Jeffrey Archer, albeit in a high minded version.
Doubtless this will be available at an excellent price on Amazon, though this copy will soon be available from an Oxfam shop near me.
Book Review: Very Good Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Well this is a very good story and that's really all can be said, this packs so much detail about the characters, surroundings and story that is humanly possible. Unlike most books however this doesn't give you all the detail in one big chunk so you become overwhelmed, this gives you the stuff you need to know at the time you need to know it so by the time it comes to the end it all makes sense.
The books is based around a world renowned book conservator who is employed by a museum to restore the ancient Jewish Prayer book, the Sarajevo Haggadah. While restoring the book however she makes some peculiar discoveries within the spine of the book that send her on an adventure that involves love, survival and war.
Very good book overall and I give it a big recommendation.
Book Review: This is a Marmite Book
Summary: 3 Stars
You'll either love it or you'll hate it, but I've given it three stars for 2 reasons: Firstly, because this type of novel is an acquired taste it would be unfair to rate it poorly just because it wasn't my cup of tea; secondly, although I can only find one real criticism for the novel it is quite an important one. As one of the other Vine reviwers has explained very well this story takes the reader through the histories - good and bad - of one Haggadah, a Jewish book that assists in the crossover. Through little clues left behind by the book's previous owners the reader - as well as the protagonist and rare-book-specialist Hanna - are thrown back into history, but once too often for me... I have always found that structuring a story is best done in three parts (which is the standard taught to children in shools), but here Brooks goes for four, and unfortunately she breaks the golden rule without being innovative or extraordinarily special. The quality of writing is fair and the novel has a consistent and descriptive style throughout the four histories, but for me the book tries to do more than its premise allows it to and falls short of four stars. Entertaining yes and ambitious certainly, but not as great as it could have been if further simplified. You'll read it once.