Customer Reviews

The Book of Splendor

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you aren't overly concerned with historical detail, then this book might be good, light reading material. It moves along at a good pace. The descriptions of Prague in the 1600s is captivating.

The only character who seemed to have any depth was the emporer, who I don't think the author wanted to be the main character. The Jewess, Rochel, is simply not a very developed character, making it difficult for the reader to identify with her or care very much about what happens to her. While her plight was interesting at a certain level for me, I didn't really "get into her skin".

There is more comedy in this book than I had imagined, and that was appreciated. I don't think the author took this book extremely seriously, and the brevity helped me get through the book.

I also was bothered somwhat by the lack of historical accuracy. More modern terms, such as "hold your horses", and other slang phrases seemed out of place and more distracting to the story. Truly, the author should have left them out completely.

This book is not deep, nor is it overwhelming. It is a nice companion to take along to the beach or those long train/plane rides. Enjoyable.

To be sure, tourism in Prague must have increased after publication of this book. As a result of Ms. Sherwood's vivid descriptions, Prague becomes the main character in this story.

In the acknowledgements (how many novels have you read that have acknowledgments?), Ms. Sherwood calls this a historical fantasy -- a perfect description. As she explains, some of the characters and events are historical, some fictional, some historical who have been somewhat fictionalized. Which parts are historical and which fictionalized is not really important, the engrossing story stands on its own merits.

The Book of Splendor -- even the title evokes a sense of mystery -- has all the elements of a great movie: engrossing plot, detailed and sympathetic characters, colorful, even exotic location, and more than a little mystery. Not mystery as in Perry Mason, but mystery as in an exploration of the complexity of human relationships, the wonder of self-sacrifice and (not to be flippant) the meaning of life. All of this is overlaid with the uneasy co-existence of Christianity and Judaism in turn-of-the-17th Century Prague.

And, then, there is the Golem, a mythical creature brought into being where the land and water come together, by means of spell and incantation. That he isn't a man is clear, but, is that because he is less than a man -- or more?

Fluid prose, subtle symbolism and well-balanced, intertwining story-lines: Ms. Sherwood handles it all, and beautifully.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to this book by attending one of Frances Sherwood's readings. So I can hear the whole story in her voice, which is an added pleasure for me.

This book is a great read, whether you generally go for historical fiction or not. It will keep you in your chair turning pages until long after your hot tea goes cold. The characters are engaging, wonderfully strange at times, and their lives are moving. Sherwood captures the intensity of life in the threatened Jewish community of Prague. The suspense created by their uncertain fate keeps the story rolling. Emperor Rudolph II is one of the most memorable quirky characters you're likely to encounter. He's both an historical personage and a freshly realized person. The colorful historical detail is balanced by a powerful story that has the authority and charm of a folk tale (for adults). The book has received endless praise in the major reviews. Richard Eder in the NY Times makes the point that the book is wise as well as fun. That's true. On the other hand, don't let the fact that the book is a brilliant piece of "literature" scare you away from the pure reading pleasure. There's plenty of fantasy and drama in this book, too.

I'm sure you've had this experience.... You are reading a book and you keep turning back to look at the picture of the author because the book is so well written that you can't believe someone could have written it. Amazingly creative and brilliantly written book about the mysteries of life placed in a medieval Jewish community. It provided me with a touchstone about the place of Jews today based on how they lived and were viewed then.

I found the chapters about Jewish life interesting and enjoyable, but the chapters devoted to the Emperor were just plain boring and very confusing. I found myself dreading the Emperor chapters and finally had to put the book down. Would have liked to keep reading, but couldn't muster up the interest.

In 1601, Rabbi Judah Loew fashioned a golem from river mud and breathed life into the giant figure to save his Prague community from the Jew-hating townspeople and the whims of a half-mad emperor. From this legend Sherwood builds a magical, earthy tale of passion, the loneliness of difference and the timeless, fruitless search for earthly immortality.

The novel opens with the wedding of the orphan seamstress Rochel to the older shoemaker Zev. Though grateful, she finds him physically repugnant. Then one day she meets the eyes of a handsome giant. Beyond the physical attraction, they recognize a kinship of otherness - the golem without a tongue and the daughter of a Cossack rape - and a passion for the details of life, like the play of light on a leaf, the song of a bird, a rainbow in a mud puddle.

Meanwhile, the petulant Emperor Rudolph II, wallowing in luxury and self-importance, surrounded by scientists like Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, botches a suicide attempt and decides he must live forever. To this end he summons alchemists and magicians and the rabbi who created life from mud. Knowing they will die when their impossible task is complete, the alchemists put on a splendid, desperate show. Rabbi Loew, facing the massacre of his community, approaches his task more somberly, but with equal ingenuity.

As tensions build between Christians and Jews, Catholics and reformers, the emperor sinks deeper into madness, and Rochel and the golem struggle against their passion. With the plot driven by petty, grasping minds, ugly rages and great passions - as well as a few serious ideas, good souls and quick thinkers - the novel mingles comedy and pathos, set in a muddy, stinking, pestilential city brightened by the beauty of art, nature and human joy.

Sherwood's ("Green," "Vindication," a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award) irreverent, muscular prose is up to the task; witness the emperor's birth:

"His mother refused myrrh and valerian root, Turkish poppy, did not even take a drink of water, but bore her pain, which she thought her Christian obligation, although no woman was ever sainted for giving birth, save Mary."

The Zohar, one of the great masterpieces of Western religious thought, represents an attempt to uncover hidden meanings behind the world of appearances. It is the central work in the literature of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. It has been said that the Kabbalah, dating back to the second century B.C. E., actually encompasses "the spiritual heritage of all mankind," and offers tools for "transforming chaos and fragmentation into unity and completion." The Zohar is the "Book of Splendor." And "The Book of Splendor" is the transforming element in Frances Sherwood's unusual and beautiful historical novel of magical realism - Eastern European style. .

It is to the Zohar that the great Judah Loew, Rabbi of Prague, turns when he discovers that, once again, the Christians are targeting his people for a lethal pogrom, which could mean total eradication. The year is 1601. The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph Habsburg II rules from his throne in Prague. He is quite mad and totally obsessed with becoming immortal. Rudolph is terrified of death - in fact, he is so petrified that, thinking to get the upper hand of Death, he tried to kill himself. At a time when the Jews were being expelled and tormented all over Europe, Rudolph's father had given them sanctuary in Prague, where their living conditions are far from perfect, but they are, at least, allowed to live. The city's Jews are anxious that their capricious ruler might discontinue his father's policies and withhold protection in times of trouble and violence. There is good cause for anxiety. The obsessed Rudolph is too focused on the possibilities of life immortal to care for the Jewish community's problems. In desperation the Rabbi, a tzaddik - a righteous man, decides to create a golem to protect his people. "A golem is, at best, a God-send, at worst blasphemy incarnate."

Taking mud from the right bank of the Vltava, Judah Loew fashions a large man, a veritable giant. He is formed exactly as a male human being, in fact he looks a bit like the rabbi in his youth, but has no tongue with which to speak. He has no history, no ancestors, "no choice to his direction." He has no soul. He has been made to serve, to defend and to preserve lives. In preparation to craft the golem, the rabbi had fasted for seven days, and studied, yet again, the worn pages of "The Book of Splendor," to discover the profound meaning hidden within. He sang Psalm 139....."until the words became a meditation ingrained in heart and mind." And he brought to life the golem, whom he named Yossel. But unbeknownst to the rabbi, the artificial man could feel and think. Just as his creation was an act of faith, a miracle, so was it that Yossel had the knowledge, perception and reason of an educated man.

There lived in the Judenstadt, (ghetto), at this time, a beautiful young seamstress, Rochel. Illegitimate, she was thought to be a child of rape, her mother having barely escaped from a pogrom with her life. She is an outsider in a community of outsiders. In an act of charity, Zev, a widower and the local shoemaker, takes her to wife. She is grateful and strives to be a good spouse according to Torah, to put frivolous thoughts from her mind. But Zev is old and not handsome. And Rochel is vibrant and young.

Ms. Sherwood has woven two parallel stories here, along with various delightful subplots. One is the bittersweet tale of Rochel, Zev, and of Prague's Jewish community, led by the legendary Rabbi Loew. The other is of Rudolph II, who is going madder by the day in his glorious castle on a hill. He has brought two alchemists from England to discover and concoct the formula which will grant him eternal life. They know they are doomed to failure and certain death, but their pottering in the laboratory, while various members of the Emperor's staff, and the community at large, kibbitz and comment, makes for some hilarious reading.

The author has interwoven elements of sharply etched realism, representing ordinary events and descriptive details, together with fantastic and dreamlike elements, as well as material derived from myth and fairy tales. Her characters, from the actual historic figures of Emperor Rudolph, Rabbi Loew, the English alchemists Dee and Kelley, astronomers Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, to the creations of her imagination, all brim with life. They are radiant and compelling. The prose is exquisite. This one goes on my bookshelf for keeps! Do yourself a favor, buy or borrow "The Book Of Splendor." It is splendid!
JANA

I was disappointed in many things about this book. The lack of character development is the most obvious. More time is spent on the city of Prague than anything else, and unfortunately this does not give much insight to the main players in the book. The few flashbacks and memories are lost among the city scape. More often than not, the reader is left in the dark as the story moves on. More than once a character will say something completely out of the 16th century context, making it very difficult to 'get into' the story. The book is very slow moving and the ending disappointing. It seems to end at the long awaited climax with an abrupt "everyone lives happily ever after" paragraph. I was hoping for more after reading the description on the inside cover. However all of the things which made the book sound interesting comprised about a line or two at most within the actual story. In general, a waste of precious reading time.

I'd never been to Prague until I read Frances Sherwood's novel The Book of Splendor set there in 1601. Now I feel I lived there four centuries ago thanks to her vivid rendering of the city and its inhabitants both real and imaginary. Sherwood has a way of building with detail so that the reader becomes completely surrounded by the entire construct: floors, walls, ceilings, exteriors, interiors. The small literary circle I belong to chose this book and though historical fiction is usually not my cup of tea, I found it a fast-paced, lively read. One friend whose hobby is East European history and who has spent lots of time in Prague during the last ten years was impressed with its historical and geographical accuracy. I found the heroine charming and the story which cleverly includes the myth of the Golem very engaging.

Book of Splendor transports the reader to a different time and place. The historical and magical details are precisely drawn and you are swept into the court and ghetto of Prague in 1601. The love story between the Golem and the heroine is bewitching balanced by the threat of extinction of the Jewish community. For those who love historical fiction, magic, and romance, this is a must read.