Customer Reviews

Guardian of the Dawn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The San Francisco Chronicle recently gave this novel a rave review, telling readers that they "couldn't find a more timely book for their summer reading" because of how it explores the evils of fundamentalism in an "eloquent and moving" way. I couldn't agree more. This brilliant novel has been a huge bestseller in Portugal, where I live.
"Guardian of the Dawn" brings readers to 16th-century Goa, the glorious capital of the spice trade, but also a city terrorized by the Portuguese Inquisition. I was particularly drawn to Tiago, the young Jewish narrator of the book, who eventually ends up a prisoner of the Inquisition, like his father. Tiago is complex and conflicted, and it is fascinating to follow his evolution over the course of the novel. Through him, this book asks the difficult question: how far can one bend one's own moral code to fight intolerance and evil? I also loved two of the minor characters, both of whom are amazing creations: Nupi, the warm-hearted and charismatic Hindu cook who works for Tiago's family; and Phanishwar, the Jain snake-dancer who shares Tiago's prison cell. For attentive readers, there is a bonus here: Zimler re-tells the story of Othello from before the action of Shakespeare's play. In other words, he brings Iago and Othello back to their childhoods (though they are called Tiago and Wadi in this novel), and shows us what might have gone wrong between them. The last quarter of the novel runs parallel to the action of Shakespeare's play and becomes a tragic page-turner. I read the last 150 pages of the book in one sitting, completely enthralled by the story and the superb writing. "Guardian of the Dawn" is a very ambitious and exciting novel. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in literary fiction, Indian history or Jewish history. I would also highly recommend Zimler's "The Search for Sana"

The San Francisco Chronicle recently gave this novel a rave review, telling readers that they "couldn't find a more timely book for their summer reading" because of how it explores the evils of fundamentalism in an "eloquent and moving" way. I couldn't agree more. This brilliant novel has been a huge bestseller in Portugal, where I live.
"Guardian of the Dawn" brings readers to 16th-century Goa, the glorious capital of the spice trade, but also a city terrorized by the Portuguese Inquisition. I was particularly drawn to Tiago, the young Jewish narrator of the book, who eventually ends up a prisoner of the Inquisition, like his father. Tiago is complex and conflicted, and it is fascinating to follow his evolution over the course of the novel. Through him, this book asks the difficult question: how far can one bend one's own moral code to fight intolerance and evil? I also loved two of the minor characters, both of whom are amazing creations: Nupi, the warm-hearted and charismatic Hindu cook who works for Tiago's family; and Phanishwar, the Jain snake-dancer who shares Tiago's prison cell. For attentive readers, there is a bonus here: Zimler re-tells the story of Othello from before the action of Shakespeare's play. In other words, he brings Iago and Othello back to their childhoods (though they are called Tiago and Wadi in this novel), and shows us what might have gone wrong between them. The last quarter of the novel runs parallel to the action of Shakespeare's play and becomes a tragic page-turner. I read the last 150 pages of the book in one sitting, completely enthralled by the story and the superb writing. "Guardian of the Dawn" is a very ambitious and exciting novel. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in literary fiction, Indian history or Jewish history. I would also highly recommend Zimler's "The Search for Sana"

This book is not a light, feel-good kind of book. The story is very heavy and dark, relating the cruelty, suspicion and betrayal of the Inquisition and how it tore friends and families apart.

Half of the book is narrated in a split-time period, going from the present where Tiago is in jail, to the past, where he had a childhood with a loving, but somewhat troubled, family, leading up to the events that put him in jail and continuing in the present.

His childhood describes his relationship with his father, as well as his sister, his uncle, his deceitful-yet-charming cousin, and his vain, prissy aunt. His father is surprisingly tolerant of a lot of things, including his relationship with a Hindu, and in saying that the many gods in Hinduism are facets of the one god in Judiasm, his views are extremely modern. I don't know if such a thought ever occurred to people back then, but it may have in this diverse culture. This book brought up some subjects (such as Tiago having a crush on his cousin) that were a surprise to me.

He sees his father arrested and has to make a very difficult choice in following his father's wishes. He also ends up in jail and you see the misery of the conditions in prison as well as the impossibility of escaping from the Inquisition. One of the things that struck me the most was his cellmate Phanishwar, a Jain who hardly knew anything of Christianity. He was tricked into coming to Goa and he didn't even know what he was being persecuted for, nor did anyone explain to him. To me, that was the saddest part of the book.

There are scenes of Tiago meeting with an Inquisitor, and you see how difficult it is to give the right answers and manage to break free. Even when Tiago manages to escape being burnt to death, he still is put in jail for six years, and that's the best possible outcome, apparently.

While in jail, Tiago is motivated by his desire for revenge. His first act of revenge, against the person who lured Phanishwar into prison, was cleverly devised and had me cheering. At least one act of justice was done.

When he gets out of jail, he continues his quest for revenge, and unfortunately, that's where he goes overboard. He makes some assumptions based on his experiences, and makes up a plan as he goes along, losing his perception of consequences. I can't really say much more of that, but there are a lot of twists in this story (sometimes I had to re-read it to get the story straight) and a surprise ending.

What I really liked was that this story taught me about Goa, a place that most Americans are not even aware of. I am married to someone from Goa and have been there, but even in Goa I had difficulty finding out about the period of Portuguese rule. The Goans mostly adore St Francis Xavier (who brought the Inquisition over, I learned) and talk as if the Portuguese were benevolent. Rarely is the interaction peaceful when two cultures meet, and I thought this was too good to be true. For the reviewer that says Europeans should write about Europeans and Indians should write about Indians...well, the problem is most Goans don't even know about most of this history (I'm sure the Portuguese, during their hundreds of years of colonization, made themselves look good in the history books.) This book was a lot better than The Ghost of Hannah Mendes, when it comes to historical fiction, but I have respect for anyone who actually does research to write a book and has the imagination to put themselves into a perspective so different from their own.

This book by Richard Zimler revolves around a Portugese Jew family living in Goa (India), the Zarco family. This work of historical fiction, in based in the Goa of 16th century during Portugese colonialism.

The main characters of this book are Tiago (or Ti for short), his sister Sofia, and their father. The three of them live simple lives on a plantation on the outskirts of the colony of Goa. They follow their Portugese-Goan faith, while also dabbling freely in the Hindu festivals and rituals of their friends and neighbours. But then comes the twist in the tale that turns this simple family saga into something more evil. The daughter falls in love with an outsider and then the father and then the son (Ti), are arrested and imprisoned by the Portugese Inquisition. What follows is a tale of torture and suffering, misery, and betrayal. The Catholic priests who have been 'informed' of the evil committed by the Zarcos in intermingling with their Hindu friends--and by simply being Jewish.

Author Richard Zimler sets forth his shock at researching this period of Portugese-Jewish history and learning that many of innocent Hindus and Jews who were tortured by the fanatical priest. And he even dedicates the book itself "To the many thousands of men, women, and children who were imprisoned by the Inquisition in India."

This was the first book I read by Richard Zimler and found the writing style good. The way he has used the narrative style to write is good. The story flows from one part to the other. Interesting read with many of the historical facts very carefully and beautifully weaved in this work of fiction.

Mr Zimler's, Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, is one of my favorite books that combines many of my interests. I was looking forward to reading this book about Jews on Goa, an episode I was previously unaware of. This book is enjoyable but not at the level of the previous book. If you have the option read this first and then go back in time to "Kabbalist".

I found the plot and the characters to be somewhat contrived and not always so believable. Nevertheless this book does hold the attention.

I must take up a couple of quibbles with the author and add that I was surprised by the errors, given that he is taking a chapter of Jewish history as his niche. When referring to the candles lit at Hannuka (tonight is in fact the first night) he mentions the Menora with 7 candles. The "Hannukia" of Hannuka is very often mistakenly called a menora and I can understand either making the mistake or going along with common American usage. But Hannuka is 8 nights long, not 7, and candles are lit in sequence with 1 candle the first night, 2 the second and so on.

In addition, a "dreidl" is mentioned on at least 2 occasions as the Hannuka game. I am not certain of the origin of the dreidl and whether it is possible that it was used by Portugese Jews in the 16th century. What is pretty certain is that they did not call it a "dreidl" since this is a Yiddish word with its origin in German.

Sorry for the nitpicking but I value accuracy among other things, in historical novels.

This was another good historical fiction by this
author about the plight of Jews in 1500's era Portugal.

This book by Richard Zimler revolves around a Portugese Jew family living in Goa (India), the Zarco family. This work of historical fiction, in based in the Goa of 16th century during Portugese colonialism.

The main characters of this book are Tiago (or Ti for short), his sister Sofia, and their father. The three of them live simple lives on a plantation on the outskirts of the colony of Goa. They follow their Portugese-Goan faith, while also dabbling freely in the Hindu festivals and rituals of their friends and neighbours. But then comes the twist in the tale that turns this simple family saga into something more evil. The daughter falls in love with an outsider and then the father and then the son (Ti), are arrested and imprisoned by the Portugese Inquisition. What follows is a tale of torture and suffering, misery, and betrayal. The Catholic priests who have been 'informed' of the evil committed by the Zarcos in intermingling with their Hindu friends--and by simply being Jewish.

Author Richard Zimler sets forth his shock at researching this period of Portugese-Jewish history and learning that many of innocent Hindus and Jews who were tortured by the fanatical priest. And he even dedicates the book itself "To the many thousands of men, women, and children who were imprisoned by the Inquisition in India."

This was the first book I read by Richard Zimler and found the writing style good. The way he has used the narrative style to write is good. The story flows from one part to the other. Interesting read with many of the historical facts very carefully and beautifully weaved in this work of fiction.

Richard Zimler's Last Kabbalist in Lisbon was a thriller about Jews being persecutred in 15th century Portugal. I could not put it down once I picked it up. I felt as if I was living and breathing in 15th century Portugal when I had the book open.
In my excitement, after I finished the book, I went ahead and purchased his second book Guardian of the Dawn, which is sort of an extension of the Last Kabbalist. In the Guardian of the Dawn the persecuted Jews who fled Portugal to live in Turkey have children who end up living in Portugese India of the late 16th century. That was the first thing that I did not like about the book- a contrived plot that really was not necessary. The Guardian of the Dawn may have had a fresher appeal if Mr. Zimler had just begun an original story.
However, that was just one of many dismal failures of the novel. As a person of Indian origin, I was disappointed at the main character's lack of Indianness. The main character, Tiago Zarco, is a son of a Portugese man and an Indian woman (who conveniently dies early on) and he is born and raised in India. But Tiago is as European as Mr. Zimler (a European-American who, as far as I know, lives in Portugal). In his interactions with the Indians, Tiago assumes European attitudes, which views and presents the locals as the "other" that is separate from his identity.
Agreed Tiago's identity is not a clear picture-he is the half-Indian son of a Portuguese Jew raised in Turkey and grandson of a man who fled Portugal swearing never to return. If I was Tiago, I would certainly be confused about my identity, but that conflict is not very visible in Mr. Zimler's novel. Tiago mostly struggles with the fact that he is a Jew persecuted by Christians. Indians don't really have a whole lot of room in the story and there is not much room in Tiago's character for his Indianness to grow and be visible. If I were to believe Mr. Zimler, Tiago is a European--he thinks and acts like one in the book and that was the biggest disappointment for me.
But to be fair to Mr. Zimler, how is he to know how Indians think--let alone a half-Indian man who lived in India over 400 years ago. This is why I believe the project was too ambitious for Mr. Zimler. Sometimes I think Europeans should stick to writing about Europeans--that's what they know best. When they start writing about other cultures, they invariably flounder due to their inability to be in the shoes of people who live in those cultures. However, they could still profit by selling their books to other Europeans who know even less than them. I guess sometimes that is what's important.