Customer Reviews

Jerusalem

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book really stands up straight and rises head and shoulders above the current crop of novels. In fact, I can't ever remember being so engaged in a piece of writing in a long time. Briefly told, this quick but densely packed novel describes the time and events that led up to the 3rd Crusade, roughly the same time frame as the Hollywood movie "Kingdom of Heaven." Though, it must be said, the author of this work does not twist and bend history to fit a politically correct audience, as does the movie, which is to Holland's tremendous credit.

I will go further: I think this novel stands a good chance of being one of my all time favorites.

There is a skillful subtly to the author's writing, which allows her to dig down deep to the heart of a moment or character without beating the reader with a mace to get her point across. She seems to have a real respect for her readers' intelligence, which I found very rewarding. Take for one example, this brief scene that depicts a Knight Templar, new to the Crusades, discussing the "Saracens" with a hardened veteran:

"German said, `Out here, though you cannot see it, is the great highway that leads down ultimately to Mecca and to Cairo. During the time of the Muslims' pilgrimage, folk throng along as a city street sometimes.'

Stephen said, `The sandpigs go on pilgrimage? What---to devil shrines?" He laughed.

German smiled at him. "No, to Mecca.' His face smoothed out with amusement. `Such is your thought; they worship the devil?'

Stephen gave an uncertain shrug. `Whatever they worship, it's not the one true God. What's the difference?'

Still smiling, the Preceptor looked away, and Stephen though he saw him give a little shake of his head."

A less skilled writer, or one less confident in her reading public, might take numerous scenes or clumsy speeches to get the point of this brief passage across. With Holland, the reader never feels bludgeoned.

Another great strength of this novel is that the characters have a brutal depth and realism to them. They live and breath in a way that seems at times almost supernaturally realistic, and while I could identify with the characters, they never lost their medieval essence. So many modern historical novels simply plunk down 21st century people, with all the trendy phobias and cynicism, into historical settings (much non-fiction writing falls into this trap as well, ignoring that the Western men and women that fought in the Crusades had a religious life that is very difficult to imagine today).

Lastly, there is a powerful beauty to Holland's writing. There are scenes in the book, of the men in battle or in moments of pure grace, that have already stamped themselves on me with the clarity of a cherished memory. Holland's battle scenes are the finest I have ever read, so perfectly capturing the horrible chaos and crunch, sick adrenaline, and surging mortality of battle.

I've never read anything quite like it. --Mykal Banta

Rannulf Fitzwilliam is a Templar Knight who is in the Holy Land to serve the Holy Cross during the latter part of the Crusades. Rannulf used to live a wild, sinful life, and in order to repent from it, he has made vows to abstain from women, and to never harm another Christian. Struggling to contain his wild nature, he confronts relationships and situations with a hard, grim, stoicism. He is not particularly friendly or charming, and many of the other characters don't like him, either because he seems gruff and unknightly, or they are intimidated by his strength that threatens to usurp their important positions.

The character of Rannulf permeates the entire book; the story seems to drag at times, bogged down in a tense grimness. Yet, because of that, the reader feels the reality of the times. The people of the Holy Land, facing attack and death by Saladin's army, must have lived such a life, solemn and dark in the face of their destruction.

There are other interesting characters that contrast with Rannulf. The young Christian king of Jerusalem is rotting away with leprosy, yet he admirably endures this suffering to the end in order defend his city. His beautiful sister Sybilla is a forceful, independent woman, scheming to take her rightful place as queen when he dies, yet also desiring to serve and to save Jerusalem. She is Rannulf's greatest temptation to break his vows. Stephen, the red-haired knight has a secret and sinful affair with Ali, the nephew of Saladin.

The story ends with a heart-wrenching battle scene at the Battle of Hattin, in which, as history tells us, the Christians were disastrously defeated. The ending is grim, but powerful, and the reader realizes that this is a realistic immersion into a solemn period of history. The story is carried off with a subdued elegance of style.

Cecelia Holland gets to the blood and bone and sweat and saddle sores and skin rashes of chivalry. In our twenty first century mindset, it's too easy to forget, or just not understand what a motivating force Christianity has been through the ages. A Knight Templar's life expectancy in Palestine was less than two years, yet they were the most effective military organisation in Medevial Europe. "Jerusalem" shows us the times and places of the Crusades through the eyes of a Templar, a man too aware of his own flaws, born to violence in violent times, trained to be good at it. It shows us men and women of power who can't put aside their own petty ambitions and pride even when their lives literally depend on it. And how a stick up the backside may be a substitute for the backbone a man may not be born with.

"Jerusalem" is disturbing, uplifting, and, best of all, interesting. Ms. Holland tells a heck of a story. Like all great literature, it's about people. She does a good job answering, and getting us to ask, The Great Literary Question-- "Then what happened?"

Since this has become a discussion of religion and politics, those who so loudly comdemn the Crusades might ask a couple questions: Why is Constantiople now called Istanbul? Why was the Reconquista necessary in Spain? How did Kosovo become the home of Moslem Albanians? Christianity is not the only religion to convert at sword point. The last scene in this book is documented history. (As are many of the other scenes.)

This is probably Cecela Holland finest work of historical fiction with a riveting cast of characters. Her central figure, the Templar Ranulf Fitzwilliam is a compelling character who will linger in your mind after you finish the book. Her protrayal of the Templars is reasonable accurate, and certainly the involvement of her main character in the central events of the time is not unbelievable. After all the Templars were the central figures of the time. Her tale of events leading to the fateful Battle of Hattin is execellent and I think she has placed the blame for the defeat there where it belongs -- squarely on the head of the Grand Master. The homosexuality among the Templars was no unknown and deserves to be mentioned. I believe her portrait of Saladin squares with the views of the those who fought him. After all this is a book whose viewpoint is that of the Templars, not the Arabs.

HOLLYWOOD WHERE ARE YOU? HERE IS THE STORY THAT WILL RIVAL IF NOT TOP BRAVEHEART. RELIGION,POLITICS,WAR,WHAT A COMBINATION UNIQUELY WOVEN TO WET OUR APPETITE FOR MORE. THIS NOVEL DESCRIBES THE PASSION OF MEN FOR POWER WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ONE OF THE MOST SECRET ORGINAZATIONS EVER TO COME INTO EXISTENCE. THE CHARACTER SAINT DOES AN INCREDIBLE JOB OF PORTRAYING A GREAT LEADER WHO THOUGH WIELDING POWER HE TO MUST SUBMIT TO HIS OWN LEADERS. THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE HE DISPLAYS MIXED WITH HUMBLE OBEDIENCE TO HIS ORDER, OFFERS AN INCREDIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF TRUE KNIGHTHOOD. CECELIA YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF. ONCE I STARTED READING THIS NOVEL I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. THE WAY YOU CONTRAST RELIGIOUS PURITY WITH LUST DESCRIBES THE BATTLE THAT RAGES IN THE HEART OF MOST MEN. THE WAY SAINT DEALS WITH HIS OWN WEAKNESS GIVES HOPE FOR THE THOSE WHO WOULD ASPIRE TO LIVE A LIFE FULL OF HONOUR, AND OEDIENCE. FORTITUDE, LOYALTY, HONOUR ARE DEFINED IN THIS NOVEL IN AN EXEMPLARY MANNER. IF YOU ENJOY A GOOD FIGHT THAT WILL INSPIRE AND EDUCATE. YOU MUST READ THIS NOVEL. SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES, I HOPE

Ridley Scott should have used this book for the basis of his movie Kingdom of Heaven, a story about the Christian Crusade to save Jerusalem from the Moslem army Saladin. Cecelia Holland's novel has a much more coherent plot than the one used by Scott. Her main character, the tough, gritty Ranulf Fitzwilliam, a Templar, is quite believable as the dark-haired, dark-eyed, man of steel. As a fanatical warrior/monk he wants no truck with women. In their presence he keeps his eyes on the ground and a growl in his voice. But in the course of events he reluctantly finds himself falling in love with the young Queen Sybilla. This unexpected romance blooms against the terrible reality of war.

Holland writes so well. She knows the intircacies of the historical period of which she writes. Her characters are diverse and well developed. And best of all she knows how to tell a darn good story.

I love her dark heroes. Men who are willing to risk it all to vanquish their foe, to get the girl, and to uphold their own sense of honor. Rannulf is one of her most explosive characters since Laeghaire in " The Firedrake " and Richard in " Great Maria ", but not quite so loveable as Richard. I love her style! Their is no one to compare her to. How can a story be so vivid yet so stark in the telling? It's magic, it's hypnotic, it can only be her

This is one of the only historical fiction novels about Crusaders I've read that's any good. It's spare and brutal. Battle scenes are powerful, though the edgy, spiky, fierce characters and their interrelations are the real point here. As ever, Holland captures period mentalities well. The theme of same-sex relations is historically relevant to the Templars and is presented well here, without stereotyping. Only readers addicted to happy endings should avoid this wonderful book.

Jerusalem is a story of the Knights Templar in the Holy Land in the 1180s. The story centers around Rannulf Fitzwilliam, a Norman knight who, like many of the Templars, has a Past and has come East to do penance. The story is set in and around Jerusalem and Damascus, as the King of Jerusalem struggles to keep the monarchy intact, even as the Saracens threaten to attack from without.

Rannulf isn't exactly a likeable character--I didn't like him much, and he wasn't much liked by his comrades. He's stoic, almost to the point of coldness, and so he doesn't often show emotion--and when he does, it almost seems forced. For example, take Rannulf's attraction to Sibylla--I'm not sure that he's in love with her so much as in lust, given his past behavior. I liked Stephen a whole lot better, struggling as he does with temptation. Actually both characters struggle with it, but Stephen's struggle is much greater, because the waters, so to speak, are much more muddy.

The tone of the book, as other readers have mentioned, is grim. There are some fantastic descriptions of the battles the Templars fight in against the Saracens (that scene at the end is one of the most suspenseful battle scenes I've ever read), and I always got the sense that disaster was just around the corner, both for the Templars and Jerusalem. As a reader, you really get a "you are there" feeling when you read this book--from the sweat and blood of the battle to the saddle sores, its all in there. The feelings the Christians and Muslims had towards each other are also well depicted. Although I had reservations about the main character of this book, I'd still recommend this one to anyone who's looking for a good novel about the Crusades and the Knights Templar.

Cecilia Holland is without question one of the finest historical novelists now working. Jerusalem is good, but not her very best work. As usual she concentrates on the human aspects of the story, with a central character who is representative of their time, and extremely alien to our own. The central focus here is a Knight Templar, a warrior monk, at the very end of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Through his eyes we meet Saladin of Damascus, and Baldwin of Jerusalem. More than any other historical novelist Holland is able to show both sexes, and how they fit into their society, their roles and how they bent them to fit their individual personalities. Her writing, as always, is clear, clean, and crisp.