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The Justification of Johann Gutenberg: A Novel

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I'm thinking: Some readers may lay this book aside because its language has a slight but deliberate sound of being translated from a medieval manuscript.

Get over it. This book is a marvel.

Gutenberg, airing his "inky linen" in public, never gives himself the worse of any story he tells. He's no genius, he scratches where he itches, he calculates and keeps one step ahead of the sheriff.

But he is a passionate craftsman. Five hundred fifty years later, His bible -- here in DC the Library of Congress displays a perfect copy of vellum -- is an astonishment.

Congratulations to Blake Morrison for this book.

With his clever title, implying, simultaneously, Gutenberg's justification of his life as it nears its end, his judgment by posterity, and a typesetter's spacing of words so that both left and right margins are even, Morrison sets the tone for this fascinating story about Johann Gutenberg and his development of the first printing press. Probably the invention which was most responsible for the spread of knowledge from about 1460 till the development of the computer five hundred years later, the printing press was a far more clandestine and potentially subversive invention than one might imagine, and its creation, as Morrison shows, was fraught with peril, financially, legally, and intellectually.

Beginning as the first-person recollections of Gutenberg as an old man in 1464, as he thinks about his end-of-life exile in Eltville, not far from Mainz, the novel establishes both Gutenberg's desire to be remembered and his loneliness. Life for the inventor of something as revolutionary as the printing press has not been easy. Always in debt, never able to repay his creditors, willing to sacrifice the woman he loves for his ambition, and at the mercy of both the guilds, who have a vested interest in having his invention fail, and the church which fears the potential power of a secular press, Gutenberg's entire life has been a fight. Creditors constantly take him to court, and he often has to start over.

In clear, deceptively simple, and sometimes lyrical prose, Morrison recreates the physical, social, and intellectual environment in which Gutenberg and his acquaintances operate. Gutenberg's first person recollections are sometimes ingenuous, usually honest, occasionally apologetic, and always driven by his ambition "to help words fly as far as doves," by promoting the successful development of his press.

Though the actual Johann Gutenberg is something of a mystery, Morrison adds muscle and tooth to the skeletal framework of what is known, creating a character which, if not realistic, is certainly plausible. Though parts of the book, such as a section about the making of type may not be intriguing to all readers, Morrison sandwiches the technical sections between more personal dramas, like Gutenberg's love interests and the machinations of his enemies to gain his machines. Homely details add color to what might otherwise be a black and white exposition about an arcane subject, while the archaic and formal language helps to create a sense of time and place. Every person who loves or buys books celebrates in some way, however distantly, the achievements of Gutenberg. In this intriguing novel, author Morrison celebrates them without reservation and brings them to life. Mary Whipple

The life of the man who revolutionised book production and arguably gave rise to The Renaissance - for without an easy means of spreading knowledge, how can science advance?

The book is written in the style of a man in his near-blind, bitter old age dictating to his young scribe, so it has that detached feel to it and a relatively stilted delivery. However, this is not unpleasing or intrusive, rather, it gives the book an appeal that it may have lacked if told in the third person as a story, rather than as a biography. It also enables him to speak his mind (as old men do), rationalising his youthful actions as 'justification' of the end result - the greatest invention since the wheel - and at the same time decrying those who wished to benefit unjustly from his industry.
Worst of all, he fears that the name of Gutenberg would be forgotten forever, with others claiming the work for themelves - we, as readers, know this is not the case and the old man can rest easy.

The bones of the book are true - there is some information on Gutenberg's life - but the bulk of the tale is necessarily invention by the author.
Nevertheless, that invention has the ring of truth - one can imagine these things influencing the mind of the young Gutenberg and spurring him to devise his later modifications to the printing process - specifically moveable type - that were to change the human world for ever, despite severe opposition from the church and others.
Perhaps the most outstanding point that comes across is the cost of books in those times; a Bible cost several year's wages - after all, that's the time a scribe took to write it - Gutenberg's invention reduced the cost radically and ensured consistent quality, no mistakes, an unlimited supply and, more to the point, affordability ... to the Church this was the very essence of hubris and heresy, if not devilry! Thank goodness their narrow minds did not prevail.

A very pleasant read.***.

The foremost question surrounding Blake Morrison's novel The Justification of Johann Gutenberg (Morrow, 2000) is how Morrow perceived that it should ever be published. This historical novel is rife with doubtful historical details, many of which would cause von Ranke to shudder; anachronisms of speech and behavior such as women's 'lib'; and an incredibly slow moving plot. However, it does have an abundance of beautiful descriptions and scenes, which are fitting from an author who has been awarded numerous accolades for his poetry. Despite the beauty of some of the writing, it is doubtful that Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, could not be rolling in his grave over what has been produced with his invention.
While historical novels are meant to be just that- novels- this work does seem to suffer more than the average in presenting events that are not viable to anyone who has left kindergarten. The major fault of this novel is that Morrison has created a world full of sordid behaviors to occupy the protagonist Gutenberg. He is engaged in scenes reminiscent of Harlequin romance novels with women, men, boys, and his business partners' Lolita-esque daughter. While undoubtedly this is engrossing to read about, especially with Morrison's poetic descriptions, the historical accuracy is dubious. When one reads a historical novel they hope for the fiction to be based on fact rather than for the fiction to overwhelm the facts. In this respect, Morrison has forgotten his target audience. The average reader will read this novel because they are interested in Gutenberg, and not sex. From the subject topic, the average reader would probably be interested in publishing, inventing, history, or religion. Morrison is under the impression that his audience is the Barbara Cartland set and he has erred in gearing his novel towards that audience.
Stylistically, this book is told from as a slightly askew version of the first- person narrative. Gutenberg narrates his life to a scribe (who changes midway through the book when Gutenberg is accused of fondling the first scribe!), who in turn writes down the account so that it may later be printed. While some may appreciate this technique, which mirrors the theme of the actual process of the creation of a book, the constant switching back and forth as Gutenberg questions his memory, or stops to speak directly to the scribe is jarring. However, while this technique is distracting, it also makes for a very fast read as one can skim over these tedious bits where Gutenberg "struggles" to remember and Morrison attempts to create some character for Gutenberg.
The major themes of this work are the journey of Gutenberg from child to man, as he goes vacillates between wealth and poverty, the genesis of a dream into reality, and the struggle that accompanies the accomplishment of the dream. Morrison is successful in the articulation of those themes, while portraying Gutenberg as atypical to his era. Whether Gutenberg really was an enigma, a genius, a thieving scoundrel, a sweet talker, or merely a general lout remains to be seen. However, this may be where the power of this novel comes from, that the reader is urged on by curiosity after the completion of the novel to discover if Morrison's Gutenberg could truly have had the ability to "remake the world with words." Yet, Morrison consistently underscores much of the importance of Gutenberg's achievements by excluding all but the most rudimentary technical information needed to understand the printing press. Since another strong theme is the process of book making, it would have been helpful to include more technical vignettes.
Overall, this book, which was a fast and easy read, failed to compel the reader. It did cover all the major events of Gutenberg's life, but does more to create confusion in the perception of Gutenberg because of the emphasis on sexual deviation. In comparison to the historical fiction of authors such as Kathryn Davis (Versailles, 2002) and the consummate Gore Vidal (Burr, 1973; Empire: A Novel, 1987; etc.), Blake Morrison is sadly lacking. Overall, The Justification of Johann Gutenberg, has too many flaws and that Morrison should continue writing poetry and leave historical fiction to those better practiced at creating believable circumstances of historical life.

This book tells the story of Johann Gutenberg - the visionary father of the printing press. It began as a dream to spread the love of reading, and knowledge out of the hands of the largely church-bound scribe copyiests. It would be interesting to know what he would have thought of the current state of book production, with the dawn of the internet and ebooks. I think he would be stunned at where we are now, and the sheer number of books available out there.
The story also covers some of the difficulties he had in buisiness and development of his grand idea. The idea was not widely accepted by the Church, even though he dream was to spread the word of God to more people than old methods of copying by hand. "God dwells in the hands of the scribes. God does not inhabit a machine", was the view of many Church officials. Gutenberg also proved himself to be a cany business man, weedleing investors of funds to further his vision, until he himself becomes unstuck.
Unfortunately, some of the historical detail seems a little sketchy. There seem to be some anacharonisms, and some issues of medieval life could have done with a bit more fleshing out.
Written from the point of view of an older Gutenberg dicating his memoirs to a youthful scribe, this is an interesting look at the man who start the great book revolution, for which many of us bibliophiles give thanks.