Land of Marvels: A Novel [Paperback]

Barry Unsworth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2010

“There is something of E. M. Forster in Unsworth’s knowing depiction of a decaying empire.”—The New Yorker

In this masterful work of historical fiction set during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, the schemes of Western powers grappling for a foothold in Mesopotamia come vividly to life. English archaeologist John Sommerville begins excavating a historical site, believing he has uncovered a find that will revolutionize his field. But when the Germans threaten his dig with their railroad, he hires an Arab spy, not recognizing the spies dwelling in his own house.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Booker Prize-winning Unsworth (The Ruby in Her Navel) sets his intelligent and timely new book in Mesopotamia during the spring of 1914, just before the chaos of WWI. John Somerville, a British archeologist desperate for fame, worries that his new discovery, an ancient tomb, will be compromised by the construction--funded by Germany--of a new railway line. At the excavation site, Somerville's wife, Edith, wonders if her marriage has fizzled, especially after the arrival of Alex Elliott, a handsome American posing as a geologist but secretly searching for new sources of oil. Meanwhile, Jehar, an Arab confidence man, brings often fabricated messages to Somerville, warning him that the Germans are quickly approaching. The tension between the players--all eager to claim rights to what the land provides--builds toward a violent, unexpected finale. In elegantly modulated prose, Unsworth creates a tapestry of ambition and greed while, at the same time, foreshadowing the current conflict in the region. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

It is 1914, and, after three years in the deserts of Mesopotamia, the British archeologist John Somerville believes he is on the brink of a great discovery. Before he can uncover what he thinks was the residence of the last Assyrian king, Somerville must fight off plans for a railway that will encroach on his dig site, and thwart the efforts of Elliot, a charismatic, straight-talking American (in British historical novels there is rarely any other kind) who is bent on finding oil and on destroying what remains of Somerville�s marriage. There is something of E. M. Forster in Unsworth�s knowing depiction of a decaying empire run by upper-class incompetents, and in his generous and sympathetic portrayal of women caught between cultures, but he falters in the execution: the plot is that of a thriller, yet the story unfolds at the leisurely pace of a somewhat distracted teatime conversation.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 Reprint edition (January 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393335526
• ISBN-13: 978-0393335521
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous, December 26, 2008

By 

David Schweizer "Almawood" (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Land of Marvels: A Novel (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This is very fine historical fiction. It is very timely. Although set in the recent past, at the time of World War I in Europe, the author places readers at the heart of the Middle East, which for many is still known as the fertile crescent or the center of civilization. He expounds knowledgeably on such geographic areas as the Mesopotamian civilization (now Iraq), with extensive discussions on the origins and development of Sumerian cultures, the Hittites, the Semites, the Akkadians and the Babylonians. Between Baghdad and Constantinople, the author "travels" between what, due to current events, have become familiar places. His prose style is clear and precise; it lacks that obscurity that has become part of modern fiction,, especially in those works which employ magical realism and rich, if not fascinating, cultural references that can make reading an arduous undertaking. In contrast, Unsworth writes in prose more familiar to reading of nonfiction or of contemporary mysteries; that is, he is accessible and pleasurable easy to read. The story revolves around a British archaeologist who is working on an excavation of a long-buried Assyrian palace. The search for historical objects clashes with the rich for oil, with a geologist in conflict with the scholar. High and low ambitions do battle in the sands of time. This is a thriller that is worth reading, as fiction just for fun, or as fascinating background to our current political conflicts in that part of the world.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Land of Dullness, March 6, 2009

By 

L. Young "palmtree2000" (West Orange, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land of Marvels: A Novel (Hardcover)

Iraq 1914, an archaeology site. Here gather a multinational cast of characters each with a competing interest in the land. John Sommerville, a young English archaeologist, believes he has found the site of an ancient Assyrian palace and tomb. Alexander Elliott is an American petroleum geologist masquerading as an archaeologist, who believes he has found a huge oil field at the same site. A Swedish couple, the Johannssons are missionaries who believe this is the site of the original Garden of Eden and have been given a 99 year lease by the Ottomans to build a luxury hotel here to lure spiritual tourists.

Added to the mix is Jehar an wily Arab hired by Sommerville to give him information on the German railroad under construction which is moving inexorably closer and closer to the archaeology site; Edith the beautiful but emotionally distant wife of Sommerville, Sommerville's assistant Palmer and the Patricia the daughter of a friend of the Sommervilles who is staying with them. In additional we get a duplicitous British miliary man and sinister English businessman.

In this novel of double dealing and intrigue no one is quite who they say they are. All of this seems quite promising in a novel. Unfortunately the promise is never realized until the last 80 pages of the novel. With its slow moving action and lapses into pages on Assryian archaeology and petroleum geology, interest in the story wanes quickly. Finally in the last pages the story picks up steam ending in a shattering act of violence, but it is too little to late for this reader.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Things Fall Apart, December 20, 2008

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Land of Marvels: A Novel (Hardcover)

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King oil, Iraq and the chess game of imperialistic "diplomacy."

The elements may sound familiar, but author Barry Unsworth travels back to 1914 when the Ottoman Empire was in the closing act on the world stage and would soon be carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey in the aftermath of World War One (Iraq was created in 1920 by a League of Nations mandate and under the protection of the United Kingdom). The historical novel focuses on the already strong push by the Western super powers to gain a strong and lasting presence in the region as the empire was teetering on the brink of irrelevancy.

In the eye of the storm is archeologist John Somerville, who is looking to catch lightning in a jar with the excavation of site that is - unfortunately for him - directly in the path of a railway to Baghdad that is being financed by German interests. The dig yields an ancient palace/tomb, but Somerville is looking at time quickly ticking away and his dream of worldwide fame being buried forever. Swirling around Somerville's crew are a number of people who have ulterior motives; his wife has strong feelings that the marriage is over, with her knight being the American "archeologist" and Jehar, a swindler with a smile, who delivers a number of bogus messages concerning the railway construction as he hopes to create an unbeatable gambit for the most powerful players.

The American "archeologist" is actually an oil company geologist who befriends Somerville, but is in a race to find liquid gold in the ground. And with others not so covert prepared to converge on the land, Somerville may become a pawn in a contest where his life is a worthless commodity. With bureaucrats aplenty - and all working their own angles - greed becomes king in a violent conclusion where only the strong will truly live another day to fight the growing resource wars.

Through believable characters and a plot that swirls with intrigue, Unsworth depicts the huge appetites of forces bent on manipulation in the present, no matter what the consequences bring in the future, since the victors will confidently (re)write the history.