Customer Reviews

Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If the histororical intrigue doesn't keep the pages turning (and have you checking some of the authors sources); if the religious tightrope isn't taunt and narrow enough for you; if the mystery itself doesn't at least make you head for the back page faster than you should... I'd be suprised. Excellent work! Much more enjoyable and much more "historic" than The DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons. None of Brown's "hidden agenda" stuff either. You can either account this author's historical take as fully valid or not, but you're going to have to do some REAL history research to get there. Historical fiction is much more enjoyable when its not being squished out of murky controversy and alterior motive, and The Last Kabblist is a perfect blend of pacing, mystery and oh so much more!

Reading Richard Zimler's book The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is similar in a way to looking at a painting by the Flemish painter Hironymous Bosch: both have many-layered, complex compositions, full of mysterious sometimes gory details yet one can not stop looking /reading them. No wonder the author himself referred in passing, to a painting by Bosch glanced upon by Berekiah and his friend Farid in one of the city's palaces.

I was fascinated not only by the main story itself ascending way beyond a regular murder mystery, but also by it's frame tale - namely, the discovery of Zarco's manuscript by Zimler back in 1990 in Istanbul. Yet, one can not but recall the words of Golden-Age Spanish-Jewish poet Solomon Ibn-Gabirol who wrote: "The poem's best - is its fiction", and that much can apply to this book, by the time you reach the middle of it, it no longer matters whether back in 1990 Zimler actually stayed in Istanbul, found Zarco's manuscript and edited it into contemporary fiction, to be published about a decade later. If indeed these facts are true and not mere fiction - than the world has been blessed with an important discovery of an illuminating historical document that sheds more light on the grim events that took place during 1506 in Lisbon.
But surely this is not the main point behind this amazing, captivating and touching narrative.

What, then is Zimler's bottom-line?
Might it be a warning to Jews all over the world that no place is indeed safe for them in the long run? After all it can not be a mere coincidence that in 1530 Zarco warns his future readers about further wrong-doings towards the Jews of Europe, be it in during his life-time or hundreds of years later - (1930- for instance). One can not help but notice how the graphic descriptions of the massacre of the Anusim during Passover of 1506, connotes in a powerful and disturbing parallels to similar events recounted after the late 19th century pogroms in East Europe as well as after the Holocaust.

Still, this book was not written only for a public well versed in Historia Judaica,
therefore I tend to believe Zimler aimed to reach a higher, more spiritual level of awareness in his reader, pointing out that the real issue here is all about living without masks, telling us between the lines, that a person can only be complete if he lives his life in a place where he is accepted as he really is - be it a Jew or a Muslim, straight or gay.

It's difficult for me to express just how much I adored this book. I picked it up intending to read a couple chapters in the tub before going to bed early (11pm). I ended reading until the water was cold and my room mates banged on the door. I finished at 1am, and wanted to reread it for more detail.

This book is amazing. It's captivating and exciting, making you want to devour the text in big gulps. Putting this down for longer than a half hour is painful because you want to know more. The loose ends are not neatly tied up at the end of each chapter, nor at the end, which is wonderful. I hate it when an author ties up the story with a neat little bow, when in reality that never happpens.

The book operates on several levels, which are all mingled together. On the one hand, it's a historical novel about Jews in Portugal, anti-semitism, forced conversion, reactions to the plague, kabbalah, and bonds of friendship and blood. It also deals with the masks that people wear in varying social situations, and losing yourself in those masks. Jewish religious practice and the Kaballah are, not surpisingly, very important to how the mystery plays itself out. Then there is the murder mystery, friends and family lost and feared dead, and stolen property. I'm making this sound too heavy, but Zimler keeps all those balls in the air, and doesn't ram his opinions down our throat.

This novel isn't only for Jews or mystery fans. It's a brilliant work of fiction that most anyone would love. Buy a copy for yourself, and a copy to give away.

This book was so powerful. I really enjoyed what the author did with this book. After a seredipitous find of a genizah in his friend's basement, he creates this phenomenal story--weaving elements of history, religion, mystery, and tragedy.

Berekiah is a secret Jew in 16th century Portugal. His family professed that they converted and were "New Christians" after 1492, but they continued their Jewish customs and traditions. When his world is turned upside down by the death of his beloved uncle, Berekiah sets out to find the murderer. With the "Old Christians" marauding the streets of Lisbon, killing many Jews and plundering their possessions, Berekiah and his best friend, Farid, search for answers. Only someone who intimately knew Uncle Abraham could have killed him, and Berekiah searches for the killer amongst his own friends and loved ones, the inner circle of "threshers", fellow secret Jews that studied Kabbalah with his uncle.

Berekiah tells the story in first person narrative, and I felt that we were not able to learn very much about him because of this. We learn more about his family and the inner circle of threshers than we do about him. The story is also told in present tense, so it is very easy to get steeped and feel like you are right there with Berekiah and Farid.

I enjoyed this book very much and I learned a great deal about Marrano history.

The inquisition came to Portugal later than it did to Spain. Jews were not tossed out of Lisbon as they were out of Madrid. Not right away. Prior to exile there was a period of " grace ", in which the Jews were given twenty years to completely convert to Chrisitianity. This period was characterized by pogroms, by terror, by ostracism and prejudice. In Lisbon as well as in Madrid (as in Germany some years later) Jews who had been valued members of a community rapidly became oppressed, feared, and despised. In a time of drought and plague, it was easy to blame the Jews, and also easy to burn them in huge bonfires, even those Jews who had converted to Christianity. Many secretly remained Jews, practicing their religion, and many of those who practiced studied Kabala, which is one of the roots of neo-platonism, and of the renaissance, and the source of a rich mystic tradition that continues to this day. Richard Zimmler's book is a wonderfully rich depiction of these terrible times. It is also a thrilling mystery, and an adventure story of the first order. And on every page, unobtrusively, without rancor, pretension, or arrogance, it meditates on the hard questions of life: how can GD tolerate a world of such cruelty; how can a world of such cruelty shine with such beauty; why is the world so constantly in need of redemption, and how is it that simple kindness and the complex passion for truth redeem it over and over again at every moment? Books, brothers, fathers and wives, masters and disciples, artists and thieves, murderers and schlemiels, illuminated manuscripts and minds illuminated by winged visions; all these things fill this book with unceasing interest and beauty. No wonder it's out of print.

A columnist's praise in the June 9, 2000, issue of the Mexico City newspaper Excelsior alerted me to "The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon," and I bought a copy. I found the plot delightfully engaging; it was hard to put the book down. Zimler's portrait of Lisbon in 1506, with Jews being killed by the Christian majority, is vividly drawn. And it appears to be historically accurate: the Encyclopædia Britannica confirms that there was a massacre of Jews in Lisbon that year. Reading the novel, you're in the center of a pogrom, and it's not pleasant. Zimler's portrayal of life under siege is an accomplishment in itself, but to interweave it with a well-constructed detective story is even more remarkable. The next time I'm in Lisbon, I'll walk through the Rossio and the Alfama with a more informed perspective.

In sum, I highly recommend this novel. I have a few criticisms. The novel tends to portray Lisbon's Christians as haggard savages, literally cretins (a pejorative word derived from the Latin for Christian). Zimler's vehemence in this regard surprised me. And the self-righteousness of his hero, Berekiah Zarco, becomes hard to take at times, particularly when it's combined with an intrepidity that Batman and Robin might envy. Moreover, I agree with the June 7, 2000, posting that the regular invocation of a verb "to gift" was irritating and distracting. (The word "center" was also occasionally used in odd ways, but "gift" was particularly grating.) I know of nothing in Portuguese that requires such usage.

I wondered whether the supposedly nonfictional author's note was a literary device or a statement of historical fact. I think I've been able to figure out which it is, but the author may not want the answer posted here, so I'm not going to gift (I mean give) my opinion. Let it be part of the mystery.

Without a doubt this is one of the finest literary whodunnits written in recent years. Though to call it a 'whodunnit' automatically puts it into that subclass of murder thrillers and it is far superior to those. It failed to meet my expectations, and this has nothing whatsoever to do with the book or the author, because of the publishing gump. The Arcadia version B format has a review on the back that screams: "an American Umberto Eco".
And so raises expectations to unscalable heights.
To draw a parallel, it's akin to those fantasy novel reviewers who proclaim the next trite offering as 'surpassing' or 'the new' Tolkien. Talk about setting an author up for a fall.
So, this is not on the same level as Eco. In fact, there is nothing out there to come close to Eco, so forget the reviews and recognise that this is a brilliantly characterised, superbly plotted literary murder mystery set in 1506 against the backdrop of the persecution of the New Christians. Zimmer makes one slip - he introduces our erstwhile detective - Berekiah/Pedro - to a sidekick. If only we could get away from sidekicks!
Nevertheless the plot, the scene and the intensity of the writing does mean this is the finest intellectual murder mystery of the twenty-first century.
But it is not an Eco.

"The last kabbalist of Lisbon" is a man named Berekiah Zarco, a jew living in Lisbon in the beginning of the 16th century. During that year's Passover celebration, the christian population in Lisbon revolted against the jews, and many atrocities were commited. Zarco's uncle, Abraham, a powerful jew and kabbalist, was involved in many irregular activities. During the riots, Berekiah's life is turned upside down, and, among other things, his beloved uncle is murdered, under mysterious circumstances.

Richard Zimler has created a novel based in many layers, characters and situations. Sometimes a little confusing, but always interesting, Zimler guides us since his discovery of the hidden documents written by Zarco centuries ago, to his misfortunes while trying to find his uncle's murderer. The violence contained in the novel is purposedly very graphic, so that the reader can relate to what happened during the period. Most of his characters are complex, but, even if the story is narrated in first person, I felt detached from Berekiah, the main character, paying attention to other characters, more interesting in my opinion.

Zimler has written a story that is really a "whodunnit", mixed with the fictional account of one of the most unhappy times in human history. I liked it and recommend it, although it is a little too dense to become "popular".

Grade 8.0/10

You will not only find that this book is full of surprises and horrifying (yet histotically accurate) events, you'll find yourself engrossed into the mystery that makes up the plot of the novel.

Yes, it's graphic and down-right disgusting to learn of the tragedies faced by the Jews and Jewish converts of 17th century Portugal, but the perplexing mystery that grows and wanes by discoveries throughout the book will prevent you from setting this book down for any lengthy amount of time.

This book has some amazingly disgusting scenes that are described during the pogrom of the Jewish settlement in Lisbon. Disturbingly, these scenes only make the book that much more interesting and engrossing. The book is a wonderful novel set in an incredible time period. One interesting feature is the change in tense from past to present about halfway through the book. The reader can't help but feel the madness that consumes the protagonist as his obsession to find his Uncle's killer leads him on a maddeningly winding trail. Besides having a great plot line this novel also has the benefit of giving an insight into Kabbalah, a fascinating movement. Readers of mystery and students of religion will relish the experience of reading this fine work.