Customer Reviews

Quarantine: A Novel

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Jim Crace is one of the finest writers working in English today--each of his rather brief books manages to fashion vivid, tangible worlds in the sparest, most succint prose. Aside from his most recent work, the miraculous "Being Dead", this is his best effort, a hallucinatory trip to the wind-swept, barren wilderness of ancient Palestine. Though each of the seven human characters here is compelling and fully developed in his or her own right, it is the landscape--bleak, timeless, deadly--that is the star of this show. Crace has so fully researched and imagined this place that we come away feeling as if we, too, have been there, suffered through a most grueling and unusual quarantine that begins and ends with a miracle and is rife with dangers--seen and unseen--throughout. Much has been made of the portrayal of Jesus here. To be sure, this is not the sort of book that fundamenalist Christians will be clambering to buy. What we get is a young, naive, incredibly obstinate man who suffers unnecessarily (or so it seems), dies a gruesome death and then, in the book's final, deeply unsettling pages, walks away from the desert, even as his husk of a body lies in a tomb. What exactly is going on here? It's hard to tell--Crace is not a big one on spelling things out for the reader--but one can draw the conclusion that Jesus had to die in the desert both spiritually (as in the Gospels) AND physically before he could begin his mission. There are serious implications for theologians in all of this, but this general reader was more haunted by the imagery than troubled by Crace's unorthodox and truly weird tampering with tradition. Among the supporting cast, the most interesting characters are the two women--the infertile, intelligent Marta and the subserviant, pregnant Miri who, we are lead to believe, might become the famous Martha and Mary of St. John's Lazarus story (something to keep in mind while reading this book, I think.) The warm, deeply human bond that brings these women together is touching indeed, and adds context to the mystical, dream-like passages that leave the reader off-balance, in a world that's as unfamiliar to us as it is real. Crace is a genius, what more can one say, and this strange, upsetting, beautiful little novel deserves the attention of all serious readers.

"Quarantine" presents the story of a group of people who are changed by their experiences in the harsh desert of the Middle East. Fascinating from a historical and religious standpoint, this novel succeeds in creating a cast of unique characters and infusing the story with a compelling, complicated group dynamic. While Jesus is not the main character, his deep conflict and physical struggles are fascinating, as is his final transformation from child prophet into the son of God. Still, he is just one of a number of truly compelling characters which make up the heart and soul of this novel. The conclusion is wonderful. Each of the characters is (in one way or another) freed from the troubles that have haunted them, and their journey continues in another direction. This is a slow book, but it is definitely worth reading.

Although Jesus is not the main character in 'Quarantine', his presence imbues the narrative and propels, in a subtle yet powerful way, the actions of all the other characters in the novel. His presence, however, is all too human, and his so-called temptations are mostly the product of his fertile religious fantasizing and more prosaic causes. 'Quarantine' thus provides a different and original perspective on Jesus in the desert, one that is thoroughly believable and enjoyble because of the ironies involved.

To me, the truly commanding figure in 'Quarantine' is Musa, an unscrupulous merchant with a twisted Midas touch. His abusiveness, greediness, and manipulations let the other characters--his submissive wife, an ailing Jewish old man, an arrogant Greek is search of enlightment, a barren woman in search of fertily, and a simpleton--manifest themselves in their hopes and disappointments. Moreover, he is the one who, in his own obsession (a product of a serendipitous act), constantly tempts Jesus with comfort and food. In other words, Musa is the necessary evil through which the lives of the other characters, and the 'holiness' of Jesus, acquire meaning.

The language of the entire novel is superb and effortless, giving a sense of fluidity that at times hides the intricacies of the interactions among the characters and their inner life. The desert is also beautifully described, in all its barrenness and cruelty. I have rarely encountered such compelling language in other novels, and I absolutely enjoyed it.

'Quarantine', in short, is an interesting novel to read. It leaves the reader thinking about the moral issues raised for a long time, making him or her go back to re-read certain passages. I thoroughly recommend it. I'm sure that it would generate a wealth of fruitful ideas for debate on the meaning and nature of the religious experience.

This novel is definitely not for those who want all the nuances of a story spoonfed to them, and I suspect the complaints that _Quarantine_ is "boring" and "has no plot" stem from the attitude too many take toward reading books nowadays. _Quarantine_ is immensely rewarding, but it's not a airport rack thriller.

While not exactly inspirational, and definitely morally ambiguous, the events that lead upto the last 20 pages or so are perfect; Crace's handling of what happens with Jesus and Musa after the former's "death," and the emancipation of Musa's wife and the woman he raped, are far superior to anything I have read in a long time. Although the prose is a bit dry at times, that actually turns to its advantage at the end, where it is all-important to be understated. I highly recommend this book.

But unlike a previous reviewer, I didn't detect even a smidgen of stereotyping of Arab culture. I read that review prior to buying the book, and was fully prepared for some prejudicial characterization, but I couldn't find any whatsoever. All the characters in here are truly universal -- Miri's subservience to and concealed hatred of her husband, Musa's mercantilistic thinking and amorality, and so on. I would have no problem at all imagining Miri as a modern, oppressed Western housewife and Musa as a domineering, conceited middle manager. Just because not all the characters here are admirable doesn't mean they're stereotypes. Such accusations about books and movies usually have at least some merit, but for _Quarantine_ they're completely unjustified, and seem a bit paranoid, actually.

From its dramatic opening in which a trader lies dying in a tent while his caravan continues on to Jericho without him, to the confusing days following the death of Jesus, Crace's novel of forty days' "quarantine" in the wilderness startles, fascinates, and ultimately haunts. Readers who embrace a literal interpretation of the Bible may be offended by the premise and plot of this novel, in which Jesus and four other pilgrims seek spiritual enlightenment in separate caves in the bleak wilderness. Each, including Jesus, faces personal demons as s/he wrestles with solitude, starvation, and thirst. For those who regard events in the New Testament as symbolic, rather than literal, the novel offers a surprising new way of experiencing and interpreting the trials in the wilderness, the death and burial of Jesus, and ultimately the influence of Jesus on succeeding generations.

Crace's descriptions of the natural world are breathtaking. Using vivid verbs, musical cadences, unique metaphors, and acutely perceived observations about man, nature, and the spirit, he brings the wilderness into sharp focus, often personifying nature and its creatures without a trace of romanticism. "The clouds came down to sniff the hills, to scratch their bellies on the thorns," "Clouds and lightning moved away, banging on their shields," and sounds of wind that "could be mistaken for the vast percussion of the storm-pressed, canvas billows of a ship" are among the hundreds of vibrant and unique images which bring nature to life and illustrate man's closeness to it. With a similar focus on men as humans within nature and the wilderness, he attempts to recreate the quarantine experience and man's desire to connect with a higher power. Jesus, like the other pilgrims, is human here, a man rooted in the real world of his day and subject to the same urges as other men. He is different from them, however, in his determination not to yield to privation as he seeks union with God through his visions and hallucinations.

This is not a book that will appeal to everyone. Though Crace's purpose is not to debunk, he does challenge our understanding of what happened between the forty days in the wilderness and the resurrection and its significance. The language is stunning, the characters are fascinating, the imagery is unique, and the power of nature is overwhelming--but one's enjoyment of the book ultimately depends on one's willingness to consider alternative interpretations of some of the basic tenets of Christianity. Mary Whipple

What to make of this book? Crace knows the story of Jesus is so well known as to be almost sacrosanct. To take a brief 40 days from that story and develop them into a full blown novel is risky enough. But it's Crace's decision to defy expectations and change the outcome that makes this novel so ultimately haunting. The cruel indifference of the desert scrub provides the backdrop for Crace's ragged band of misfits. Five pilgrims come to the wilderness in search of personal solace, only to be exploited and manipulated by an avaricious merchant Musa. Four succumb. Only the fifth, the mysterious, self-doubting and apparently hallucinating Jesus, remains alone and apart. It is this very isolationism that irritates and intrigues Musa, who apparently owes his life to a brief visit from Jesus as the merchant lay abandoned and dying of fever. A devious, calculating and, yes, even devilish Musa won't rest until he can tempt the young "Gally" from his key-hole cave and coax him into revealing the secrets of his healing powers. Despite his refusal to have anything to do with his desert neighbours, Jesus comes to have a profound effect on all their lives. They leave the harsh hills changed, while the man most responsible for that change remains. There are many biblical allusions: the empty grave, the miraculous waters, the daily temptations, the stones to bread, the double resurrection, even the names of the women who minister to Jesus: Marta and Miri. It is difficult not to seek some profound and underlying message from Crace's simple and poetically written novel. The enigmatic ending is especially haunting, almost giving the book the feel of some ungraspable riddle. But ultimately any search for symbolism would likely diminish the beauty of the language and Crace's meditation on the mystery of God in a relentless landscape.

Barry Lopez recently visited Boulder on his book tour, and mentioned that when he's not writing, he's reading Jim Crace and Russell Banks. He mentioned reading QUARANTINE in particular, and about Crace, Lopez said, "watch this guy."

The Bible says that Jesus went into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by Satan (Mark 1:12-13). "Go into the desert if you must, and fast," Crace writes in this imaginative tale of that forty-day retreat into the wilderness. "But do take care. For god is not alone up there, if god is there at all. But there are animals; and the devil is the fiercest of them all" (p. 158). Written, perhaps, from the desert's point of view, Crace's 245-page novel reveals that Jesus's wilderness "quarantine" would be "achieved without the comforts and temptations of clothing, food and water. He'd put his trust in god, as young men do. He would encounter god or die, that was the nose and tail of it. That's why he'd come. To talk directly to his god. To let his god provide the water and the food. Or let the devil do its work. It would be a test for all three of them" (p. 22). Crace's writing is so vivid that it allows us to experience Jesus's quarantine for ourselves. "No one had said how painful it would be," Crace writes. "How first, there would be the headaches and bad breath, weakness, fainting; or how the coating on the upper surface of his tongue would thicken day by day; or how his tongue would soon become stuck to the upper part of his mouth, held in place by gluey strings of hunger, so that he would mutter to himself or say his prayers as if his palate had been cleft at birth; or how his gums would bleed and his teeth become as loose as date stones" (p. 157).

"They came to live like hermit bats, the proverbs said, for forty days, a quarantine of dayight fasting, solitude and prayer, in caves" (p. 11). In his fascinating novel, Crace introduces Jesus to other exiles, who had travelled into the Judean desert "mad with grief. Or shame. Or love. Or illnesses and visions. Mad enough to think that everything they did, no matter how vain or trivial, was of interest to their god. Mad enough to think that forty days of discomfort could put their world in order" (p. 12). Jesus's temptation arrives not in the form of a serpent or animal, but through the solicitations of a merchant, Musa. "For Jesus," Casey writes, "the merchant Musa and the devil were the same . . . he was a strong adversary for god" (pp. 154-55). Jesus knew that "angels and devils could not be told apart just by their looks," but as for Musa, "here was a devil then, sent to the wilderness, with death and fever as his friends, attended by four mad, unbelonging souls, to be adversaries to god . . . they'd come to tempt him from the precipice with their thin cries" (p. 112). Crace equates Musa's footprints to the footprints of "the burglar, the adulterer, the son who'd run away at night, the village sneak, the chicken thief" (p. 201).

Crace is a genius, and following his barefooted hero's journey into the stony desert is a brilliant, stunning, haunting experience that will leave you open-mouthed in awe.

G. Merritt

If there are writers more protean than Jim Crace, novelists more determined than he not ever to write the same kind of book twice, they keep well hidden. Crace's previous novels had settings as varied as these: prehistoric earth (The Gift of Stones), metropolitan Britain a few years in the future (Arcadia), and Cornwall in the 19th Century (Signals of Distress). Lest we should see a pattern developing, he has gone hiking and this, his fifth novel and already something of a modern classic, takes place in Judea, two thousand years ago. The hero is called Jesus. He is from Galilee. He is a carpenter by trade. How original.

Words lose their meanings and I suppose it is a sad reflection on the times to note that for most people now the word 'quarantine' conjures up the image of six months of doggy hell; or, just possibly, the director of Pulp Fiction. The founding meaning is gone to most, but the book reminds us that quarantine originally meant a period of 40 days and nights alone, often fasting, done with the aim of achieving some personal or spiritual goal. (The duration alone is retained in the French 'quarante'.) The supporting characters in Crace's novel are four people pursuing such a quarantine in search of relief for their respective problems ("madness, madness, cancer, infertility"). The fifth is Jesus, a young man of zealous disposition. The other four will break their fast every night: a sign that they don't really believe that god will provide for them, let alone that he will cure their maladies. Jesus is different:

"His quarantine would be achieved without the comforts and temptations of clothing, food and water. He'd put his trust in god, as young men do. He would encounter god or die, that was the nose and tail of it. That's why he'd come. To talk directly to his god. To let his god provide the water and the food. Or let the devil do its work. It would be a test for all three of them."

In a lesser novel, this could become the central concern: "Does Jesus live or die?" (Forty days? No food or water? What do you think?) But Crace deals the story more skilfully, by making Jesus only a little more prominent than the other quarantiners. The true central characters are a travelling salesman, Musa, and his wife Miri. Musa is a tough man and a cruel husband, whose reputation precedes him as he lies dying of fever on the novel's first page. When Miri goes off, with rather too much haste, to dig a grave for Musa, Jesus encounters him and he mysteriously recovers.

Musa's subsequent faith in Jesus - he becomes obsessed with "the little Gally" - is matched only by his faith in himself. The scenery is littered with caves where the quarantiners stay, and Musa wastes no time in making them believe that he owns the land. He extracts rent from the afflicted four with no difficulty. Musa comes to resemble God. He fails to abide by the rules he himself sets. His vengeance is arbitrary. His power over the others rests mostly in reputation, unfulfillable threats and his forbidding appearance: at the same time he has a ridiculous unmanly voice, and his vast weight means that he cannot get up without help from someone else. He is a God, like all the others, who requires his believers for survival. But Musa is a second-rate deity, the Alan Partridge (if you will) of the first century AD: he is torn between abusing those weaker than himself and becoming obsessively worshipful of anyone in whom he detects power. Jesus becomes the object of his fascination, and it is not long into the novel when Musa (and so the others) start thinking of him as a 'healer'. The implication as the novel ends is that from the mouths of these half-dozen wanderers will be born the rudiments of Christianity. The crucial point Crace makes is that whatever Jesus actually does is not relevant. Religion, the novel seems to say, is based on belief not reason. As such it is beyond logical attack or defence.

But the underlying themes are not half the pleasures of "Quarantine". The surface is divertingly beautiful. As ever Crace makes the scene and land his own, and the cruel Judean desert becomes vivid and full of character:- "This was the wind on which to fly away. Its gusts and blusters came looking for him in the cave, bursting in like rowdy boys to shake him from unconsciousness." "The salty scrubland was a lazy and malicious host. Even lizards lifted their legs for fear of touching it too firmly." Crace also is adept at firm characterisation, and when literary fiction suffers a dearth of really villainous characters it is a relief to have Musa, whose unremitting wrongdoing is perversely admirable.

So broad is Crace's skill, that the reader feels that the whole book could be driven by any one of the factors alone: setting, plot, characters, themes. That he manages to sustain them all at once is (not literally) miraculous. Crace may not think much of religion but he has the gift of the greatest creators of legends: he makes you believe.

What happened during Christ's 40 days out in the desert when he was tempted by Satan? What exactly compelled him to fast in the desert? Jim Crace's Quarantine answers these questions as well as tells a very different story of those forty days than one might expect. The idea of Jim Crace (Arcadia, Being Dead) writing a novel about Christ's forty days in the desert was an appealing one to me. Crace is a talented, creative writer. His perspective would be worth reading. It is. He does something with Quarantine that I didn't expect: Jesus is not the point of the story. Instead we have a woman named Miri out in the barren wilderness waiting for her husband Musa to die. Musa is a merchant and he has beaten her and mistreated her for years and now he is on death's doorstep. She is six months pregnant and she will soon be free. She sees five people walking towards the series of caves which she has taken shelter. One woman and four men. The fourth man is a gaunt young man: Jesus from Nazareth. He is young and pious and thoughtful. He feels called to take his quarantine in the desert, the others do it for personal reasons. But he takes quarantine one step farther: no food or water at all, not just after darkness. With Miri hiding Jesus stops at her cave looking for a dab of water before he begins the forty day quarantine. He blesses Musa and tells him to "be well", a common phrase. The next day it is clear that Musa will live and Miri will not be free.

Most of Quarantine deals with Musa and Miri's encounters with the other four pilgrims (as this is something of a pilgrimage) and Musa's mercantile behavior. There are periodic chapters told from the viewpoint of Jesus, but Jesus is only in a third of the novel. The treatment of Jesus is interesting in that it becomes clear that he isn't just a man (as evidenced by his unforeseen healing of Musa) and what the form of his temptations and belief is. He dreams of being a Messiah, a healer. He thinks he is just a man. When the quarantine is over everyone is changed, the pilgrims and Miri no less than Jesus.

Readers looking for a focused novel form treatment of Jesus's forty days of temptation and exile in the desert should probably look elsewhere because Christ is not the point of this book. Jesus seems to be more a framing device than anything else. Jim Crace has an impressive imagination and this is a fine story about how the quarantine might change a man and about humane nature in extreme situations, and the time spent on the pre-Messianic Christ is worth the price of admission.

-Joe Sherry

Quarantine takes as its basis the story of Jesus forty days in the desert. But rather than focusing only on Jesus, Crace introduces other characters into the picture  Musa the conniving merchant and his put-upon, pregnant wife Miri; Aphas, an old man suffering from cancer who has gone into the desert as a last resort attempt at a cure; Marta, an infertile woman who is undertaking the quarantine in an attempt to prove her worthiness to bear a child; Shim, a wannabe aesthete who is perhaps not as above the worries of the secular world as he would like; and a mysterious Badu, a (perhaps) mad tribesman.

Quarantine uses these characters to explore themes of belief and the interactions between humans when they are outside of their normal element. As with other Crace writing, the prose in this novel is terrific, and he manages just as well with descriptions of the landscape as he does his characters. This is a small ensemble for such an intense novel, but it works well  we see society at large explored in this small microcosm.

Unlike some modern-day tales based on stories from the Bible, Crace has not attempted to modernise his story too much (unlike a past story I read which managed to have Judas as a paedophile, Mary suffering from breast cancer, and various gay and disabled characters to give it a more realistic feel). He has managed to explore age-old themes in an ancient setting, yet bring a modern feel to the work. If you take your Bible to be the word of God, and dont like reinterpretations, I would suggest that you dont attempt this book  you will probably throw it away in disgust. But for the rest of us, there is a great reading experience waiting in yet another offering from one of todays most eclectic and versatile authors.