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glenberger's review against another edition
3.0
DNF...
alas, after reading 1/3rd of it (300 pages), I don't see myself returning to it. The writing from sentence to sentence is lovely, and I greatly enjoyed Tokarczuk's "Drive Your Plow..."
But this one...The narrative isn't carrying me along. There are encounters, there are descriptions of characters and scenes, there's lots of entrancing atmosphere, but there isn't enough story to trigger that craving to return to the book. So after six months of other books pushing past it in the queue, I'm calling it.
alas, after reading 1/3rd of it (300 pages), I don't see myself returning to it. The writing from sentence to sentence is lovely, and I greatly enjoyed Tokarczuk's "Drive Your Plow..."
But this one...The narrative isn't carrying me along. There are encounters, there are descriptions of characters and scenes, there's lots of entrancing atmosphere, but there isn't enough story to trigger that craving to return to the book. So after six months of other books pushing past it in the queue, I'm calling it.
jillybebe's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. I have no idea what this book is about. I’ve given the audiobook four hours and I remain utterly lost and confused. Did not finish.
jmg1122's review against another edition
Lost the thread -- the story didn't seem to be moving. I might try to finish it another time.
mvindc's review against another edition
4.0
This book is impressive to be sure--but I didn't really find it a particularly enjoyable read. Most of that is honestly just the size and scope of it. It's difficult for me to follow families over multiple generations and multiple countries without a bit more guidance than was provided, and when you throw in the fact that everyone changes their name half-way through (!!!) this book required a lot of focus to get through. A lot of the little details were lost on me (whose children married whose, who moved with Jacob's entourage at various points, etc), which I think would have added to the rich complexity of the novel. But I was already struggling under the weight of the complexity of the main topic of the novel, which was the religion of the main characters, and the evolution of that religion.
Honestly, I was so excited to read this book because I loved Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and there's a bit of that wit and a lot of that philosophy in here for sure. But I think you really have to be in the mood for something this big and heavy, and mostly my memory of this book will be just the feeling of trying to get through it before I had to return it to the library!
Honestly, I was so excited to read this book because I loved Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and there's a bit of that wit and a lot of that philosophy in here for sure. But I think you really have to be in the mood for something this big and heavy, and mostly my memory of this book will be just the feeling of trying to get through it before I had to return it to the library!
mccormack_beth's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a full month to get through this audiobook on 1.5x speed. The audiobook is over 35 hours. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I would not recommend the audiobook. The narrators were VERY good, let me clarify that part. I liked their style and cadence. However, keeping up with who was in the book was very confusing. There are so many characters and they change their names at different points in the story. I just could not keep up. I even searched online for a character guide to assist, but came up mostly empty-handed. I stuck the book out because I'm stubborn and like to complete things, but I was pretty lost. The actual storytelling aspect was incredible. I enjoyed the robust world the author created, but the character names really threw me off. I think if I had read them visually, it would've helped a great deal.
emr158's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bagusayp's review against another edition
5.0
I feel some kind of emptiness after I finished reading this book. It took me around 1.5 months to read it cover to cover, while there are still many details left to be answered which I think arise due to my lack of knowledge in Judaism and the history of Poland. The Books of Jacob is without a doubt, Olga Tokarczuk’s most ambitious work to date, both in its topic and the expansive details that the book contains. It has a really long subtitle: “A fantastic journey across seven borders, five languages, and three major religions, not counting the minor sects. Told by the dead, supplemented by the author, drawing from a range of books, and aided by imagination, the which being the greatest natural gift of any person. That the wise might have it for a record, that my compatriots reflect, laypersons gain some understanding, and melancholy souls obtain some slight enjoyment”. The subtitle is pretty much self-evident of what’s the story about and what the author’s approach to the history surrounding Jacob Frank looks like.
The long subtitle is not without any reason. Books from the 18th century when the story took place often have long subtitles themselves, such as the encyclopaedia New Athens by Father Benedykt Chmielowski, whose presence would be accompanying the readers in the first few chapters until the end, whose book contains the subtitle “The Academy of Every Science, divided into different titles as into classes, issued that the Wise might have it as a Record, that Idiots might learn, that Politicians might practice and that melancholy Souls obtain some slight Enjoyment from it . . . “. From the subtitle alone, there is an attempt to retrace the lost tradition of book subtitling. I got an impression that this art of subtitling is lost in the current age when most often than not, books are being treated as a market entity. What we read on the back cover of a book is no longer any synopsis or explanation of what’s the book about, but most often it contains testimonies from people of authority as though those testimonies could simply represent the contents of the book.
Aside from the cover, there is also a unique aspect in the alternative numbering of the pages in this book. Instead of starting from page 1 (or in Roman numeric in some cases), we start this book at page 992 and end at page 1, in a nod to books written in Hebrew which open on the right side. The author notes that apart from the Hebrew numbering purpose, it also serves as “a reminder that every order, every system, is simply a matter of what you’ve gotten used to”. And in fact, it’s quite true. There’s no headache thankfully, from seeing how the pages reverse itself (except for the simply lost privilege for Goodreads readers who suddenly find it difficult to update their reading progress).
Through the story of Jacob Frank, Olga Tokarczuk attempts to paint the history of one sect of European Jewry and how life was like in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania in the 18th century. Jacob Frank was born Yankiele Leybowicz in 1726 as the author notes in this book in Korolówka in present-day Ukraine from a Jewish family who followed the teachings of Sabbatai Tzvi (d. 1676), a Kabbalist from the Ottoman Empire who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Among the teachings of Sabbatai Tzvi is the abolishment of many traditional Jewish ritualistic observances, following a minority opinion in Talmud which states the absence of holy obligations in the Messianic time. There were outrages in the Jewish community following the practices of the Sabbateans and Sultan Mehmet IV of the Ottoman Empire gave an ultimatum for him either to be executed or convert to Islam, in which Sabbatai chose the latter. Sabbatai’s conversion to Islam devastated many of his followers, yet it was thanks to Nathan of Gaza, his most ardent supporter, he could still retain followers due to Nathan’s ability as his spokesperson, saying instead that Sabbatai’s conversion was a test of faith to his followers and only those who can endure it could pass.
Jacob Frank later would claim to be the reincarnation of Sabbatai Tzvi and carried out many of his teachings, later supplied with his original teachings to instruct his followers to abandon the Talmud and its requirements, and look only to the Kabbalah for guidance. Frank spent his youth in many cities across the Polish and Ottoman realm, including Czernowitz, Smyrna (Izmir), Stamboul (Istambul), and Bucharest. Later on, he had some encounters with the most radical branch of the Sabbateans, founded by Baruchiah (d. 1720) in Salonika (Thessaloniki), who was considered as the second reincarnation of Sabbatai Tzvi. He then paid a pilgrimage to the grave of Nathan of Gaza in Skopje, before finally returning to Poland to start his movement to unite the scattered underground Sabbateans across the region. He was arrested by the Ottoman authorities and later converted to Islam just like the first Sabbatai. But his conflict in Poland only started as he took his followers en masse to convert into Catholicism while laying his claim to be the Messiah, which aroused suspicions in the nuncio and Polish papal authorities.
It will be too long to summarise the whole story, but the most important point is that Jacob Frank was a controversial figure of his time and his movement was partly allowed due to the fact of leniency and high religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a large country in Central Europe with territories spanning present-day Poland, Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and some parts of European Russia and Moldova as well with its multi-ethnic compositions, ruled by a semi-republican system which elected the king from the nobility (Szlachta). Religious tolerance was even guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act signed in 1573, although the degree of religious freedom varied from time to time. Jacob Frank’s movement also coincided in its timeline with the decline of the Commonwealth which faced three partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by the neighbouring Prussia, Austrian Empire and Russian Empire.
Both the Frankist movement and the decline of the Commonwealth will later have some socio-economic impacts on the Jewish people living in Central and Eastern Europe, most notably with the rise of the shtetl Jewish settlements in the 19th century, and this book pretty much describes the socioeconomic condition around the Frank followers following their conversions to Catholicism and their conflicts with the suspicious authorities. I think the message of Tokarczuk translates well about how a religious movement could start and what fuels it, as well as the bankruptcy of religion as a result of Sabbatean teachings that paved the way for the Enlightenment in Europe. It also serves as a reminder of how Poland used to be a country full of diversity in terms of its ethnicities and religious beliefs, prior to Stalin’s redrawing of the map of Europe after the Second World War, showing the shared history between the Poles and the Jews. Due to the length and its heavy subject, I would recommend anyone who wants to read this book to at least read a bit about the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the history of Judaism in Central and Eastern Europe.
The long subtitle is not without any reason. Books from the 18th century when the story took place often have long subtitles themselves, such as the encyclopaedia New Athens by Father Benedykt Chmielowski, whose presence would be accompanying the readers in the first few chapters until the end, whose book contains the subtitle “The Academy of Every Science, divided into different titles as into classes, issued that the Wise might have it as a Record, that Idiots might learn, that Politicians might practice and that melancholy Souls obtain some slight Enjoyment from it . . . “. From the subtitle alone, there is an attempt to retrace the lost tradition of book subtitling. I got an impression that this art of subtitling is lost in the current age when most often than not, books are being treated as a market entity. What we read on the back cover of a book is no longer any synopsis or explanation of what’s the book about, but most often it contains testimonies from people of authority as though those testimonies could simply represent the contents of the book.
Aside from the cover, there is also a unique aspect in the alternative numbering of the pages in this book. Instead of starting from page 1 (or in Roman numeric in some cases), we start this book at page 992 and end at page 1, in a nod to books written in Hebrew which open on the right side. The author notes that apart from the Hebrew numbering purpose, it also serves as “a reminder that every order, every system, is simply a matter of what you’ve gotten used to”. And in fact, it’s quite true. There’s no headache thankfully, from seeing how the pages reverse itself (except for the simply lost privilege for Goodreads readers who suddenly find it difficult to update their reading progress).
Through the story of Jacob Frank, Olga Tokarczuk attempts to paint the history of one sect of European Jewry and how life was like in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania in the 18th century. Jacob Frank was born Yankiele Leybowicz in 1726 as the author notes in this book in Korolówka in present-day Ukraine from a Jewish family who followed the teachings of Sabbatai Tzvi (d. 1676), a Kabbalist from the Ottoman Empire who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Among the teachings of Sabbatai Tzvi is the abolishment of many traditional Jewish ritualistic observances, following a minority opinion in Talmud which states the absence of holy obligations in the Messianic time. There were outrages in the Jewish community following the practices of the Sabbateans and Sultan Mehmet IV of the Ottoman Empire gave an ultimatum for him either to be executed or convert to Islam, in which Sabbatai chose the latter. Sabbatai’s conversion to Islam devastated many of his followers, yet it was thanks to Nathan of Gaza, his most ardent supporter, he could still retain followers due to Nathan’s ability as his spokesperson, saying instead that Sabbatai’s conversion was a test of faith to his followers and only those who can endure it could pass.
Jacob Frank later would claim to be the reincarnation of Sabbatai Tzvi and carried out many of his teachings, later supplied with his original teachings to instruct his followers to abandon the Talmud and its requirements, and look only to the Kabbalah for guidance. Frank spent his youth in many cities across the Polish and Ottoman realm, including Czernowitz, Smyrna (Izmir), Stamboul (Istambul), and Bucharest. Later on, he had some encounters with the most radical branch of the Sabbateans, founded by Baruchiah (d. 1720) in Salonika (Thessaloniki), who was considered as the second reincarnation of Sabbatai Tzvi. He then paid a pilgrimage to the grave of Nathan of Gaza in Skopje, before finally returning to Poland to start his movement to unite the scattered underground Sabbateans across the region. He was arrested by the Ottoman authorities and later converted to Islam just like the first Sabbatai. But his conflict in Poland only started as he took his followers en masse to convert into Catholicism while laying his claim to be the Messiah, which aroused suspicions in the nuncio and Polish papal authorities.
It will be too long to summarise the whole story, but the most important point is that Jacob Frank was a controversial figure of his time and his movement was partly allowed due to the fact of leniency and high religious tolerance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a large country in Central Europe with territories spanning present-day Poland, Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and some parts of European Russia and Moldova as well with its multi-ethnic compositions, ruled by a semi-republican system which elected the king from the nobility (Szlachta). Religious tolerance was even guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act signed in 1573, although the degree of religious freedom varied from time to time. Jacob Frank’s movement also coincided in its timeline with the decline of the Commonwealth which faced three partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by the neighbouring Prussia, Austrian Empire and Russian Empire.
Both the Frankist movement and the decline of the Commonwealth will later have some socio-economic impacts on the Jewish people living in Central and Eastern Europe, most notably with the rise of the shtetl Jewish settlements in the 19th century, and this book pretty much describes the socioeconomic condition around the Frank followers following their conversions to Catholicism and their conflicts with the suspicious authorities. I think the message of Tokarczuk translates well about how a religious movement could start and what fuels it, as well as the bankruptcy of religion as a result of Sabbatean teachings that paved the way for the Enlightenment in Europe. It also serves as a reminder of how Poland used to be a country full of diversity in terms of its ethnicities and religious beliefs, prior to Stalin’s redrawing of the map of Europe after the Second World War, showing the shared history between the Poles and the Jews. Due to the length and its heavy subject, I would recommend anyone who wants to read this book to at least read a bit about the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the history of Judaism in Central and Eastern Europe.
donnawr1's review against another edition
4.0
This was an amazing novel that requires an investment to read. I listened to it on audio, but got a paper copy from the library so I could visualize the names which were so expertly read in their original languages. Then I found the lovely illustrations peppered through the text, along with some maps, which greatly enhanced the reading experience. The book is over 900 pages or over 35 hours, so that is where the investment comes from. It has so many characters, it is hard to keep track of them, but it helps weave a tapestry of life at the time that you would not have gotten from a more controlled character list. The author makes sure we know what happens to all of the characters, usually including their children and sometimes their grandchildren as well. This makes it a bit tedious at times, but the novel expresses a sweep of time and geography that included Poland, parts of current Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Turkey and a tad of Russia and France from the 1750s into the early 1800s. It was the beginning of the Enlightenment and we can see how people's beliefs were changing and challenging what was the status quo of a Feudal system.
Some of the parts that stood out to me were seeing the almost complete separation of Jewish and Christian communities within the region, and how easily life for Jews could shift from prosperity to a loss of everything, including life, if it was convenient to cast blame their way for any misfortunes, including a bishop's gambling debts. It was a time of many sects within the Jewish community, when the Hasidim were becoming organized, and a tiny sect of Sabbaterians following the mystical Kabbalah and Zohar were active. Jacob Frank becomes a leader of the Sabbaterians, almost by accident, and seizes upon his new status to create his own sect of Frankists. His character is only viewed through the eyes of others, but is well done by the author as charismatic, sometimes appearing mentally ill, sometimes extremely politically astute and wise, sometimes tyrannical and always interesting. The Frankists are persecuted by other Jews as heretical and are often protected by Christians because they eventually agree to and encourage others to be baptized. The sect considers baptism as a necessity in order to follow their own, very non-Catholic beliefs, and they have a lot of secret practices. Most notorious is very loose interpretations of sexual relations, using mixing of spouses to help create a community where everyone feels bonded in a physical way, and through the generation of many children with mixed or unknown parentage.
The author uses some interesting mixtures of styles to tell her massive tale, including a journal by the Kabbalist, Nachman, letters between an actual priest who created Poland's first encyclopedia and a Polish female poet, and most interesting a grandmother who is on the brink of death, but miraculously stays just barely alive while her spirit floats above everyone, observing and commenting on what she sees. It is a clever use of a super-omniscient narrator. The story is meticulously researched to the times and the author included what seems to be every real person who interacted with the real Jacob Frank in the tale. Her meticulousness is offputting to some, but if you know it will be extensive and detailed, you can go into it knowing what to expect. This novel is what was cited as her magnum opus by the Nobel committee, and I can see why.
This description of what drew the author into writing this story is detailed in this article, well worth reading: https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/13404/olga-tokarczuk-how-i-wrote-the-books-of-jacob
I feel enriched by learning about this fascinating, real life Jacob Frank, learning about his region and times and also of the different religious worlds that co-existed in a region with constantly shifting borders.
Some of the parts that stood out to me were seeing the almost complete separation of Jewish and Christian communities within the region, and how easily life for Jews could shift from prosperity to a loss of everything, including life, if it was convenient to cast blame their way for any misfortunes, including a bishop's gambling debts. It was a time of many sects within the Jewish community, when the Hasidim were becoming organized, and a tiny sect of Sabbaterians following the mystical Kabbalah and Zohar were active. Jacob Frank becomes a leader of the Sabbaterians, almost by accident, and seizes upon his new status to create his own sect of Frankists. His character is only viewed through the eyes of others, but is well done by the author as charismatic, sometimes appearing mentally ill, sometimes extremely politically astute and wise, sometimes tyrannical and always interesting. The Frankists are persecuted by other Jews as heretical and are often protected by Christians because they eventually agree to and encourage others to be baptized. The sect considers baptism as a necessity in order to follow their own, very non-Catholic beliefs, and they have a lot of secret practices. Most notorious is very loose interpretations of sexual relations, using mixing of spouses to help create a community where everyone feels bonded in a physical way, and through the generation of many children with mixed or unknown parentage.
The author uses some interesting mixtures of styles to tell her massive tale, including a journal by the Kabbalist, Nachman, letters between an actual priest who created Poland's first encyclopedia and a Polish female poet, and most interesting a grandmother who is on the brink of death, but miraculously stays just barely alive while her spirit floats above everyone, observing and commenting on what she sees. It is a clever use of a super-omniscient narrator. The story is meticulously researched to the times and the author included what seems to be every real person who interacted with the real Jacob Frank in the tale. Her meticulousness is offputting to some, but if you know it will be extensive and detailed, you can go into it knowing what to expect. This novel is what was cited as her magnum opus by the Nobel committee, and I can see why.
This description of what drew the author into writing this story is detailed in this article, well worth reading: https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/13404/olga-tokarczuk-how-i-wrote-the-books-of-jacob
I feel enriched by learning about this fascinating, real life Jacob Frank, learning about his region and times and also of the different religious worlds that co-existed in a region with constantly shifting borders.
whoopsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bellasagtmannicht's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0