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elusivek's review
3.0
It took some time to read this book as the prose wasn’t that easy to pick up. It follows Yonah Toledano from his teenage years and growing into a man and finding his way in the world (I suppose).
It is also a time in Spain where Jews were being persecuted, and Yonah, with the assumed name of Ramone Callico, and eventually ends up becoming a physician after a 4-year apprenticeship.
It was somewhat interesting to note that those Friars and Priests that were all high and mighty in the beginning then met their ends as they did, but it was a bit of a guesswork for me because the writing just didn’t stick to me.
There were parts where a character was referred to either or the first name, the last name, or a nickname that I had to go back and check that it was all about that one character and not 3 different people.
It’s a pity this didn’t have the kind of neatly closed happy ending (what of his younger brother?), but I guess it could be considered a happy ending indeed. With a wife, and a child and his secret prayer room, this could be the most content he could achieve under that climate.
It is also a time in Spain where Jews were being persecuted, and Yonah, with the assumed name of Ramone Callico, and eventually ends up becoming a physician after a 4-year apprenticeship.
It was somewhat interesting to note that those Friars and Priests that were all high and mighty in the beginning then met their ends as they did, but it was a bit of a guesswork for me because the writing just didn’t stick to me.
There were parts where a character was referred to either or the first name, the last name, or a nickname that I had to go back and check that it was all about that one character and not 3 different people.
It’s a pity this didn’t have the kind of neatly closed happy ending (what of his younger brother?), but I guess it could be considered a happy ending indeed. With a wife, and a child and his secret prayer room, this could be the most content he could achieve under that climate.
guojing's review against another edition
5.0
Required reading. This book's opening deals with a single manifestation of the two millennia current of Jew-hatred that continues to permeate Western culture. So few people have any awareness whatsoever of the long road to the Holocaust. The expulsions of the Jews from kingdom after kingdom in the centuries around the Renaissance and Reformation are particularly important stops along that genocidal highway.
illegibility's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Read for book club.
It seems like about once a year now, I read historical fiction about religious violence in Europe.
Everything seems to work out pretty well for our main character. I was fine with it, but other readers might not be. If this was intentionally written as a sign of Yonah's divine protection, I wish it had been made more explicit.
Stars added for a realistic and human portrayal of the inhabitants of fifteenth-century Spain, including Roma; stars subtracted for not having a single woman character who has any agency who Yonah doesn't have sex with.
It seems like about once a year now, I read historical fiction about religious violence in Europe.
Everything seems to work out pretty well for our main character. I was fine with it, but other readers might not be. If this was intentionally written as a sign of Yonah's divine protection, I wish it had been made more explicit.
Stars added for a realistic and human portrayal of the inhabitants of fifteenth-century Spain, including Roma; stars subtracted for not having a single woman character who has any agency who Yonah doesn't have sex with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Murder, Genocide, Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Excrement, and Torture
Minor: Cursing, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Slavery
celebrin's review
4.0
I found myself enjoying this book much more than I thought I would have. Noah Gordon is masterful at showing you a different time in history so well you can smell it.
Most Jews think of WWII as being the worst time to be a Jew in history. The Spanish Inquisition was horrific and shown in terrifying detail. And yet this is a hopeful book showing how a man can survive all that can happen.
Most Jews think of WWII as being the worst time to be a Jew in history. The Spanish Inquisition was horrific and shown in terrifying detail. And yet this is a hopeful book showing how a man can survive all that can happen.
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