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A review by megami
Quarantine by Jim Crace
4.0
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 pedophile, 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 don't like reinterpretations, I would suggest that you don't 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 today's most eclectic and versatile authors.
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 pedophile, 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 don't like reinterpretations, I would suggest that you don't 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 today's most eclectic and versatile authors.