|
Browse |
 Compare Prices
|
| Product Description |
| Similar Products |
| Reviews |
|
Similar Products |
 |
March by Geraldine Brooks |
 |
The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller |
 |
The Commoner: A Novel by John Burnham Schwartz |
 |
The Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel by Dalia Sofer |
 |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks |
People of the Book: A Novelby Geraldine Brooks |
|||||
|
 |
Save 50%
off list price
Price Range: $12.95 - $25.95
|
|||
|
|
 |
9 Merchants |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
||
| Merchant |
|
Base | S & H | Price | ||||
|
|
|
$12.95 |
+ | $3.50 | = | $16.45 |
|
|
|
|
|
$13.00 |
+ | $3.49 | = | $16.49 |
|
|
|
|
|
$17.13 |
+ | $3.99 | = | $21.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
$17.71 |
+ | $3.58 | = | $21.29 |
|
|
|
|
|
$18.16 |
+ | $3.99 | = | $22.15 |
|
|
|
|
|
$19.46 |
+ | $3.45 | = | $22.91 |
|
|
|
|
|
$20.24 |
+ | $2.98 | = | $23.22 |
|
|
|
|
|
$25.95 |
+ | $4.48 | = | $30.43 |
|
|
|
|
|
see site |
+ | $3.50 | = | see site |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
||
From the Pulitzer Prize?winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript through centuries of exile and war
In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding?an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair?she begins to unlock the book?s mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book?s journey from its salvation back to its creation.
In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city?s rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah?s extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna?s investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.
Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author.
From Amazon.com:
Amazon Best of the Month, January 2008: One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries of purges and wars thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to safeguard it. Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent journey. In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts: an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair. While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out short stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. --Mari Malcolm
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
||
A Pleasant Surprise -  |
People of the Book: A Novel Review |
|
I first heard about the book on a radio program. I found the book at the library, recognized the title and decided to give it a shot. What good fortune it was! The best book I read this summer...well written, interesting, enlighten and couldn't put it down. The fiction is believable, facts accurate and story plausible. what more can you ask for in historical fiction! |
|
|
Beautiful - |
People of the Book: A Novel Review |
|
I saw this book at BN when it came out in December and would not have read it had I not read an article written by Geraldine Brooks published in "The New Yorker" on December 3, 2007, later that same week. The article tells the almost unbelievable but TRUE story of the Sarajevo Haggadah - how Dervis Efendi Korkut, a devout Muslim, saved the Haggadah from confiscation by the Nazis, how he and his wife Servet also saved Mira Papo, a Jewish girl, how he was later tried as a Nazi Sympathizer, how Mira later encountered Servet and leared of the pending trial but failed to testify on his behalf at that trial and then later redeemed herself by writing an account of his deeds that resulted in Dervis and Servet being declared Righteous Amonig Nations by the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous at Yad Vashem (yeah, this is a bad sentence). I keep a photocopy of the article with my copy of the book.
Having read the article, I bought the book. Given the known facts about the book and the amazing story about the people involved in its rescue from the Nazis, it was enjoyable to read a FICTIONAL account about how a Spanish Haggadah written in Hebrew but illuminated with Islamic ornamentation (Brooks points out that Jews, Christians and Muslims peacefully co-existed in Spain during a time known as the Convivencia) could travel from Morocco to Spain to Venice to Vienna, and ultimately resurface in the twice war-torn Sarajevo of our time. In a time where "Christians" and "Muslims" "hate" each other while equally "hating" the "Jews" it is refreshing to see just a glimmer of what we could all be and accomplish if we could see past the labels we put on each other. If any of the negative reviews have you worried - read the article first if you can, then read the book. |
|
People of the Book -  |
People of the Book: A Novel Review |
|
This book is pure shlock. After having read and enjoyed her previous book, March, I expected much better. The "clues" provided in the manuscript lead to obvious but absurdly far-fetched conclusions by the extremely annoying and self-satisfied Aussie narrator. She manages to be both extremely sorry for herself and convinced of her own righteousness and brilliance at the same time. The other characters are stereotypical and predictable, and they all succumb to cliched but lurid Jewish fates. Don't waste your money on this potboiler. |
|
So-so -  |
People of the Book: A Novel Review |
|
The modern characters are weak and the story doesn't stick together very well. But the historic dramas were quite intriguing. Fells like this book was written by two different authors. |
|
|
Mystery and history combined - |
People of the Book: A Novel Review |
|
If you like historical fiction with a bit of mystery intertwined, you will like this. I won't repeat the plot, but I found it totally fascinating and found myself going back to reread parts -- the chapter headings were so helpful, I'm thinking the author anticipated readers rereading parts. The idea of taking art "backwards" isn't new, but it is still fascinating.
And, if you enjoy this title, check out the movie The Red Violin and another great book by Susan Vreeland Girl in Hyacinth Blue |
|
|
See more customer reviews...
|
|