The relation of man to God and the meaning of life are merely the starting points for this extraordinarily ambitious novel of ideas by the celebrated Dutch author of such dense and rewarding fictions as The Assault (1985) and Last Call (1990). The story begins in heaven, with a conversation between two angels, one of whom has been assigned to contrive the appropriate ancestry and eventual birth of a human intelligence gifted enough to locate the (long hidden) stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments given to the biblical Moses, and then return them to heaven. Thus will God's covenant with man be invalidated (the order is given because the Deity is offended by man's loss of faith as a consequence of his commitment to scientific investigation now, culminating in DNA research that may presage humanity's discovery of the secret of creation). Subsequently, interpolated ``intermezzos'' in which the heavenly host comment on the progress of their scheme are juxtaposed against the novel's main narrative, which portrays the unlikely friendship between astronomer Max Delius and the linguist (and political activist) Onno Quist; their rivalry for the love of the beautiful cellist Ada Brons; the accident that precedes the delivery of Ada's baby, ostensibly the progeny of her husband Onno—but, just possibly, Max's; and the development of that child, Quinten, a precocious and unnaturally beautiful youth who is drawn to Venice, then Rome, for the surprising resolution of the quest for which he has been celestially destined. This masterly syntheses of idea and story- -reminiscent of similarly gargantuan novels by GÅnter Grass and Michel Tournier—makes complex concepts from mathematics, architecture, physics, astronomy, and theology perfectly comprehensible and dramatic, all the while immersing readers in a fast-paced narrative peopled with several vivid and appealing characters. Mulisch's bid for a masterpiece works commandingly, on every level. Could be one of the best novels of the last 20 years.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-670-85668-1
Page Count: 752
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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