THE SUN CHEMIST

by Lionel Davidson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 1976

Anyone who ever read, however long ago, Davidson's opulent Rose of Tibet has never forgotten its attar; he has done some more popular books since (The Menorah Men) and some less (the last one, Smith's Gazelle). Here he's writing with all the considerable talents at his command even if the plot is strenuously complicated, requiring more attention than you expect to give to what is essentially a thriller--surprisingly based on the scientific work of Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president. It's also full of a great deal of organic chemistry which threatens to make the reader inorganic if he hasn't the head for it. Well, if he hasn't, he can skip these parts about the missing volumes 15 and 16 of Weizmann's correspondence back in the Fifties when he was establishing a very important relationship between ""batatas"" (sweet potatoes) and oil. These papers and associated documents are the important concern of narrator Igor Druyanov but they keep getting away from him between England (where they were in the hands of the daughter of a Russian scientist) and Israel. He wants to return them to the Weizmann Institute but there are assorted mishaps in between--a mugging here, a murder there, an attache case substitution at Heathrow. Occasional young women also figure--Caroline who works with Druyanov, Matra who plays under him, etc., etc.--but most of this is about the fermentation process and conversion which may change the geopolitical face of the earth. However, within the parameters of the story Davidson tells, who can question the admirable writing, humor, intelligence, and vaulted scene-setting in what was once Crusader city.

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976

Categories: FICTION