sphynx
10/22/2022
I've really enjoyed reading this book, and what I remember is the sense of coziness it brings. It's not like it only tells about positive events, it has its share of grievances and deaths, but somehow it still manages to feel like a book to read lying under a warm blanket on a rainy day. It tells a story of two beatifully written chacters: a golem and a jinni who happened to come to 1890s New York, a unusual stage for a fantasy book. The book is quite realistic and feels more like magical realism than fantasy. It introduces an interesting mix of two Middle Eastern cultures and folklores: Jewish and Arabic, and is partially based in Little Syria, a neighbourhood in Manhattan.
The main characters are humane and likeable, and there is a number of their intertwining stories, that eventually come together. The rest of the characters are great too: a tragic Syrian doctor who was possessed and turned ice-cream maker, a daughter of a rich American magnate, a girl from a bakery who wanted to be an actress, a metalsmith from Little Syria, a rabby from a sinagogue in New York and others.
On the philosophical side, the book rises the questions of free will and of what it means to be a human, which are always interesting to ponder.
The book won "Mythopoeic award" in 2014, that is an award for a book that best exemplifies "the spirit of the Inklings". ("Inklings" is a literature discussion group from Oxford associated with JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.). It's also the first book by the author!