Dara Horn

"Either everything matters or nothing does."

This is a book about what matters and what doesn't, what's temporary and what's eternal, what it means to live, and how joy and sorrow juxtapose with purpose and expectation.

But more than anything, it's a book about the importance of the story itself.

What's impressive is how Dr. Horn explores all of that without the story ever feeling weighed down by the existential themes or the 2000 years of history. For the most part, the book feels light, fitting well into magical realism and/or fantasy genres.

This is an unapologetically Jewish book told from the perspective of a character whose Jewishness is so old and so engrained it barely seems to register for her unless there is an active persecution of Jews happening - she seems far more concerned with various other aspects of her identity and how they change and don't change over her very long life. The book is filled with references to Jewish culture, scripture, writings, and history, none of which are made explicit in any way. All the important characters are Jewish, very well fleshed out, very obviously flawed, and they reflect certain elements of global and historical Jewish communities. The story itself follows a Jewish narrative pattern to the point that the ending itself is not an ending, as Rachel and Elazar so often say through the book - there are no endings, only more beginnings.

I found this all very refreshing, and I find myself wondering if it might be challenging to connect with the story, and even with Rachel herself, if the reader is unfamiliar with Jewish culture and history.

I rather enjoyed the re-imagining of Rabbi Yochanan's parentage and lifetime, and I absolutely loved the idea of the High Priest's son becoming the youngest student of his own son. It just felt so very poignant and fit so beautifully with the whole exploration of parenthood as sacrifice, along with the tremendous value Jews place on generational transmission of wisdom.

Overall, this is a gorgeous, imperfect, and too short book about a gorgeous, imperfect, and too long life.… (mais)