The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

Rating:
Summary: Haunting, engaging and finally romantic
Review: Like Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, this book can be enjoyed as a mystery, a historical novel or a romantic fiction. If you are looking for a book that will entice you to another world, another era, this is it. The prose is also beautiful.

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Summary: Zimler's Account Units History, Thriller Genres
Review: "The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon" by Richard Zimler manages, at once, to combine historical accuracy with a modern thriller-like story line.

Berekiah Zarco is a young manuscript illustrator who tells the story of the infamous Lisbon massacre of 1506. Through his eyes we relive the sheer horror of the persecution of the Jews in Portugal. The Church and the King of Spain had begun such religious "cleansing" in 1492 but the more "openminded" Portuguese were a little slower in implementing these Draconian acts. Leading up to the story is the fact that Jews had already been rounded up by the Portuguese authorities and either banished or force to recant (those who recanted became known as "New Christians"). Many chose to die rather than recant, of course. This novel recounts these last few days leading up to the massacre. Berekiah's uncle Abraham, a well-known kabbalist, is found murdered and the storyline assumes a murder-mystery air, as Berekiah is determined to find who killed him. It, indeed, is a complex line. The young man is determined to find the answers. His search takes him through his fellow Jews, Christians, the New Christians, and the Muslims. He has the support of his immediate family and his best friend Farid. (The irony is not lost in the fact that Farid is a deaf Muslim, also the subject of the Inquisition's cleansing of the Iberian peninsula.)

The story is told from a modern day standpoint, the "author" having found the

account in Istanbul in 1990. "The Last Kabbalist" is the first-person accounting of the story by Berekiah, who had written his memoirs after his own escape from Lisbon to where he eventually wound up in Turkey, not to be found for some 500 years! Indeed, the story is a complex one (Lisbon's "O Independente" compares it favorably with "The Name of the Rose.") and before it is finished, even a convoluted one! But no matter, the intellectual twists and turns make the novel memorable, yet at the same time, haunting. It is not a story easily forgotten.

"The Last Kabbalist in Lisbon" is more than just a story of one man's escape from persecution, however severe that was. Zimler has presented us with a riveting narrative that expertly weaves the historical accounting of this tragedy to a suspense-laden story well worth the read. He has created characters of great depth; he has captured the atmosphere of the time; and he has evoked the emotional responses from both readers and the characters alike. The imagery he conjures is rarely paralleled. While Zimler has worked through Hebrew, Portuguese, and Spanish translations, he has completed a well-knit narrative, keeping historical accuracy and personal emotion in balance, and he does so intensely and passionately. His writing style is refreshing, well-paced, and unencumbered as he plays with themes of death, violence, and even love. This is a memorable book.

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Rating:
Summary: An engaging historical novel
Review: A columnist's praise in the June 9, 2000, issue of the Mexico City newspaper Excelsior alerted me to "The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon."

I found the plot delightfully engaging; it was hard to put the book down. Zimler's portrait of Lisbon in 1506, with Jews being killed by the Christian majority, is vividly drawn. And it appears to be historically accurate: the Encyclopaedia Britannica confirms that there was a massacre of Jews in Lisbon that year. Reading the novel, you're in the center of a pogrom, and it's not pleasant. Zimler's portrayal of life under siege is an accomplishment in itself, and interweaving it with a well-constructed detective story is even more remarkable. The next time I'm in Lisbon, I'll walk through the Rossio and the Alfama with a more informed perspective.

In sum, I highly recommend this novel. I have a few criticisms. The novel tends to portray Lisbon's Christians as unkempt savages, literally cretins (a pejorative word derived from the Latin for Christian). Zimler's vehemence in this regard surprised me. And the self-righteousness of his hero, Berekiah Zarco, becomes hard to take at times, particularly when it's combined with an intrepidity that Batman and Robin might envy. Moreover, I agree with another posting that the regular rendering of a verb "to gift" was irritating and distracting. (The word "center" was also occasionally used in odd ways, but "gift" was particularly grating.) I know of nothing in Portuguese that requires such usage.

I wondered whether the supposedly nonfictional author's note was a literary device or a statement of historical fact. I think I've been able to figure out which it is, but the author may not want the answer posted here, so I'm not going to gift (I mean give) my opinion. Let it be part of the mystery!

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Summary: History made mystery
Review: THIS IS MY FIRST READ BY THE AUTHOR AND MY FIRST READ ON THE SUBJECT AND I FOUND IT TO BE EXHILERATING. THE PROSE WAS A BIT AWKWARD AT FIRST; IT TOOK A LITTLE WHILE TO GET USED TO, BUT THEN NO PROBLEM. (SOMEONE ELSE MENTIONED THE ODD EXPRESSION "GIFTED" USED THROUGHOUT THE BOOK. I TOO HAD A DIFFICULT TIME WITH IT. THAT'S NOT A GAME BREAKER THOUGH.)

THE STORY WILL SURELY KEEP YOU TURNING THE PAGE AND GUESSING ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

IT ALSO MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS IN INQUISITION-ERA PORTUGAL EXPERIENCING THE EVENTS PERSONALLY. EXCEPTIONALLY WELL WRITTEN IN THAT REGARD. FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN INQUISITION PERIOD LITERATURE, NOT TO MENTION SEPHARDIC/KABBALIST SUBJECT-MATTER LITERATURE, THIS A WONDERFUL READ. A GREAT BACKDROP TO A WELL-TOLD MURDER MYSTERY. THE STORY IN THE PREFACE MAKES IT ALL THE MORE INTRIGUING!

GET THE BOOK! IT'S GREAT!

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Summary: annoying grammatical idiosyncresies
Review: I thought that Zimler did a great job giving shape to the times and places, HOWEVER . . . his use of passive verbs and especially the overuse of "was gifted with" just drove me nuts. I speak Hebrew and know enough Portugese to know that it is not some poetic translation of an idiom in either language. His Hebrew transliterations were sometimes unrecognizable (I'm still puzzled by a few). I found the voices of all the "bad guys" to be the same. This made me often have to stop and refigure out who was who. The unravelling of the mystery is rather muddy and just not interesting. The use of Farid as a human crime lab with "black butterfly eyelashes" was a bit of a stretch. In conclusion, texture and times: good job. Dialog internal and voiced: irritating

Rating:
Summary: A literary gift for all mankind!
Review: Richard Zimler is a Professor of Journalism at the University of Porto in Porto, Portugal. The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon, his first book, was originally published in 1996 and was a smash. Now in its fourth edition, it has been published in several European countries and Brazil. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain attempted to expel all Jews from their homeland in 1496 by forced conversion to Christianity. Many Jews committed suicide rather than convert; some converted and practiced their Jewish religion in secret. The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon is based upon the finding of a manuscript in the home of Ayaz Lugo by the author in 1990. The manuscript was written by Berekiah Zarco, a young Kabbalist who finds his Uncle Abraham, a renowned Kabbalist, and author murdered with a young woman in the secret cellar used by their threshing group. Nine of Zarco's manuscripts were found; six regarding the Kabbalist mystical philosophy and three secular manuscripts, one of which tells this story. Why were the manuscripts hidden? Zimler proposes many theories: "As to their hiding place, very possibly all the manuscripts were sealed up to protect them during the Nazi period; the cement casing dates from this era. It must be remembered that Portuguese New Christians did indeed emigrate in mass numbers during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, primarily to Turkey, Greece, North Africa, the Netherlands and Italy, areas later threatened or overrun by the German Reich." The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon is a profoundly disturbing mystery of murder and betrayal. Berekiah Zarco has a complicated mission: to solve the murder of his Uncle, save his family from the marauding Christians, and to act as the voice and, perhaps, savior of the kabbalists of Lisbon. Berekiah's is but a boy, but his keen intelligence, mystical visions, and sleuthing abilities outsmart the actions of a world he can no longer trust. This tale recounts a period we can hardly understand, but Zimler succeeds. The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon is a gift for all of mankind.

Shelly Glodowski Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Good Historical Background, OK Mystery
Review: I recently had the wonderful experience of travelling to Portugal. To kill time on the plane and other down periods during the trip, I brought this book along with me. I really enjoyed being in Portugal, in Lisbon and Sintra, while reading this book. The combination of the setting and the authors historical description was great. However, the actual story took second fiddle. The mystery was OK. So anyone interested in a good period peace, a good fictional description of what happened to the Jews of Portugal will enjoy this book. Lovers of a good mystery will find the book OK.

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Summary: Amazing, Captivating, Spellbinding Historical Mystery
Review: It's difficult for me to express just how much I adored this book. I picked it up intending to read a couple chapters in the tub before going to bed early (11pm). I ended reading until the water was cold and my room mates banged on the door. I finished at 1am, and wanted to reread it for more detail.

This book is amazing. It's captivating and exciting, making you want to devour the text in big gulps. Putting this down for longer than a half hour is painful because you want to know more. The loose ends are not neatly tied up at the end of each chapter, nor at the end, which is wonderful. I hate it when an author ties up the story with a neat little bow, when in reality that never happpens.

The book operates on several levels, which are all mingled together. On the one hand, it's a historical novel about Jews in Portugal, anti-semitism, forced conversion, reactions to the plague, kabbalah, and bonds of friendship and blood. It also deals with the masks that people wear in varying social situations, and losing yourself in those masks. Jewish religious practice and the Kaballah are, not surpisingly, very important to how the mystery plays itself out. Then there is the murder mystery, friends and family lost and feared dead, and stolen property. I'm making this sound too heavy, but Zimler keeps all those balls in the air, and doesn't ram his opinions down our throat.

This novel isn't only for Jews or mystery fans. It's a brilliant work of fiction that most anyone would love. Buy a copy for yourself, and a copy to give away.

Rating:
Summary: Going back in History
Review: Although i am a compulsive reader, i admitt that came upon this book rather accidentaly, in a bookstore. The Title got my attention, rather then the book itself. Although I'm catholic, I am an avid reader of Jewish based historical novels, so I bought it.

More than the plot itself, the quality of the writing, undoubtedly superb, the insight of Kabballa, what really made me love this book (and recommend it to all people who like reading) was the real feeling of actually knowing what happened in my home city 500 years ago.

I happen to live in a city that's more than a thousand years old, and I must say that reading this book gave me a clearer picture of what was, and has been, my home city than most walks and tours I take in Lisbon.

Sorry about the bad English

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding combination of history, mysticism, and mystery
Review: Last night I attended a slide presentation about the history of Portuguese Jews. There was a slide of a painting showing the burning of Jews in front of a large cathedral in Lisbon. I could "know" how this must have been because I had read this book. "An Instance of the Fingerpost" is not nearly as good a mystery. I liked that one for its masterful inclusion of all of the famous people I had ever heard of at that time in England combined with the description of life in Oxford. But that book was not the page-turner that this one was. I thought this was just as good a description of life at the time and a much better mystery.