The Geographer's Library

Rating:
Summary: An enthralling book
Review: Mr Fasman's first book holds wonders: it is a thrilling and intelligent mystery, a trip around the world and a wonderful portrait of post-collegiate malaise. With all due respect to our German reviewer, who seems to use the book simply to sneer at Americans (something we Canadians know a little about) Mr Fasman's characters are profoundly well-detailed and variant; not all of them speak like Americans at all, nor is this a James Bond story. Despite the author's youth, it has a seasoned Eastern European feeling, and contains some of the finest prose I have read in a long time. Very highly recommended to all readers of historical fiction and mysteries: if you like Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami, or John Fowles, you will love this.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant first novel from Jon Fasman
Review: The "Geographer's Library" is a historically rich debut mystery by Jon Fasman. Readers who enjoy esoteric historical mysteries will really enjoy Fasman's offering and find themselves hooked until the final secrets of the mystery are revealed.

Fasman lays out the story slowly and carefully. His writing is bright, colorful, and intelligent; and it is uniformly interesting in its details and gripping in the mystery that it weaves. The main narrative follows Paul Tomm, a young reporter working for a small-town newspaper. A college professor dies, and Tomm is assigned to write the obituary. Unsurprisingly, Tomm's assignment entails more work than a typical death notice. I will not reveal the details of Tomm's investigation, lest I give away the secrets of the mystery.

Tomm's first-person story alternates with chapters that comprise the contents of a "library" put together by a 12th century figure, nobly named Yussef Hadras ibn Azzam Abd Salih Jafar Khalid Idris. The library chapters detail various exotic objects that have a relation to the practice of alchemy. Each chapter tells a story about the object's origins and its current situation. It is clear that the library contents and Tomm's investigation are intriguing connected.

Fasman takes the reader to many sites around the world: Córdoba, Baghdad, Bukhara, Mikkouni, the Khamantor Mountains of the Khazars, the cities of Yazd, Eshahan, Ahvaz, Dimashq, Beirut and Jerusalem, the islands of Sicily, Malta and Minorca, and, of course, New England, where Tomm is living and working to unravel the mystery of the professor's death. It is a fascinating journey for the reader, involving numerous interesting characters and engrossing situations. The book is a sheer joy to read, not just to find out whodunit, but to enjoy the many stories within the main story. The journey to the end of the tale is as much fun as the tale itself.

In his review in the LA Times, Allen Kurzweil aptly says: "Alchemy, Fasman tells us more than once, is the science of transformation. Good fiction aspires to the same lofty goal, and it is achieved in 'The Geographer's Library,' a cabinet of wonders written by a novelist whose surname and sensibility fit comfortably on the shelf between Umberto Eco and John Fowles." I agree.

Rating:
Summary: Too much information
Review: To start with the good thing about the book: it keeps you in suspense, therefore the 2 points.
In general I personally did not like the book for a few reasons. For one thing it contains too many details that are irrelevant to the story and therefore make the story more confusing and longer than necessary. The details do not add to the suspense.
Apart from that I think that the author should not try to try to make another James Bond story or something. The author depicts everything that involves the former Soviet Union and the Far East as horrible and evil places. Also I got the perception that the author tried to be authentic about the customs and cultures but he did not suceed.
The language in the story is obviously aimed at the US market. Not everyone in the world speaks like the Americans. So in this sense it is certainly not authentic. There are a few other details that show the lack of authenticity or understanding for the cultures of other countries.
It is a good try for a first book of an author but I would not expect too much success, especially not outside the US.