Review of The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

[@kentcozad7275]

Really nice summary and review. Thanks. I’m fascinated that you experienced the novel as being told from Yente’s perspective. It seems me that her POV is used sparingly and to provide an increasingly cosmic perspective on the going’s on that are told by an omniscient 3rd person narrator who also shares first person accounts such as Nahman’s scraps and the letters between the priest/encyclopedist and poet. I was very moved by some moments, Hanna’s death and Eva’s pain when she loses favorite status with the emperor for example. I also think that Tokarczuk gives the women more internal emotional depth than she provides most of the men. Jacob Frank, although his feelings are huge (anger in particular), is presented solely from the outside. Thanks again for the review.

[@beatingaroundthebooks]

Great review! I think I want to read Drive Your Plow first to see how I get on with Tokarczuk, but I'm definitely intrigued. Need to go and find the quotes you shared on GR.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thanks, Sina! Drive Your Plow is quite different stylistically from The Books of Jacob, but they share a common thread of philosophical musings and exploring themes of insiders vs. outsiders. I will be curious to hear your thoughts on either or both.

[@myrarucker7953]

My daughter and I read Drive your Plow over the dead. Good read.

[@Stefiiiz]

Hey! Great review, glad you found the book(s) interesting! Just one small thing - the territories that The Books of Jacob take place on actually were already Poland at that time - Poland as a country is over a 1000 years old ;) Greetings from... Poland :D

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thank you for the info and thanks for watching! 🙂

[@Booksandchess]

Just finished this book and watched your review. Great summary and discussion! Well done.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thank you! Hope you enjoyed the book, too. 🙂

[@lindaleehall]

This is an amazing book which draws the reader into the atmosphere of the time and place. Yet, it also transcends time and place. Couldn’t help but think of Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc. it very probably is a masterpiece, but I thought the intimacy and quirkiness of Drive Your Plows was actually more touching and enjoyable.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

I also preferred Drive Your Plow for some of the same reasons

[@myrarucker7953]

Ok!! I’m supposed to read it back to front?! Good to know!! Haha I just picked it up to read when I saw your vlog!! So back to front??

[@CourtneyFerriter]

You still read it as you would a regular book from front to back. It's just that the pages are numbered in reverse order. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

[@TheCodeXCantina]

I think I was looking forward to your review of this the most! I don't care about spoilers so I'm good :D I'm usually interested in the kindle for larger books, again bonus props for holding it up as long as you did, but when you showed those maps I get nervous as sometimes visual maps don't appear in the most readable format on Kindle. Usually when I see those I know to go to physical books for how I like to read. 4* isn't bad. Sometimes I wonder if people round up to 5* on longer books to justify their time on it. I saw Noah was going to have the Zohar as his big 2022 project. I'm interested in reading this, the timing for such a large book is always in the air.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Aww, thanks! 😊If this had been a nonfiction book, it would have certainly been five stars, but I'm picky about wanting to feel moved by my fiction. Oh, I didn't know Noah was planning to read the Zohar! I'll have to go watch that video. It's definitely challenging to fit big books into your TBR list, especially since I know you have your reading schedule planned out quite far in advance. I hope whenever you get to it you will like it. I'll certainly be interested to hear your thoughts. 🙂

[@SpringboardThought]

Excellent stuff! Makes me want to read it even more. I doooo like specificity and descriptive writing and a more comprehensive thing with historical setting

[@CourtneyFerriter]

I was thinking based on some of your recent videos and discussions of what you like in fiction that it would be a book you'd enjoy! 🙂

[@dawnsprout7156]

Just starting to read it. Thanks for the review!

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Of course! Hope you will enjoy it 🙂

[@CestKevvie]

Oh my gosh I've never heard of this but it sounds so fun! I really want to read it!!

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thanks, Kevvie! Hope you will find it as fascinating a read as I did whenever you get to it. 🙂

[@marianamasbooks]

I was looking forward to this review, it sounds very interesting! Weird that it’s not plot heavy given everything that you described happens in each book haha... I’m like you, I look for the emotional connection with characters!

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thanks, Mariana! 🙂 The detached narration makes it seem like not a lot is happening, even though there is a lot going on. I would have liked more of a character focus, but I am still very impressed by Tokarczuk's achievement in this book.

[@marianamasbooks]

@@CourtneyFerriter Isas definitely impressed by her writing when I read Drive Your Plow and I do want to read more from her! Have you read Flights or anything else by her?

[@CourtneyFerriter]

@@marianamasbooks Not yet, but I recently got Primeval and Other Times, which I hope to read soon. 🙂

[@marianamasbooks]

@@CourtneyFerriter Oh yeah, it's also on my want to read list! :)

[@shylockwesker5530]

Hi, Polish person here. I specificaly watched your review because I was curious to get the perspective of a reader who "doesn't know about any of this stuff and what to make of this". Obviously wrong address. I enjoyed your video nonetheless.

[@sandra7319.]

Amazing review and description...on the tbr. Happy New Year.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy it whenever you get to it. Happy New Year to you, too! 🥳

[@7DAYS_ATSEA]

I feel like you have to brush up on some Talmud and history in order to FULLY appreciate the book, there’s so much subtext and historical context going on. Transportive, but I'm still the type of reader who wants to know what everything is/where/how/what was going on elsewhere, etc. lol. I paused my reading of it for a while but I will go back to it eventually. (Pesky library due dates are always negatives for these mammoth books - I admit I didn’t realize the length when I reserved it.) I absolutely LOVED Drive Your Plow and I can see why she won the Nobel. The Books of Jacob is a possible Christmas request in hardcover. I've seen some poorly done reviews of this on YT. Liked yours!

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Thanks! I was glad that I bought my own copy so I didn't have to worry about how long it took to read. Hope you will enjoy the rest of it whenever you get to read it! 🙂

[@BookishTexan]

I'm still intimidated by the size of this book. So not a character or a plot centered novel . . . . good writing though. Hmmmm....... Thanks for the great review.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

It somewhat reminded me of Sebald in the use of pictures, the lovely writing, and the more experimental style. It would work well as a buddy read, I think, since there's a lot to talk about and many moving parts to keep track of (I barely scratched the surface here!).

[@beatingaroundthebooks]

@@CourtneyFerriter Now you've got me interested despite its length.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

@@beatingaroundthebooks Yay! 😊

[@jorgemedina8083]

Hi I’m a fellow reader who looked up the tile of this book on KZbin and came across your review. Thanks so much for making it! I have one question. Does the book contain any stream of consciousness in it? Someone on Amazon compared this book to Ulysses and scared me. Does his comparison have any validity to it? I don’t like those types of books.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

Hi there! I think maybe the comparison with Ulysses is due to the epic nature of the book and its somewhat episodic structure. It's definitely not stream-of-consciousness, though. Hope you will enjoy it if you decide to pick it up! 🙂

[@jorgemedina8083]

@@CourtneyFerriter I’m definitely going to pick it up now that you said that. Tysm!

[@CourtneyFerriter]

@@jorgemedina8083 You are very welcome! Please do let me know how you end up liking it.

[@jorgemedina8083]

@@CourtneyFerriter I will!

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Great review, I'm not going to lie, parts of this book seem really fascinating like the subject and the themes and make me really want to read it, but other parts make me hesitant... I'll probably have to read it for the BookTube Prize or something, but do you think I'll like it? Or should be go halves on insuring your pearls first? -Scott.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

🤣🤣 Thanks, Scott! I strongly suspect that you will find it boring because it's not really character-driven and not super plot-driven either, and those two things seem the most important to your enjoyment of a book. I also suspect that Shawn the Book Maniac will bail if he ever picks it up to read and I think Kieran will dislike it, too.

[@NicholasOfAutrecourt]

Courtney, please forgive the completely random questions, but would you happen to know anything about Arno Mayer's book "Swords Into Ploughshares: From Zionism to Israel"? If so, would you recommend it? I'm trying to look for books that would serve as a good entree into the subject, and Arno (having been at Princeton for many years) seems like it might be a good start.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

I'm sorry to say that I haven't read it, so I don't have any insight. But if you read it and like it, do let me know! This is more on the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict than Zionism in particular, but I know that Benny Morris, an Israeli "New Historian," has written books that have angered both right-wing and left-wing Israelis, which seems promising to me, as it suggests a more even-handed approach to the subject.

[@MargaretPinard]

Already finished?! Where does the time go???

[@CourtneyFerriter]

I know! I can't believe we're already at the end of the year!