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Loading... People of the Bookby Geraldine BrooksLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendations
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. An interesting journey through history following the development of this historic book, filled with adventure and passion. The writing is superb, but the author tries a little too hard to push romance and family turmoil into a really good story that can stand on its own. (  ) caroren | Feb 6, 2010 |  Review of the audiobook version: As a librarian and genealogist/historian, how could I not love a book that tells the story of a 500-year-old religious text that has survived theft, wars and travel through multiple countries? People of the Book focuses on the people who created, protected, transported and studied a Hebrew text with stunning but mysterious illuminations. This novel also follows the investigations of conservator Hannah Heath as she tries to investigate the book's history. The narration for this audiobook was one of the best I've listened to. The delivery of the various accents was quite well done. As heavy as the story of the book may be, this novel does not take itself too seriously and I laughed out loud at several moments. There is a twist at the end that almost disappointed me in that I was happy with just stories of the people up until the modern day and didn't initially see the need for a contemporary tale to end the novel. However, Hannah's part in the book's history must play out too and I was satisfied with the culmination of the story. (  ) missylc | Jan 25, 2010 | People of the Book put me under a spell from the first chapter. At times it was an enjoyable book to read because of the fluid, almost perfect storytelling. Other times, I had to put the book away for a time because it was so difficult to read about the pain of others. In the story, Brooks uses a book as the mechanism to take us on a historical journey through a time when it was acceptable to torture, maim, and kill others (mostly Jews in this tale) because of their religious beliefs. Since that seems to be occurring elsewhere in the world today, I suppose this narrative could be called timeless. It's a sad history that she tells but a beautifully told story. bethboo | Jan 24, 2010 | Very well written, compelling to read, and fascinating history. My only complaint is that it was a little over-fictionalized, and the the chapters that were entirely fictional were of less interest than the ones that were dramatizing known events. ( ) goldsteph | Jan 8, 2010 | Hanna Heath is an Australian that has been given the chance of a lifetime. An opurtunity to work on the Sarajevo Haggadah. Her discovery's lead to the reader learning the complete history of the Haggadah along the way, as well as learning more about Hanna's own history. People of the Book is masterfully written. Brooks molds her style to each era she writes about, making these odd historical occurrences as clear as can be. Hanna is an interesting character, full of personal demons and a desire to her the things books can tell her. The supporting characters are less interesting and often short lived, but they all serve their purpose. Some of the books back stories are much longer than necessary and often times I found myself wishing those sections were over, or that there was an abridged version i could skim instead. The "mystery" at the end was unnessisary but didn't ruin the rest of the novel. Overall a decent read, but a little long winded. (  ) Letter4No1 | Jan 5, 2010 | 
 While peering through a microscope at a rime of salt crystals on the manuscript of the Haggadah, Hanna reflects that “the gold beaters, the stone grinders, the scribes, the binders” are “the people I feel most comfortable with. Sometimes in the quiet these people speak to me.” Though the reader’s sense of Hanna’s relationship with the Haggadah rarely deepens to such a level, Geraldine Brooks’s certainly has.  Brooks' novel meticulously, lovingly amalgamates mystery and history with the personal story of its heroine, rare-book expert and conservator Hanna Heath. If Brooks becomes the new patron saint of booksellers, she deserves it. The stories of the Sarajevo Haggadah, both factual and fictional, are stirring testaments to the people of many faiths who risked all to save this priceless work.
References to this work on external resources.
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(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:16:01 -0500)
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