After reading all 800+ pages, I see why this was such a sensation in its native Hungary; English translation is fantastic. Quite a page-turner, this novel was a sprawling, epic Bildungsroman of a young Jewish boy, weak of limbs. back, and eyes, whose father finagles a place. for him in a delegation to Jerusalem, taking money to the Temple there. Thus begins the journeys and adventures of Uri [Since he's a Roman citizen also] aka Gaius. Uri is a bookish, scholarly person and his disabilities have led him to become quite a reader, with a phenomenal memory. Besides Jerusalem, he travels to Alexandria, where he attends the prestigious Gymnasium, loses his virginity, and even is in the midst of a vicious Pogrom, called herein the Bane. He hobnobs with some of the local bigwigs, and eventually returns to Rome, where he marries and has children, but travels around different cities. I caught some incidents which I thought might be satire and there was some humor in spots. All in all, a marvelous portraiture of the 1st century A.D. era in that part of the world. ( )

Short-sighted and weedy, Uri is chosen to accompany a delegation bringing an offering from Jews in Rome to the Temple in Jerusalem in the reign of Tiberius and we follow his life down to the reign of Vespasian.

Parts of Uri's story are interesting but it is mostly just an excuse for the author to tell us everything he knows about the life of Jews in 1st century Rome, Judea, and Alexandria. ( )

fairly dry, though I did occasionally care about the protagonist's journey. oh, and the ending was pretty damn sad...always a plus. ( )