The Golem and the Jinni. Rating: Satisfactory

"He'd lived so long in anticipation of his own death that to contemplate his future was like standing at the edge of a cliff, staring into a vertiginous rush of open sky."

Can a book be perfectly lovely and hold incredibly deep meaning without being compelling? Reviews - especially mine - will always be subjective, and this one will be no exception. In reading The Golem and the Jinni, I recognized that the book was good and the themes important. And yet, when the book was finished and I closed the rear cover, I did not experience the feeling I am used to experiencing upon finishing a great book. There is a wrenching, sorrowful satisfaction - a desire to start the book again, even knowing that the second reading will not be as enjoyable if it is not delayed. An immediate nostalgia: a recognition of the etching of a book onto the surface of ones' heart - this is the feeling that was missing when I closed the back cover of The Golem and the Jinni.

Thus, my difficulty in writing this review. I liked The Golem and the Jinni - it was an enjoyable book. And yet, I did not love it. I would not include it in my suitcase were I to flee the country in the dead of night wearing a wig and a wide-brimmed hat. I would not inscribe my real name on the inside of the front cover using one of the pens I took from the office supply closet before my flight. No - this book, I would return to a library with a sense of satisfaction and would never think about reading again.

The Golem and the Jinni by the perfectly capable Helene Wecker

...is a lovely fantasy novel that deeply explores the immigrant experience, the development of identity, and the acceptance of self versus other as separate and different. Chava is a golem, created to be a companion to a man who dies en route to America. Ahmad is a jinni trapped in a human body. Both find themselves in turn-of-the-century New York City, forced to forge American immigrant identities, struggling to understand who and what and why they are. Ahmad is unapologetically inhuman - he disdains many of the practices and beliefs of humans and does not strive overmuch to be one of them. Chava, meanwhile, struggles to be human - struggles with the meaning and challenges of her identity. They are inevitably drawn together.

The antagonist (revealed somewhat late in the book, although sketched early on and filled in deliciously well) is nuanced, but still irredeemably evil. The ties between the antagonist and our two fantastical protagonists are incredibly satisfying when finally revealed. These ties connect to one of the fascinating themes of the novel - the nature of self. Is it ingrained, or developed? The characters in the novel struggle with this question and press the reader to struggle with it as well. Chava, created for a specific nature and purpose; Ahmad, above and before creation, but imbued with a nature that he does not bother to fight. The antagonist, able to imbue others with natures of his own design, but incapable of recognizing his own nature and struggle. 

Now, for Spoilers.

This exploration of the meaning and nuance of nature feeds into an exploration of the meaning of good and evil. The golem is created to find a deep and abiding peace in violence: when she gives in to that urge and does indeed find that deep and abiding peace, is she truly evil? Or is she merely a slave to her nature? The jinni's nature is one that could traditionally easily be described as "evil" because it is inimical to human life. But is a raging inferno evil? Or is it simply doing what it is made to do?

These two are any easy pair to whom the reader can ascribe nuance; but the sorcerer who created the golem, who seeks eternal life at all costs - the antagonist. Surely he is really and truly evil? After all, he has chosen to do evil things all his life. He's The Bad Guy, and oh yes, he is indeed bad. Is that not his choice?

This, reader, is the spoiler - the sorcerer has chosen nothing. He obeys his nature, which clings to him like the smell of smoke from a fire lit by a sorcerer centuries before. His evil has been passed to him over generations. His evil is etched into his soul as surely as the golem's subservience or the jinni's heat. So, does he have a choice? If he does not have a choice, is he evil? If he does have a choice, then what is his nature?

It is a great deal to consider.

To tell a deep truth, reader, I find more joy in analyzing the themes of the book than I found in reading it. It was a perfectly good book, and a deeply respectable work of fantasy; perhaps even a great work of literature. My only regret is that I did not enjoy it just a shade more for itself, and a shade less for what it made me consider about myself.

Rating: Satisfactory. 

Possible ratings: Magnificent, Divine, Satisfactory, Tiresome, Lamentable, Execrable. This is a blog about words, what rating system did you expect?