Books Set in the United States: New York City

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker (2013)

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker, is a debut novel, and what a debut it is!  As implied by the title, it is about a Golem, a creature in Jewish folklore, and a Jinni, a mythical creature in the Arab world.  The most famous golem was created by Rabbi Loew of Prague in the 1500s to protect the Jews of the city from attacks by their neighbors.  In Jewish folklore, a golem is made of clay, becomes animated and has supreme strength.

This novel is set at the beginning of the 1900s and is mostly set in New York City.  Otto Rotfeld is a failed Polish businessman who wishes to seek his fortune in the New World.  He approaches a man he believes to be a mystic and asks him to create an obedient, but curious wife to accompany him in New York.  The mystic complies, but warns Otto not to utter the words to awaken the woman until after he arrives in the New World.  Otto, of course, cannot wait that long and utters the word to bring his golem-wife to life while about the ship crossing the Atlantic.  Otto then promptly dies, leaving the Golem to fend for herself in New York.

The Golem has the ability to hear the thoughts of the people around her.  Shortly after arriving in New York, she encounters a rabbi who recognizes her for what she is.  He takes her under his wing in an attempt to protect her.

Around the same time, a tinsmith working in New York is repairing a flask, when suddenly the Jinni, who had been trapped in the flask for centuries is suddenly freed.

Eventually the two meet.  Both appear to be human, but have powers beyond human capability.  The golem is made of clay and is cold.  The jinni is of a spark of fire and knows that water can destroy him.  Both have to constantly remind themselves to behave as humans ~ the golem must remember to appear to breathe; the jinni must remember that he can cause burns with his touch.

The two lead separate, but intwined, lives.  Each interact with the people of New York.  The jinni meets the beautiful and rich Sarah Winston and sneaks into her house at night.  The golem gets restless at night and wanders the streets, even though for a mortal woman, such wanderings would be dangerous.  The jinni is sly with little moral guidance; the golem must obey her nature, although she has no master.

We meet the real people who encounter the Golem and the Jinni.  All these characters truly come to life.

This is one of my all time favorite books.  It held up upon a second reading several years after the first time I read it.

5 Stars

Read: December 27, 2018; June 8, 2013

Books Set in a Global Environment: United States and USSR

Bridge of Spies: A True Story of the Cold War, by Giles Whittell (2010)

This book of non-fiction delves into the events leading up to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Berlin Wall.  In the 1950s, Willie Fisher, also known as Rudolf Abel, was in the United States as an undercover agent for the USSR.  Through a comedy of errors, he was captured by the FBI, tried and sent to Federal Prison.

Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot hired by the CIA to fly reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union to look for Soviet missile sites.  He piloted a U-2, which could fly at unimaginable heights.  It was believed that the plane was shot down, survival of the pilot was not possible.  All that changed on May 1, 1960, when the U-2 Powers was flying was, indeed, shot down over the USSR and Powers survived the crash.  He was immediately captured, tried as a spy and imprisoned.

Around the same time, wanderlust Frederic Pryor, was studying communist economics at the Free University in West Berlin.  Until the Berlin Wall was constructed, he freely crossed between East and West Berlin.  A fact not unnoticed by the East German police.  He was arrested on suspicion of spying and imprisoned.  He had no connections with the US Government, but his parents were wealthy and were acquainted with some powerful men in Washington.

Bridge of Spies sets the foundation of the nuclear missile discussions, or lack thereof, between the two superpowers.  Shortly before Powers was shot down, US President Eisenhower and Soviet leader Khrushechv were poised to meet in Paris to discuss a nuclear test ban treaty.  The U-2 incident derailed the meeting with a growing distrust evident between the US and the Soviet Union.  The author details the tensions and misunderstandings of both leaders.

Two years later, however, tempers had cooled somewhat, and each country recognized the benefits of holding a prisoner exchange.  The details of the exchange were carefully planned.  Abel had an inkling that an exchange might be possible, but Powers and Pryor were completely unprepared.

This is a very readable history of the events leading up to, and surrounding the U-2 incident and its impact on relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Read: December 19, 2018

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: New England

True Crime Addict, by James Renner (2016)

In the evening of February 9, 2004, U Mass student Maura Murray simply disappeared after a minor car crash on Route 112 in Woodsville, New Hampshire.  A passing motorist (who lived within sight of the accident) stopped to offer assistance.  Maura declined his help.  The motorist then went home and called the police to report the accident. By the time police arrived, the car was still at the scene, but Maura was gone.

Enter the author, James Renner.  Renner is an investigative journalist, with a special interest in crime.  After having been fired from his job at a newspaper (for unspecified reasons), he became obsessed with Maura Murray’s disappearance. He decided to investigate the disappearance.

On the surface, Maura seemed to live a charmed life.  She had been a Cadet at West Point, until she decided to change universities and enroll as a nursing student at the University of Massachusetts. She was engaged to be married to Billy, who was the All-American boy.  Sadly, behind the façade, thing couldn’t be more different.

Shortly before Maura left the University on February 9, she told her colleagues that she needed to attend a family emergency.  This proved to be false.  There was no family emergency, nor was there any perceivable reason for her to be in New Hampshire on that evening.

Renner follows the threads of Maura’s life.  Because this is still an “open investigation”, law enforcement officials could give Renner very little information.  Still, Renner dogged Maura’s friends and family in hopes of uncovering the truth of her disappearance.  Interestingly, Maura’s family virtually shut down all communication channels and her closest friends were also unwilling to open up to the author.

In the process, Renner describes his own life in a remarkable candid fashion to explain his obsession with crime and criminal investigations.  He also is very candid about his own use of drugs, some prescribed and other not, his history with his family’s skeletons, and his trouble child, and his self-destructive behavior.

Renner pursued this case for years, even setting up a blog inviting others to provide him with clues as to Maura’s whereabouts.  This book, part crime story, part memoir, recounts Renners research efforts and he offers a possible solution to the disappearance of Maura Murray.

The author has a skill with words.  This book was very readable and enjoyable despite the sad subject of a possible abduction of a young woman with a full life ahead of her.

Read: December 2, 2018

4.5 Stars