The Golem and the Jinni
He's an adolescent jinni, proud, impulsive, and selfish. She's a
newborn golem, intelligent and hard-working, but scared. When they both
find themselves transplanted to Manhattan at the turn of the twentieth
century, they need to figure out how to carve out places for themselves.
And when they meet, a fulfilling, but rocky friendship forms.
Helene Wecker's debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni, is just lovely. It deals with immigration and lower Manhattan at the turn of the century, when people are arriving from all over the world and carving out neighborhoods for their communities. It asks interesting questions about identity, about how to balance individuality with community, about religion and human nature.
The narrative winds its way through the first year the golem and the jinni spend in New York. They arrive separately, though on the same day. And while they are kept apart for a while, as Wecker explores the Jewish community on the Lower East Side and Little Syria on the Lower West Side. It explores the people they meet.
The golem is eager to please. She hears everyone's desires and needs, hopes and fears, and is compelled to do whatever she can to help. It's a struggle for her to learn to ignore these intrusive thoughts, to pay attention to what people do and say instead. She comes off as helpful, if quiet and a little odd.
The jinni, meanwhile, does whatever he wants. He takes off on a whim with little regard for his safety. He seduces young women with no thought as to the consequences. He chafes against the constant presence and small talk of the people around them, viewing it as unnecessary.
The collision of the two supernatural beings is wonderful, and their arguments were some of my favorite parts of the book (aside from the dance, the dance was definitely my favorite part of the book). They're coming up against their natures and the prejudices and trying to work out how to find happiness in a world that only barely accepts them.
There's a lot going on this book. A bunch of different narrative threads that come together quite beautifully at the end. For the most part, the language gets out of the way and lets it happen. There aren't any flowery passages or imminently quotable lines. It's simple, and it makes for a very easy, very quick read. One that sticks with you because the ideas that go down so quickly take a bit to digest.
Helene Wecker's debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni, is just lovely. It deals with immigration and lower Manhattan at the turn of the century, when people are arriving from all over the world and carving out neighborhoods for their communities. It asks interesting questions about identity, about how to balance individuality with community, about religion and human nature.
The narrative winds its way through the first year the golem and the jinni spend in New York. They arrive separately, though on the same day. And while they are kept apart for a while, as Wecker explores the Jewish community on the Lower East Side and Little Syria on the Lower West Side. It explores the people they meet.
The golem is eager to please. She hears everyone's desires and needs, hopes and fears, and is compelled to do whatever she can to help. It's a struggle for her to learn to ignore these intrusive thoughts, to pay attention to what people do and say instead. She comes off as helpful, if quiet and a little odd.
The jinni, meanwhile, does whatever he wants. He takes off on a whim with little regard for his safety. He seduces young women with no thought as to the consequences. He chafes against the constant presence and small talk of the people around them, viewing it as unnecessary.
The collision of the two supernatural beings is wonderful, and their arguments were some of my favorite parts of the book (aside from the dance, the dance was definitely my favorite part of the book). They're coming up against their natures and the prejudices and trying to work out how to find happiness in a world that only barely accepts them.
There's a lot going on this book. A bunch of different narrative threads that come together quite beautifully at the end. For the most part, the language gets out of the way and lets it happen. There aren't any flowery passages or imminently quotable lines. It's simple, and it makes for a very easy, very quick read. One that sticks with you because the ideas that go down so quickly take a bit to digest.
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