The Books of Jacob - Reading Guide
Discover more about Enlightenment Europe on the cusp of precipitous change with our reading guide for The Books of Jacob.
Olga Tokarczuk's portrayal of Enlightenment Europe on the cusp of precipitous change, searching for certainty and longing for transcendence
In the mid-18th century, as new ideas begin to sweep the continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following.
In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires as he reinvents himself again and again. He converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order with scandalous rumours of his sect’s secret rituals and the spread of his increasingly iconoclastic beliefs.
Olga Tokarczuk
About the Author
Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk is a Polish writer and activist, and one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland
Jennifer Croft
About the Translator
Jennifer Croft is an American author, critic and translator who works from Polish, Ukrainian and Argentine SpanishWhat the judges said
‘Olga Tokarczuk’s The Books of Jacob weaves an epic tapestry from the bizarre, mundane, and utterly unpredictable sweep of history as it is created moment by moment, crammed with a staggering cast of characters, places and historical events. Jennifer Croft’s lithe, elegant translation nimbly conveys the novel’s delicate irony and its ethereal beauty.’
What the critics said
Marek Makowski, The Los Angeles Review of Books
‘Tokarczuk maintains her novel’s pace with section breaks, narrating her characters’ psychological development with the tension of discovery, the slow but progressive movement of their thoughts […] One could say it is written against our times, in defiance of our short attention spans, the spinning news cycle, the pithy tweet, and the rapid scroll. The novel poses a challenge to our literature.’
Ron Charles, The Washington Post
‘The Books of Jacob is finally available here in a wondrous English translation by Jennifer Croft, and it’s just as awe-inspiring as the Nobel judges claimed when they praised Tokarczuk for showing ‘the supreme capacity of the novel to represent a case almost beyond human understanding.’ In terms of its scope and ambition, The Books of Jacob is beyond anything else I’ve ever read. Even its voluminous subtitle is a witty expression of Tokarczuk’s irrepressible, omnivorous reach … The challenges here — for author and reader — are considerable. After all, Tokarczuk isn’t revising our understanding of Mozart or presenting a fresh take on Catherine the Great. She’s excavating a shadowy figure who’s almost entirely unknown today.’
Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
‘Ms. Tokarczuk is as comfortable rendering the world of the Jewish peasantry as that of the Polish royal court. And she has made matters even more challenging for herself—and certainly for her readers—by adopting an experimental narrative technique that draws back from the dramatization of historical events to explore the question of salvation, and of humankind’s perpetual longing for it … An incredibly juicy tale of villainy and intrigue, yet the striking thing about The Books of Jacob is that Ms. Tokarczuk has taken advantage of almost none of the story’s inherent drama.’
Antonia Senior, The Sunday Times
‘Tokarczuk shows impressive skill in recreating an entire era and world, which ranges from Poland to Smyrna and Vienna. Yet her real genius lies in the cast of characters she has conjured up; dozens, each fully realised, from an emperor downwards […] Holding it all together for 900 pages is incredible, but that is not what makes this book great. Tokarczuk, unafraid and ambitious, creates a very fallible messiah, yet makes it seem reasonable and human to believe in his divinity. That is a kind of literary miracle.’
Randy Rosenthal, Los Angeles Times
‘At nearly 1,000 pages, covering 50 years and as many characters, it’s a historical epic comparable to War and Peace, though not nearly as straightforward. With its disorienting reverse page order and dozens of maps, illustrations and documents, The Books of Jacob offers a reading experience that is literally incomparable.’
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