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A review by acton
The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six by Jonathon Keats
5.0
While I was enjoying this book, I had never heard of Jonathan Keats. He is a conceptual artist whose most famous project seems to be the Atheon, a temple devoted to science and rational belief, at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, where he is challenging people to question their conceptions about science and religion.
"When you listen to people like Nobel laureate cosmologist Steven Weinberg, or Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, you hear a lot of talk about how god-based religion is out-of-date," says Keats. "The leading minds believe that science can and should provide a spiritually satisfying replacement. But until recently no one bothered to consider what form that alternative might take.
Keats has admirers and critics, but whether one agrees with him or not, I think most would agree that he has an intriguing mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, on with the book review! The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty Six brings to life the concept of the Lamedh-Vov, the thirty-six pure souls who must exist at all times to justify humanity, as outlined in Jewish folklore. Coincidentally, I encountered this concept very recently in another novel, called The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, which definitely influenced my expectation that these thirty-six pure souls would be the most righteous human beings. And yet. Here we are presented with stories of twelve lives, one third of the Lamedh-Vov who were supposed to have existed at one point in time, and these souls are quite a surprise.
Keats's tales are introduced with a fictional foreward by a fictional professor and followed by a fictional editor's afterward, letting the public in on the events surrounding these very controversial stories and the possible fate of the author, who has disappeared.
And indeed, this work would be controversal, since these pure souls are composed of an idiot, a liar, a gambler, a thief, a clown, a whore, a false messiah, a cheat, an idler, a golem, a murderer, and a rebel. But wait, wait--they are here for a reason. Every one of them encounters the worst hatred and cruelty that human nature has to offer, but they respond with kindness and wisdom, improving the lives of everyone around them. Some of these characters meet more fortunate endings than others, and the endings are not predictable.
Of these twelve folkloric stories, my personal favorites are Alef the Idiot, Heyh the Clown, Tet the Idler, Yod the Inhuman, and Yod-Beit the Rebel. I'd be very interested in knowing which tales caught the fancy of others, too. They are all fascinating; as soon as I started one, I had to finish.
It was a most pleasant experience. Thank you:)
"When you listen to people like Nobel laureate cosmologist Steven Weinberg, or Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, you hear a lot of talk about how god-based religion is out-of-date," says Keats. "The leading minds believe that science can and should provide a spiritually satisfying replacement. But until recently no one bothered to consider what form that alternative might take.
Keats has admirers and critics, but whether one agrees with him or not, I think most would agree that he has an intriguing mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, on with the book review! The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty Six brings to life the concept of the Lamedh-Vov, the thirty-six pure souls who must exist at all times to justify humanity, as outlined in Jewish folklore. Coincidentally, I encountered this concept very recently in another novel, called The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, which definitely influenced my expectation that these thirty-six pure souls would be the most righteous human beings. And yet. Here we are presented with stories of twelve lives, one third of the Lamedh-Vov who were supposed to have existed at one point in time, and these souls are quite a surprise.
Keats's tales are introduced with a fictional foreward by a fictional professor and followed by a fictional editor's afterward, letting the public in on the events surrounding these very controversial stories and the possible fate of the author, who has disappeared.
And indeed, this work would be controversal, since these pure souls are composed of an idiot, a liar, a gambler, a thief, a clown, a whore, a false messiah, a cheat, an idler, a golem, a murderer, and a rebel. But wait, wait--they are here for a reason. Every one of them encounters the worst hatred and cruelty that human nature has to offer, but they respond with kindness and wisdom, improving the lives of everyone around them. Some of these characters meet more fortunate endings than others, and the endings are not predictable.
Of these twelve folkloric stories, my personal favorites are Alef the Idiot, Heyh the Clown, Tet the Idler, Yod the Inhuman, and Yod-Beit the Rebel. I'd be very interested in knowing which tales caught the fancy of others, too. They are all fascinating; as soon as I started one, I had to finish.
It was a most pleasant experience. Thank you:)