Wikipedia

The Books of Jacob

Not to be confused with Book of Jacob.

The Books of Jacob[a] (Polish: Księgi Jakubowe[b]) is an epic historical novel[3] by Olga Tokarczuk, published by Wydawnictwo Literackie in October 2014.[4] It is Tokarczuk's ninth novel and is the product of extensive historical research, taking her seven years to write.[5]

The Books of Jacob
First edition cover (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2014)
AuthorOlga Tokarczuk
Original titleKsięgi Jakubowe
TranslatorJennifer Croft
LanguagePolish
GenreHistorical fiction
PublisherWydawnictwo Literackie
Publication date
October 2014
Publication placePoland
Published in English
15 November 2021
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages912
AwardsNike Award (2015)
ISBN978-83-08-04939-6
OCLC898158997
891.8538
LC ClassPG7179.O37 K75 2014

The Books of Jacob is a 912-page novel divided into seven books. It begins in 1752 in Rohatyn and ends in Holocaust-era Korolówka.[6] Its title subject is Jacob Frank, a Polish Jew who claimed to be the messiah. The novel combines dozens of third-person perspectives of those connected to Jacob Frank.[7]

Upon publication, it was an instant best-seller and won Poland's most prestigious literary prize, the Nike Award.[7] By October 2015, the novel's circulation had reached 100,000 copies.[8] When Tokarczuk was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel Committee said that it was "very impressed" by The Books of Jacob.[3] An English translation by Jennifer Croft was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions on 15 November 2021.[9][10] Croft won a 2015 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant for The Books of Jacob.[11] A US publication by Riverhead Books was released on 1 February 2022.[12]

Reception

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Writing for Gazeta Wyborcza, Przemysław Czapliński [pl] wrote that the novel "revolutionizes the image of religious life in the 18th century, but also changes the perception of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth."[13]

Writing for Polityka, Justyna Sobolewska [pl] wrote that "Tokarczuk proved that it is possible to write an over 900-page novel, full of pictorial descriptions, religious disputes and letters, which keeps you in suspense" and called it an "extremely interesting panorama of 18th-century Poland."[14]

In regard to the historical and ideological divides of Polish literature, the novel has been characterized as anti-Sienkiewicz. It was soon acclaimed by critics and readers alike, but its reception has been hostile in some Polish nationalistic circles and Olga Tokarczuk became a target of an internet hate and harassment campaign.[15][16]

English translation

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According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on 40 critic reviews with 26 being "rave" and nine being "positive" and four being "mixed" and one being "pan".[17] In the Mar/Apr 2022 issue of Bookmarks, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of 3.5 out of 5 based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "True to its title, The Books of Jacob reads like scripture: more than one critic described the novel as both dense and arcane."[18] Globally, Complete Review saying on the consensus "Big, wide-ranging, detailed; not quite a consensus on how successful it all is".[19]

Upon publication in the UK, the book garnered critical acclaim. In The Guardian, Marcel Theroux writes that, "[d]ense, captivating and weird, The Books of Jacob is on a different scale from either" of her previous novels translated into English. "It is a visionary novel that conforms to a particular notion of masterpiece – long, arcane and sometimes inhospitable. Tokarczuk is wrestling with the biggest philosophical themes [...]." He goes on to compare it to John Milton's Paradise Lost and concludes that the novel is one that "will be a landmark in the life of any reader with the appetite to tackle it."[20] Anthony Cummins of The Observer writes that the book is a "panorama of early Enlightenment Europe that doubles as an open-minded study in the mysteries of charisma, it is perhaps above all – and aptly – a gargantuan act of faith, a novel in which your reading has barely begun by the time you’ve turned the last of its 900 pages."[21] Catherine Taylor, writing for Prospect, calls The Books of Jacob an "extraordinary 1,000-page novel", comparing it to Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Of the English translation, Taylor has the following to say: "Huge credit must be given to Croft, whose magnificent, lively translation is also a work of pure scholarship: the multiple voices, styles, landscapes and inventories she renders into English bring this lost world vividly to life." Concluding, she singles out the subject of Jewish life in Poland of Frank's time as being at the core of the novel: "Tokarczuk's determination in this tremendous work to recast and restore to Poland's past its vanished Jewish culture has never been more necessary."[22] Antonia Senior, in The Times, calls the book "a work of genius."[23]

Awards

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The Books of Jacob was awarded the 2015 Nike Award Jury prize, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.[15] It also received Nike's Audience award for 2015.[24]

The novel was shortlisted for the 2015 Angelus Award.[25][26]

The Swedish translation by Jan Henrik Swahn [sv] was awarded in 2016 with the first international prize awarded by the Stockholm institution Kulturhuset Stadsteatern.[27]

The French translation by Maryla Laurent was awarded the 2018 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature,[28][29] the 2018 Prix Transfuge for Meilleur roman européen[30] and the 2019 Prix Laure Bataillon.[31] It was also a finalist in the second selection for the 2018 Prix Femina étranger.[32]

Jennifer Croft's English translation was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize.[33]

Audiobook

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In 2020, an audiobook adaptation was released by Wydawnictwo Literackie (ISBN 978-83-08-06994-3). It has a runtime of 40 hours and 44 minutes. The novel's seven books are narrated by seven Polish actors and actresses: Danuta Stenka, Wiktor Zborowski, Jan Peszek, Agata Kulesza, Maja Ostaszewska, Adam Ferency and Mariusz Bonaszewski [pl].[34][35]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Full English title: The Books of Jacob, or: A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, Drawing from a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment.[1]
  2. ^ Full stylized title: KSIĘGI JAKUBOWE albo WIELKA PODRÓŻ przez siedem granic, pięć języków i trzy duże religie, nie licząc tych małych. Opowiadana przez ZMARŁYCH, a przez AUTORKĘ dopełniona metodą KONIEKTURY, z wielu rozmaitych KSIĄG zaczerpnięta, a także wspomożona IMAGINACJĄ, która to jest największym naturalnym DAREM człowieka. Mądrym dla Memoryału, Kompatriotom dla Refleksji, Laikom dla Nauki, Melancholikom zaś dla Rozrywki.[2]

References

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  1. ^ @FitzcarraldoEds (26 February 2021). "We have some news! THE BOOKS OF JACOB by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by @jenniferlcroft , is out 15 November 2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Sosnowski, Jerzy (10 December 2019). "Księga totalna". Więź (in Polish). Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke win Nobel Prize for Literature for 2018 and 2019". BBC News. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Księgi Jakubowe". Wydawnictwo Literackie. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  5. ^ Tausinger, Rona (14 April 2020). "'I wrote about a charismatic man, a psychopath, a charmer. A fraud'". Israel Hayom. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  6. ^ Croft, Jennifer (March 2020). "Frozen Time". Frieze. No. 209.
  7. ^ a b Franklin, Ruth (29 July 2019). "Olga Tokarczuk's Novels Against Nationalism". The New Yorker. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Nakład "Ksiąg Jakubowych" przekroczył 100 tysięcy". www.tokarczuk.wydawnictwoliterackie.pl (in Polish). 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. ^ "The Books of Jacob". Fitzcarraldo Editions. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  10. ^ Flood, Alison (26 February 2021). "Olga Tokarczuk's 'magnum opus' finally gets English release – after seven years of translation". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  11. ^ Tokarczuk, Olga (22 October 2015). "The Books of Jacob". pen.org. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  12. ^ "The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk: 9780593087480". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  13. ^ Czapliński, Przemysław (21 October 2014). ""Księgi Jakubowe", czyli dwieście lat samotności. Recenzja nowej książki Olgi Tokarczuk". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  14. ^ Sobolewska, Justyna (16 December 2014). "HITY 2014. Literatura – Polska". Polityka (in Polish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  15. ^ a b Chehab, Milena Rachid (4 October 2015). "Nagroda Nike 2015 dla Olgi Tokarczuk. "Księgi Jakubowe" książką roku!". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  16. ^ Jałoszewski, Mariusz (15 October 2015). "Internetowy lincz na Oldze Tokarczuk. Zabić pisarkę" [Internet lynch on Olga Tokarczuk. Kill the writer]. Gazeta Wyborcza.
  17. ^ "The Books of Jacob". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  18. ^ "The Books of Jacob". Bookmarks Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  19. ^ "The Books of Jacob". Complete Review. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  20. ^ Theroux, Marcel (10 November 2021). "The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk review – a messiah's story". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  21. ^ Cummins, Anthony (21 November 2021). "The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk review – a magical mystic tour". The Observer. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  22. ^ Taylor, Catherine (4 November 2021). "The rise and fall of a Messiah: Olga Tokarczuk's epic novel of Jewish life in Poland". Prospect. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  23. ^ Senior, Antonia (11 November 2021). "The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk review — the story of a messiah (and a very naughty boy)". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Nike 2015 dla Olgi Tokarczuk". nike.org.pl (in Polish). 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  25. ^ Gajda, Damian (2 September 2015). "Cztery książki z Polski w finale Literackiej Nagrody Europy Środkowej Angelus". kultura.onet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  26. ^ Talik, Magdalena (2 September 2015). "Angelus 2015. Finałowa siódemka". www.wroclaw.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Tłumacze o twórczości Olgi Tokarczuk". Instytut Książki. 11 October 2019.
  28. ^ "Edition 2018". Fondation Jan Michalski. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  29. ^ Turcev, Nicolas (21 November 2018). "Le prix Jan Michalski 2018 attribué à Olga Tokarczuk". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  30. ^ Turcev, Nicolas (10 October 2019). "Olga Tokarczuk, prix Nobel de littérature 2018". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  31. ^ "Poland's Tokarczuk wins French literary award". PolskieRadio.pl. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  32. ^ "Prix Femina : la dernière sélection". France Info (in French). 24 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  33. ^ "The 2022 International Booker Prize shortlist announced | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  34. ^ "Księgi Jakubowe – audiobook". Wydawnictwo Literackie (in Polish). Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  35. ^ Nogaś, Michał (30 March 2020). ""Księgi Jakubowe" w 40 godzin i 44 minuty. Peszek, Kulesza, Ostaszewska opowiadają o tym, jak czytają Tokarczuk". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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