This isn’t the first story I’ve read about a golem. Mary Shelley’s most famous novel is said to be about a kind of golem, a patchwork figure of dead flesh brought to life by unknown means. But Genesis also revolves around this kind of creation, a being fashioned out of clay with life breathed into him by a powerful deity. Both beings go rogue, refusing to follow their creators’s wishes and let loose havoc upon the world.
The initial chapters in this novel bring us into a bygone era of blood, violence and terror as young freedom fighters meet a grisly end. There is a brief scene of joy as a morsel of chocolate is shared among friends and then horror as that moment is snuffed out like a candle. The author vividly writes about this, the camaraderie of youth brought together through adverse circumstances. It’s almost as if you are there, even at the terrible end.
We understand the father’s grief as he creates his female golem in the image of his dead daughter, Chaya. Ezra suffers from a broken spirit, shattered body and lost faith as he assembles his creation, a being that he calls a desecration to its face. Vera may look like his deceased offspring but he knows she isn’t. She hasn’t been created as a surrogate that he can love but as an instrument of destruction and he feels no more tenderness towards her than he would a gun or a bomb.
This being is something else, not quite the pure golem of legend, for she is fashioned by unholy means. However, we sense that Vera (the golem’s name) is already beginning to harbor emotion and may experience resentment for her creator’s lack of empathy or true tenderness for her. She possesses the incredible strength and indestructibility of the golem and knowledge from the dead men whose writings are scrawled on her clay skin. Ezra is coldly excited to learn her memories include those of the vanished Chaya. Will she learn empathy and sympathy as she ages or will she ultimately turn on her creator as it’s often said that golems do?
These chapters excite and terrify in almost equal fashion as we are pulled into this world of ancient Semitic law and forbidden magic. The urge for vengeance always twists and warps people. What does it do to a man already broken by war? What does it do to a creature formed from clay, memories and unholy practice? This is a novel I can’t wait to read as I wonder what path the author has crafted for HIS creation.
The initial chapters in this novel bring us into a bygone era of blood, violence and terror as young freedom fighters meet a grisly end. There is a brief scene of joy as a morsel of chocolate is shared among friends and then horror as that moment is snuffed out like a candle. The author vividly writes about this, the camaraderie of youth brought together through adverse circumstances. It’s almost as if you are there, even at the terrible end.
We understand the father’s grief as he creates his female golem in the image of his dead daughter, Chaya. Ezra suffers from a broken spirit, shattered body and lost faith as he assembles his creation, a being that he calls a desecration to its face. Vera may look like his deceased offspring but he knows she isn’t. She hasn’t been created as a surrogate that he can love but as an instrument of destruction and he feels no more tenderness towards her than he would a gun or a bomb.
This being is something else, not quite the pure golem of legend, for she is fashioned by unholy means. However, we sense that Vera (the golem’s name) is already beginning to harbor emotion and may experience resentment for her creator’s lack of empathy or true tenderness for her. She possesses the incredible strength and indestructibility of the golem and knowledge from the dead men whose writings are scrawled on her clay skin. Ezra is coldly excited to learn her memories include those of the vanished Chaya. Will she learn empathy and sympathy as she ages or will she ultimately turn on her creator as it’s often said that golems do?
These chapters excite and terrify in almost equal fashion as we are pulled into this world of ancient Semitic law and forbidden magic. The urge for vengeance always twists and warps people. What does it do to a man already broken by war? What does it do to a creature formed from clay, memories and unholy practice? This is a novel I can’t wait to read as I wonder what path the author has crafted for HIS creation.