It's pretty daring to write a novel and take as its title Maimonides' 12th century philosophical work, considered by many to be a sort of linchpin of Middle Ages philosophy for both Jews and non-Jews.
And to make that story a re-working of the biblical tale of Joseph in Egypt, persecuted by his own siblings, is quite lofty. Throw in a lengthy sub-plot involving the discovery of the Cairo Genizah, a vast repository of some 1,000 years of texts (some of it authored by Maimonides himself), and you have a Super Bowl of Jewish literary, philosophical and religious themes, all in 342 pages.
I have to be honest and say that I can't decide whether this novel is an overstuffed disaster or a slice of divine inspiration. It's the story of Josie Ashkenazi, a hyper-brilliant software entrepreneur and inventor of the program Genizah, which collects all personal digital information and synthesizes it into a coherent whole, effectively re-creating a life. She takes a trip to the new library at Alexandria, Egypt, at the request of scholars there, only to be kidnapped. She leaves behind her husband, daughter, and ever-jealous sister Judith, who may or may not provide the keys to her rescue. Josie's story alternates with that of Solomon Schechter, a Cambridge scholar on the hunt for a cache of medieval documents in a Cairo synagogue. (That would be the literal Genizah.)
This was quite suspenseful and well structured. I just don't know whether it's good. Read it and decide for yourself! (And if you could do it before 8 am on Friday, that would be terrific.)
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