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Zákonodárce (2014)

by Herman Wouk(Favorite Author)

3.4 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Argo

review 1: Pulitzer winner Herman Wouk has written a number of books since The Caine Mutiny put him on the road to modern authorial greatness. But to write a quality work in his mid-90s? Pretty remarkable.The Lawgiver is positioned as the unwritable book, the one he could never figure out. He first had the idea to write a story about Moses way back when Mutiny was still in production. But it lay in a drawer, the pages turning brown, for decades. Then finally, he came up with this modern spin. A novel about how impossible it is to write a novel about Moses.Told exclusively through fictional correspondence, Wouk uses emails, recorded conversations, personal memos, text messages, and more to chronicle the efforts of Hollywood players in bringing Moses to the big screen. At the same time... more, Wouk and his wife are also characters in the story, a delightful infusion for me. After one Skype chat, the screen goes blank with a woop-woop sound. Wouk considers this technology and says, "What a world. What a century. What am I doing in it?!"The idea of telling this story via correspondence is great, especially since it's about the man Moses who received perhaps the most famous messages from God--the Ten Commandments. And don't forget that burning bush story. The Lawgiver is also very much about Jewish identity. At the core of the tale is writer-directer Margo Solovei who once abandoned her father's orthodox ways and spurned the love of her life, Josh, a lawyer who held the faith a little too closely. So we're left to wonder if the star-crossed lovers will "get uncrossed" as Wouk discusses in a wonderful epilogue the likes of which more authors should still employ.I also enjoyed the imagined workings of movie producers in action, and how a story might go from idea to Hollywood blockbuster. One final note. I listened to the audio version, not always a necessary thing to note, but I can't say if it reads as well as it was performed.
review 2: I didn't realize Herman Wouk was still alive: not only still alive, but still writing, producing The Lawgiver at the age of ninety-seven. I devoured many of his books when I was in high school, so when I saw this one on the bargain rack, I had to snatch it up. The format was a little difficult for me to get used to; I've never been a fan of the epistlatory novel, and this combined letters, e-mails, texts, memos, faxes, and transcripts of Skype and in-person conferences. I suspended my disbelief with regard to format, as I believe virtually no one texts in paragraph upon paragraph, sends letters by fax, or writes e-mails with such flair. There is something a little self-indulgent about the book; it seemed Wouk was using it and the characters as a vehicle for communicating his own opinions about various things and perhaps even subtly praising himself from time to time. I had trouble keeping some of the secondary characters straight. Despite these flaws, I was able to immerse myself in the tale, which is, at its heart, a romance. I found the book to be a surprisingly quick read, and one that made me smile from time to time. I think it would be hard to appreciate this book without some basic familiarity with Wouk's other works and with Jewish culture. I was especially touched by his note in the epilogue regarding his late wife. less

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