RaveToronto Star (CAN)The Books of Jacob is a virtuoso achievement in which ambitious stylistic experimentation never overshadows the piercing examination of humanity at its core ... Rather than treating Frank’s life in a straightforward, linear, biographical manner, Tokarczuk views the prophet askew: developments and events are recounted in a multitude of voices ... [A] tapestry of voices ... In a book which incorporates the fall of empires, the birth of a faith, sweeping anti-semitism, the Kabbalah, alchemy, courtly politics, floods, plagues, and religious doctrines, Tokarczuk seems to revel in the muck and blood of her subjects ... Croft’s translation seems particularly attuned to this boisterousness: the book slips from the sacred to the profane, from canonical debates to drunken hijinks, from poetry to secret, sexual rituals, without missing a beat. The language is dynamic and vibrant throughout, from Kabbalistic mysteries to the slow decline of age ... In addition to its humanity, this is a dense novel of ideas, and of questions, rooted in a history with which most of us are likely unfamiliar, an exploration of faith ... The reader becomes part of the community, attached to its narrators, and swept up in the events. We feel a kinship with Yente, looking on as history is made, as lives are lived. We become involved, invested, affected. This engagement is a big part of what makes The Books of Jacob a singular, marvellous achievement.
