The Elixir of Immortality
A Novel
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A mesmerizing debut novel that spans a thousand years of European and Jewish history seen through the beguiling members of the Spinoza family
Since the eleventh century, the Spinoza family has passed down, from father to son, a secret manuscript containing the recipe for immortality. Now, after thirty-six generations, the last descendant of this long and illustrious chain, Ari Spinoza, doesn’t have a son to whom to entrust the manuscript. From his deathbed, he begins his narrative, hoping to save his lineage from oblivion.
Ari’s two main sources of his family’s history are a trunk of yellowing documents inherited from his grandfather, and his great-uncle Fernando’s tales that captivated him when he was a child. He chronicles the Spinozas’ involvement in some of Europe’s most formative cultural events with intertwining narratives that move through ages of tyranny, creativity, and social upheaval: into medieval Portugal, Grand inquisitor Torquemada’s
Spain, Rembrandt’s Amsterdam, the French Revolution, Freud’s Vienna, and the horrors of both world wars.
The Elixir of Immortality blends truth and fiction as it rewrites European history through comic, imaginative, scandalous, and tragic tales that prove “the only thing that can possibly give human beings immortality on this earth: our ability to remember.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This lengthy novel is crammed with history and ideas, yet readers may find the weightiest thing about it is the poundage of the actual volume. The narrator, Ari Spinoza, is a direct descendant of the great philosopher Baruch Spinoza. His great-uncle Franz "Fernando" Scharf (related by marriage) is a prolific storyteller with a vast repertoire of tales about past Spinozas. There is Israel, personal physician to the king of Portugal; his son, Chaim; Moishe the cabalist; and French writer Hector, among others. Many, many famous people from history who are not Spinozas make fleeting appearances as well: Freud, Voltaire, and Goya are but a few. On top of this, the more recent histories of Ari; his twin brother, Sasha; and Franz are recounted, such as Franz's testy relationship with Ari's grandmother. Little is ever fully developed, though, leaving this book feeling less like a single, satisfying novel than a summary of many other potentially interesting ones. There are plenty of rich ingredients, but somehow they make for a bland broth rather than a rich stew.