The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1) in Ask Helene Wecker

Oct 31, 2013 Sidharth Panwar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

In times like these when there is an obscene amount of books being published, almost all of them acutely unoriginal, it felt great when I found this wonderful book. I felt what a child would who comes across a shiny stone alongside a riverbed.

I would be honest with you and say that fables always held a strong appeal for me. I was always more fascinated by the simpler and timeless stories than by the literary and complex works of here and now. And "The Golem and the Jinni" is a fable. In many wa ...more

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Jul 05, 2013 Henry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, magic

This is a book crying out for a sequel. It is the most interesting meeting of two distinctly intriguing personalities I have ever read. I would love to see what happens as the story caries forward.

The Golem and the Jinni raises so many interesting questions, the most central of which - What is a perfect match? Chava (the golem) and Ahmad (the jinni) are such compelling characters, and their interaction with one another is full of fascinating conflict and heart-warming vulnerabilities. Their per ...more

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Jul 04, 2013 Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: jewish-literature, favorites-of-all-time

A marvelous book, beautifully written and imagined. The tale of how a golem - who looks like any other woman - and a jinni, who looks like any other man - end up in NYC in 1889 and eventually meet is truly original. The book is written from several points of view, all of which meld together. Each character is well defined, and the character development is well done. I also enjoyed the descriptions of 1889 NYC and the people who inhabited it. I loved this book and highly recommend it! Can't wait ...more

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Sep 19, 2013 Lena Barsky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: for-book-club, read-in-2017

Upon reading for the second time, I stand by my 2013 rating of four stars!

I absolutely love the "finding humanity" aspect of this novel, and the time period is ONE OF MY FAVES, and hello I'm a sucker for anything Golem-related. So I think the thing that keeps me from a full five stars is how FAST some things in the book happen. E.g., in all of the Big Action Scenes I had to read through a couple times to fully get what was taking place. Or, a serious thing would take place (someone dying) and t ...more

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Jun 20, 2013 James (JD) Dittes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american-history-the-cool-bits, 2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 22, 2013 Angela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I did not think much of this book because of the title. It seemed at first not interesting at all but I kept seeing 5 star reviews of it so I figured I would give it a try. This is an unbelievably good book. I listened to it on audio and now think I will buy the print version and read that (and I almost NEVER reread books). I have read some criticism that there was not enough romance in the book but I disagree, I think this is a great love story and it did not need any frivolous romance to make ...more

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May 20, 2013 Nicole rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"In the beginning, a sickly Jewish man breathes an incantation on a ship destined for New York City, and his golem wakes. And he saw that the creation was good. Then he dies and severs the master-servant connection with the golem, leaving her open to the wishes and emotions of everyone. At the same time, deep within New York City, a tinsmith undoes scrollwork on a copper flask and releases a 1,000-year-old jinni. He has no memory of his capture—only hatred for the wizard who clapped the iron cuf ...more

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Oct 20, 2013 Sarah Cypher added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

As a debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni is an intriguing magical realist-historical crossover novel about New York immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. The concept is easy to love: A bound Jinni, Ahmad, is freed from his copper flask in a Syrian tinsmith's shop in Lower Manhattan, while in a Jewish neighborhood nearby, a golem, Chava, finds herself master-less and alone. The two meet and form a troubled companionship, unaware that the only person on Earth who knows both their natur As a debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni is an intriguing magical realist-historical crossover novel about New York immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. The concept is easy to love: A bound Jinni, Ahmad, is freed from his copper flask in a Syrian tinsmith's shop in Lower Manhattan, while in a Jewish neighborhood nearby, a golem, Chava, finds herself master-less and alone. The two meet and form a troubled companionship, unaware that the only person on Earth who knows both their natures has trailed them to New York and intends to use their power for his own gain.

Despite the simplicity of the central story--two immigrants meet in a new place and try to make a go of it--the novel is rich with historical detail and uses many points of view to encompass a layered storyline and large cast of characters. The story is sometimes unwieldy, and the many POVs bog down the climax and denouement, but it's hard to imagine how else the story could handle the sheer volume of world-building it has to do: Besides reconstructing turn-of-the-century Manhattan, it builds the world of the jinn, as well as the Kabbalistic magic that creates and controls the golem. The novel comes out to be a tome, but most of it is dynamically plotted and engrossing.

Part of me hoped for a deeper dive into the novel's potentially beautiful thematic territory--anything from the depth of the respective Jewish and Arabic cultures to the deep sense of displacement, beyond simple homesickness, that comes from emigration. These are present in the novel, but don't resonate as much as they might have. The Golem and the Jinni is a relatively straightforward story that covers a lot of ground, showing us a slice of Arab and Jewish history before the intense politicization of 1948 and beyond, when both communities were still fleeing Old World masters to face the same hardships and hopes in the New World.

I'd give it four stars except for the few places where the plot felt labored; for the most part, though, I really enjoyed reading it and look forward to more from Helene Wecker. For another inventive (but considerably more baroque) novel about turn-of-the-century New York, check out Mark Halprin's
Winter's Tale. ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Harriet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Truly wonderful in all the meanings of the word! A delight to read! What an extraodinary first novel. How nice to come upon this oasis after a really long dry spell.

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Sep 11, 2013 Mari Mendoza rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

After a year or more of still thinking about this novel: I changed my rating to 5 stars and am now completely satisfied with the ending. I understand now why Wecker could not show us more. It is because these characters are so unique that their joint path can only be left ambitious. It's like it's not yet carved out because they are pioneers on that path. Love it now more than when I read it. Below is my original review.

Original review:

I would rate this 4.5 if possible because I loved the narrat ...more

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