Quarantine by Jim Crace – from the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction 12 out of 10
Quarantine by Jim Crace – from the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction
12 out of 10
For this lay creature, Quarantine is better than the bible in that it brings Jesus closer, it is less overwhelming, even if absolutely fantastic, mesmerizing, Unforgettable, Troubling, profound, impressive' so deep and thought provoking that I am still wondering about what I have just finished, what is the significance of Jesus and his passage through the caves – Quarantine by the way refers to a period of forty days during which five people try to fast, pray and thus obtain some miracles, or goals they aim at and not the lockdowns during the pandemic that we have grown accustomed to, unless of course we are the very precious Djokovic – what the various other characters mean beyond their mere presence in this Magnum opus.
The under signed has already been enthused, exuberant after reading Harvest by the same fabulous author http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/04/in-awe-of-harvest-by-jim-crace-13-out.html and finds Quarantine to be perfect, combining a religious message – which is oh so easy on skeptical mind, making the apparition of Jesus and perhaps another prophet beguiling, using a sophisticated approach, Shim may leave this book, at the end of it, to become one of the apostles, but at the same time, he comes across as something of a…Sham, reminding readers of the celebrated frauds of this age, from the ‘very stable genius’ to the Brazilian donkey that leads a great country, with the brain of a goat…
Musa is also a complicated figure, even if an absolute monster, very suited to the role of the villain, he does have some redoubtable skills, such as story telling with panache and an ability to sell almost anything, impose his authority on the others, survival techniques that will take him out of the most impossible hole – he also might play the role of Judas, some other hesitant, ambivalent follower of Jesus…we could envisage him after the end of Quarantine – no spoiler alert if we speak of what might happen beyond the end – proselytizing in the name of Jesus and becoming one of the saints celebrated for making the ‘word of the son of god known to the world’, after all, Peter has denied three times and there were others who had started their career by prosecuting the Christians and Musa was quick to see Gaily…
To begin with, Musa is dying and cousins and uncles abandon him and his wife, long suffering Miri, who is five months pregnant, with a bare minimum, some goats, a tent with some food and tools, while they take the goods that Musa would have traded with them, promising some return…the wife of the expiring merchant starts digging a grave for him, and while she is making a hole for the corpse, Jesus comes to the tent for some water and dates, puts a hand on the lips of the sick and he is resurrected, talking about the miracle and looking to see Jesus again, only the latter is determined, probably as close to a perfect mix of the ‘real, historical Jesus’ and an allegory that presents us with a divine, yet ‘human, all too human’, determined to find god, drinking nothing, never mind eating, even when Musa sends repeated offers to the entrance of his cave, becoming a ghost, surviving with air…
There are two women in this story and again, there is an urge to try and read their significance, going beyond the real pleasure of reading this narrative, which itself contains some very enticing parables – take the one with the monkeys, following the finding of the honey comb, wherein Musa and his troop buy (was it) fifty monkeys and they get lost in the desert, without water and have no way out, until he thinks of letting one monkey look for water, then another, and yet another, until one reaches some source- and we may see the easy way of connecting them with the famous two in the New Testament.
Marta is out at the caves to try and pray for a child – her husband has told her he will divorce, if she does not have a heir soon, though seeing that his previous, first spouse also had no baby, the trouble is most likely with him- and the Quarantine brings her close to…Miri, not to someone in the sky or elsewhere, and at the end of their fasting, each may have one dream come true, a spectacular transformation may take place, albeit this is so fucking deep and mind blowing that it does not pertain to the usual crowd that will want to find the déjà vu water into wine and the rest of it, the epiphanies will be internal – well, this is surely wrong, for they all are to a great extent – and no big visual effects will be displayed outside, on the contrary, Jesus may not ‘live up to the expectations’ on common understanding…
Shim is rather vain, interested in decorum more than substance, wants to be admired – thus he could make for a great Mark, Peter or one of the other famed Circle of Buddies of the Son of God, and maybe this is who he really is, if we read between the lines, especially after he gains in what he had been lacking, gravitas – but the trauma of the caves, the encounter with the villainous, abusive, violent, demonic Musa may take him to another level, where he experiences PTG Post Traumatic Growth is the positive alternative of the more frequent PTSD and Shim may come out a changed, better, illuminated man…
Marta is also involved in bestial events, she has to suffer more than the pain of fasting, living without water during the day, deprivation of sleep, waiting in cold for the nights to end, she has attracted the lust of the messenger of Satan – for this is what Musa may be, if we see things in terms of dichotomy, the ultimate devil, with a sweet tongue when he wants to lure customers and victims, beating and raping his wife and others, if he has a chance – and her dream of having a baby may come true, even if ultimately, maybe that child comes from God, through the touch (only) of Jesus, or from Beelzebub, or just indirectly from Miri, who has been first envied for expecting to give birth, and then became a sister…
We also have Aphas, an old Jew who is complaining about his frailty, the liver tumor that he may have, the presence in the wilderness for him is meant to attract some mercy, a postponement of his imminent death, perhaps to try and come to terms if he does not get an extended life, but he could also find strength in adversity…then we also have the ‘primitive, mad’ Badu, who seems to be very sane, only from the very beginning, he is just odd, outré, when in the presence of humans, on his own, he looks like he is better balanced than the others combined…I am not sure what archetype this would be, perhaps the very ordinary human, who has some strange habits, looks for the primordial truths…but this is just a shot in the dark and what remains is the catharsis brought by this magnanimous, glorious chef d’oeuvre…
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