Novels that raise religious hackles under the guise of re-exploring lesser known historical periods, and exposing hitherto unknown 'secrets' are generally controversial, or at least contentious. That's not the case with this historical religious novel, though not for want of trying.
Despite it's author's questionable motives, it's with some relief that I report that Guardian of the Dawn hasn't really raised any hue and cry anywhere in India. It's not even made any major ripples in literary circles, let alone irked the desi (local) overlords of organized religion in this part of the world. And that's something of a relief, this being, after all, the country that first raised the controversy over Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and whose religious clerics even issued the first fatwah against the author. (The Iranian fatwah followed the Indian one several months later and quickly overshadowed our one, thanks to their superior use of the international media.)
In contrast, whether in India or elsewhere, literary works that dealt strongly with the Jewish-Christian divide have traditionally attracted great media attention. Palestine, Joe Sacco’s brilliant work of journalism in graphic novel form, was simultaneously hailed as an important expose of Israeli occupation of the West Bank as well as derided for its allegedly one-sided view. Dan Brown’s Da Vinci's Cold—achoo! achoo! excuse me, I mean The Da Vinci Code, of course—was famously the subject of much furious debate in the Vatican and various Christian forums, even as it broke publishing records and sold some 26 million copies (and still counting), a few hundred thousand of which were probably sold within Patriot-missile strike distance of where I sit.
But I'd wager a bet that you're not likely to see Guardian of the Dawn embroiled in any such media controversy, even though, by his own admission, the author would like the world to take his book as seriously as any work of journalism or historical expose. Why, you wonder? What's all the fuss about?
Well, to understand that, you have to first know a bit more about the book itself.
Guardians is a work of historical fiction, the third in a trilogy by Portugese-Jewish author Zimler (his description of himself, not mine) about a Portugese-Jewish family (of course) in various time-periods. The previous two books in the Zarco family series, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, and Hunting Midnight were set in the 16th and 19th centuries, and dealt with various branches and generations of Zarcos in various countries and continents.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
I'm not sure how I missed these novels, but thanks for clueing me in, Ashok -- despite your dislike of the third novel, it sounds like the first two might be worth reading.
2 - Ashok K. Banker
Hey Pat, glad to point you to a new book. And I'm always clear that what I dislike someone else will probably like hugely--or the books wouldn't have been published in the first place!
3 - Temple A. Stark
This post was chosen by the section editor as a BC pick of the week. Go HERE (link) to find out why.
And thank you
- Temple
4 - sanajy choudhry
Pathetic and biased review.
5 - Ken
I agree, this comes across as a very biased review, influenced strongly by the reviewer's personal religious and cultural beliefs.
Well, Ashok, you shouldn’t hasten to conclude that the Catholic priests have been wrongly or unfairly painted as evil sadists. In fact, based on published accounts of what happened during the Inquisition, perhaps “evil sadists” would indeed be the most appropriate adjectives to describe the holy men. Allow me to quote the French philosopher Voltaire here: "Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, which is contrary to humanity as much as to commerce. The Portuguese monks deluded us into believing that the Indian populace was worshiping The Devil, while it is they who served him"
As for your apparent hurt at the use of Francis Xavier as a prime player in the Inquisition activities " I wonder if you know who requested the Inquisition in the first place. Well - no prizes for guessing - it indeed was the much venerated "Patron Saint of Goa"
Finally, your review seems to insinuate that the author has not got his facts right about "tens of thousands" of innocent Hindus and Jews having been tortured and slaughtered by the "fanatical" priests. All I can say, Ashok, is that perhaps it’s time to get a lesson on Goan history.
And for the record, I am a Goan.
6 - sahebji
Ashok [Edited] should read the book instead of writing a fake review to dissuade others from reading this book.