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Mar 26, 2017sgcf rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I liked this story, epic in its time span, as it searches out the history of a 500 year old Illuminated Jewish manuscript. Brooks imaginatively crafts the journey of a book conservationist who researches the little droppings in the old book, then uses each as a springboard for separate stories throughout the manuscript’s history. I really resonated with this quote: "You’ve got a society where people tolerate difference … and then the need to demonize ‘the other’ rears up and smashes society. Inquisition, Nazis, extremist Serb nationalists … the book bears witness to all that." So sad the way this circle wearily repeats itself as evidenced in the daily news. An illuminating read.