Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"He who owns the oil will own the world, he will rule the sea and the land, he will rule his fellowmen.", 29 Dec 2008
(4.5 stars) Mesopotamia, once the site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, boasted vibrant civilizations four thousand years before the Christian Era, and the ruins of these civilizations, many of them buried for six thousand years, dot the countryside. By 1914, when this novel opens, Mesopotamia (Iraq) is being ruled from Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire. Virtually every European country is in Iraq, however, waiting for the weakened Ottoman Empire to fall. The Germans are building a railroad from Basra through Baghdad to Constantinople, and they may excavate along the track, through vast oil fields. An American from Standard Oil is on site, the French are making noises, and the Russians and the Austro-Hungarian Empire hope to profit. With World War I looming, the need for oil and chrome ore (to make armor-piercing weapons) is pressing, and everyone sees Iraq as a source of materiel.
Trying to ignore this turmoil is John Somerville, a thirty-five-year-old archaeologist who has been working for three years at Tell Erdek, an ancient site near Baghdad that has so far yielded few artifacts. A broken piece of ivory, a carved flat stone, a reconstructed clay tablet with writing, and the beginning of a wall made of kiln-fired bricks are all that Somerville has to show for three years of work. Unfortunately, his excavations are in the path of the German-built railroad, and he is running out of money. As Somerville tries to protect "his" dig, he must deal with the Turks, and with deceitful British entrepreneurs and officials. The British believe that war is coming, and they are not going to interfere against the German railroad, even if it means the destruction of unique archaeological artifacts.
As Booker Prize winner Barry Unsworth explores conflicts, deceits, and betrayals on all levels, he creates memorable characters, both on the dig at Tell Erdek and in the wider world. Love stories and affairs among those on the archaeological team reveal as much about deceit and betrayal on a small scale as does the duplicitous behavior of financiers and governments on a grand scale. No one can trust anyone else. Unsworth creates a vibrant picture of a tumultuous time and place, endowing what might have been an exotic tale of archaeological discovery with a broader thematic scope.
The action never flags as the points of view change from Somerville's excavation, to life at the team's headquarters, to the courtship of Jehan the informer, to government officials and financiers. As artifacts reveal the fate of the ancient "palace" and its inhabitants, Somerville is able to identify the seventh century BC ruler (or his double--another possible deceit). TMorality Playhose familiar with ancient art history, archaeological procedures, and the culture of the Babylonians and Assyrians will be thrilled by the details of Somerville's discoveries. Those with little interest in these subjects may find the technical details challenging, if not tedious. n Mary Whipple
The Ruby in Her Navel: A Novel of Love and Intrigue in the 12th Century
Losing Nelson
After Hannibal
Morality Play
The Rage of the Vulture
Mooncranker's Gift
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Storytelling, 24 Feb 2009
Unsworth is one those writers I've been meaning to try for a long, long time, but for whatever reason, never got around to. However, the pre-WWI Middle Eastern setting of his latest book motivated me to finally see what the fuss is all about. I grew up in the Middle East, have been to archeological sites and digs, and was curious as to what he would do with the material.
The story takes place in 1914, just weeks before World War I breaks out. Somerville is a youngish British archeologist who's pinned his professional hopes on his excavations at (the fictional) Tell Erdek in modern day Iraq. After three seasons of digging, his money has just about run out, and he's desperate to find anything that will make his reputation in the field. Slowly but surely, a few interesting artifacts turn up, and he starts to think he might be on to something. Meanwhile, he works with one eye to the horizon, as construction of a German-financed railroad from Basra to Constantinople threatens to destroy his dig.
While Somerville has pitched his tent in the desert for academic glory, the area teems with plenty of other characters with their own agendas. There's a British major wandering around scouting the area and speaking with various tribal leaders in preparation for the impending war. There's a slightly loony Dutch couple seeking the site of the original Garden of Eden. There's Somerville's shady Arab spy Jehar, who brings him updates on the rail line progress. There's an American oil company agency, secretly prospecting for oil. And just to complicate matters, there's Somerville's wife, his earnest assistant, and another young British lady.
With all these characters embarked on their own missions, there's a lot going on here, and Unsworth does an excellent job of keeping it all manageable and moving. There's the intrigue of the hunt for oil, the intrigue of the German railroad, and mostly importantly, the intrigue of the dig itself, and what lies beneath the sand. There are also stories of love and betrayal, including a very good subplot involving Jehar's romance with a young Circassian girl. To a certain extent, these wooings and cuckoldings can be read as mirrors of the larger forces of imperialism and capitalism that are at work behind Somerville's back.
Clearly, there are a lot of threads being woven in to this story, and it's hard to miss to connections to contemporary imperial adventures in the Middle East. And while the story isn't perfect (there are a number of scenes relating ancient Assyrian and Babylonian history that kind of bog down), the climax is wonderful comment on what happens to those whose ambitions lead them into the Middle Eastern briar patch. (It's also refreshing to find excellent storytelling with compelling characters in a book that's not 300-500 pages -- I'll definitely be reading some of Unsworth's previous books.)
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A historical novel with modern relevance, 17 Feb 2009
Take yourself back to the tense times in the Middle East just before the outbreak of World War I. The world is beginning to fully wake up to the need for oil in the new modern world and the importance of securing a steady supply. The world powers are manouvering for access to the newly discovered desposits in what will become modern day Iran.
However, as many of us will know from ancient history, Mesopotamia was the birthplace of civilisation, and a British archaeologist, Sommerville, dreams of finding fame and reknown. His wife is wondering about her marriage, while Sommerville's assistant has fallen for a young female research assistant. This little community of Brits is living together and tensions are heightened when the British government sends an America geologist posing as an archaeologist to work with them. Sommerville is in a constant state of nerves as he fears that the building of a German railroad will cut through his digsite.
Outside this community there is Jehar, a local who carries messages for Sommerville and dreams of making a life with the woman he loves. It is his desire to earn her bride price, along with Sommervillles fear of the approaching German railroad that ultimately leads to the surprising climax of the novel.
This novel skilfully mixes politics, intrgue, espionage, history and human nature. The growing desire for oil in the early twentieth century is still present today, especially in the context of the Middle East. The novel is an easy read, although there are scholarly passages on geology and Assyrian history. The characters are what make this novel shine.
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