Land of Marvels [Paperback]

This is rather a slow moving , but gentle novel,and it covers a rather gentle and sedate occupation, namely excavations of long lost treasures. The whole novel explodes at the end when everything comes to fruition.At times I found it rather slow, but it portrayed the age of empire, and the purchase of assets at knock down prices well. It portrayed the importance of oil as the important asset that would be wanted by people in the future., and those that were determined to restrict the progress of mankind for their own particular ends-money and power.
The novels illustrates the vast untapped wealth that existed both in terms of natural resources, and undiscovered burial places of ancient royality, it must have been a time of great excitement.
The characters were well portrayed,and the writing was descriptive.
I found some of the ancient history difficult to comprehend, as I had no knowledge at all of this age, but I found the idea of the discovery of The Garden of Eden, a 21st century idea, certainly the building of a hotel on the site seemed to fit in to todays money making scams.
A good piece of writing well worth reading.

(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

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"Land of Marvels", the latest book from Booker Prize-winning author Barry Unsworth, takes place in Mesopotamia in 1914, mere months before the Great War is due to break out across Europe. Tensions are high as interest groups from Britain, Germany, Turkey and even the United States compete for control of the region, both for its strategic value and for its newly-discovered mineral resources. Meanwhile John Somerville, an archaeologist specialising in the Assyrian Empire, is directing an excavation of an ancient mound known as Tell Erdek thought to hold ancient treasures. But his work is threatened, since the site lies in the path of a new railway that is being built to link Constantinople to Baghdad. With his money running out, his reputation on the line, and the railway growing ever closer, Somerville finds himself racing against time to uncover Tell Erdek's secrets and preserve them for posterity.

This is an thought-provoking novel with a great deal to say about imperialism and capitalism, and its effects on the people who live in their shadow. A whole host of vibrant and intriguing characters are introduced, including the charismatic American geologist Elliott (masquerading as an archaeologist while he surveys the region for oil), Lord Rampling (the wealthy industrialist who is paying him), local man Jehar (the spy Somerville employs to get information on the progress of the railway), and Ninnana (the girl whom Jehar hopes to marry with the money he earns).

Central to the book is the theme of deception: namely the lies that the various players tell to each other, and the lies that they tell to themselves. No one in the novel is quite who he or she professes to be; each in some way is putting on a show, and their true motivations are always disguised. Indeed in lots of ways "Land of Marvels" has the makings of a historical thriller. However, the plot as a whole is not especially complex and the first half of the book in particular can feel tedious at times. Only when the excavation starts to bear fruit in the last hundred or so pages does the pace really pick up, eventually reaching its explosive and surprising climax.

Everything considered, "Land of Marvels" offers a fascinating insight into a little-known area of world history, and Unsworth illustrates well the various power plays that were in operation on the eve of the Great War. Nevertheless, the lack of pace through the early sections ultimately lets it down as a novel. While all the right elements are there - greed and paranoia, power and ambition, deception and intrigue are all on show - somehow they never quite gel enough to make for a truly satisfying read.