This reader's report comes from an English proofreader, who works for a UK-based publishing house. Here's an excerpt:
"Golem is an ambitious and imaginative thriller about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Author Koen Stuyck says the idea behind the novel is ‘to explore what might happen if one of the parties to the conflict were to use radical methods to achieve its aims’. If you were under the impression that both parties are already using radical methods in real life – bulldozers, rockets, missiles and suicide bombs being pretty radical by anyone’s standards – then you clearly aren’t familiar with the concept of the eponymous ‘Golem’. In Hebrew folklore, a golem is a clay figure of a man, brought magically to life by a rabbi. Now that’s radical. To find out how the Israelis go about creating and putting into action their monstrous plan, just read this novel.
Golem is an energetic but also thoughtful thriller, atmospheric, imaginative and well-paced, and manages to weave its supernatural fiction convincingly into the known reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict. At the same time, it serves to bring out moral strands in the conflict, because, as you will know if you’re conversant with the folklore, a recurring theme of golem tales is hubris: the creator of the beast traditionally ends up being destroyed by it.
(..)
In conclusion, Golem is a remarkable novel. Mysterious, atmospheric and enigmatic, it grips your attention from the start. The narrative skilfully feeds the reader with clues, and yet loses no momentum as it moves towards its surprising and puzzling resolution. The intellectual content of the novel is also impressive, sustaining a running commentary/discussion of the Israel-Palestine situation. Altogether it’s an entertaining and stimulating read; I recommend it."
"Golem is an ambitious and imaginative thriller about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Author Koen Stuyck says the idea behind the novel is ‘to explore what might happen if one of the parties to the conflict were to use radical methods to achieve its aims’. If you were under the impression that both parties are already using radical methods in real life – bulldozers, rockets, missiles and suicide bombs being pretty radical by anyone’s standards – then you clearly aren’t familiar with the concept of the eponymous ‘Golem’. In Hebrew folklore, a golem is a clay figure of a man, brought magically to life by a rabbi. Now that’s radical. To find out how the Israelis go about creating and putting into action their monstrous plan, just read this novel.
Golem is an energetic but also thoughtful thriller, atmospheric, imaginative and well-paced, and manages to weave its supernatural fiction convincingly into the known reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict. At the same time, it serves to bring out moral strands in the conflict, because, as you will know if you’re conversant with the folklore, a recurring theme of golem tales is hubris: the creator of the beast traditionally ends up being destroyed by it.
(..)
In conclusion, Golem is a remarkable novel. Mysterious, atmospheric and enigmatic, it grips your attention from the start. The narrative skilfully feeds the reader with clues, and yet loses no momentum as it moves towards its surprising and puzzling resolution. The intellectual content of the novel is also impressive, sustaining a running commentary/discussion of the Israel-Palestine situation. Altogether it’s an entertaining and stimulating read; I recommend it."
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