854. The Discovery of Heaven

The Discovery of Heaven
Harry Mulisch
1992
Around 905 pages

We haven't had a chunkster like this in awhile, and there aren't a lot of Dutch novels on this List. But I'm not that interested in spiritual quests, so for me this turned out to be quite a drag. Although now that I know the movie version starred Stephen Fry, it makes the the character more retroactively likable.

An angel-like being is given the task of returning the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments to Heaven, because even Heaven's library has strict due dates. However, he cannot directly travel to Earth, so he manipulates events to bring three people together who will conceive a child with an innate desire to fulfill the mission. The three people turn out to be Max, Ada, and Ono, and they have Quentin. Dear lord, not another literary Quentin.

I think I wanted this to be more like Robert Musil than it was. Musil was much better at pacing. By the time I hit page 400, I was ready to call it a day. But the List never sleeps, so neither can I. I know it's a bit unreasonable to demand a more grounded story from a novel about angels and the Ten Commandments, but I just wasn't that interested in the plot, knowing it was all pre-ordained, or that it would likely resolve itself with a dream or hallucination. 

But you should judge a book for what it is, not what you wanted it to be. Just not something that caters to my personal tastes, but a unique and obviously methodically crafted tome, which is pretty impressive.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2001.

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