Two by Perutz

 Some authors attain fame only to find themselves relegated to obscurity, while still alive. Such was the case with Leo Perutz, who claimed in a letter he wrote in 1949 that the entire literary establishment treated him as though he did not exist. Indeed, never had existed at all.

And yet, at one point, Perutz was a Name; an author whose writings won him  the admiration of Italo Calvino, Ian Fleming (who called him a genius), Jorge Luis Borges and others.

Leo Perutz was born in Prague in 1882 in a family of Spanish-Jewish origin. In 1889, the Perutz family moved to Vienna, where Leo would live until the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, at which point he immigrated to Palestine. Later, after the war he would occasionally return to Austria. He died in 1957, in the spa-town of Bad Ischl.

My personal experience with Perutz's bibliography comes from two of his later novels: The Swedish Cavalier (Der Schwedische Reiter) and By Night Under the Stone Bridge (Nachts Unter der Steinernen Brücke). Both of which I've read in their most recent Swedish translations, published by Nilsson Förlag. Its these two works that I've chosen to focus on in this post.

By Night Under the Stone Bridge is set in Prague, during the reign of Rudolph II (1552-1612). Rudolph was known as a man with extravagant tastes, as well as being an avid collector, with an interest in the occult arts. A man who'd make a compelling subject for a book, in other words. 

Perutz does a fantastic job bringing the time-period to life; taking the reader from the opulence of the palace, to the narrow alleyways of the Jewish ghetto, allowing the reader to meet a varied cast of characters.

Perutz began working on By Night Under the Stone Bridge in 1924, but due to various circumstances he was not able to finish it until 1951. At first, newcomers may find themselves a bit confused as to whether or not its a novel they've picked up, or a collection of short-stories. Each chapter seems to be self-contained. Soon, however, characters and themes begin to re-occur and gradually, it all comes together.

The Swedish Cavalier, which was originally published in 1936, differs from By Night Under the Stonebridge in that its told in a more linear fashion and focuses on a single protagonist. The Fantastic elements are also less prominent here, than in the aforementioned work, though they still exist. 

What The Swedish Cavalier has in common with By Night Under the Stonebridge is its historical setting. This time, the scene is Europe, in the early 18th century and as the story begins, two men are fleeing through a snow-clad landscape. They are a thief, whose name is never given and Christian von Tornefeld, a Swedish nobleman who is determined to join up with the army of Charles XII. Having sought shelter in an old mill, the two men are soon joined by the mill's owner. A sinister figure (perhaps a ghost?), who is in the service of the local Bishop. The Meeting with the miller will end up changing the lives of both men, forever.

The Swedish Cavalier deals with themes such as; identity, betrayal (both committed by the protagonist and against him), the search of happiness and redemption, while also being an excellent adventure story, filled with exciting moments and starring a complex and engaging anti-hero.

If one were to ask me which of these two books I preferred, I honestly don't think I would be able to give an answer. They are both fantastic reads that made me join the ranks of Perutz's admirers.

Highly recommended

(Shown below are the covers to the most recent Swedish translations)

The Jerusalem Quartet

There are some authors who never achieve fame during their lifetime and unfortunately, remains largely obscure even after they have passed. And yet, proving that popularity does not necessary equal quality, these authors tend to be highly regarded; both by critics and those of us fortunate to be familiar with their works. One such author was the American Edward Whittemore.

By all accounts, Whittemore; who was born in 1933 and died in 1995, lived a rich and varied life, having, during his lifetime, occupied such varied positions as reporter, photocopy assistant, US marine officer and CIA agent. What he is most remembered for though (when he is remembered) is as a writer of novels.
Whittemore's bibliography consists of five novels. Out of these five, the first one: Quin's Shanghai Circus, is a stand-alone and the remaining four form a sequence called The Jerusalem Quartet (although a few of the characters in Shanghai Circus turn up in The Quartet as well). Its the latter which is the focus of this post.

In the first volume of The Quartet, titled Sinai Tapestry, Whittemore introduces the reader to a cast of memorable, larger-than-life characters:
Plantagenet Strongbow, the British explorer who becomes the secret owner of the entire Ottoman Empire during its twilight years. Joe O'Sullivan Beare, an Irish freedom-fighter who flees his country by disguising himself as a nun. Stern, son to Plantagenet Strongbow, who grows up with a dream of creating a country where the three religious groups of the Middle East: Moslems, Jews and Christians can live in harmony. Haj Harun, an old shop-keeper who claims to have defended the city of Jerusalem for more than 2000 years, always on the losing side. Because, as Harun himself puts it, when you are defending Jerusalem, you are always on the losing side.

These are not the only characters to populate the pages of this book, but they are the most important ones and so, I mention them here.

Although Sinai Tapestry is the most light-hearted and optimistic book in the series, its not without its dark moments. The Pivotal sequence of the novel is the Turkish army's massacre of Smyrna. An atrocious event which haunts the characters that get caught up in it for the remainder of their lives and which Whittemore describes in horrific detail.

Moving on to the next novel,  Jerusalem Poker. This volume, which may well be my personal favorite of The Jerusalem Quartet, revolves around a poker-game, with the entire Holy City at stake. The Main players in this high stakes game are Joe, Munk Szondi and Cairo Martyr, a character newly introduced in this volume. However, its not long until the game attracts the attention of certain sinister figures.

One notable aspect of the Jerusalem Quarter is that, as it draws closer to the present day (meaning the 1970's, in this case), the more fantastical elements become less and less prominent. This does not mean that the remaining books aren't up to the standards set by their predecessors, but they are different in tone, belonging more firmly in the realm of mystery and spy-fiction than the books before them. Volume no. 3, Nile Shadows takes place during World War 2 and opens with a hand-grenade being thrown into a bar and the investigation into the life of the only man killed in the explosion: Who wanted him dead and why?

Finally, we have Jericho Mosiac. With one single exception, this volume features none of the characters from the previous volume, choosing instead to introduce a completely new cast. At first, the reader may feel disappointed knowing that the characters they've come to know and care about during the course of this series are absent from its ultimate installment. However, the new characters soon prove themselves to be just as compelling as Joe, Harun and the others.
This final volume revolves around Halim, a Syrian businessman who returns to his homeland after having lived most of his life in Argentina. In Syria, Halim's likable personality soon earns him the friendships of several people in high circles. No-one suspects that this Syrian patriot is in fact, a deep-cover spy for the Mossad, operating under the code-name The Runner.

As a whole, The Jerusalem Quartet definitely ranks among my favorite works of literature and I recommend it strongly to everyone who is a fan of historical fiction, spy-fiction, magic realism or just great storytelling in general. Hopefully, this post has made at least some of you interested in checking it out, because it and Quin's Shanghai Circus, deserves to be more widely known.