The Elixir of Immortality

by Gabi Gleichmann, Michael Meigs (Translator)

Since the eleventh century, the Spinoza family has passed down, from father to son, a secret manuscript containing the recipe for immortality. Now, after thirty-six generations, the last descendant of this long and illustrious chain, Ari Spinoza, doesn’t have a son to whom to entrust the manuscript. From his deathbed, he begins his narrative, hoping to save his lineage from oblivion.

Ari’s two main sources of his family’s history are a trunk of yellowing documents inherited from his grandfather, and his great-uncle Fernando’s tales that captivated him when he was a child. He chronicles the Spinozas’ involvement in some of Europe’s most formative cultural events with intertwining narratives that move through ages of tyranny, creativity, and social upheaval: into medieval Portugal, Grand inquisitor Torquemada’s Spain, Rembrandt’s Amsterdam, the French Revolution, Freud’s Vienna, and the horrors of both world wars.

The Elixir of Immortality blends truth and fiction as it rewrites European history through comic, imaginative, scandalous, and tragic tales that prove “the only thing that can possibly give human beings immortality on this earth: our ability to remember.”

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Novels, Literature, Literary Fiction, Adult, Religion

762 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Gabi Gleichmann was born in Budapest in 1954 and moved to Sweden at the age of 10. After studies in literature and philosophy, he worked as a journalist and served as president of the Swedish PEN club. Gleichmann now lives in Oslo and works as a publisher, writer and literary critic.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spanning 1,000 years, The Elixir of Immortality weaves the Spinoza family saga through European and Jewish history. Acting as the frame story, Ari, the narrator, begins by explaining that he is childless, dying and wants to keep his family history from disappearing with him. Focusing on one son per generation, we follow the path of the secret elixir of immortality as it’s passed from father to son.

The touches of magical realism reminded me of 100 Years of Solitude and read like a Forest Gump/Big Fish mash-up. The fictitious history used real conflicts, events, and historical figures as the backdrop for each character’s story and served to both ground and propel the narrative forward.

Ari and his great-uncle Fernando’s stories are interjected throughout the narrative, breaking up the monotony of his ancestors’ tales. Genes and the idea of certain desirable and undesirable traits being “in your blood” were repeated themes. This sanguine connection becomes even more apparent as we watch each generation suffer, fail, triumph and fall in love. As the story progresses, we can trace the interweaving threads that connect not just blood, but all people. This wasn’t a Jewish epic, but a story of the importance of family, memory and storytelling.

While a long book, don’t be intimidated. It was easy to put down and come back to without feeling lost. When events from earlier in the story are brought up again, a quick synopsis was usually included, and since this book ran to over 700 pages, these recaps never felt redundant.

From the Moors in Spain, to World Wars and Trotsky, this book covered a lot of ground and introduced a lot of characters, but without ever feeling overwhelming. It covered all the emotions you’d expect a family epic to cover, heartstrings were tugged and laugh lines were activated.

But, the Spanish inquisition? That, I wasn’t expecting.

[Cindie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly debated how to rate this book. Partly because recently I have rated so many books 5 stars. Is the rating based on the empirical (as if there were such an objective thing...well, maybe there is. Nah) quality of the writing, the plot, the editing? Or is it my personal reaction to it? In this case, it is the latter. I could not wait to get to this book. Had it belonged to me, I would have written in it, underlined it, and begun to reread it immediately upon finishing. It took me nearly a week to read. As I approached the end, I slowed down considerably. I did not want it to end. Could it have benefitted from some editing? Refining? Yes -- not unlike this review. I will recommend it highly to some people who like this sort of thing (sweeping epic, fictionalized history/historicized fiction; existential questioning and angst, repeated many times) because, of course, that is the sort of thing they like.

Enough navel-gazing.

Ari Spinoza, the ephemeral narrator, gives the sweeping history of his family as well as the Eastern European world, in a high-brow Forest Gump sort of way. The cast of characters (helpfully appended with a purely imagined family tree) was overwhelming and, at times, too numerous to remember or keep track of from one storyline to the next, which could jump either forward or back by decades or centuries, then back again. He throws in philosophical movements, political trends and satire, Torah, Talmud, a bit of Yiddish, French and some German. Also some Russian history and language. There are some (to whom I will not recommend this book) who could justifiably say, "Too much!" to the whole morass.

Indeed, my head was spinning by the end. However, that is probably my own shortcoming, irrespective of the book. And I suspect that is the reaction the author was going for.

[Vasco Simões · Rating 5 out of 5]

O que dizer deste romance. Ufffff. São histórias dentro da História. A saga da família Espinoza ao longo de 1000 anos que detém na sua posse um livro que é um autêntico segredo. São centenas de personagens e de pequenas histórias. Aquelas com o nariz enorme que têm mortes trágicas são deliciosas. Enorme romance difícil de classificar mas muito bem e que deve ser lido.

[Owlseyes]

UPDATE; I consider this NEWS relevant:
Originally published on January 29, 2015 3:21 pm
"Portugal's Cabinet approved a law Thursday that would offer citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled, burned at the stake or forcibly converted to Christianity 500 years ago". in NPR
------------

Maybe, because this is a book about Portugal, Spinoza, and his ancestors and descendants ,it’s surely a book I’d like to read in the near future.



Gabi Gleichmann (born in Budapest in the 1950’s) is living now in Oslo. He recently gave an interview to the Portuguese paper Publico, on its section Ípsilon. Some of the affirmations really struck me, positively: they’ve fired my imagination,….brought new facts to my historical knowledge.

(1) Once upon a time a man called Baruch Halevi, the son of the rabbi of Espinosa, a place near Burges, had a vision,…it was the year 1148, he’d seen Moses who assigned him a mission: the foundation of a Sephardic community in a place, now called Lisbon. Moses told him another secret, something humanity has been after for a long time.You figure.

(2) Baruch became the medical doctor of our first King: D. Afonso Henriques,….Baruch progeny would last for 36 generations, which span almost 1,000 years of duration.

Gleichmann recalled his childhood: how many books his father had access to,…that influenced him;but at the top: The Arabian Nights,…whose structure he tries to replicate in this book. One thousand Nights it’s about “story-telling”. Something Gleichmannn believes in. He says in the 1950’s, in Hungary, only the soccer matches results were not cheated. Those were the grey days of the communist era.Totalitarianism.

He moved to Sweden when he was 10. His father, a diplomat, made that move due to the anti-Semitism resurgent and for political reasons. In Sweden , “he learned about democracy and respect for others” and studied Literature and Philosophy ; today he’s a literary critic and editor. Again, The Arabian Nights introduced him to a colorful world, a world of adventure.


(3) The book is the recount of the last descendant of Spinoza family:Ari. It’s an account of Europe’s history; …“The murderous Nazi slaughter which exterminated 6 million Jews, but also an almost fatal blow on Jewish culture".

The narrative is a voyage starting in the medieval Iberia peninsula, …then Renaissance,... the Espinoza family in Holland,… Paris, the French revolution,…two World Wars, the Holocaust,…Siberia gulags…and finally Oslo.

(4) Gleichmann is of Hungarian Jewish descent.

(5) It's, for sure, a book about Jewish culture...still alive;...immortal.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it never quite pulled me in all the way. I found many of the individual stories within the novel very compelling, and particularly enjoyed the way the fictional characters in the book interact with historical figures and events throughout European history, but the overall story arc did not hold together for me. The book is heavily influenced in its themes and structure by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- basically, it's a version of One Hundred Years of Solitude about Eastern European Jews -- but whereas in One Hundred Years of Solitude you are sucked along the family into the vortex of isolation and solitude and catastrophe, in this you are left wondering why the family ultimately disintegrates. Are the horrors of the Holocaust and Soviet repression ultimately their undoing, or is it supposed to be something about the family members themselves? Maybe it is because the historical characters are so much more clearly drawn then the more contemporary characters, but in the end, I felt that the story peters out and fails to draw all the threads together. Still, a very interesting read.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an incredibly beautiful book. Spending the last couple of weeks with it has been like listening to your uncles stories. There are passages of sublime beauty.



So, I'm halfway through, and I'm very much enjoying it. (If I wasn't, I would not have made it 360+ pages.) There are stories within the main story, digressions aplenty, and a narrator of dubious reliability. Given the way in which he learned the stories that's to be expected. Either Kirkus or PW mentioned Dan brown, but this book is different on a lot of levels, not the least of which is the quality of the writing. The way in which the stories are told mirrors that of conversation, which I very much appreciate.

[Ymichaelmeigsyahoo.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Translated it for the publisher.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't grab me. The problem is the narrator's recital. Telling rather than showing. Summing up events rather than letting them unfold. And maybe the magical element's to blame, as that never does much for my imagination, and I prefer real world details rather than potions, visions, or lore. There's a bland tone permeating the English version; not sure if it's translation getting in the way.

I usually give a novel more of a chance before bailing out, but I kept at it awhile. Maybe it gets more engrossing, but the flatness of the register prevented me from being drawn in. I note that when tackling a story from a different language, there's always this possibility, as if in one's instinct.

I thought this'd be a fine narrative as I was looking for a novel about Baruch Spinoza. Tobsha Learner's Witch of Cologne a decade ago pleased me; it featured similar elements, literally, it enlivened the historical context better, and brought the period alive more vividly and intriguingly.

So, I reckon I will have to keep looking for an entertaining story that features that most famous of the Spinoza family. While I know there's non-fiction such as Steven Nadler and Rebecca Goldstein's two studies, I prefer one not so enamored with his anti-religious stance, although that itself may mean that I won't be finding what I'm seeking, given the subject matter and its rebel inspiration.

[Liliana Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabi Gleichmann traz até nós um romance monumental que atravessa séculos. Somos conduzidos através de épocas e de personalidades que, à sua maneira, nos marcaram profundamente.

A história é narrada por Ari, o último descendente dos Espinoza. Começa em 1140 quando Baruch é abordado por um velho mendigo e é incumbido de passar as palavras de uma tábua aos seus descendentes. Para isso ele tem de iniciar uma viagem que o irá levar até ao reino de Portugal onde se torna médico da corte e cria o Elixir da Imortalidade. O segredo do elixir passa de geração em geração, atravessando guerras e ganancias. Este livro está repleto de personagens maravilhosas e voluntariosas mas também de personagens maliciosas e invejosas. Mas também está repleto de personagens que, ou não têm nada haver com a família Espinoza ou entraram nela por casamento mas que têm um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento da mesma. Uma dessas personagens é o tio-avô de Ari que durante a sua vida lhe contou as histórias dos familiares.

Além do título ser "O Elixir da Imortalidade" este tem um papel secundário na história. É mencionado algumas vezes mas o foco é nas personagens, nos seus feitos, nos seus fracassos e sucessos. A personagem que mais me marcou foi o tia-avô de Ari, Fernando. Era um homem maravilhoso que perdeu o amor da vida dele por causa da II guerra mundial. Era uma personagem reservada que vivia unicamente para os momentos em que contava as histórias aos seus netos.

É um livro grande e que por vezes requer paragens por causa da intensidade da história mas que foi uma leitura deliciosa e que não me vou esquecer nos próximos tempos. Provavelmente o melhor livro que li em 2014. Uma boa aula de história.

Recomendo.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Elixir of Immortality starts strongly with an interesting plot and a fairly grandiose plan. I very much like the ambitious idea behind the story and, on the whole, Gleichmann pulls it off well. The prose is readable and the characters are interesting - well-rounded even though we only see some of them for a few pages.

For the most part, the book appears well researched. My only complaint was the portrayal of Robespierre which follows the worst of the negative reports about him rather than looking at the facts - but then I am very pro-Robespierre and get upset by the black myth that abounds.

Usually long books, if well written, do not worry me, but here I felt the book was a tad on the long side. Not that the writing was bad - it wasn't - but I did find my interest in the story and characters waning during the last 150 pages or so and I looked forward to the conclusion.

For that reason and that reason alone, I gave this book three stars, but it's really three and a half.

If you are looking for a read with something different to offer, then this is worth checking out.

I received this book as a free e-book ARC via NetGalley.

[Mishehu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words like elegiac, incantatory, and incandescent, come to mind when I think about this characterization defying novel. Suffice it to say, it is unlike anything I -- or likely you -- have ever read. It's also long. Too long. Though nothing was extraneous in this novel, no line wasted, the cumulative effect of so many brief chapter sections, the relentlessness of the first person narration, and the veritable onslaught of language (albeit beautiful language) eventually wore me down. Had TEoI clocked a few hundred fewer pages, it would have been a perfect novel. As it stands, it is both an unusually sumptuous and effecting novel, and a study in authorial excess. Even so, it is a work of art, a true European masterpiece. If it rivals the great 19th century Russian novels for size and sweep, it also merits being being invoked in their company. Gleichmann is an immensely talented writer. His prose is poetry, and his is the soul of a storyteller through and through. TEoI is a GREAT novel.

[Jeff Bjorgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel that elaborates on the history of a fictitious family of Jews, blending their stories with true historical events. Gleichman writes well, but the book, whether lost in translation or done purposefully, struggles with its pacing and its description. The narrator rabbit trails many times throughout each chapter resulting in the loss of chronology of the stories and interest in the characters. And descriptions go from vague to extremely detailed, all under the guise of an uncle recalling stories to his young nephews. However, the stories do tend to stick with you, and the idea of "The Elixir of Mortality" being our memories is a thoughtful theme to chew on.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Europas historie og en jødisk familiehistorie i skjønn forening. Gjennom 800 år reiser vi. Boka er en blomst i utfoldelse. Langsom, vakker, men også trist og tankevekkende utfoldelse - som leser bare dras jeg videre, videre. Herlig leseopplevelse! Anbefales varmt!

"... det eneste som formår å gi menneskene udødelighet på jorden; vår evne til å minnes..."

[Lilith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book!
A book is past down from father to son, the family history - the world history. All so well written!

[Sheila rood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this bok so much I may have to read it again sometime.

[Joan-Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece contemporánea.
De esos libros en los que entras siendo una persona y sales siendo otra.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in the library and beginning to read it I was captured and finished the prologue – according to the last chapter of the book the part of the book which took most time to write it – a complete month. Honestly, the month was well spent, I liked the prologue most of the book. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that while reading it I thought the author was female (Gabi is a female name in German). Somehow the imagination of an adult daughter standing before her dying mother fitted better.
Then a collection of more or less connected (geneologically), more or less chronically told stories which partially reminds of “The hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared” follows, but more ambitous, because it includes not 100 but about 800 years of history, skillfully interwaving the family history of the story teller with the history of Europe. But it is a quite tricky story the last member of the house of Spinoza is telling us. First it is claimed that it mainly derives from the stories of his great uncle who has been told them by a female ancestor of the story teller during spiritual sessions, partly also by a legendary book passed through the ages.
And this book, among a lot of other things contains a recipe, according to the legend from the 12th century, which contains the liver of a guinea pig. A guinea pig? In 12th century spain, about 300 years before the discovery of America? And somewhere around the year 1300 people eating potato soup.
At that moment I wondered which time system they might use. With the islamic system it might fit. No, it is a Jewish story, and nevertheless they use the Christian system. I wondered if I would get any other explanation apart from the one that it is a very imaginative story. Cleary there are a lot of inventions in it but mostly they are connected with the Spinoza family and/or intended to achieve some curiosity effect (e.g. Hitler and Stalin playing chess in a café in Vienna). But it makes not much sense to claim guinea pigs where they might also have used a mouse and serve them potato soup where they also might have served a turnip soup (or whatever they ate then).
Maybe the most adequate explanation is the story when one of the Spinozas falls and dies when he claims he might give his soul to devil if the stories in the (legendary) book are wrong (or somehow similar). Like: don´t believe anything you are reading here.
Anyway, I was astonished about the historical correctness (not the interpretation, not the invented persons, not the curious stories) regarding Vienna in the 19th and begin of the 20th century – I mean, Adalbert Stifter and Franz Grillparzer written correctly, that is great for a non-Austrian author.
So, do not believe anything you do not know for sure, and enjoy the stories.

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este livro foi-me oferecido pelo meu pai, que estava convencido que se tratava de um manual de magia ou algo do género. Na verdade fiquei surpreendida, pois é um livro que trata da mitologia judaica, da cabala e dos significados do judaísmo para a sociedade ao longo dos tempos.



Conta a história longa da família Spinoza, desde os tempos de D. Afonso Henriques, passando por momentos tão flagrantes como a Revolução Francesa, o caso Dreyfus e o inevitável holocausto. Apesar de ser um tema que não me interessa especialmente (porque já li muitos livros sobre o assunto) a forma como está escrito é muito cativante, pleno de detalhes curiosos que, reais ou inventados, tornam a história absolutamente viciante e suculenta.



As minhas partes preferidas foram as relativas aos tempos medievais e barrocos, porque o autor se permite viajar em grande detalhe sobre a vida da época. No entanto, isto é um pau de dois bicos, porque por vezes distrai-se da narrativa principal para contar uma série de histórias nem sempre relevantes para a família em causa, perdendo o fio à meada e distraindo o leitor com detalhes menos importantes.



De todos os modos, é um grande épico literário que recomendo vivamente.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what to say about this one. I obviously enjoyed it somewhat, considering I plowed through the entire 700 page thing in 3 days (bear in mind I've been sick in bed all day today without other reading materials.)

However. Not sure if this is the fault of the author or the translator, but the story often presented the same facts multiple times as if we had not read them yet. It got old. Also, the translator sometimes used the wrong words in sentences, words that don't make sense given the context of the rest of the sentence.

I did like the historical aspects of it, whether they are true or not (mostly not.) I even enjoyed the author's habit of jumping around in the narrative, I felt it kept the stories more interesting and lively. If you're interested in reading an immense book spanning the history of a European Jewish family over the course of centuries, this is probably the book for you. I'd place it in a similar category to The Historian; enjoyable but not super noteworthy, overlong, don't take it as historic truth.

[Inna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited by this book, and gave it over 70 pages to try to prove that it's at least salvageable. But the writing was amateurish, disjointed, and ultimately too dull to continue. What an utter disappointment!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable book which alternates between riveting and dragging.

[Vigdis Bjorkoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabelaktig. En originalt oppbygd krønike. Skikkelig pageturner.

[Zsanett Martinovszky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The longest book I had ever read. Sometimes I lost the thread but in total I enjoyed the story.

[Amanda Gar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. However, it was hard at times to keep track of characters.

[Luis Ernesto Blacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

La propuesta es interesante pero la forma que está contada es muy caótica y te terminás perdiendo.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

מדהים מדהים !!! ממליצה ממש

[Vika Ryabova · Rating 4 out of 5]

1999 год. 10 лет назад у Ари Спинозы умерла мать. И перед смертью взяла с него обещание рассказать всему миру о том, как в 1944 году был жестоко убит еврейский мальчик, и тело его лежало на улице две недели, поскольку все боялись его хоронить. Мама просила Ари описать все ужасы фашистсткой оккупации Венгрии, и Ари дал ей слово. И вот, через десять лет он узнает, что болен неоперабельным раком, и жить ему осталось совсем немного, а обещание не исполнено. Ари начинает рассказ, но понимает, что начинать историю нужно с более давних времен. И постепенно осознает, что он должен поведать миру полную историю своей семьи.

Одним из источников информации для Ари стал завещанный ему дедом чемодан, в котором обнаружились различные семейные документы разных эпох и толстая рукописная книга «Эликсир бессмертия», написанная одним из предков.

Повествование о семье начинается в 1129 году в Испании, в маленьком поселении под названием Эспиноза. Мы следим за историей 36 поколений. Среди представителей семейства – личные врачи королей, философы и мистики, великие ученые, министры и общественные деятели.

Книга – настоящая «глыба» :) Автор – сказочник, оживляющий давно умерших героев и наделяющий их запоминающимися характерами, удивительными судьбами, эмоциями и мыслями. Не все персонажи – это герои в сияющих доспехах, иногда они поступают странно, нерационально, даже трусливо или скандально. Но именно это придает им особую жизненность.

Мне особо понравилось, что знаменитости, настоящие исторические персонажи, выведенные в книге как знакомцы семьи, показываются нам не с великой стороны, а с «человеческого» ракурса. Например, Гитлер, которого изначально называют просто Ади, – это бесталанный австрийский студент, мечтающий стать художником, а его лучший друг-повар – наполовину еврей. И поэтому при нем Ади не бранит евреев.

По стилю книга близка к «Иосифу и его братьям» Томаса Манна – библейская древность, Тора и гонения на евреев со стороны всего остального мира.

[Aoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great brainy book to start off the new year with. So much was packed in it, which I suppose isn't too surprising considering the hefty ~750 pages.

I admit I was bored at first since there wasn't too much going on. I couldn't sense any direction or a backbone/plot which kind of agitated me. After getting into it (around 150 pages), I finally realized the beauty of the novel and stopped expecting a fully structured plot. The seamless continuations of the people from generation to generation, while integrating the present time storyteller's own life, was absolutely flawless and exquisite. Integrating the past into the present while developing the present characters and exposing their own story at the same time seems so complicated but as a reader, I was never left confused as to what was happening. The book starts to really pick up after halfway, and to me, the historical stories got more interesting. Perhaps it's because more of novel's purpose was being exposed and the dynamic characters were finally being introduced.

As far as I know, there is no other book out there that closely resembles the style of this book and the penmanship, which made this novel all the more fascinating and special.

Absolutely loved this book and highly recommend to historical fiction lovers.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical novel was on the new bookshelf at the library and I grabbed it. Glad I did.
Ari Spinoza, the dying narrator, with a suitcase full of his grandfather's papers and clear memories of the stories told to him and his twin brother Sasha by their great-uncle Fernando, delves into over a thousand years of Spinoza history - which also happens to cover many key events in European and world history through the story lens of the Spinozas. The "elixir" tome is full of philosophy, religious and moral and spiritual ideas and tenets and it passes through the hands of the eldest sons in each generation. Some treasure it; some do not.
The seemingly casual or random interweaving of character and story works well, along with Gleichmann's "take" on everything from the Spanish Inquisition to the French and communist revolutions to Hitler and Stalin and events from the 1950s-60s.
I like Ari's voice and tenaciousness. The sense of scope and dramatic recreation is deep. "Only fools remain certain and fail to doubt." That one line from Baruch Spinoza's book rings true throughout Gleichmann's novel, as does the clear voice of Ari.
This book is chock full of imponderables worth pondering. And the "elixir" disappears as its pages are smoked by Ari who is dying of cancer. His book, Gleichmann's book, is his legacy.

[Aaron (Typographical Era) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where does the secret to true immortality lie? Could it be in our ability to affect change upon the world and leave our indelible mark in the annals of history? Can it be linked to love and hate, profound emotions that drive us to commit incredible acts on their behalf? Is it rooted in the religious promise of an afterlife in exchange for a strict adherence to God’s teachings? Does it involve passing down the great legends of our family lore to successive generations so that we are never forgotten?

For almost 1,000 years one family has been tasked with holding the answer to this great mystery, but now their time on this planet is coming to an end. The last of his influential bloodline, Ari Spinoza desperately wants to document his family’s place in history before he succumbs to the ravages of the cancer that is slowly destroying his cells. Armed with only an imperfect memory of the childhood stories relayed to him by his fantastical uncle Fernando and a chest full of ancient documents that has been passed down through the ages to the eldest son of each generation, Ari sets out tell the true story of his family, or at least his version of it.

READ MORE:
http://www.typographicalera.com/elixi...