people of the book

i liked this book. not as much as i liked the year of wonders, but geraldine brooks is an excellent writer. still, the story felt too simple and too complicated at the same time. i love that the reader was allowed to glimpse at part of the story of the book (a rare manuscript, a sarajevo haggadah). i liked knowing that though the book expert would only be able to trace the smallest parts of its history, more of the mystery was only revealed to me. it is a shame people don't pass things down through generations and communities more. not only are our verbal histories dying out but the value of a book or an heirloom die in the light of a society too busy to value much of anything worth valuing. god i hate that vapid walmart tv america. so quick to give up what really matters. anyway, beside the point. i really enjoyed the sections of history of the jewish people in this book - i have a huge gap in my knowledge about the full extent of their persecution as a people. i was shocked at how little i knew. also, how little i knew about sarajevo and how this was a place where all types of people and religions mixed peacefully, until they weren't allowed to anymore. anyway, pretty good read and well-written.