I picked this book up in the spring. I was traveling, went into an independent bookstore and you know my rule - I MUST buy something to support the independent book store. This was my purchase. The book came out in 2014 so I was a titch late to the party.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction and in particular Medieval fiction so I was quite excited to dig in.
The book, the debut novel of Alix Christie, did not disappoint. This is a fascinating account of how Gutenberg's bible, which is thought by some to be the most beautiful book ever created, came into being. The author has carefully researched all the known facts and has used them to create a fictional account of what may have happened. This book works on two levels, both as an education for those, including myself, who knew little of the history of this historic book and as a highly entertaining historical story where the main characters really come to life.
Gutenberg himself is a genius, but a flawed genius who very nearly wrecks the whole project with his ill considered ventures. A hard task master, he is slow to praise but quick to find fault. Peter Schoeffer, scribe and initially reluctant apprentice to the Master is a man of faith who is eager to please both Gutenberg and Fust, his adoptive father and increasingly reluctant financier to the publishing venture. The structure of the book is that Schoeffer is relating the whole tale to Trithemius, a cleric and historian some thirty years after publication and so we see the whole saga from Peter's perspective.
This is one of the most enjoyable books that I have read for a long while and I thoroughly recommend it. Christie’s novel is a worthy tribute to the technological revolution it reimagines, as well as a haunting elegy to the culture of print.
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