Book: The Last Jew

The Last Jew
Noah Gordon
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In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. After centuries of pogrom-like riots encouraged by the Church, the Jews - who have been an important part of Spanish life since the days of the Romans - are expelled from the country by royal edict. Many who wish to remain are intimidated by Church and Crown and become Catholics, but several hundred thousand choose to retain their religion and depart; given little time to flee, some perish even before they can escape from Spain.

Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during these terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew.

On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain. Toiling at manual labor, he desperately tries to cling to his memories of a vanished culture. As a lonely shepherd on a mountaintop he hurls snatches of almost forgotten Hebrew at the stars, as an apprentice armorer he learns to fight like a Christian knight. Finally, as a man living in a time and land where danger from the Inquisition is everywhere, he deals with the questions that mark his past. How he discovers the answers, how he finds his way to a singular and strong Marrano woman, how he achieves a life with the outer persona of a respected Old Christian physician and the inner life of a secret Jew, is the fabric of this novel. The Last Jew is a glimpse of the past, an authentic tale of high adventure, and a tender and unforgettable love story. In it, Noah Gordon utilizes his greatest strengths, and the result is remarkable and moving.

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! Possible Spoiler Warning !

It took some time to read this book as the prose wasn’t that easy to pick up. It follows Yonah Toledano from his teenage years and growing into a man and finding his way in the world (I suppose).

It is also a time in Spain where Jews were being persecuted, and Yonah, with the assumed name of Ramone Callico, and eventually ends up becoming a physician after a 4-year apprenticeship.

It was somewhat interesting to note that those Friars and Priests that were all high and mighty in the beginning then met their ends as they did, but it was a bit of a guesswork for me because the writing just didn’t stick to me.

There were parts where a character was referred to either or the first name, the last name, or a nickname that I had to go back and check that it was all about that one character and not 3 different people.

It’s a pity this didn’t have the kind of neatly closed happy ending (what of his younger brother?), but I guess it could be considered a happy ending indeed. With a wife, and a child and his secret prayer room, this could be the most content he could achieve under that climate.

The above was my entry to Goodreads, I wanted to keep it clean. Here at LJ let me complain about how this book just seemed like "Yonah's journal in thinking about, trying to, and actually banging women." Intersped with "Yonah hearing people around him banging each other." It got a little of a bore. Thank goodness I've finally finished the book (Goodreads has the info that I started this in June 2018).