Madeleine Thien’s ambitious fourth novel, The Book of Records, is a tale of exile and migration inhabited by characters both imagined and drawn from the historical record. The novel traverses the globe, from China to Staten Island, and encompasses centuries, from the 8th century to the 20th and beyond.
The central thread of The Book of Records is the story of Lina and her father, who have left their home in Foshan, China, and arrived at a mysterious building called the Sea which is part hotel, part refugee camp, and ambiguously located in time and space. Confused and mourning her mother and brother, who have been inexplicably left behind, Lina takes solace in the three volumes of an encyclopedia about travelers that she has brought with her. She also befriends three neighbors, Bento, Blucher and Jupiter, who appear to be historical figures from her encyclopedia. Bento is Baruch Spinoza, the 17th-century Jewish philosopher who was excommunicated for his radical views on religion; Blucher is Hannah Arendt, the German philosopher who fled Europe after the rise of the Nazis; and Jupiter is Du Fu, the Tang dynasty poet who lived in poverty despite repeated attempts to find employment with the imperial government. Each shares their life stories with the group in alternating chapters—tales fraught with disappointment, betrayal and political upheaval but also joy, community and love.
Though Lina’s story provides a narrative frame and the novel ultimately explores the cause of her family’s rupture, the historical characters are much more developed, especially Arendt, whose flight from Berlin to Paris to the United States makes for exciting storytelling which Thien handles magnificently. However, the novel never quite bridges the imbalance between Lina’s hazy narration and the evocative, almost crystalline recollections from Blucher, Bento and Jupiter.
Thien has grappled with government repression, abandonment and loss in novels such as the Booker finalist Do Not Say We Have Nothing and Dogs at the Perimeter. The Book of Records casts an even wider net, exploring the impact of climate change and political upheaval on global migration. Though the results are inconsistent and sometimes frustrating, Thien’s case for the search for home as a central tenet of our humanity makes this complex novel worthy of attention.
Source link
