When in 1705 Kornell Csillag's grandfather returns destitute to his native Hungary from exile, he happens across a gold fob-watch gleaming in the mud. The shipwrecked fortunes of the Csillag family suddenly take a new and marvelous turn. The golden watch brings an unexpected gift to the future generations of firstborn sons: clairvoyance. Passed down from father to son, this gift offers the ability to look into the future or back into history–for some it is considered a blessing, for others a curse. No matter the outcome, each generation records its astonishing, vivid, and revelatory visions into a battered journal that becomes known as The Book of Fathers. For three hundred years the Csillag family line meanders unbroken across Hungary's rivers and vineyards, through a land overrun by wolves and bandits, scarred by plague and massacre, and brutalized by despots. Impetuous, tenderhearted, and shrewd, the Csillags give birth to scholars and gamblers, artists and entrepreneurs. Led astray by unruly passions, they marry frigid French noblewomen and thieving alehouse whores. They change their name and their religion, and change them back. They wander from home but always return, and through it all The Book of Fathers bears witness to holocaust and wedding feast alike.
This book takes some concentration as you jump from generation to generation, location and circumstance, surname and siblings. It was a good book but rather depressing as tragedy strikes more often than not. Not my cup of tea but not a waste of time either. I certainly know a lot more about Hungary than I did before!
This is a beautiful, grand sweeping novel that travels over many generations. The names, the locales and the movement through hundreds of years lends to its exotic quality. There is a starkness to the emotions of the characters. Their adversities are larger-than-life, too. I recommend it very much.
I didn't really like this. I realize the author is highly honored in his own country and far be it from me to say he's not good. All I can say is that this book wasn't my cup of tea.
