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The Lawgiver
For more than fifty years, legendary author Herman Wouk has dreamed of writing a novel about the life of Moses. Finally, at age ninety-seven, he has found an ingeniously witty way to tell the tale in The Lawgiver, a romantic and suspenseful epistolary novel about a group of people trying to make a movie about Moses in the present day. The story emerges from letters, memos, e-mails, journals, news articles, recorded talk, Skype transcripts, and text messages.
At the center of The Lawgiver is Margo Solovei, a brilliant young writer-director who has rejected her rabbinical father’s strict Jewish upbringing to pursue a career in the arts. When an Australian multibillionaire promises to finance a movie about Moses if the script meets certain standards, Margo does everything she can to land the job, including a reunion with her estranged first love, an influential lawyer with whom she still has unfinished business.
Two other key characters in the novel are Herman Wouk himself and his wife of more than sixty years, Betty Sarah, who, almost against their will, find themselves entangled in the Moses movie when the Australian billionaire insists on Wouk’s stamp of approval.
As Wouk and his characters contend with Moses and marriage, and the force of tradition, rebellion, and reunion, The Lawgiver reflects the wisdom of a lifetime. Inspired by the great nineteenth-century novelists, one of America’s most beloved twentieth-century authors has now written a remarkable twenty-first-century work of fiction.
At the center of The Lawgiver is Margo Solovei, a brilliant young writer-director who has rejected her rabbinical father’s strict Jewish upbringing to pursue a career in the arts. When an Australian multibillionaire promises to finance a movie about Moses if the script meets certain standards, Margo does everything she can to land the job, including a reunion with her estranged first love, an influential lawyer with whom she still has unfinished business.
Two other key characters in the novel are Herman Wouk himself and his wife of more than sixty years, Betty Sarah, who, almost against their will, find themselves entangled in the Moses movie when the Australian billionaire insists on Wouk’s stamp of approval.
As Wouk and his characters contend with Moses and marriage, and the force of tradition, rebellion, and reunion, The Lawgiver reflects the wisdom of a lifetime. Inspired by the great nineteenth-century novelists, one of America’s most beloved twentieth-century authors has now written a remarkable twenty-first-century work of fiction.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2012
93 people are currently reading
1292 people want to read
About the author
Herman Wouk
161 books1,393 followersHerman Wouk was a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning Jewish American author with a number of notable novels to his credit, including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.
Herman Wouk was born in New York City into a Jewish family that had emigrated from Russia. After a childhood and adolescence in the Bronx and a high school diploma from Townsend Harris High School, he earned a B.A. from Columbia University in 1934, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity and studied under philosopher Irwin Edman. Soon thereafter, he became a radio dramatist, working in David Freedman's "Joke Factory" and later with Fred Allen for five years and then, in 1941, for the United States government, writing radio spots to sell war bonds. He lived a fairly secular lifestyle in his early 20s before deciding to return to a more traditional Jewish way of life, modeled after that of his grandfather, in his mid-20s.
Wouk joined the United States Navy and served in the Pacific Theater, an experience he later characterized as educational; "I learned about machinery, I learned how men behaved under pressure, and I learned about Americans." Wouk served as an officer aboard two destroyer minesweepers (DMS), the USS Zane and USS Southard, becoming executive officer of the latter. He started writing a novel, Aurora Dawn, during off-duty hours aboard ship. Wouk sent a copy of the opening chapters to Irwin Edman who quoted a few pages verbatim to a New York editor. The result was a publisher's contract sent to Wouk's ship, then off the coast of Okinawa. The novel was published in 1947 and became a Book of the Month Club main selection. His second novel, City Boy, proved to be a commercial disappointment at the time of its initial publication in 1948.
While writing his next novel, Wouk read each chapter as it was completed to his wife, who remarked at one point that if they didn't like this one, he'd better take up another line of work (a line he would give to the character of the editor Jeannie Fry in his 1962 novel Youngblood Hawke). The novel, The Caine Mutiny (1951), went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. A huge best-seller, drawing from his wartime experiences aboard minesweepers during World War II, The Caine Mutiny was adapted by the author into a Broadway play called The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, and was later made into a film, with Humphrey Bogart portraying Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg, captain of the fictional USS Caine. Some Navy personnel complained at the time that Wouk had taken every twitch of every commanding officer in the Navy and put them all into one character, but Captain Queeg has endured as one of the great characters in American fiction.
He married Betty Sarah Brown in 1945, with whom he had three sons: Abraham, Nathanial, and Joseph. He became a fulltime writer in 1946 to support his growing family. His first-born son, Abraham Isaac Wouk, died in a tragic accident as a child; Wouk later dedicated War and Remembrance (1978) to him with the Biblical words, "He will destroy death forever."
In 1998, Wouk received the Guardian of Zion Award.
Herman Wouk died in his sleep in his home in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, 2019, at the age of 103, ten days before his 104th birthday.
Herman Wouk was born in New York City into a Jewish family that had emigrated from Russia. After a childhood and adolescence in the Bronx and a high school diploma from Townsend Harris High School, he earned a B.A. from Columbia University in 1934, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity and studied under philosopher Irwin Edman. Soon thereafter, he became a radio dramatist, working in David Freedman's "Joke Factory" and later with Fred Allen for five years and then, in 1941, for the United States government, writing radio spots to sell war bonds. He lived a fairly secular lifestyle in his early 20s before deciding to return to a more traditional Jewish way of life, modeled after that of his grandfather, in his mid-20s.
Wouk joined the United States Navy and served in the Pacific Theater, an experience he later characterized as educational; "I learned about machinery, I learned how men behaved under pressure, and I learned about Americans." Wouk served as an officer aboard two destroyer minesweepers (DMS), the USS Zane and USS Southard, becoming executive officer of the latter. He started writing a novel, Aurora Dawn, during off-duty hours aboard ship. Wouk sent a copy of the opening chapters to Irwin Edman who quoted a few pages verbatim to a New York editor. The result was a publisher's contract sent to Wouk's ship, then off the coast of Okinawa. The novel was published in 1947 and became a Book of the Month Club main selection. His second novel, City Boy, proved to be a commercial disappointment at the time of its initial publication in 1948.
While writing his next novel, Wouk read each chapter as it was completed to his wife, who remarked at one point that if they didn't like this one, he'd better take up another line of work (a line he would give to the character of the editor Jeannie Fry in his 1962 novel Youngblood Hawke). The novel, The Caine Mutiny (1951), went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. A huge best-seller, drawing from his wartime experiences aboard minesweepers during World War II, The Caine Mutiny was adapted by the author into a Broadway play called The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, and was later made into a film, with Humphrey Bogart portraying Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg, captain of the fictional USS Caine. Some Navy personnel complained at the time that Wouk had taken every twitch of every commanding officer in the Navy and put them all into one character, but Captain Queeg has endured as one of the great characters in American fiction.
He married Betty Sarah Brown in 1945, with whom he had three sons: Abraham, Nathanial, and Joseph. He became a fulltime writer in 1946 to support his growing family. His first-born son, Abraham Isaac Wouk, died in a tragic accident as a child; Wouk later dedicated War and Remembrance (1978) to him with the Biblical words, "He will destroy death forever."
In 1998, Wouk received the Guardian of Zion Award.
Herman Wouk died in his sleep in his home in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, 2019, at the age of 103, ten days before his 104th birthday.
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September 11, 2021
The Lawgiver was a the culmination of a lifelong dream of legendary author Herman Wouk to write a story about Moses. This was realized at age 97 in this delightful and page-turning epistolary novel at its core the machinations in writing a play about Moses but in the present day. The book consists of letters, e-mails, memos, journals, news articles, Skype transcripts and text messages. And may I say it was a wonderful book as we look at the struggles to bring a script to fruition about the legendary Moses. At the heart of this story, however was Margo Solovei, a brilliant young writer-director who has rejected her strict Jewish upbringing much to the chagrin of her rabbinical father as she pursues a career in the arts.
But the beautiful and heartwarming part of this book was the beautiful relationship between Herman Wouk and his wife Betty Sarah Wouk known as BSW and having a lot of sway in The Lawgiver project. In the Epilogue, he gives tribute to Betty Sarah and their relationship since meeting in 1944. This was a wonderful book and such a change for Herman Wouk. I have read most of his books, enjoying his writing over the years. This is the passage that describes the drive behind this book in the words of Mr. Wouk:
---From The Will to Live On, published May 2000
But the beautiful and heartwarming part of this book was the beautiful relationship between Herman Wouk and his wife Betty Sarah Wouk known as BSW and having a lot of sway in The Lawgiver project. In the Epilogue, he gives tribute to Betty Sarah and their relationship since meeting in 1944. This was a wonderful book and such a change for Herman Wouk. I have read most of his books, enjoying his writing over the years. This is the passage that describes the drive behind this book in the words of Mr. Wouk:
"A scuffed file in my desk drawer labeled 'The Lawgiver' contains a few typed yellow pages turning brown with age. When I was writing 'The Caine Mutiny,' it occurred to me that there was no greater theme for a novel, if I could rise to it, than the life of Moses. The file dates to that time. The years have rolled over me. I have not quailed at large tasks. World War Two and the wars of Israel were sizable challenges, but I took them on. 'The Lawgiver' remains unwritten. I have never found the way to do it. Other ideas for books I have set aside (no time, no time!), but I still hope against hope for a bolt of lightning, which will inspire me to pen my own picture of 'Mayshe Rabbenu,' the Rav of mankind."
---From The Will to Live On, published May 2000
December 2, 2012
The problem with epistolary novels is that they are generally more fun to write than to read – which is why, as a writer, I’ve given up on them. Thanks to Mr. Wouk, the world may be subjected to my efforts again – but first I’m going to study this book to figure out how he did it. Somehow, despite the format, all the characters come through as real 3-dimensional people you care about: from Mr. Wouk himself, who is trying to write a book about Moses and is not too happy to be told that “People don’t read books anymore, they watch movies”; to the ex-Hasidic screenwriter tapped to write the screenplay; to the bit-player actor she wants to play Moses just as he’s decided to give up on Hollywood and go home to raise sheep in Australia. I admit I couldn’t keep most of the Hollywood people straight, but that didn’t stop their antics from being amusing. There are a few comments about Moses and the Bible sprinkled through the book, some of them remarkably astute, but mostly it’s a light-hearted, humorous novel with just enough of a plot to make you care what happens. It reminded me of John Scalzi’s Redshirts (and yes, I know that’s an out-there comparison, but I’m going with it).
December 28, 2012
Hollywood, Jews, & Hollywood Jews
Ninety-seven-year-old Herman Wouk (or a fictionalized version of him) is minding his own business. And his business, as you know, is writing novels. He’s finally tackling the ambitious project he’s wanted to write for decades, the story of Moses. It is a huge coincidence, therefore, when a hot Hollywood producer finagles a meeting insisting that he’s the only man for the job of writing a Moses screenplay.
Well, Mr. Wouk wants nothing to do with this. Meetings are refused until a rabbi intervenes. Ultimately, it is revealed that the epic film’s funding—through unconventional sources—rests upon Wouk’s participation. Under duress, he agrees to act as a consultant to the film, with final script approval. A screenwriter for this all-but-unwritable film must be found. Enter Margo Solovei, a young, independent film auteur who has eschewed her orthodox Jewish upbringing. And it is actually Margo who is at the novel’s heart, as she pursues this project while dealing with producers, directors, actors, Herman Wouk, and any number of people tying her to her roots.
I doubt I can express how much I loved this novel! Oh, how I laughed! It’s true that I am Jewish, and that I have worked in the film industry, so it’s possible that the tale “spoke” to me more than it might to some, but Wouk’s satire is dead on. Not just of an industry, but of human nature. I guess nearly a century of life gives a man some perspective. Also, as the Booklist reviewer astutely pointed out, there are subtle reflections of Wouk’s classic 1955 coming of age novel, Marjorie Morningstar, adding an additional layer of pleasure for fans such as myself. It’s really quite amazing the various themes and commentaries that Mr. Wouk manages to work into this slender novel. It’s playful as hell, but still whip smart.
Oh, yeah, I should mention that this is an epistolary novel, always a fun and inventive way to tell a tale. It’s comprised of letters, emails, faxes, IMs, Skypes, transcripts, voicemails, and so forth. Through the correspondence of the characters’ personal and professional lives, a web of connections is formed. And in the end, The Lawgiver is a romantic comedy. I rooted for lovers to find their way. I rooted for unsavory characters to get their comeuppance. And I rooted for Mr. Wouk, who has proved that at 97 he is as sharp as he ever was. I was moved by the novel’s epilogue, and I shall be waiting with anticipation for his next two novels.
Ninety-seven-year-old Herman Wouk (or a fictionalized version of him) is minding his own business. And his business, as you know, is writing novels. He’s finally tackling the ambitious project he’s wanted to write for decades, the story of Moses. It is a huge coincidence, therefore, when a hot Hollywood producer finagles a meeting insisting that he’s the only man for the job of writing a Moses screenplay.
Well, Mr. Wouk wants nothing to do with this. Meetings are refused until a rabbi intervenes. Ultimately, it is revealed that the epic film’s funding—through unconventional sources—rests upon Wouk’s participation. Under duress, he agrees to act as a consultant to the film, with final script approval. A screenwriter for this all-but-unwritable film must be found. Enter Margo Solovei, a young, independent film auteur who has eschewed her orthodox Jewish upbringing. And it is actually Margo who is at the novel’s heart, as she pursues this project while dealing with producers, directors, actors, Herman Wouk, and any number of people tying her to her roots.
I doubt I can express how much I loved this novel! Oh, how I laughed! It’s true that I am Jewish, and that I have worked in the film industry, so it’s possible that the tale “spoke” to me more than it might to some, but Wouk’s satire is dead on. Not just of an industry, but of human nature. I guess nearly a century of life gives a man some perspective. Also, as the Booklist reviewer astutely pointed out, there are subtle reflections of Wouk’s classic 1955 coming of age novel, Marjorie Morningstar, adding an additional layer of pleasure for fans such as myself. It’s really quite amazing the various themes and commentaries that Mr. Wouk manages to work into this slender novel. It’s playful as hell, but still whip smart.
Oh, yeah, I should mention that this is an epistolary novel, always a fun and inventive way to tell a tale. It’s comprised of letters, emails, faxes, IMs, Skypes, transcripts, voicemails, and so forth. Through the correspondence of the characters’ personal and professional lives, a web of connections is formed. And in the end, The Lawgiver is a romantic comedy. I rooted for lovers to find their way. I rooted for unsavory characters to get their comeuppance. And I rooted for Mr. Wouk, who has proved that at 97 he is as sharp as he ever was. I was moved by the novel’s epilogue, and I shall be waiting with anticipation for his next two novels.
getting-even
September 1, 2013This 98-year-old man is the Future of Fiction: "It is an epistolary novel, composed of traditional communications such as letters, memos, and articles, as well as utilizing more contemporary means like e-mails, text messages, and Skype transcripts."
March 30, 2025
Every year, we have a giant charity book sale and I go and grab as many cool looking books that I can.
Cool title?
Cool cover?
Cool synopsis?
Cool author name?
Done. I fill up bags full of different books. I read a lot and I like finding new authors to follow.
I had NEVER heard of Herman Wouk and apparently he's a pretty talented guy. And this book? Delightful. Such a weird take but such a fun one.
My only complaint? GIVE ME A REAL ENDING. He kind of gives an ending but... come on. I wanted a little more.
Historical fiction at its finest in such a unique way. I enjoyed it.
Four out of five stars.
Cool title?
Cool cover?
Cool synopsis?
Cool author name?
Done. I fill up bags full of different books. I read a lot and I like finding new authors to follow.
I had NEVER heard of Herman Wouk and apparently he's a pretty talented guy. And this book? Delightful. Such a weird take but such a fun one.
My only complaint? GIVE ME A REAL ENDING. He kind of gives an ending but... come on. I wanted a little more.
Historical fiction at its finest in such a unique way. I enjoyed it.
Four out of five stars.
December 10, 2012
It makes me sad giving an elderly (97!) and venerable author such a poor rating, but there you have it. This book did not work for me at all.
I expected to enjoy this tale of the process by which a re-telling of the story of Moses (yes, that Moses) was made into a movie; I did enjoy the bits that are a critique of DeMille's Ten Commandments, but overall Wouk's attempt at what I assume was supposed to be a witty, light read was a flop. Maybe if I wasn't an agnostic gentile I would have found it funny, but most of the characters seemed to me like Jewish stereotypes. And the female characters, OY!, don't get me started. No grown woman that I know talks like that; these women come off like overgrown teenagers exchanging notes about boys in class, or hyperbolic besotted soap opera caricatures.
And by "talk", in this instance I mean "correspond". The Lawgiver is structured as an epistolary novel, with all the "conversations" recorded in various media: letters, email, text messages, notes, faxes, transcripts of phone and Skype conversations, etc. Kudos to Wouk for including modern modes of communication, but the fact that a substantial amount (maybe a third or more?) of the exposition takes place via good, old-fashioned snail mail felt very anachronistic. I love sending and receiving letters myself, but found it hard to believe in even fictional attorneys, film executives, and billionaires that send time-sensitive documents through the postal system.
Oh, and I hated the Epilogue.*
I only lost one day to this stinker, as it was a very fast read, and I won't let it sour me on Herman Wouk, and I suppose I should cut the guy a little slack seeing as how it's astonishing that he can even hold a pen at at his age (or type, or dictate, or whatever). But I'm not holding out much hope for any (unlikely?) future offerings. I fear his best days as an author are behind him.
*Except for the bit about Mrs. Wouk. I might have teared up a bit while reading about her.
Simon & Schuster sent me a gratis copy through the GR First Reads program, & no money or other venal remunerations were given in exchange for a favorable review, so you can just eff off, FCC.
I expected to enjoy this tale of the process by which a re-telling of the story of Moses (yes, that Moses) was made into a movie; I did enjoy the bits that are a critique of DeMille's Ten Commandments, but overall Wouk's attempt at what I assume was supposed to be a witty, light read was a flop. Maybe if I wasn't an agnostic gentile I would have found it funny, but most of the characters seemed to me like Jewish stereotypes. And the female characters, OY!, don't get me started. No grown woman that I know talks like that; these women come off like overgrown teenagers exchanging notes about boys in class, or hyperbolic besotted soap opera caricatures.
And by "talk", in this instance I mean "correspond". The Lawgiver is structured as an epistolary novel, with all the "conversations" recorded in various media: letters, email, text messages, notes, faxes, transcripts of phone and Skype conversations, etc. Kudos to Wouk for including modern modes of communication, but the fact that a substantial amount (maybe a third or more?) of the exposition takes place via good, old-fashioned snail mail felt very anachronistic. I love sending and receiving letters myself, but found it hard to believe in even fictional attorneys, film executives, and billionaires that send time-sensitive documents through the postal system.
Oh, and I hated the Epilogue.*
I only lost one day to this stinker, as it was a very fast read, and I won't let it sour me on Herman Wouk, and I suppose I should cut the guy a little slack seeing as how it's astonishing that he can even hold a pen at at his age (or type, or dictate, or whatever). But I'm not holding out much hope for any (unlikely?) future offerings. I fear his best days as an author are behind him.
*Except for the bit about Mrs. Wouk. I might have teared up a bit while reading about her.
Simon & Schuster sent me a gratis copy through the GR First Reads program, & no money or other venal remunerations were given in exchange for a favorable review, so you can just eff off, FCC.
January 6, 2013
I love Herman Wouk and love the fact that he's still publishing books at 98. This book was surprisingly modern, too, with e-mails and facebook references and whatnot. Maybe a little too modern for me. I find the new trend of epistolary novels written in sound bytes (see Where'd You Go, Bernadette for another example) a bit too gimmicky and ADD-inducing. I guess I'm old-fashioned in that way; the novels that made me fall in love with Herman Wouk read more like long, sprawling sagas with characters I felt I knew inside and out. Here it felt more like superficial glimpses.
At the same time, some of the old charm was still there. In spite of myself the central love story grew on me gradually, and I loved the meta aspect of Herman Wouk's including himself as a character. I liked the way Herman wrote this as someone who'd always had a dream of writing a novel about Moses but couldn't realize that dream, and instead, wrote a novel about the making of a Moses screenplay which also needed to be written by someone other than him. It was clever, it had shades of the old Wouk charm, and let's give it to the guy -- he's 98, for heaven's sake. A role model for all of us, I say. It also read fast, so I can't complain about having wasted lots of reading time on it.
So, three stars. If you're a die-hard fan of Herman Wouk's like I am, you probably won't regret spending an afternoon or two with this book.
At the same time, some of the old charm was still there. In spite of myself the central love story grew on me gradually, and I loved the meta aspect of Herman Wouk's including himself as a character. I liked the way Herman wrote this as someone who'd always had a dream of writing a novel about Moses but couldn't realize that dream, and instead, wrote a novel about the making of a Moses screenplay which also needed to be written by someone other than him. It was clever, it had shades of the old Wouk charm, and let's give it to the guy -- he's 98, for heaven's sake. A role model for all of us, I say. It also read fast, so I can't complain about having wasted lots of reading time on it.
So, three stars. If you're a die-hard fan of Herman Wouk's like I am, you probably won't regret spending an afternoon or two with this book.
December 29, 2012
I am a long-term fan of Wouk, have read or seen or listened to tons of his historic novels. So when I saw this new book, I did not do my usual "due diligence" (read reviews etc.). All I saw "Herman Wouk" and "Moses". I immediately downloaded it on my brand new Samsung Galaxy, and went to it. To mu surprise, this was not at all what I expected. No deep religious/historic analysis, re-imagining of the iconic figure of 3 world religions. Instead, this is a very entertaining, light, almost chick-lit very contemporary (Wouk is 97 years old!) epistolary novel about ... Hollywood shenanigans while attempting to make a movie about Moses! The form is tech-y: e-mails, Skype call transcripts, business memos etc. Throw in a couple of romances involving frum Hassid or ex-hasid women, business moguls in the US and Israel, Aussie sheep farmers, geneticists at the edge of high tech discoveries, lawyers who enjoy trekking through the exotic locales (Australian outback) etc etc, all this in a very short novel (I was a bit miffed that on B&N it cost more than $12). It is fast paced, fun, easy reading. Of course, some familiarity with the movie business and/or orthodox Judaism may be helpful, but everything is explained in a very easily digested form. In addition, this book is a sort of a love poem/memorial to Wouk's recently deceased wife of 66 years, who was his collaborator, throughout their lives.
All in all, it was an unexpected small gem, not at all what I had bargained for, but well worth it.
All in all, it was an unexpected small gem, not at all what I had bargained for, but well worth it.
October 5, 2021
Herman Wouk's,"The Lawgiver," is probably unlike anything else that this Pulitzer Prize winning author has ever written. Yet, since many of his books have been made into movies or into a TV mini-series (The Caine Mutiny, War and Remembrance) it is not surprising he would know how the real Hollywood works.
"The Lawgiver," is about a movie trying to be made about "Moses" in the twenty-first century (around 2007). For people who are in the film industry or have been in the industry, or around industry people, this book is really funny, delightful, and sadly true. It is written more like a two hundred page memo, e-mail, and text message between a large group of people associated with the film, or simply acquaintances of people associated with the film.
For people not familiar with the movie industry and the "money people" who finance films, it might not be so appealing and the style might throw you off.
In closing it is good to remember that movies, especially really good movies, are made by real professionals: writers, directors, camera people, cinematographers, lighting personnel, actors, actresses, set designers, editors, and the list goes on. The money people, the suits, usually don't know much and are most useful when they don't get involved.
Thank you, Lorna, for this wonderful recommendation.
"The Lawgiver," is about a movie trying to be made about "Moses" in the twenty-first century (around 2007). For people who are in the film industry or have been in the industry, or around industry people, this book is really funny, delightful, and sadly true. It is written more like a two hundred page memo, e-mail, and text message between a large group of people associated with the film, or simply acquaintances of people associated with the film.
For people not familiar with the movie industry and the "money people" who finance films, it might not be so appealing and the style might throw you off.
In closing it is good to remember that movies, especially really good movies, are made by real professionals: writers, directors, camera people, cinematographers, lighting personnel, actors, actresses, set designers, editors, and the list goes on. The money people, the suits, usually don't know much and are most useful when they don't get involved.
Thank you, Lorna, for this wonderful recommendation.
March 6, 2014
Read by Peter Riegert,
Luckily, so many people have given this the full dongs so it won't matter a jot that this is laid down and I go find something better. The characters here still have the hangers inserted into the shoulders...
Abandoned at halfway mark.
November 27, 2012
The Lawgiver by Herman Wouk
I read and loved Majorie Morningstar years ago - so many years ago that I was startled to hear its author, Herman Wouk, recently interviewed on NPR, as I had assumed that he must have long since died. He is indeed 97, but as evidenced in the interview about his most recent novel, he is still very much on top of his game.
That novel is The Lawgiver, which proceeds from the abiding enigma of Wouk’s life - the desire and the inability to write a novel about the life of Moses. To wit, the author becomes a character in his own novel, playing himself - a noted author working with limited success on a book about Moses. The fictional Wouk is being hounded by an engaging array of producers, directors, financiers, and the odd Australian billionaire Leo Gluck, who will has said that he will finance a film about Moses provided that Wouk, whose work he admires, acts as a consultant. Wouk resists, then capitulates on his own terms, while the other characters gossip, scheme, reconcile and fall in love around him.
Wouk is no slouch. The Lawgiver is an epistolary novel that includes, as the flyleaf notes, “letters, memos, e-mails, journals, news articles, recorded talk, Skype transcripts, and text messages.” He treats heavy themes - tradition, religion, love, rebellion, greed - with the lightest of touches. Indeed, the most melancholy note of the novel is the death of Wouk’s wife Betty Sarah, also his wife and lifelong muse in the novel, who passed away suddenly from a stroke during the writing. Wouk salutes her tenderly in the epilogue.
But despite his age and recent bereavement, Wouk appears from the sprightly author’s photo that graces the novel to have had a wonderful time imagining his characters, concocting his plot, and writing his book. I certainly had a wonderful time reading it.
Marjorie Morningstar
I read and loved Majorie Morningstar years ago - so many years ago that I was startled to hear its author, Herman Wouk, recently interviewed on NPR, as I had assumed that he must have long since died. He is indeed 97, but as evidenced in the interview about his most recent novel, he is still very much on top of his game.
That novel is The Lawgiver, which proceeds from the abiding enigma of Wouk’s life - the desire and the inability to write a novel about the life of Moses. To wit, the author becomes a character in his own novel, playing himself - a noted author working with limited success on a book about Moses. The fictional Wouk is being hounded by an engaging array of producers, directors, financiers, and the odd Australian billionaire Leo Gluck, who will has said that he will finance a film about Moses provided that Wouk, whose work he admires, acts as a consultant. Wouk resists, then capitulates on his own terms, while the other characters gossip, scheme, reconcile and fall in love around him.
Wouk is no slouch. The Lawgiver is an epistolary novel that includes, as the flyleaf notes, “letters, memos, e-mails, journals, news articles, recorded talk, Skype transcripts, and text messages.” He treats heavy themes - tradition, religion, love, rebellion, greed - with the lightest of touches. Indeed, the most melancholy note of the novel is the death of Wouk’s wife Betty Sarah, also his wife and lifelong muse in the novel, who passed away suddenly from a stroke during the writing. Wouk salutes her tenderly in the epilogue.
But despite his age and recent bereavement, Wouk appears from the sprightly author’s photo that graces the novel to have had a wonderful time imagining his characters, concocting his plot, and writing his book. I certainly had a wonderful time reading it.
Marjorie Morningstar
October 24, 2012
Gotta hand it to Herman Wouk for moving along with the times - this epistolary novel is made up of emails, Skype transcripts, memos, notes, and even just plain old letters, all about bringing to the screen a life of Moses, something Wouk has been wanting to write about for decades but couldn't find a way to do it that satisfied him. The result is an entertaining read that mixes contemporary show business with biblical history. Wouk also includes himself and his late wife (who was also his agent) as characters in the novel, and the book's last page is a touching tribute to their more than sixty years together. Along the way Wouk even manages to reference two of his own classic novels, THE CAINE MUTINY and MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR.
December 3, 2012
Magnificent and highly originally written book by the 97..yes 97 year old icon!!!
February 26, 2013
What a gem. Through a collection of e-mails, notes, letters, faxes and phone calls, the story of producing a movie about Moses is told. Wouk is his own first character, being hounded by a movie mogul who wants to make a movie about Moses and is offering Wouk a very large inducement to simply have a brief conference about it. It quickly becomes apparent that other players are involved, a wealthy Texas businessman, an even wealthier Australian businessman, and a host of characters who run the spectrum of modern Judaism. I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to imagine the Australian business man speaking Yiddish with an Australian accent as he says, "Aber das IST Moishe Rabenu.".
Wouk uses his devices cleverly and to good effect, creating a compact and compelling story line that kept me "filling in the blanks" and craving more life than the bare bones of a terse memo or brief exchange on a Skype connection could satisfy. He is kind to those of us who have limited understanding of Yiddish or Hebrew by including footnotes.
As it stands, there are two writers working on the same "impossible" story of Moses. Wouk, who is trying to write a novel, and Margo Solovei, who is trying to write a screenplay for the movie. The two projects are parallel and unrelated except for their subject. There are some well worn criticisms of de Mille's epic, and keen insights on how we poor humans stand before the requirements of God. So Josh can cite the three ways a man may obtain a woman to Margo's strict Father and get into a legal tussle of wills between Rabbi and lawyer.
I must ponder this some more, but these are my first thoughts on having just finished reading this wonderful little book. This is a wonderful story, told by a master of the craft. It is clearly a work of love.
Wouk uses his devices cleverly and to good effect, creating a compact and compelling story line that kept me "filling in the blanks" and craving more life than the bare bones of a terse memo or brief exchange on a Skype connection could satisfy. He is kind to those of us who have limited understanding of Yiddish or Hebrew by including footnotes.
As it stands, there are two writers working on the same "impossible" story of Moses. Wouk, who is trying to write a novel, and Margo Solovei, who is trying to write a screenplay for the movie. The two projects are parallel and unrelated except for their subject. There are some well worn criticisms of de Mille's epic, and keen insights on how we poor humans stand before the requirements of God. So Josh can cite the three ways a man may obtain a woman to Margo's strict Father and get into a legal tussle of wills between Rabbi and lawyer.
I must ponder this some more, but these are my first thoughts on having just finished reading this wonderful little book. This is a wonderful story, told by a master of the craft. It is clearly a work of love.
August 1, 2014
I didn't realize Herman Wouk was still alive: not only still alive, but still writing, producing The Lawgiver at the age of ninety-seven. I devoured many of his books when I was in high school, so when I saw this one on the bargain rack, I had to snatch it up. The format was a little difficult for me to get used to; I've never been a fan of the epistlatory novel, and this combined letters, e-mails, texts, memos, faxes, and transcripts of Skype and in-person conferences. I suspended my disbelief with regard to format, as I believe virtually no one texts in paragraph upon paragraph, sends letters by fax, or writes e-mails with such flair. There is something a little self-indulgent about the book; it seemed Wouk was using it and the characters as a vehicle for communicating his own opinions about various things and perhaps even subtly praising himself from time to time. I had trouble keeping some of the secondary characters straight. Despite these flaws, I was able to immerse myself in the tale, which is, at its heart, a romance. I found the book to be a surprisingly quick read, and one that made me smile from time to time. I think it would be hard to appreciate this book without some basic familiarity with Wouk's other works and with Jewish culture. I was especially touched by his note in the epilogue regarding his late wife.
April 4, 2013
Growing up I always loved Herman Wouk novels - The Winds of War and War and Remembrance being special favorites. Wouk is now 97 and I was excited to hear him on NPR talking about his latest book, The Lawgiver. Apparently he'd always wanted to write a book about Moses and at 97 "always" is a long time. The Lawgiver is a clever end run around a huge subject. Young, brilliant Margo Solovei, an untried screenwriter is tasked with writing a script for a new Moses movie to be financed by an eccentric Australian billionaire. Wouk is in the background struggling to write his Moses novel and the billionaire wants him to approve Margo's script before he'll pay up. Margo has rejected her rabbinic upbringing and is estranged from her rabbi father so she has her own struggles with the subject matter, but her deep knowledge of the religion she has rejected carries the day with her script. Poor old Charlton Heston and Cecile B. DeMille are given short shrift. Well, The Caine Mutiny this ain't, but it's clever and the romance between Margo and her erstwhile handsome, brilliant young Jewish lawyer ex beau gives it some life. I guess I'm just not all that interested in the machinations of Hollywood and film making in general and all those emails and skypes gave me a bit of a headache.
March 31, 2013
Mr. Wouk allegedly set out to write a book about Moses. This is not a book about Moses, but a book about a book about Moses. My criteria for a good read are that it keep me up long past my bedtime and that I engage with the characters. This book met both.
This book probably is not for those looking for another "Winds of War." The style is light, presented in a series of emails, letters, notes, FAXes and recorded phone calls. Although it is a pretty quick read, it does take some concentration. You have to fill in the blanks between the communications and keep track of all the characters, including minor and ancillary players.
Having some knowledge of the Bible is helpful, but not necessary, to enjoy this book. Reading during Passover only added to my enjoyment of the story.
Don't skip the Epilogue. I wasn't satisfied with the way the story ended and the Epilogue wraps everything up. Sort of. I thought the book was great fun and I recommend it, whether you're a reader of Wouk's or not.
This book probably is not for those looking for another "Winds of War." The style is light, presented in a series of emails, letters, notes, FAXes and recorded phone calls. Although it is a pretty quick read, it does take some concentration. You have to fill in the blanks between the communications and keep track of all the characters, including minor and ancillary players.
Having some knowledge of the Bible is helpful, but not necessary, to enjoy this book. Reading during Passover only added to my enjoyment of the story.
Don't skip the Epilogue. I wasn't satisfied with the way the story ended and the Epilogue wraps everything up. Sort of. I thought the book was great fun and I recommend it, whether you're a reader of Wouk's or not.
November 22, 2012
Wouk is now 97 and still has two books planned! For fifty years he has wanted to write a book about Moses but hasn't been able to get it going. Here it is, finally: a lighthearted story about the making of a movie about Moses, composed of diary notes, letters, emails, faxes, phone call transcripts, memos, etc. between the primary people involved in producing and financing the movie, especially the screenwriter, a Jewish woman who abandoned Judaism and her rabbi father, but still retains a deep knowledge of the Bible and the traditions. Wouk and his wife are also characters in the novel. It's a short book with a lot of white space because each note, email, etc. starts on a new page, and thus a very quick read. It's very entertaining and a lot of fun.
December 4, 2012
97 year old Herman Wouk has written an endearing novel constructed entirely of emails, text messages, and recorded phone calls. It is a funny, comedic jab at the silliness of writing a Hollywood movie script.
This is a very Jewish book. The lawgiver is Moses, the screen writer is a Bas Yacov graduate, Wouk and his beloved late wife play a backhanded part approving the script and the connections go on and on.
The ending is neat and tidy, the perfect romantic comedy for a light entertaining evening.
I hope I'm this sharp when I'm 97!
This is a very Jewish book. The lawgiver is Moses, the screen writer is a Bas Yacov graduate, Wouk and his beloved late wife play a backhanded part approving the script and the connections go on and on.
The ending is neat and tidy, the perfect romantic comedy for a light entertaining evening.
I hope I'm this sharp when I'm 97!
November 27, 2012
A delicious, light and frothy read - a totally unexpected treat from the author of those weighty tomes of tumultuous wars, those rigorously romantic romans of remembrance. The authorial invasions are mercifully brief and, meh, help the story along...although, yes, a star is docked - and prolly my fault - because I didn't quite lock on to the need of the algae/gasoline storyline. But more 4 1/2 stars: Herman is hovering on the hundred-years mark, and may he live to 120.
November 15, 2012
I read this book in 3 hours! Amazing! If your like me and likes to peak at the last page before you are halfway done with it... Don't! It puts the entire book into perspective! I got chills from it!
November 28, 2012
what a treat. It's about Moses, but it's not. It's a love story but it's not really. It's a love letter to his wife, it's that and more. Loved this, it made me happy.
August 1, 2021
I'm not sure what to make of this book. Having just finished it, I can't honestly point to...much of anything in particular that I thought was excellent about it. The editing seemed sloppy, with odd digressions into algae-based fuel that lacked any clear material or symbolic relevance to the plot. I enjoyed many of the characters, but did not find any particular depth to them. Some bits felt corny. The book seemed to be building up to something and fell short.
And yet, somehow, I couldn't put it down. This was the first time in at least a year that I've read an entire book of this length in one sitting. Something about Wouk's reverence for Jewish text and the Moses story brought me back to my freshman year of college, at a lecture on "The Bible as Literature" by Robert Alter. Alter was able to express the literary beauty of the Tanakh in a way that I had never before been able to grasp. Ever since, I've had a certain envy of those able to read the original Hebrew, grapple with its nuances, and engage in our great tradition of debate with commentators across the millennia about its interpretation. Wouk describes The Lawgiver in his epilogue as "a lighthearted novel about the impossibility of writing a novel about Moses." The awe that he imbues into this project channeled that same energy as Robert Alter and hooked me completely.
Wouk undoubtedly does some other things well here. I liked his use of the Dracula-style "diary clippings and letters" format (Wikipedia informs me that such books are called "epistolary novels"), although there was nothing particularly innovative about it, and the typewriter-style fonts seemed like odd choices for 21st century correspondence. His inclusion of himself as a prominent character was a clever touch, and likely provided much of the personal element that made his grappling with Moses shine through.
Overall, I loved reading this book, but I'm truly not sure who I'd recommend it to. What I do know is that, after a dry spell of several months, I'm excited about reading again and looking forward to my next trip to the library! (Perhaps I need some more novels by Jewish authors...)
And yet, somehow, I couldn't put it down. This was the first time in at least a year that I've read an entire book of this length in one sitting. Something about Wouk's reverence for Jewish text and the Moses story brought me back to my freshman year of college, at a lecture on "The Bible as Literature" by Robert Alter. Alter was able to express the literary beauty of the Tanakh in a way that I had never before been able to grasp. Ever since, I've had a certain envy of those able to read the original Hebrew, grapple with its nuances, and engage in our great tradition of debate with commentators across the millennia about its interpretation. Wouk describes The Lawgiver in his epilogue as "a lighthearted novel about the impossibility of writing a novel about Moses." The awe that he imbues into this project channeled that same energy as Robert Alter and hooked me completely.
Wouk undoubtedly does some other things well here. I liked his use of the Dracula-style "diary clippings and letters" format (Wikipedia informs me that such books are called "epistolary novels"), although there was nothing particularly innovative about it, and the typewriter-style fonts seemed like odd choices for 21st century correspondence. His inclusion of himself as a prominent character was a clever touch, and likely provided much of the personal element that made his grappling with Moses shine through.
Overall, I loved reading this book, but I'm truly not sure who I'd recommend it to. What I do know is that, after a dry spell of several months, I'm excited about reading again and looking forward to my next trip to the library! (Perhaps I need some more novels by Jewish authors...)
October 10, 2021
Very clever and metafictional. Lots of callbacks to other Wouk work.
The voice isn't quite right in places... It reads as an old man trying to write young, but the story pushes it through.
The voice isn't quite right in places... It reads as an old man trying to write young, but the story pushes it through.
September 16, 2021
I love Herman Wouk with all my heart, most of his books are hugely influential to me and I’ve read them over and over. When I find a book of his I haven’t read, I usually figure out why pretty quickly. I found the style and format and self referential tone here just set my teeth on edge and it seems like a literary/theater/movie insider novel that only those in the know can appreciate. DNF.
July 21, 2025
The book detailing of the events to make the ultimate Moses movie, The Lawgiver. Through letters, e-mails, and notes of meetings, the reader is led down the road of finding backing, a scriptwriter, a director, a star, and a Jewish script reviewer to make this movie. Wouk wrote himself in, as the Jewish script reviewer. Each of the individuals came with their problems and requests. A couple of love stories thrown in, as well. I enjoyed this book, and the unique style of telling the story through letters.
October 4, 2022
What an unconventional, experimental, and yet thoroughly charming book!
Some years have passed since I read anything by Herman Wouk. I posted very favorable commentaries on A Hole in Texas and Inside, Outside and always expected to read more of his works in due course. Quite recently I began reading a quasi-memoir by Robertson Davies that reminded me of Inside, Outside, and that prompted me to look for another Wouk title. And I'm glad I did!
The background is that for a very long time Mr. Wouk had kept notes for a novel that would be based on the life of Moses. Finally, very late in life, while waiting for something else he'd written to be published, he decided to "have a go at another novel, if only to pass the time. But what novel?" The answer, he hoped, lay in those yellowing notes. Unfortunately, a straight treatment of that subject (perhaps the sort of book Orson Scott Card might have given us) proved impossible. His solution then was to "write a lighthearted novel about the impossibility of writing a novel about Moses," and that's what we have here. I've heard of, but have not read, a memoir about the impossibility of writing about D.H. Lawrence and maybe this is in the same tradition. In any event, despite its fragmented epistolary format, involving a confusing array of characters, I found it easy, pleasant reading, and with an old-fashioned heartwarming conclusion.
Spoiler: This is not specifically about Moses, although one or possibly two of its characters have Moses-like traits. It's not a retelling of the Bible story in modern terms. If there is a Moses here, I did not spot a Pharaoh or an Aaron or anyone else from the original narrative. (Mr. Wouk and his oracular wife BSW are mostly-offstage characters with make-or-break authority, but I think he would deny that they have the role of the Almighty.) The Lawgiver is to be enjoyed solely on its own terms.
As for any misgivings, I can only say it’s hardly realistic that an unironic, Scripturally-sound major Hollywood production could even be contemplated in current times. This is truly set in an alternate reality. But why not! The world Mr. Wouk has created is better than the one we inhabit, and I feel improved for having peeked into it.
In fact, although the book I read was checked out of the public library, it's one I'd gladly have in my permanent collection.
Some years have passed since I read anything by Herman Wouk. I posted very favorable commentaries on A Hole in Texas and Inside, Outside and always expected to read more of his works in due course. Quite recently I began reading a quasi-memoir by Robertson Davies that reminded me of Inside, Outside, and that prompted me to look for another Wouk title. And I'm glad I did!
The background is that for a very long time Mr. Wouk had kept notes for a novel that would be based on the life of Moses. Finally, very late in life, while waiting for something else he'd written to be published, he decided to "have a go at another novel, if only to pass the time. But what novel?" The answer, he hoped, lay in those yellowing notes. Unfortunately, a straight treatment of that subject (perhaps the sort of book Orson Scott Card might have given us) proved impossible. His solution then was to "write a lighthearted novel about the impossibility of writing a novel about Moses," and that's what we have here. I've heard of, but have not read, a memoir about the impossibility of writing about D.H. Lawrence and maybe this is in the same tradition. In any event, despite its fragmented epistolary format, involving a confusing array of characters, I found it easy, pleasant reading, and with an old-fashioned heartwarming conclusion.
Spoiler: This is not specifically about Moses, although one or possibly two of its characters have Moses-like traits. It's not a retelling of the Bible story in modern terms. If there is a Moses here, I did not spot a Pharaoh or an Aaron or anyone else from the original narrative. (Mr. Wouk and his oracular wife BSW are mostly-offstage characters with make-or-break authority, but I think he would deny that they have the role of the Almighty.) The Lawgiver is to be enjoyed solely on its own terms.
As for any misgivings, I can only say it’s hardly realistic that an unironic, Scripturally-sound major Hollywood production could even be contemplated in current times. This is truly set in an alternate reality. But why not! The world Mr. Wouk has created is better than the one we inhabit, and I feel improved for having peeked into it.
In fact, although the book I read was checked out of the public library, it's one I'd gladly have in my permanent collection.
August 17, 2019
The Lawgiver was the final novel in Herman Wouk's long literary career, which ended with his death only a few months ago at age 103.
Written by Wouk when he was in his mid-90s, the book is most notable for its form and the lesson it has for all of us. The novel is not in narrative form. Rather, it is told through memos, emails, text messages, faxes, personal letters, telephone call transcripts, meeting notes, and the like. This shows the willingness of Wouk to adapt, to experiment, to challenge himself even into his 10th decade. It's a lesson all of us should take to heart.
The novel itself? It is about an effort to make a movie about Moses titled The Lawgiver. Wouk himself, and his wife (who died suddenly while the novel was being written), are characters in the novel. But the main character is the screenwriter, a young Jewish woman writer/director. The novel is full of quirky characters, some Hollywood inside baseball and an ample dose of Jewish culture. The book has its moments of humor and insight, but it wasn't fully successful in keeping my interest.
Written by Wouk when he was in his mid-90s, the book is most notable for its form and the lesson it has for all of us. The novel is not in narrative form. Rather, it is told through memos, emails, text messages, faxes, personal letters, telephone call transcripts, meeting notes, and the like. This shows the willingness of Wouk to adapt, to experiment, to challenge himself even into his 10th decade. It's a lesson all of us should take to heart.
The novel itself? It is about an effort to make a movie about Moses titled The Lawgiver. Wouk himself, and his wife (who died suddenly while the novel was being written), are characters in the novel. But the main character is the screenwriter, a young Jewish woman writer/director. The novel is full of quirky characters, some Hollywood inside baseball and an ample dose of Jewish culture. The book has its moments of humor and insight, but it wasn't fully successful in keeping my interest.
November 19, 2012
There's one contextual detail that no one can overlook when discussing The Lawgiver . . . Herman Wouk wrote this novel in his 90s, a remarkable achievement, given that many of us--if we even live to that venerable age--will be lucky to compose a grocery list, let alone a popular novel.
The Lawgiver is a romantic comedy about the attempts to bring The Lawgiver (the movie) to life. Margo Solovei is the tenacious young writer tasked with bringing the larger-than-life Moses to the silver screen. As Margo churns text for the script, the search continues for the "perfect" actor to play Moses. In the meantime, Mr Wouk (both he and his beloved wife Betty Sarah Wouk--or B.S.W as she's called--appear as characters) is trying to write his novel about Moses while the movie producers are seeking his approval for the film script. There’s a romantic caper or two, a trip on a private jet to exotic locations, adventures on a sheep farm in Australia, and a host of other frothy activities as Margo edges closer to completing the script.
Biblical interpretation aside, Moses received the 10 commandments on stone tablets. Interestingly, The Lawgiver relies on many forms of communication to deliver its message, both traditional (albeit not stone) and modern: letters, e-mail messages, Skype sessions, memos, journal entries, articles . . . to name only a few. The shift in text format is clearly conveyed even on the audio version of the book, and it’s a refreshing change from traditional narrative text without the annoyance of so-called experimental (and largely unrecognizable) text. Two narrators deliver the story—actors Peter Riegert (who starred in one of my favorite romantic comedies, Crossing Delancey) and Zosia Mamet (The Kids Are All Right, Mad Men, Girls). Audio books rely on the narrative performance as much as the actual text—a gifted narrator can transform even a mediocre text, while a mediocre narrator can damage even the finest text. Mr Riegert delivers a solid performance throughout. Unfortunately, Ms. Mamet seems to struggle with the task (among other things, she frequently relies on “Valley Girl” upward inflection, making statements sound like questions). While I understand the appeal of using film and television actors instead of less recognizable professional narrators, in this case, Margo’s character would have been better served by one of the many fine female voices known for their work in the audiobook world.
The Lawgiver’s ending is also a bit pat for my preference. The epilogue redeems the ending somewhat with, among other details, a very lovely tribute to Betty Sarah Wouk. One of Wouk’s life-long goals was to write a novel about Moses. The Lawgiver doesn’t tell the story of Moses—it tells the story about trying to tell the story about Moses. While this version of The Lawgiver surely isn’t Wouk’s finest attempt, nor the attempt he probably wanted to achieve, it nonetheless claims a rightful place in Wouk’s impressive literary canon.
June 29, 2017
Three stars does not mean I disliked Herman Wouk’s The Lawgiver, it means it was OK. Maybe a little better than, just not much. What I liked most was the use of E mails, hand written notes and aid memoirs to carry the story. This can be a gimmick but Wouk uses it to place the story up front and minimizes distractions like place descriptors and character backgrounds. The text is 234 pages in hard back, but the amount of blank space means it is almost twice as fast to read. Wouk casts himself as a leery disinterested background character in a fictionalized occasionally backhanded toast to Hollywood film making. This is to be the movie that gets the Biblical Moses right. Getting the money, the script, the cast, and the green light is never a sure thing. Neither violence, nor graphic sex and rarely a bad word. The fiction succeeds in capturing a sense of reality. It tries to have more dramatic tension than it delivers. Mostly it reads like the 94 year old writer wanted to have a fantasy book for elderly observing Jews.
If I have it right, a Hollywood movie maker needs major money to keep one movie afloat so he teases an Australian gazillionaire into backing a second movie that is going to get him the cash to keep his first movie afloat. The only topic the money from down under likes is Moses and of course that means Herman Wouk has to have approval rights and a young unknown Jewish female is the best choice for screen writer and Then it gets complicated. Elsewhere in the mix is a guy promoting a bacterial based variation on Bio fuel and another Australian actor and sheep farmer, an Army family and a few other buttons get pushed. There are a lot of pious Hasidic Jews and a little explanation about which ones are more observant than which. I think I got the main points without any spoilers.
To his credit Wouk does keep all these plates spinning and ties them up nicely. Perhaps too nicely. Perhaps the goal of being nice can stretch thin. Our screen writer was raised in one of these extremely pious homes. She being an independent thinker, breaks free goes into the bohemian world of theater and somehow remains free of sexual entanglements or of a stash of pot. Margo is a tad too contrived. Experienced at having no experience and sweet and hard. For me she is too contrived and too much the daughter an old man, like Herman Wouk, might have wished his daughter to be.
The Lawgiver is best at being a fast read. Taking advantage of what was hi tech communications, Wouk tells a fairly complex story, striped to its essential and intimate in its contact with the characters. We get to know characters very fast and can quickly decide who is the relatively more likeable. There sort of are some heavies, but not much in the way of truly bad people. Life has its uncertainties but not much in the way of inconveniences.
So for many this is novel reading made light, little that is objectionable and perhaps a little too much the fairy sto
If I have it right, a Hollywood movie maker needs major money to keep one movie afloat so he teases an Australian gazillionaire into backing a second movie that is going to get him the cash to keep his first movie afloat. The only topic the money from down under likes is Moses and of course that means Herman Wouk has to have approval rights and a young unknown Jewish female is the best choice for screen writer and Then it gets complicated. Elsewhere in the mix is a guy promoting a bacterial based variation on Bio fuel and another Australian actor and sheep farmer, an Army family and a few other buttons get pushed. There are a lot of pious Hasidic Jews and a little explanation about which ones are more observant than which. I think I got the main points without any spoilers.
To his credit Wouk does keep all these plates spinning and ties them up nicely. Perhaps too nicely. Perhaps the goal of being nice can stretch thin. Our screen writer was raised in one of these extremely pious homes. She being an independent thinker, breaks free goes into the bohemian world of theater and somehow remains free of sexual entanglements or of a stash of pot. Margo is a tad too contrived. Experienced at having no experience and sweet and hard. For me she is too contrived and too much the daughter an old man, like Herman Wouk, might have wished his daughter to be.
The Lawgiver is best at being a fast read. Taking advantage of what was hi tech communications, Wouk tells a fairly complex story, striped to its essential and intimate in its contact with the characters. We get to know characters very fast and can quickly decide who is the relatively more likeable. There sort of are some heavies, but not much in the way of truly bad people. Life has its uncertainties but not much in the way of inconveniences.
So for many this is novel reading made light, little that is objectionable and perhaps a little too much the fairy sto
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