הצורף

by Moshe Sakal, משה סקאל

במרכז ספרו החדש של משה סקאל, מחבר הרומן עטור השבחים יולנדה, נמצא יהלום כחול המכונה "סבאח". הוא היה שייך פעם למשפחת מלוכה אירופית, התגלגל לידי הסולטן הטורקי וזה העניק אותו במתנה לזמרת יהודייה ששבתה את לבו בקולה וביופייה. אחר כך היה לו תפקיד במשולש אהבים בין זוג יהודים מסוריה וצעירה מוסלמית מיפו, וכך הוא התגלגל לתל אביב עד שנשדד מחנותו של הצורף מסמטה פלונית ערב מלחמת המפרץ. עכשיו הוא נמצא בכיסו של צעיר מדמשק, הגונב בחשאי את הגבול לישראל ומשוטט ברחובות תל אביב ויפו, כדי להשיב את היהלום לבעליו. האם יצליח לעשות זאת לפני שייתפס? הצורף, ספרו החמישי של סקאל, הוא רומן עשיר ומענג, הבוחר להתבונן ולספר את ההיסטוריה של המקום שבו אנו חיים ושל האנשים שחיו בו לפנינו דרך האהבה, לא דרך המלחמות. באמצעות גלגוליו של היהלום הכחול וסיפוריהם של האנשים שהחזיקו בו יוצר סקאל פסיפס מרגש של זמנים ואנשים, מקומות ותרבויות, ובו בזמן מציע לנו הרהור מחודש על חיינו במקום הזה, שהיום נבנות בו חומות לרוב ופעם לא היו בו גבולות, תרתי משמע.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Jewish, Middle East, Gay, Historical, Historical Fiction

269 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first chapter....
Menashe, in his 60’s, works almost exclusively with regulars. He’s their family diamond setter.
Achlama, in her 20’s, just return to Tel Aviv after living in New York for five years where she studied history in college. She begins her apprenticeship working in the jewelry shop for her uncle Menashe.
This journey just begins.....
...there is back story hanging - of interest - about both these characters...
but let ‘that be’ for awhile...
READ THE BLURB...
If you choose to read this novel...‘relax’ ... go with the flow. It can be quite an enjoyable experience.

I like this excerpt: - a running reminder of what’s important in relation to all the people you’ll meet.
Menashe says to Achlama:
“Look at the sea. This city is bent on destroying itself. It just keeps destroying, then building, then destroying again. But the sea is one thing that can never be destroyed. It will be here long after we’re gone, long after this city slowly sinks into the sand”.

In the second chapter we meet a new character:
Fareed, 28 year old Palestinian-Syrian - a gay man - crosses the border illegally into Israel with a blue diamond - the *Sabakh* in his pocket.
The year is 2011.
We get the historical story about the presumed curse of the diamond, ( fascinating documented history that originated in 18th century India). It was stolen and passed on to royal families..
The history about the diamond was as thought-provoking as the complex triangle love-story within.

Each chapter - most anyway- introduces a new character. The stories told - past & present are connected.
Mixed love -a blue diamond - Muslims - Jews - protesting for peaceful times - fascinating texture characters ... and you’ve got one enjoyable novel!!’

Did you know how much the Sultan loved jewelry?
Ever think of the value -or d-value of jewelry through generations? This novel open my eyes on the subject.

Be prepared for HUGE cast. Don’t worry about trying to keep track of everyone. It’s not necessary. Things will come together.
The writing and translation reads effortlessly!
There is a list of characters at the start of the novel. It’s useful - but I didn’t flip back & forth studying it.

Honi and Tom are standouts — and
‘chapter five’ excited me with the character *ME*.....
*ME* is the author! This book is based on a true story.

This is a delicious family story.
Love Love Love ... in the Middle East!!! Imagine that?/!!!!

[Optimist ♰King's Wench♰]

I'm sad to say I'm throwing the towel in on this one. I've tried three times to read it. The first time I thought I just wasn't in the mood for it. The second I thought needed to get my head on straight. But this time... I just can't do it. I wish I could because the setting, blurb, cover and premise appealed to me.

I'm sure there is an audience for this book. I'm sure there's a story in here somewhere. I'm sure all these loose ends are going to culminate in something, but I haven't the patience to wade through more info dumps, time jumps or head hopping to get there, so I'm calling it.

Time of death: 24%.

DNF/no rating.

A review copy was provided by NetGalley.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the moment, I'm sorting the reasons why I loved reading this story in my mind.

First of all I enjoyed Sakal's writing and how his many faceted story ended up in one diamond just like the Sabakh diamond around which his story is centred.

by Christopher Stevens

Secondly the fact that Sakal showed me a different picture of what the Middle East really is, a diamond made up of may facets, each facet needing the other to allow the diamond to show itself in it's brilliance. His intertwining of people and their stories gives me a kind of hope which everyday news from the Middle East does not. It showed me what that area could be without the hard core factions striving for preeminence. It's a place that has to allow it's many facets to shine to be at it's best.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5, rounded up.

Like most who rated this poorly, I was often confused and found a lot of it hard to follow, or just plain uninteresting. The story itself is not only convoluted, but it's poorly told (perhaps badly translated as well?). Worse, the synopsis makes it sound like it revolves around a contemporary Arab/Israeli queer relationship, which is initially what intrigued me, whereas the central relationship is actually about the older generation, and concerns a polyamorous ménage between a man and two women. I can't even really tell you what happens in the end, and by that time, I ceased caring.

[Nikola · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

You can also find this review on my book blog.

love the cover of this book and that’s the first thing that attracted me to it and then the blurb which sounded so interesting. This isn’t a typical read for me but I am so glad I got the chance to read it because it’s good to read something different than your usual reads from time to time. I must confess that I really liked reading this book.

The Diamond Setter is a story that spans through generations and at the center of it is one diamond, the blue diamond. The story begins with one man’s journey from Syria to Israel with a goal of returning the diamond called ‘Sabakh’ to its rightful owner and also finding more about his family roots. Fareed gets swept not only into the mystery of the ‘Sabakh’ but into a dangerous life that comes with finding the truth. The author takes us to many places, from the present day to the 1900s where we get stories about the diamond, how it was first found and how it got into the hands of many different people (Don’t worry the stories revolve around the family and don’t stray away from the story). I feel like saying more will ruin your experience so I won’t say anything further.

I must say that the first two-three pages of the prologue were so interesting and they made me dive into this book. The first few chapters were confusing but after them I got into the gist of who’s who and what’s happening. Sakal writes characters that are flawed but also real because of that. If you’ve researched this book it says that it’s about a love triangle and I read that but was still surprised when I came across it in the book. The love triangle thing was so intriguing because of the things that happened later in the book. There’s a point where the name of the novel comes up within the story as well as the plot of it which I had mixed feelings about because it kind of deviated from the story but what I found rewarding was the potrayal of gay characters in the book. I loved reading about Tom and Honi. I feel like the end of the book had a bitter-sweet taste but it left me wondering and thinking about the future of these characters.

The Diamond Setter is a novel with a heart and I’m sure many readers will enjoy reading this story.

I would like to thank the publisher Other Press for sending this book my way in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own and were not influenced by the fact that I got a free copy for review.

[William Miles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to audio-read this book, looking forward to some perspective on Syrian culture and the Israel-Palestinian crisis. As we can see from the other reviews, the stories are told in a non-linear way, and there appears to be at least one other fictional story within a story. It was way too difficult to keep the characters and stories straight (I kept losing track of who the various narrators were) and I had to give up.

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish this book. Never understood where it was going, if anywhere.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review appears in New York Journal of Books .

[Steve Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one very average. Hard to follow and not much substance.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give this one up on page 80, too many characters and too hard to follow. I wanted to like it, but it lost its charm early on.

[Dannica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book I first heard about as being focused on a man entering Israel's gay scene, which it is not, not really. I mean, it is partly about that. But it's more an intergenerational novel looking at the lives and love stories of different members of a couple Israeli families, and how these people are connected to a diamond named Sabakh. There's a touch of the surreal about it--the narrator is a novelist writing a book about his family, the book being The Diamond Setter, but at times the narrator knows things he really shouldn't know about all these people's private lives, or even has foreknowledge of what will happen or seems to control the world he inhabits through his writing. There are also themes of what it means to return, and a lot about the political situation in Israel and Syria that a politically uninformed person like me only half picked up on.
Anyways, it was good! Would recommend.

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way all the different chapters together told the story of the two families and the diamond that played a part in their lives.

[Mazza Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book with warm characters and a sweet story. It’s very light hearted and I usually prefer a darker read but it is lovely! Especially if you want to travel to Israel, I could smell the sea coming from the pages.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I bailed around page 150. Several intriguing characters and a comfortable way of story telling, but the chapters started feeling loosely strung together. One of the characters suggests that readers like a story with a linear plot. And while I don't necessarily need that, I do need to know where I am headed and I lost that here. Too bad.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a long, middle section of this book where the stories are layered on top of each other and it's lovely to read. But there is also this bookend structure that I found a bit confusing. I'm still not entirely sure what character names go with what decade. They blur a bit for me. But perhaps that's also part of the point.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! The Diamond Setter is a multilayered multi-generational story set in Israel and other middle east locations. You'll love the stories with in stories of the overlapping family tales and secrets. The only think missing is a family tree. Short of that it's near perfect.

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, but failed, to engage with this novel. Having read other Goodreads reviews, I also found the non-linear plot confusing and unfortunately wasn't able to connect with any of the characters.

[Kevin Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

An absolute hot mess that I never gave up hope for, right up to the end. This is a nope.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind a rather generic title and an equally generic premise – the fate of a priceless diamond – hides a gorgeous novel that subtly paints the portrait of a complicated area – mostly Israel and its neighbor Syria - through numerous characters, tumultuous times and different eras, going back, thanks to elaborately constructed flash-backs and stories within stories, to the days when Jews and Muslims were friendly neighbors living in the same towns throughout the region. Moshe Sakal has woven a delicate, vibrant, and intricate web that, as the story enfolds, grows larger and keeps expanding, mixing and interconnecting multiple tales, multiple individuals, and multiple moments in History. Everything converges, yet all the different episodes and people depicted by Sakal exist on their own and follow their own path, often going into different directions even when they intersect: all shine like shooting stars. The narration starts with a young gay Syrian man who enters Israeli territory with a precious gem in his pocket. It seems simple enough, but, as it branches out to an array of plots and a myriad of destinies, it begins to offer a mirror image – or rather, fragmented mirror images - of the Middle East and its complexities. The architecture of the novel is dizzying and evokes, no doubt deliberately, past famed fables. Sakal is a sensitive, extremely emphatic and gifted writer. He’s as much at ease describing contemporary Tel Aviv as he is in bringing back to life cities such as Damascus or Jaffa, before Israel was even born. Sensual, fragrant, and lush, but never overheated, and avoiding exotic clichés, his prose illuminates ordinary and extraordinary lives that, over decades, are impacted by the creation of the Jewish state and the emergence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There definitely is a historical and political dimension to The Diamond Setter, and Sakal doesn’t shy away from it, but the novel is nevertheless, first and foremost, about the human heart – as corny as it may sound. The characters that Sakal draws escape what we may expected of them and have beautifully mysterious souls. The author adroitly writes about their cultural traditions, their aspirations and desires, their regrets, their family ties, their bounds to a divided land. He also writes a lot about their love affairs: straight, gay, and bisexual relationships coexist and bring a lively, sometimes intense, dose of eroticism to the story. There is a deeply elegiac quality to The Diamond Setter, even when it just describes a landscape or the sea. Layers of sadness and nostalgia float around the pages like perfumed scents arriving to us from faraway times and places. A sense of poignancy is hard to avoid when, for example, one thinks about what’s happening in Syria right now while reading about the vanished land that Sakal chronicles. The Diamond Setter is also, and that is worth noting, a novel of hope. Of hope, inclusiveness, and tolerance: big words, yes, but important ones when it comes to the world Sakal writes about.

[Elda Mengisto · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Something about Sabakh seemed different since their arrival in Yafa: Its silence was now secretive. Fareed stared curiously at the stone and thought of the lines. Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold. Lost is a secret when that secret's told" (37)

The book caught my eye when it was first released: a tale of Israeli and Syrian men, a gemstone, taking place in the modern day? It was intriguing, but it took me a year to actually start reading it. My expectations revolved around Menashe and his store having to move, but the blurb discussed about the LGBT scene in Tel Aviv and it closely related more to Menashe's apprentice, Tom.

What I got instead, was an onion unfolding into multiple layers, bouncing towards past and present.

We also have the story of Fareed, a Syrian who smuggles himself into Tel Aviv-Jaffa in order to find about his roots, and to return part of the Sabakh, the blue diamond which Menashe cherishes. While I did appreciate the scenes in which he involves himself in, including the protests in 2011 where he meets Tom and Honi, I thought some of what they addressed was a bit too shallow. It did allow for some good writing, such as with "Still, he had returned. The right of return be damned--he himself returned. It was the return of one individual, but nevertheless a return" (49).

Most of the story covers through different characters throughout the early twentieth century. The story of Gracia, a woman who has a wondrous voice, but wanted to remain a free woman, was particularly intriguing. There's also movements of the Arab and Jewish characters, along with the legend behind the Sabakh. There were also mentions of a necklace with three lines and the Palestinian colors, but I thought it was curious because it seems like a symbol for the book. It relatively seems irrelevant in comparison.

As for Tom, the narrator, I thought it was curious that he was writing a novel of the same topic. I found it to be quite meta, and it was a bit endearing. At the same time, it felt like a bit jarring, because I hardly got a feel of the writing process from Tom.

"There's a frame story. Or a depth story, really. It's about a famous blue diamond, and a Syrian who comes to Israel with part of the diamond in his pocket and ends up in Jaffa." (85)

It's curious, but could've gone more into depth.

The Diamond Setter could've had the makings of an interesting trilogy; while I blew through it relatively quickly, it was also quite short. The interlocking stories are of interest if you are into family drama and the Middle East, though contemporary life is lacking as a trade-off. In the end, there's a lot to unpack, if you have the patience (7/10)

[Ilana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about multiple loves, deep-hidden secrets and the slow evolution of the Middle East into a story of deep hate, The Diamond Setter has a powerful story - 'inspired by true events'. The intricated memory legacies of a Jewish family from Syria forced by the unfriendly political circumstances to emigrate to Israel are explored under a sexual angle, but it is obviously more to the story than that. Connecting the love story dots with a diamond of impressive value brings a charm worth a 1001-night.

From the historical and reality point of view, the stories about the 'marvelous' co-existence between Jews and their Arab neighbours in the Oriental lands - compared to the pogrom-ridden European stories - are often the results of a delusional projections aimed to mould into a reality that never existed. The novel rather focuses on a particular family story, without too much emphasis on the environment therefore avoiding the pinky kitch of co-existence 'stories'. And if not for some post-modern interruptions in order to let the author's voice to rearrange the game of plans between reality and fiction, it would have flow admirably too.

There is an impressive cast of characters, with the women being the most complex participants to the story.

But the past is past and the idea of trying to re-create the initial circumstances and events is as wrong as believing that love has borders - although, there are so many cultural, linguistic and intellectual barriers that can easily break the love. Rather, there are specific circumstances at a certain moment that create the opportunitiy of a certain situation - and relationship - but those circumstances are unique and most likely impossible to reiterate. The reality changes permanently and so the people under the pressure of events and ideological/educational pressures. The Middle East that was described in the 1920s-1930s is completely different nowadays and the changes will rather be dramatically new than reproducing a reality that once was. Nowadays, more than ever, we are part of a greater complex continuum which moves towards a different - greatly unknown - forward than back to a past.

Meanwhile, the human capacity of telling beautiful stories will always remain.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book that is part biography, part mystery, part family history, and part myth about the intertwining lives of a large cast of characters that centers in Jaffa and are somehow all connected to a long-lost rare blue diamond known as “Sabakh.” The portrayal of the LGBTQ scene in Tel Aviv, for both Arabs and Jews, was interesting but I had trouble keeping all of the characters straight. I think I would need to re-read it to fit all of the pieces together but I didn't like it enough to devote the time and energy.

[Alistair · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel about the intersection between Jews and Arabs in the twentieth century.
Fareed illegally crosses the border from Damascus into Israel to discover his familial roots; in his possession is a large blue diamond, the ‘Sabakh’. It is his intention to deliver the stone to its rightful owner. But who is its owner? Told in turn by members of Fareed’s extended family, and flipping back in time, this is, frankly, a confusing read. A family tree would have been helpful as I became fuzzy as to where each character fitted into the mosaic of Fareed’s narrative. If you like reading about the Middle East, your fingers may find themselves wrapped around this book. Otherwise I’d give it a miss; oh, and there’s a howler in the blurb on the back cover which doesn’t inspire confidence.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to pick up this book — a multigenerational saga set in Damascus, Tel Aviv and Jaffa — but found the timeline and connections between characters nearly impossible to follow. Although there is a consistent narrator throughout, he is a character in the book and should not be aware of some of the events he describes. The chapters do not flow logically from one to another and I often found myself wondering how certain sections advanced any plot line. The Afterward was the most coherent part of the book.

[Samuel Elmaleh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un fameux diamant maudit relie les destins de familles juives et musulmanes. L’auteur de ce beau roman nous ferait oublier le statut inférieur des Juifs en pays d’islam. Parfois des faits historiques percolent à travers un filtre enjoliveur. Agréable lecture à condition de garder ces distances des voeux pieux d’un auteur appartenant incontestablement à la gauche israélienne dont il partage la myopie.

[Bayliss Camp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trashy, delicious, post-modern orientalist historical/family fiction(ish). What’s not to love?

Well, the dialogue, among other points, comes off as stilted in English. Maybe it’s a translation problem, but I’m not so sure: it was hard to “hear” the different characters in their speech. Also, while love triangles are titillating for obvious reasons, the prospect of one among three second cousins just seems kinda icky. Or European royalty, I guess. Call me a prude, I suppose.

[Shalom · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little bit of a kitchen-sink novel -- nostalgic warmth for the Israel of the early years, check; historical Arab-Israeli relations on the personal level, check; modern gay relationships, check; development pressures changing the face of Tel Aviv, check; and so on. But it mostly hangs together, with characters worth caring about, an interesting-enough plot, a great scene-setting throughout.

[David Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. I thought I'd learn something of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the lives that are intertwined. I thought I'd learn more of the art of storytelling from an award winning author. It's either me or that something got lost in translation. An evocative tale? Not for me. I felt bogged down in minutia, lost in mind numbing dialogue, and left behind by rapid switches between time, place, and characters. The cover is beautiful, though.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry. I had to give up. I read 43% and rarely give up if I've read that far. I want to say there were too many characters to keep track of, but i have read many books with a lot of characters. I think the difference is that they were written in a way that kept me engaged in the story and able to keep track of them. Unfortunately, this one was not!

[K-dizzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably describe this book as a whirlwind of characters and plot. I think overall the author very cleverly tied all the people and the diamond in question together, but the plot didn’t quite work for me. The references to places in Tel Aviv etc and the use of Hebrew and Arabic expressions transports you into the Middle East quite well and paints its picture during various eras.