Jo498 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I am looking for a book of which I read the beginning when I borrowed it from a person I met on a hiking trip many years ago but could not continue reading when we parted. The trip was ca. 2001 so the book is probably from the 90s (could be older but I thought it was fairly recent back then). Original language probably English As far as I recall it takes place in the time of Christ (or maybe the crusades?) in Palestine and it starts with a person left in the desert to die. The twist seems that he does not die and probably goes on to take revenge but I have not read much further. I am not even sure if it might not be a totally different desert at a later time and only an allusion to Christ's temptations in the desert by the devil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Perhaps what you are looking for is 'A Canticle for Liebowitz' which starts out (as described by wikipedida0 Quote In the 26th century, a 17-year-old novice named Brother Francis Gerard is on a vigil in the desert. While searching for a rock to complete a shelter, Brother Francis encounters a Wanderer, apparently looking for the abbey, who inscribes Hebrew on a rock that appears the perfect fit for the shelter. When Brother Francis removes the rock, he discovers the entrance to an ancient fallout shelter[13] containing "relics", such as handwritten notes on crumbling memo pads bearing cryptic texts resembling a 20th-century shopping list. It's a great SF novel and if this isn't the one you're looking for and you haven't read, give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Have you tried Google books Advanced Book Search? https://books.google.com/advanced_book_search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 thanks. No, it is not a Canticle for Leibowitz* (I read that but more recently). I can't find the correct search words. "desert" is to general, gives me all kinds of non-fiction. There are several books called "The devil's highway" but I am quite certain the one I mean was not about Mexico but took place in the Near East. And because of Christ's temptation in the desert (which may be some background to or motive in that book) I will also get all kinds of false positives. The problem is also that I read only the backcover and may the first chapter or only a few pages and don't remember enough. I guess I hoped that it was a semi-famous or somewhat popular book from the 1990s and some people here would know it. No big deal, not sure if it was a good book anyway but what I recall seemed interesting. * in German (and Yiddish) names both "ei" and "ie" can appear. The latter is a long "ee" sound (e.g. Lied: song, Liebe : love), the former is pronounced like "eye" (e.g. Stein: stone, Leib: body. For some reason, English speakers very frequenly turn them around; maybe thinking of the different pronunciations helps with memorizing the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 13 hours ago, Jo498 said: For some reason, English speakers very frequenly turn them around; It'll be because, in English, while we have no hard and fast rules about pronunciation of any vowel or combo, 'ie' is most likely to be pronounced in English the way 'ei' is in German (eg cried, fried, died). It caught me out a few times when I first moved to Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 I know "i before e unless after c" and I understand how one can become confused with retrieve and receive etc. But if a a word or name is (clearly) foreign like "Goldstein" or "Leibowitz" it seems a little odd to apply the English rules... Especially when there really are more exceptions than rules: tie, tier. Interestingly, when I have seen Yiddish which is derived from some version of middle high German but with lots of Hebrew and Slavic words and written in Hebrew letters (which I cannot read) transcribed for English speakers, it was done phonetically, so not stein but shteyn or shtayn (like the writer Shteyngart). But almost all names stuck to the German spelling (even when people might have written and talked Russian or Polish) or at least used the German spelling when writing in the Latin alphabet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 There was a book around that period that was a literary fiction about Christ's (or the Nazarene's, if you prefer) journey into the desert for forty days and nights to fast and resist temptation. On his way to his fasting location, he is already weak with thirst and begs or steals some water from a tent to refresh himself before he starts his fast. That's how the book starts. Then most of the book is around a few fictional characters nearby his fasting location during the period of his fast. They have their own lives and concerns and Jesus is just some religious zealot nearby, who unintentionally becomes a catalyst in their own personal lives. Not a religious book at all as I recall -- I was a smug/angry atheist then -- but very well written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 This could have been it although I remember a different starting point, namely that guy being left for dead in the desert but surviving anyway. Do you remember the title of "your" book? Is it Jim Crace: Quarantine? It sounds closer than anything else I found, fits (appeared first in 1997) and sounds like worth a try regardless of whether it is the book I meant. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 15 hours ago, Jo498 said: This could have been it although I remember a different starting point, namely that guy being left for dead in the desert but surviving anyway. Do you remember the title of "your" book? Is it Jim Crace: Quarantine? It sounds closer than anything else I found, fits (appeared first in 1997) and sounds like worth a try regardless of whether it is the book I meant. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview3 Yes, that's it. And it does start with a man left for dead in his tent by his wife, but the Galilean stumbles past and heals him with a touch as he begs/steals a drink of water. It's a long time ago but I remember it as a good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 22 hours ago, Jo498 said: I know "i before e unless after c" and I understand how one can become confused with retrieve and receive etc. But if a a word or name is (clearly) foreign like "Goldstein" or "Leibowitz" it seems a little odd to apply the English rules... Especially when there really are more exceptions than rules: tie, tier. I'm not saying they're right to do it. But people don't generally think about that kind of thing offhand, they'll just go with instinct until someone corrects them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said: Yes, that's it. And it does start with a man left for dead in his tent by his wife, but the Galilean stumbles past and heals him with a touch as he begs/steals a drink of water. It's a long time ago but I remember it as a good read. I am now fairly confident that this must be the book and already orderered it. Thanks for you help and comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 After reading the first few pages I am positive that Jim Crace: Quarantine is the book I was looking for! Thanks again to everyone for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 2 minutes ago, Jo498 said: After reading the first few pages I am positive that Jim Crace: Quarantine is the book I was looking for! Thanks again to everyone for the help! Glad you found it! Sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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