What do You think about The Jerusalem Diamond (1979)?
Probably a 3.5. Very difficult to rate this book. No way, shape or form like The Physician which is a marvelous work, The Jerusalem Diamond was a fast read but dealt with characters that were totally unappealing to me. The lead character, Harry Hupman did absolutely nothing that would make anyone really like him and yet he allegedly gets a Yemeni woman to fall in love with him and tell us all how lovable he is. Not really. An egotist, and a real showoff to me, Harry is supposed to be on the trail of a diamond that was stolen from the Vatican from the Mitre of Gregory. That is what we are told, and then we have about 300 pages of nothing to do with that diamond! The best parts of the book are the historical fiction chapters that are all in italics. They are enjoyable reads and deal with the history of diamond cutting and with Harry's kin throughout the ages. In between the beginning and end we find Harry trying to shag as many women as possible, and get into a whole different story about an archeological dig with another less than appealing character. So what did I like about it? Well the historical fictions parts were good, the story was a fast read and did not bog down into too many useless details, and the story that is written about is well written. But a whole lot of this did not make a lot of sense to me. I have read The Physician and I guess I expected a bit better from the author. I have 4 other of his books downloaded and still intend to read all of them, he is a very talented writer, but for me the Jerusalem Diamond was an improbably story with unlikeable characters made tolerable only because Noah Gordon is a fine writer.
—Blaine DeSantis
" Un de vos ancêtres a taillé ce diamant. Un autre l'a monté sur la mitre de Grégoire pour notre Sainte Mère l'Eglise. Maintenant nous aimerions que vous suiviez cette tradition et nous rendiez service. Soyez notre mandataire. Aidez-nous à récupérer ce qui nous appartient. " L'Œil d'Alexandre. Un merveilleux diamant jaune, une pierre unique qui fit jadis partie du trésor du Temple de Jérusalem. Les archéologues viennent de faire une découverte capitale : des rouleaux de cuivre sur lesquels ont été gravées les indications codées menant au trésor caché par les Juifs. Harry Hopeman, descendant d'une longue lignée de diamantaires, va devoir récupérer la gemme légendaire, à la demande de l'Eglise catholique, à laquelle elle avait été dérobée il y a des siècles. Avec l'aide de la mystérieuse Tamar Strauss, conservatrice au musée de Jérusalem, Harry parcourt les sites archéologiques pour entrer en contact avec l'homme qui détient le diamant et résoudre l'énigme des rouleaux. Un livre dépaysant et palpitant, entre roman historique et récit d'aventures.
—Mazel
I read this book in Portuguese, and that was a negative point on the whole experience. I'm so used to read the original English versions, that this translated looked a bit weird.As for the book itself, the best of it were historical bits about the Jews and their diamond trade. Aparte from that, I could find the book very interesting, as I think it is supposed to be. The main character is so shallow and uninteresting that made me want to put the book down. I went through the whole book just wishing to finish it, as to get rid of it. If it weren't for the historical parts, I think I wouldn't have read it to the very end.So basically, a very interesting background story; not so interesting characters.
—Cat
