At first look this book intrigued me. I mean really how many books do you just happen across that’s a mystery and about the Jewish religion? I was so ecstatic and thrilled when I picked it up. Unfortunately my excitement was easily turned into a tedious chore of finishing the book.
The first think that irked my nerve was the use of repaired. I know it sounds silly but hear me out. It is used as in “He finished dinner and repaired to the living room to watch tv”. Repaired in this book is used quite frequently. Anytime throughout the book you would say left, retire, or retreat the word repair or repaired is used. I looked it up in Reader’s Digest Oxford: Complete Word Finder which says: v. & n. 1. restore to good condition after damage or wear. 2. renovate or mend by replacing or fixing parts or by compensating for loss or exhaustion 3. v.intr. (foll, by to) resort; have recourse; go often or in great numbers or for a specific purpose; n. archaic 1. resort (have repair to) 2. a place of frequent resort 3. popularity (a place of great repair). I searched through an online thesaurus www.thesaurus.com which said v.definition: leave; retire synonyms: apply, betake oneself, fare, go, head for, hie, journey, move, pass, proceed, process, push on, recur, refer, remove, resort, run, set off for, travel, turn, wend, withdraw. Though the thesaurus says that repair can be used in this term it is not a common way to use it and doesn’t quite fit the word flowage of the book. It sounds more like someone trying to be unique rather than being comprehendible to the average person. I mean really who would really have put repair instead of retire which is common usage.
This book is considered a mystery, and if classification counts, the book is a complete mystery. Yes there was a “small” mystery (pardon the pun) in this book. However you don’t find out what this mystery is about until about page 145 out of a 270 page book. The first half of the book is just a novel with the last hundred pages containing a slight mystery. It was nowhere near any other mystery I have ever read. (Which by the way happens to be one of my favorite categories of books.) With the mystery emerging halfway through the book I assumed the end would be packed with details and interesting facts designed to make your mind find the answer. This however was not the case. The book continued to only dapple around the mystery, never really giving a definite ending or answer, just a probably and most likely scenario.
I did however find some interesting facts, and valid points throughout the book. It gave pretty good insight into the Jewish religion, academics, thoughts, and a Rabbi’s duties. For example I enjoyed the points brought out in pages 90-92. In these pages the discussion is focused around the point that colleges are becoming a rat-race or a factory of knowledge, instead of a place where knowledge is passes on to eager minds yearning to learn more. I do believe that to those points of knowledge and education (which are prominent throughout the book) are valid and can be applied to colleges today with great accuracy. This however does not save my opinion of this book.
As a overall book I rate it 1 out of 5 stars. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they are doing research on theological points on colleges becoming factories instead of institutions, or if you might want a little insight into the daily workings of a Rabbi.
Source: Personal Opinion