6/27/2023 0 Comments Quarantine by Jim CraceThe result is beautiful and merciless fiction, not like a secular prayer, but like the answer to one.Įver since graduate school, where all of us wannabe writers studied Crace's novel like scripture, I've read the book about once a year. This is Crace's genius: He takes a familiar story, Jesus' 40 nights in the wilderness - the titular quarantine - and he vividly reimagines it. In fairness, Jesus doesn't mean to ruin everything. Or it would have, had Jesus not stopped in and miraculously ruined everything. Really, though, she's rejoicing: Musa, her husband, has routinely beaten and raped her, and now, finally, his dying promises salvation. To travelers heading toward Jericho, Miri epitomizes the grieving wife. Death is coming slowly and with blistering heat it turns her husband's tongue black. This is in the Judean desert, 2,000 years ago. Here's how Jim Crace's novel Quarantine opens: Miri, a young pregnant woman, is holding vigil over her dying husband. Diversions A Love Affair with Skateboarding
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