Destination: Iraq

Book: Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth

In 2009, I wrote the following.

I have recently read two books by Barry Unsworth that touch on the period immediately before World War I. One of them directly deals with the part of Mesopotamia that became Iraq, and I will talk about that one first. Tomorrow I’ll talk about the other book, which takes place on a Greek island.

What Kind of Book?
Land of Marvels: A Novel by the Booker Prize winner (for an earlier book), Barry Unsworth, arrived on shelves in 2009 and was trumpeted by some as a thriller, some as an historic novel. Some reviews criticized it for trying to cram too much–long lectures on archaeology and geology as well as the pre-World War I history of Mesopotamia, into a book of fewer than 300 pages. A jacket blurb praises it as lean. In scanning reviews, I got the distinct impression that few knew quite what to make of it.

I usually do not read reviews before I write my opinions here, but this time I was confused. Looking forward to a thriller, I became restless when the plot was not afoot until page 96 or so and the real action started barely 70 pages before the end of the book. Even for an historical novel, this is an exceedingly leisurely pace.

The Story

I am a fan of history and of archaeology and might have enjoyed the historical setting if the information had seemed more like part of the novel rather than periodic intrusions of needed information.

The Characters

Unfortunately, most of the characters sound and look like stereotypes and despite the fact that the book, according to the author, is about the evils of imperialism, we only meet the oppressors–never the victims. Only servants and a wily seller of information represent the native people of Mesopotamia.

Unsworth tells an intricate tale where no one can quite be believed.

• The archaeologist wants to protect his dig and make his name;
• the geologist wants to verify fields of oil and sell the information to several parties;
• the Germans are laying a railroad;
• the Turks and British are laying plots against each other.

The archaeologist’s wife comes across as a pathetic, malleable creature who will follow a big, strong man anywhere he leads her with a story. The other archaeologist’s girlfriend is allegedly a feminist, but one suspects that is only so she can jump in with an occasional “manly” observation that could not conveniently come out of the mouths of other characters.

The generalized duplicity is underlined by the parallel use of people who tell stories to achieve their goals. Not just lies–but stories. The geologist, the wily spy, even the archaeologist trying to make sense of what he finds. With all these unreliable story-tellers, the reader begins to wonder if the author’s story is to be trusted.

My Conclusion

I cannot recommend Land of Marvels, even as a picture of Mesopotamia/Iraq. It seems Unsworth  set out to make a point rather than a novel. All in all, Ozymandias makes the point more succinctly and with more grace.

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”