The back cover blurb of this book promises a quest – the
main character Makty-Rasut searching for his roots. A scribe who designs and
oversees the building of tombs for the elite, Makty’s life is comfortable but
he is unable or unwilling to settle in one place, despite encouragement from
others and a succession of women with whom he has the potential for a life-long
relationship. Although structured in an unusual way (see below) this is his story
from birth to eventual fulfillment - not so much a coming of age tale, for much
of the book is concerned with Makty as an adult, but rather his journey to an
understanding of what really matters in life. This is always a good premise for
a story and it delivers. Add to that the exotic setting – I knew very little of
New Kingdom Egypt, so was very much looking forward to reading this.
The setting is well realized, both in the background details
– how the work of painting tombs would have been done, the wider culture,
religious beliefs etc and in the use of language –the term ‘inundation’ for
example to establish the changing seasons - Abbott knows his period and place
and does a good job of transporting the reader there.
The structure of the book is also interesting – alternate
chapters take us to Makty’s present and past – with the chapters in the present
moving forwards, those in the past taking us progressively further back. If
this sounds complicated, it isn’t. I found it an effective way of structuring
the story and had no problem following the timeline.
The storyline itself is simple, but there is an additional
level of interest provided by the fact that towards the end of the book deeper
connections between the main characters are revealed. The ending is not
unexpected but is fitting – and is the one point at which the main character shows
development. It was in the characterization that I found the book less
satisfactory - throughout it Makty seemed rather two-dimensional – undoubtedly
talented as a designer of tombs, but otherwise a stereotypical male – his life
consisting of working and making a series of sexual conquests without any level
of commitment, and able to leave them behind as he moved from job to job without
any apparent regret. Though several other characters comment on this facet of
Makty’s character I was left with the impression either that they thought it
didn’t really matter (Khaem) or that they cared only for Makty’s sake and not
for the women concerned (Sanedjem). I imagine we are supposed to feel that this
behavior is as a result of his early life experiences and therefore sympathize
with him, but it didn’t work for me. I was also a little disappointed in the
level of Shunaya’s passivity in response
to Makty’s actions towards the end of the book. I’d be interested to know
whether male readers would react differently.
What did work for me was the lyricism of the writing, unfortunately
marred by occasional clumsy phrasing or repetitions (for example ‘just now’ occurs
in two adjacent sentences) but these are problems that a good editor could /
should have spotted. (Probably my English teacher background coming out here.) Those
aside, there is lovely description - evocative sentences or phrases that add so
much to the atmosphere of the book. To give just one example - ‘hovered like a
bird of the reedy marshes around the borders of their conversation.’
This is an easy read (it took me only two evenings) and one that
gives a glimpse of a culture and period that I suspect most readers will know
little about. I feel I know much more of New Kingdom Egypt now and I would
certainly read another book by this writer.
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| From the exhibition The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, on loan to Kimball Art Museum , 2003 |
