The book "The Book of Baltimore" - Joel Dekker

The Book of Baltimore is the third novel by Swiss writer Joel Dicker, written by him in 2015. The book was translated into Russian only in the second half of 2017, so the break between the editions of the author's books, as in Europe, was three years. During these three years, Dicker's literary alter ego, the successful American writer of Jewish origin Marcus Goldman, managed to publish his "The Truth about the Harry Quebert Case" and sat down over a new book, and the reader already knows that here it is, in his hands.

Those who have read the previous book by Joel Dikker will surely remember that its main character, Marcus Goldman, became famous thanks to his debut novel "Mr. Goldstein", so the "Book of Baltimore" gives you the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: you will find out what kind of Goldsteins the first novel was about, get acquainted with the third, and at the same time learn about the Drama that once happened in the Goldman family.

But even if you haven't read Dicker's past work, I advise you not to get upset: it is not necessary to rush to look for a story about Quebec, the new book is absolutely integral and can be perceived independently or become the first read in a kind of cycle about Goldman.

As in the case of "The Truth about the Case ...", the narrative of Dicker's novel is divided into two parts: the present and the past, only in this case this very "past" covers a fairly long period, more than thirty years, and concerns several generations of the Goldman family, in which, as often happens, if you dig a little, everything has always been not smooth.

"The Book of the Baltimore" I would not call a detective even by a stretch, although, alas, there are deaths in it, so if you expect an exceptionally complicated plot from the writer, generating a bunch of versions about who the killer is, then this is not the case, in this novel the whole intrigue is built around the questions "what kind of Drama happened that Marcus mentions so often?" and "what happened to the Goldman family from Baltimore?".

The fact that these issues are interrelated and one can replace the other becomes clear immediately, however, the denouement of this story, I am sure, will surprise any reader.

Speaking very generally, the "Book of Baltimore" is a novel about family, love and friendship (the order can be reversed, which is important), only it is not flavored with molasses and not sprinkled with a copious portion of sugar chips, the narrator mentions a lot of things that are not accepted to talk about. For example, the Goldman family in the novel consists of two parts:

- The Goldmans from Montclair, to which Marcus himself belongs, are representatives of the middle class with an old car, a small house and a low-prestige job. They have one child, their mouth is full of worries and nothing exciting is happening in their life:
- The Goldmans from Baltimore are Uncle Marcus' family: they can afford to change houses like gloves, a permanent housekeeper, relax in the Hamptons or take care of a tomboy;

and, of course, it seems to young Marcus that relatives from Baltimore are perfect: they don't quarrel over money, they can afford to go to a restaurant for dinner, they don't need to save for college for their son, but they are not only rich, but also good in every sense - kind, honest, smart, generous, in general, ideal people, no other way. He is close to their son, his cousin, he accepts his friends, he is secretly in love with his aunt, in general, he has been waiting for months to finally meet those in whose family, in his opinion, he really should live.

Of course, the children's illusion turns out to be a soap bubble, but before it bursts, the author brings his reader to the absolute belief that the Baltimore is really the embodiment of the ideal American family that every child can dream of.

And, in addition, he creates the complete illusion that the children's "Goldman gang" will exist forever, despite all obstacles, such as distance and time: descriptions of childhood friendship, episodes of cousins' holiday fun, their communication with the neighbor boy Stan are the most wonderful thing in this novel, although, as you know, I am not a sentimental person and I do not like stories a la "To Kill a Mockingbird".

The fly in the ointment in the "Book of Baltimore" turned out to be the line that is connected with today's day: firstly, it is purely nominal here, it is present in so far as, secondly, it is very weak, especially in contrast with the main one, and thirdly, if you have read The Truth about the Harry Quebert case, you may stumble a couple of times on inconsistencies between these two books concerning dates and sequence of events.

Honestly, it would be better if this whole description of the amorous affairs of Goldman and Alexandra did not exist at all, because when you emerge from memories on a real day, you want only one thing - to dive back as soon as possible and find out into this cozy narrative, and find out what will happen next and how it will end.

Reading the Book of Baltimore, I constantly caught myself thinking that one of the heroes of the novel, Woody, I constantly associate with Garp John Irving: as physically strong, but at the same time sensitive, he could just be an ideal person and live a long happy life, but, in the end, like Garp, surrendered to his little weakness, dragging those who loved him to the bottom.

Against the background of more colorful characters, Marcus Goldman himself, of course, seems grayish, but I, in fact, all the time perceived him only as an observer who was lucky enough to be familiar with Woody, Hillel, Alexandra, Eddie, Uncle Saul and Aunt Anita.