The Legend of Broken

For those who may be interested, a recording from WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s “The Book Show” featuring Caleb Carr talking about his new novel, The Legend of Broken, is available to listen to on the radio station’s website. In addition, for those who did not see the comments on a previous entry, a recording taken of a talk Mr. Carr gave at a book signing late last year has also been made available and can be viewed below.

Finally, I have recently finished reading The Legend of Broken and although I don’t normally write book reviews, I have come away feeling that Broken deserves wider recognition, especially among Caleb Carr’s regular readership, so I have included my thoughts below for anybody who has not read the book but would be interested to know more about it.

As with all Caleb Carr novels, I have come away from The Legend of Broken feeling like I’ve learned a lot. The endnotes were rich in content, and although I started out by reading them as they arose, in the end I found it too disjointing to constantly be getting thrown back and forth between the prose and a history or linguistic lesson, so I left them until I had finished each chapter. They were definitely worth the read, though; as one reviewer said, the more you put into this book, the more you’ll get out. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of work involved in researching everything that has gone into this tale; the linguistic research alone is something to be marvelled at. There were also a great many times as I was reading when I wished I knew more about military history as I’m sure there were subtleties in the text that someone with more knowledge in that area would appreciate, but even without this knowledge, the endnotes were thorough enough for me to learn what I needed to know along the way. However, do not be mislead that this is a work of purely military fiction: the author’s interest in medical and scientific history, as well as natural history, is also clearly evident within the novel, and at least as much time is spent on these aspects of the story as on the military aspects.

Historical references aside, the novel draws you in within the first few chapters as you get to know the various characters. The tale is set between approximately the late 7th and early 8th centuries, and chapters alternate between the story of the Bane, the Moon worshipping exiled race who populate the woods outside Broken, and the people of Broken who are said to personify the physical perfection originally sought by the founder of the city and who worship a new god, Kafra. Although the story largely centres on a war brought on by outbreaks of the “plague” that each group thinks the other has tried to introduce into their respective populations, a larger portion of the novel is concerned with medical mysteries relating to the “plague” as well as political manoeuvrings within factions of the city of Broken itself, making parts of the story more reminiscent to the Alienist books than you might initially suspect.

For a work as expansive as this, it is was to be expected that the novel would contain a much larger cast of central characters than Carr normally employs. Much to my surprise, it was the highly likeable Sixt Arnem, one of the military leaders of Broken, that kept me reading in the early chapters (he brought to mind Maximus from Gladiator, and I ended up picturing him as Russell Crowe for the rest of the novel). As the story progressed, I became increasingly intrigued by Arnem’s wife, Isadora (one of the typically capable and intelligent female characters that are frequently seen in Carr’s work), as well as members of the Bane, particularly Keera (another bright and insightful female) and Heldo-Bah (penchant for violence aside, he’s actually a highly likeable character as well). Two of the most remarkable characters, however, weren’t introduced until the “Idyll” chapters, but I won’t spoil the surprise for those who have not read the novel by revealing who they are here.

The prose is rich and it is easy to imagine this tale as a film. Reviewers have called the writing dense and difficult to get through, but one needs to consider that it was written as an 18th century translation of a long forgotten manuscript from approximately the 8th century. It does take some getting used to in the first few chapters, but once you’re accustomed to the language use (I know that the author suggests that reading the endnotes is voluntary, but you will need to read the endnotes in these early chapters), it becomes a relatively easy read. The story also picks up about halfway through Part 1, so keep reading through the early descriptive chapters and you will soon hit the meat of the narrative. It is also worth mentioning that, as with all of Carr’s novels, there is still great deal of playful banter included throughout this work; the writing may be more dense than is typical for one of his novels, but he hasn’t lost his sense of humour.

Although the religious conflict and some of the themes reminded me of the Arthurian legends, I’m not sure that I agree with the comparisons to authors like Tolkien that I’ve heard mentioned. Although the characters in the novel believe in sorcery, demons, and spirits, the author does not employ magic at any point in the story, nor do fantasy beings ever make an appearance; nothing that takes place in this tale requires a supernatural explanation. In some ways, I actually feel it’s a shame that these comparisons are being made because it’s precisely these that initially made me hesitant to read the book. I know that the author doesn’t like genre classifications because he thinks that they keep people away from books, and perhaps this only goes to demonstrate that point. Nevertheless, if it had been marketed more strongly as a work of purely historical fiction, rather than a work that straddles the historical and fantasy genres, I probably would have had a better idea of the true nature of the novel and picked it up sooner. On that note, I also wonder if the title of the book might be contributing to the problem. Perhaps something like “The Broken Manuscript” might have given somebody like me a different initial impression?

My final thought, unfortunately, is not a good one: I fear this novel may not be as well received as it deserves to be, but I hope this doesn’t discourage Carr’s regular readership from giving it a try. It is a rare work of fiction that has this much research put into it, is structured so well, and teaches you as much as Broken does. Unfortunately, we are now living in a world of instant gratification; where breadth, rather than depth, of knowledge is something to be valued, and where so-called “easy” reads are more well received than anything that requires you to put some effort in. How many people would put the effort into reading Anna Karenina or War and Peace had they been written in the present day and were not already perceived as great literary classics? I’m starting to wonder. I know that I have been guilty of falling into the instant gratification trap myself at times, but I am glad that I still retain the ability to see a work like this for what it is, and I only hope that others will be able to do the same. This novel, like the Alienist books, is worth every hour you are willing to put into it, and I can give it no higher praise than that.