Fantastic Metropolis

Realizing that the ultimate stake is control of Jerusalem, Nubar Wallenstein establishes an extensive spy network, called the UIA (Uranist Intelligence Agency) to try to take over the game. He sees the city as his by right—the legacy of his grandfather’s discovery of the original Bible. The Bible represents for Nubar the philosopher’s stone, long sought in his study of the works of Paracelsus. His spies are thwarted and their reports back to Nubar make entertaining reading; for example, the story of the lost Greek, where Whittemore appears to be having a sly dig at the expense of classical literature.

Nubar is the clownish villain of the novel; his physical appearance, that of a stereotypical fascist, is described thus:

By the end of the Great War, Nubar had grown into a small adolescent with an unusually large head, a narrow sunken chest and a prominent potbelly. His face was small and round and pinched, and his tiny weak eyes were very close together. He wore round glasses, wire framed in gold, that seemed to push his eyes even closer together. Two of his front teeth were gold.

He had a small nose and mouth and lips so thin he couldn’t make them whistle. He cultivated a short straight moustache and combed his straight black hair low over his forehead to hide his baldness, his hairline having begun to recede by the time he was fifteen.

Nubar also suffers from other afflictions—paranoia and a left eyelid that droops when he is excited; both are inherited from the first Wallenstein and subsequently visited upon all Wallenstein males. But as all Wallenstein heirs prior to Skanderbeg Wallenstein are unrelated to their fathers, the inherited affliction is inexplicable:

The question had never been answered, and with good reason. Because to do so would have been to admit a-causal relationships in the Balkans, influences removed from logic which would have been highly confusing in their disorderly ramifications, and had always been thoughtfully ignored as nonexistent.

Whittemore often remarks in passing on the history or politics of the region involved in the action of the novels, remarks which, if investigated, prove to be accurate. His view of politics and history is undeniably quirky, forcing the reader to view the episodes in a new light.

Nubar Wallenstein calls one of his spies’ reports “a meaningless fantasy, a web of buffoonish tales having nothing to do with reality,” and one cannot escape the idea that Whittemore is commenting on his own novel. Be that as it may, it is a hugely entertaining piece of nonsense, a terrific read, a ripping yarn involving engaging characters doing amazing things in far-flung places and, again, Jerusalem embodies the dreams of all those caught in its spell.

The Jerusalem Quartet III: Nile Shadows

In a Publishers Weekly review, Nile Shadows was described as “one of the most complex and ambitious espionage novels ever written”. Once again the desert, a magical ancient city, and eccentric characters inform the action of the novel.

Nile Shadows opens where Sinai Tapestry ended, and revists the closing scene of that novel, revealing hidden significance in the death of Stern. Joe O’Sullivan Beare is recruited by Allied Intelligence to investigate the mystery of Stern’s life. It quickly becomes clear that no one is quite sure which side Stern was working on.

There are two Allied Intelligence operations in Egypt: the Waterboys, who operate out of a drab building housing the Third Circle of the Irrigation Works, and the Monastery, who have their headquarters out in the desert in an ancient fortress building said to have once accommodated St. Anthony, the fourth-century hermit and founder of monasticism. This reference to St. Anthony evokes Sinai Tapestry—St. Anthony was Skanderbeg Wallenstein’s favorite saint. As another reminder of that previous book, Whatley, the chief of Monastery operations, shares Skanderbeg Wallenstein’s fondness for Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

Both intelligence agencies are decidedly odd, the one typified by British eccentricity and the other quite sinister. The chiefs of these agencies are missing parts of themselves: The Colonel at the Waterboys is missing a leg; Whatley is missing an arm; and Bletchley lacks an eye. As Bletchley comments to Joe, “It is odd when you think of it, but all the Monks do seem to missing a part or a limb. Crippled that’s it,” to which Joe’s response is “True? Do you suppose that means there’s some sort of secret law that you have to be a cripple to be in intelligence?” Bletchley, who has an amusing tendency to misinterpret the words of others, responds, “To be intelligent you mean? Well, you may be right. I never thought of it that way before.”

Bletchley is an intriguing and likeable character, the head of Intelligence operations for the mysterious Monastery, his face a grotesque mask because of an accident involving a spyglass. Joe quickly learns to interpret the expressions that cross his ravaged face, a horrifying grimace signifying a smile. Bletchley resurfaces in Jericho Mosaic as Bell, the one-eyed hermit and holy man of Jericho.