Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Coffee Trader by David Liss ISBN: 0375508546 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Rating: 4
Summary: The Stock Exchange - circa 1659
Comment: David Liss historically recreates Amsterdam in 1659 in his intriguing novel The Coffee Trader. The Netherlands in the mid 1600's has become a haven for Inquisition persecuted Jews who have fled their Iberian roots. In Amsterdam under the direction of the Ma'amad, the law giving Jewish ruling council, Jews were permitted to openly practice their religion.
The story revolves around Miguel Lienzo, a transplanted Portuguese Jew who is a trader of some note on the Dutch commodities exchange. Lienzo has seen his fortunes take a tumble in the sugar market. He is in debt and in forced to take up residence with his scornful brother Daniel and his pregnant wife Hannah.
Lienzo has been recruited by an attractive Dutch widow, Geertruid Damhuis to be a broker in a coffee buying deal in which he will be an equal partner. Coffee at this time in Europe is a very speculative commodity and not as of yet popular as a beverage. The potential for the deal to be extremely profitable strongly exists if Lienzo can bring it all together.
The story proceeds to document the hardships Lienzo encounters while endeavoring to make the deal happen. The most difficult stumbling block is one Solomon Parido, a wealthy merchant and parnass or powerful member of the Ma'amad. Parido believes he has been slighted by Lienzo in an impending arranged marriage between Parido's daughter and Miguel. Parido is using all his power to try to destroy the coffee deal and seek revenge on Lienzo.
Davis Liss is a gifted wordsmith as he paints a wonderfully descriptive picture of Amsterdam in the 1650's. His story expertly navigates it's way through the highs and lows encountered by Lienzo in his dealings to consumate the coffee deal.
Rating: 5
Summary: Liss has created a masterpiece with this incredible saga!
Comment: If Starbucks Coffee was smart, they'd start selling David Liss's new novel THE COFFEE TRADER right alongside all their other caffeinated laced beverages. After winning the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel for A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER, Liss has created another masterpiece relating to the historical fiction genre.
His second novel takes place in 17th-century Amsterdam in 1659 during the Golden Age. The book's main character is a Portuguese Jew named Miguel Lienzo, who has recently lost a bundle after the sugar market crash and is now trying to resurrect himself by searching for investors who would consider a new product called "coffee".
Broke and busted, Miguel must take shelter in the basement of his brother's house. Daniel, who also works at the booming commodities exchange, tells his brother not to waste his time vying for a lucrative fortune in the coffee trade. But after learning about the possible financial windfall from the provocative Dutchwoman Geertrud Damhuis, Miguel is utterly convinced that coffee will become a worthwhile investment.
However, being Jewish in Amsterdam during the Golden Age was extremely difficult for any promising entrepreneur. For instance, Miguel must be careful not to scorn the Ma'amad, the restrictive and mysterious governing body of the Jewish community. He must also be wary not to conduct business with anyone who is not Jewish, something extremely forbidden during the mid-1650s. Miguel also has to deal with his bothersome brother Daniel and his mousy wife Hannah, who seems to be falling in love with Miguel. On top of that, he has to deal with Hendrick, a man seething with anti-Semitism and a close associate to his business partner, Geertrud. Throughout the book, Hendrick refers to Miguel as "Jew Man."
During the course of close to 400 pages, I couldn't read THE COFFEE TRADER without either sitting in the kitchen of my apartment and brewing a pot of the luscious black beverage or venturing out to my local Starbucks and ordering a grande Sumatra with room for milk. Even from the opening pages of the novel, Miguel is sitting with Geertrud and she is introducing him to the wonders of coffee. This is where Liss's work truly shines. He does a magnificent job conveying to his audience the allure of coffee and its magical ability to induce mental awareness and intellectual prowess.
Not only is this wonderful novel chock full of suspense, intrigue and a touch of romance, it's also extremely funny at times. For instance, when Daniel's wife, Hannah, who is obviously smitten with Miguel, raids his stash of coffee beans instead of attempting to brew them in a conventional fashion, she chomps on the beans and finds them to be utterly exquisite. Yuck!
Liss also completed exhaustive research before sitting down to write THE COFFEE TRADER, which took a year and a half to finish. At the end of the book, after his Historical Note, is a lengthy Works Consulted section with over 30 books Liss read in order to set the proper tone for this historical piece of fiction. What's most fascinating about Liss's work is his incredible ability to transport the reader back in time. His ability to handle the nuisances of everyday life in Amsterdam over 344 years ago is utterly amazing. Liss paints an incredible landscape in detailing the rising commodities exchange in Amsterdam at that time. He also does an excellent job describing the seediness of pub life and how schemers would spread rumors about ships being looted by pirates in order to decrease the worth of cargo expected to arrive in the nearby docks.
It gets to the point where Miguel doesn't exactly know who to trust and, in some ways, THE COFFEE TRADER emulates the risks that investors take today in dealing with high finance.
If you are a coffee fanatic like myself, then by all means go out and get yourself a copy of THE COFFEE TRADER, head to your nearest coffee shop and hunker down with this incredible saga.
--- Reviewed by David Exum
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Read!
Comment: I loved Liss's first book, A Conspiracy of Paper, but I have to say I think I love The Coffee Trader even more. This one is set in 17th century Amsterdam and concerns a trader's efforts to get a monopoly on coffee just as coffee is first emerging in Europe. This novel moves and feels like a thriller, and I kept turning pages late into the night to find out what happens next, but Liss doesn't rely on tricks used by cheap thrillers ' no piles of bodies or burning buildings, etc. His protagonist's anxiety about debt, ruin and humiliation make this novel moving and real and very, very compelling.
Liss tackles a number of tough topics here: commodities speculation in the 1600s, the insularity and paranoia of the Amsterdam Jewish population, the corrupting nature of trade, and so on. He clearly knows his stuff, and I walked away from the book feeling like I had received a great history lesson, but the book never gets bogged down with details. Probably because the characters are so believable and compelling. Every character has some kind of secret agenda, but it is never what you think, and the novel's conclusion is risky, but very, very satisfying.
This is the best historical novel I've read in years. It is suspenseful, funny and addictive. Even people who don't like historicals should check it out.
 |
Title: A Conspiracy of Paper (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by David Liss ISBN: 0804119120 Publisher: Ballantine Books (Trd Pap) Pub. Date: 30 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Dante Club: A Novel by Matthew Pearl ISBN: 0375505296 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown ISBN: 0385504209 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ISBN: 015100692X Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 16 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
 |
Title: December 6: A Novel by Martin Smith ISBN: 0684872536 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 30 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
