Books of Jacob | I. Book of Fog, Chapter 1
"fog subsumes every passing view, each scene as fleeting as a flake of dissolving snow”
“But the vicar forane sees no more—the fog subsumes every passing view, each scene as fleeting as a flake of dissolving snow.”
Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob, I. Fog, Chapter 1, p. 957
In chapter 1 Father Benedykt Chmielowski enters the fog of a small town in Podolia, Rohatyn, in search of some special Jewish books he believes are held by the Shorr family. He pushes through the fog and his own discomfort with the busy, multilingual market he finds there. He hopes to use them to write a book that will spread knowledge. But what will come of this meeting of a humble parish priest and his encounter with this secret book of the Jews?
The character this week is Benedykt Chmielowski. I learned to pronounce his surname only recently. Olga Tokarczuk is here to help you right now.
In the novel, Chmielowski becomes the vicar forane of Rohatyn after beginning his vocation in a small presbytery in Firlejów. A vicar forane is appointed by a local bishop to oversee the priests of a particular area. But Father Benedykt loves books, much more than supervising people.
The story begins in 1752, when Rohatyn was the part of Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania. We know from history (no spoilers) that this Poland will cease to exist in 1795, within the lifespan of the characters of this novel.
Today, Rohatyn is in Western Ukraine. Many places that we will visit on this Slow Read have changed nations, names, identities and spelling over the years, including one main city of the novel, Lwów.
For paid subscribers below I have some more notes to enrich your Slow Read.
chat question - about this first “Book of Fog”
character, Benedykt Chmielowski - a clip of Olga Tokarczuk talking about his role in the novel and in history
context - stories that places this little market town of Rohatyn in the historical of multicultural Eastern Europe.
If you have not already done so, please upgrade your subscription, and read on to get more from your Slow Read of The Books of Jacob.