"Joseph and His Brothers" is a long (almost 1500 pages in my edition) novel, written by Nobel Prize winning German author Thomas Mann. It retells the story of the Ancestral History in the Book of Genesis, from the time of Abraham to the time of Joseph, with, as the title suggests, a particular emphasis on the life of Joseph. Originally written as four books between 1933 and 1943, it was then published as one volume in 1948. The edition I read was a 2005 translation into English by John E Woods.
I actually found this book, in a free box, in Eureka, California, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. I forgot what month, and the months were all different---April and May of 2020 were vastly different worlds. But in general, it was a time when I had a lot of free time to read. I got about a hundred pages into it, but then put it away, and waited four years to continue reading it.
The book is an attempt to tell, in naturalistic, novelistic terms, the life of the Patriarchs in Genesis. There are two problems with this: first, the stories in Genesis are short and terse, and this is a 1492 page book. The story of Joseph and Potipar's wife, which is the 39th chapter of Genesis, and about 600 words long, takes up 200 pages of the story. Obviously, some interpolations and inventions are made. A related problem is that Genesis is a foundational myth, and the characters in it are epic and grand, and many of the stories talk about things like the destiny of the world. So a big challenge in the book is taking epic figures who are only known from terse descriptions, and writing about them in extended, descriptive passages that depicts them in naturalistic terms with clear and nuanced psychological motivations. And Mann succeeds in describing and humanizing characters that even people familiar with the Bible might know only as names. The book develops a portrait of Joseph as a dreamy, somewhat self-centered child and young man who is the favorite of his father, and is bullied by his more brutish, simple minded brothers. It is a depiction that is both relatable, and draws from the short Biblical narratives, but also shows Mann's skills at completing a multidimensional character. Other figures from the Genesis stories are also depicted three-dimensionally, including characters like Tamar who are described in only a few lines in the Bible. In addition, other characters (such as the servants and family of Potiphar), are invented from whole cloth, and also have complete back stories.
A second point of this book, and one that is somewhat at odds with that type of narrative naturalism, is that it turns the scenery of the Bible---which is again, usually terse and minimalistic, into something lush, colorful, sprawling and exotic. The lands of Canaan, and the life of wandering shepherd tribes, is described in more detail than we usually think of it, and Egypt, with all its ancient, layered history, comes to life in pages of descriptive text. It might seem like an odd comparison, but at times I could actually read this like it was along the lines of Conan the Barbarian, an adventure story retelling what it was like to live in an antiquity that is so different from our current way of life. Whether Mann was writing from some type of academic viewpoint about the conditions in the area at the time, I don't know. According to the introduction, he had traveled in the area while writing the book, but I don't believe he was particularly a scholar of the region. But again, as with our tales of the Hyborean Age, we might not be looking for historical accuracy. At the very least, nothing in it is objectionable to a modern reader.
Which brings us to another key point about the book, and where me finding it in Eureka, California at the beginning of the pandemic is strangely relevant. Thomas Mann started writing the first volume of Joseph and His Brothers during the Weimar Republic, and continued to write it as the rise of nazism forced him further into exile. A staunch opponent of nazism, Mann moved from one country to another, working on this book, which he describes as a "refuge" and a "comfort" as the world descended into danger. The final volume of the book was actually written in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Mann had a home 1000 feet from Sunset Boulevard and less than a mile from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air mansion. And while this book is not overtly political, it is easy to see how it could be a political statement. For one obvious thing, it is based on Jewish history. And secondly, Joseph's story is, in a way, the story of civilization in the sense of humane values. In the introduction, Mann even describes the story as "comedic" and "humorous", and while it might be a bit on the dry side as far as humor goes, there is a type of gentle humanism throughout the work. The exact way writing a magnum opus of ancient history during humanity's worst and greatest decade works as a political or social statement I don't know, but it certainly is something. Whether reading it will give insight into contemporary situations I also don't know, but I do feel better for reading it.
So as an overall recommendation--- this is a great book, written by one of the 20th century's most important writers, and also is full of important historical subtext. Whether someone should tackle reading it really depends on how much someone is willing to commit. If you are looking for a 1500 page book to read, and willing to immerse yourself in a somewhat unusual premise, I would recommend it. I feel better for having read it. However, obviously, it isn't for everyone.