Customer Reviews

Coffee Trader

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first started listening to The Coffee Trader, I didn't think I was going to like it. Perhaps it's just me, but Graeme Malcolm's reading grated on my nerves. I decided that reading the book myself might make it better. It did.

Though it got off to a slow start it brewed into a nice deep aroma. While the characters and story were good, I especially enjoyed the history of the Amsterdam commodities exchange. One of the world's first commodities exchange. You get a real feel for the place, people, and time period. There's a little bit of something for everyone in this novel mystery, suspense, romance, and betrayal.

I recommend you curl up with this book and a good cup of coffee.

I picked up this novel purely by chance as I'd been discussing the coffee trade elsewhere.

What an intriguing novel: set in Amsterdam in 1659 and based on commodities exchange, we follow the fortunes of Miguel Lienzo who is one of the traders. Lienzo has lost everything due to a sudden collapse in the sugar market. Can he change his fortunes with success in trading coffee?

At the same time, there is tension within the community of Portugese Jews to which Lienzo belongs and between Lienzo and just about everyone he comes into contact with.

As in all trading, knowledge is power. David Liss brings life to the world of what was, apparently, the world's first commodities exchange. Few of the characters are intrinsically likeable and yet they are perfect for the story.

Highly recommended to those who like suspense in their historical fiction.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a fascinating story set in the middle of the 17th century about a number of Portuguese-Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition. On the enlightened shores of Amsterdam, they, along with others, make their living in commodities trading, and how remarkably little this activity has since changed over four centuries.

As they do now, traders gamble over the rise and fall of prices by buying and selling "puts" (an option giving one the right to sell at a later date for an artificially-high price) and "calls", (an option giving one the right to buy at a later date for an artificially-low price). Having once briefly dabbled in commodities trading, I am familiar with these strategies but never before imagined that they were anything other than 20th-century innovations.

Yet at one stage, one trader cynically advises another, "Go buy whale oil - not futures, but the thing itself. You may remember that the rest of the world still transacts business in that quaint manner."

The story specifically centers around the efforts of one trader in particular, Miguel Lienzo, who is introduced to a wondrous new fruit called "coffee" that when ground and brewed into drink imparts astonishing powers of reason and concentration and also has the power to preserve health, help digestion, and cure consumption and other maladies of the lung, as well as fluxes, jaundice and inflammation. One character in the novel naively crunches this "fruit" between her teeth before learning of its greater appeal as a brew.

Anticipating a tremendous demand for this new commodity, Miguel arrives at a plan to use his trading acumen to acquire a monopoly on it, all the while juggling business and personal affairs that threaten to undo him before his plan comes to fruition. These affairs include Miguel's need to resolve the conflict between the duty of honesty and fidelity that Jewish law imposes upon him with the harsh realities of life on the Exchange and outside the Exchange. They also include the Ma'amad, the self-regulatory Jewish body that actually adopts some of the Inquisition's methods for the greater good of the community.

As we follow Miguel's progress, we also note the presence of affable moneylender, Alonzo Alferonda, a victim of "cherem" (excommunication from the Jewish community at the hands of the Ma'amad), manipulating events behind the background - though the extent and the purpose of this manipulation is not revealed until the end.

Commodities trading in the year 1659 is essentially a product of rumor and the uses to which it is put, and in an environment unregulated by any sort of futures trading commission, false rumors are used to manipulate the market but are used sparingly lest their sources be regarded as completely untrustworthy for future purposes.

In such a world, the dividing line between what is real and what only APPEARS real is often sketchy, and this uncertainty is symbolic of a similar dichotomy of the events in Miguel's life. Who are his friends and who are his enemies? To what extent will his understanding of this be turned on its head by the end of the novel?

Does coffee really have a medicinal power to keep us alert and vital, especially now that it comes freeze-dried and/or packaged? Or do we drink it in the morning now out of force of habit? It has since become the definitive American drink and has been so for some time, but I'm actually not aware that it has produced a nation of alert and vital people.

Still, having read this novel, I know that I, for one, will never again regard my morning "cuppa" in quite the same way.

I very much enjoyed the historical part of this book. The picture of historical Amsterdam and the information about early commodities trading were fascinating. Even the characters were interesting. What kept the book from being more satisfying was that all of the characters were scammers -- not my favorite sort of person -- and that it was difficult to care what happened to any of them. First, one person would appear to be winning, and then another would trick him, and all along, it made no difference to me whether this one or that one ended up ascendant. I couldn't even say that one person was more wicked or more pathetic or more interesting than another.
Liss is a good writer who keeps the prose moving right along. The basis of the story is very interesting to me. Maybe the idea that Liss wanted to convey was that there are no honest or big-hearted businessmen. But if so, that is an unsatisfying picture of the world.
I give the novel three stars because the historical information was good enough to overcome my disappointment with the novel.

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.

The author does a wonderful job evoking the setting of Amsterdam in 1659. Miguel Lienzo, a Portugese Jew and trader on the commodities exchange, has entered into a partnership with Gertuid, a widowed Dutchwoman. They are set to corner the market on coffee, which is just becoming known as a drink to evoke the mind, rather than dull it the way alcholic beverages do.

It is a novel of repressed longing, misdeeds and the Jewish community of Amsterdam. The protagonist is haunted by his past and is harassed by the "parnass" of his synagogue. Amazingly little to do with coffee, and mostly to do with Jewish persecution within it's own community. Not as good as the author's first novel, and much over rated.

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

“View Down A Corridor”, is a famous painting that resided in a home in London, and also is on the cover of this new novel by David Liss. I came across the same image in another book of non-fiction I just read. It was owned by Thomas Povey and is one of many tromp-l’oeil paintings that he owned by the Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten. These paintings were extremely complex, for the knowledge that was required to create the fantastic illusions the artist sought were many and varied. This particular piece was hidden behind a door that when opened, appeared to open on an extended hall, when in fact it was simply a brilliant optical illusion created by the artist.

David Liss also chose to reverse the image on the cover of his new book, “The Coffee Trader”. I don’t know if this was simply done to have the primary animal figures face toward the center of the book, or whether he intended to magnify the idea of deception which runs throughout his newest work.

In his first book stocks were the method that leads many to take wild risks and chance ruin. In 17th Century Amsterdam it is a new commodity coffee that takes center stage and plays the object that brings forward from many it touches the worst of their human nature. In both books the author never allows for his characters to have unqualified victories, the nature of the business they are in either by definition does not allow this, or the participants rationalize that this is the case. Even when a person may not be a party to deception they are often tainted by just participating and being just as badly hurt as the worst manipulators.

This book is a novel but it also approaches near to Historical Fiction as the list of referenced works at the end will attest. The author does a tremendous job of recreating the unusual social structure that was 17th Century Amsterdam, not only for the Jews and their feelings of being guests on a tenuous welcome, but also for the Catholics who were tolerated as well. For some readers he may spend too much time on the social structure of these populations within populations, but I enjoyed it as the book became more than just a novel, but also a lesson in History.

The first book by Mr. Liss won him the Edgar Award for best debut novel. “The Coffee Trader”, has proven that, “A Conspiracy Of Paper”, was no fluke, and I would wager here, just as I did when I reviewed his original book, than when the time comes for awards to be handed out, the work of Mr. Liss will once again be amongst the chosen few. I initially was not going to go with 5 stars for the book’s end left me a bit less than satisfied. However that is how Mr. Liss seems to feel those who participate in his book as characters should feel. By keeping a measure of reality with his books and not having an explosive ending, good or bad, he maintains realism, and in the end I like that a great deal.

"View Down A Corridor", is a famous painting that resided in a home in London, and also is on the cover of this new novel by David Liss. I came across the same image in another book of non-fiction I just read. It was owned by Thomas Povey and is one of many tromp-l'oeil paintings that he owned by the Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten. These paintings were extremely complex, for the knowledge that was required to create the fantastic illusions the artist sought were many and varied. This particular piece was hidden behind a door that when opened, appeared to open on an extended hall, when in fact it was simply a brilliant optical illusion created by the artist.

David Liss also chose to reverse the image on the cover of his new book, "The Coffee Trader". I don't know if this was simply done to have the primary animal figures face toward the center of the book, or whether he intended to magnify the idea of deception which runs throughout his newest work.

In his first book stocks were the method that leads many to take wild risks and chance ruin. In 17th Century Amsterdam it is a new commodity coffee that takes center stage and plays the object that brings forward from many it touches the worst of their human nature. In both books the author never allows for his characters to have unqualified victories, the nature of the business they are in either by definition does not allow this, or the participants rationalize that this is the case. Even when a person may not be a party to deception they are often tainted by just participating and being just as badly hurt as the worst manipulators.

This book is a novel but it also approaches near to Historical Fiction as the list of referenced works at the end will attest. The author does a tremendous job of recreating the unusual social structure that was 17th Century Amsterdam, not only for the Jews and their feelings of being guests on a tenuous welcome, but also for the Catholics who were tolerated as well. For some readers he may spend too much time on the social structure of these populations within populations, but I enjoyed it as the book became more than just a novel, but also a lesson in History.

The first book by Mr. Liss won him the Edgar Award for best debut novel. "The Coffee Trader", has proven that, "A Conspiracy Of Paper", was no fluke, and I would wager here, just as I did when I reviewed his original book, than when the time comes for awards to be handed out, the work of Mr. Liss will once again be amongst the chosen few. I initially was not going to go with 5 stars for the book's end left me a bit less than satisfied. However that is how Mr. Liss seems to feel those who participate in his book as characters should feel. By keeping a measure of reality with his books and not having an explosive ending, good or bad, he maintains realism, and in the end I like that a great deal.

I loved this book. If you're looking for a well-researched novel that you can completely become engrossed in, this is it.

To me, I base all writers on Ken Follett, the British author who first introduced me to the absolute joy of getting lost in a novel. This book measures up very well to Follett's best.

You are transported to 17th Century Europe (or thereabouts, it's been a while since I've read it), and Liss' writing style is very descriptive. It's really great fun to follow the adventures of the dashing Miguel Lienzo.

The fact that I remember the leading man's name 16 months after reading the book speaks volumes. I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to anyone who likes a great novel.