The Tables of the Law

"Brilliant . . . a little masterpiece."—Chicago Sun-Times Book Week

"Can rank with the best of Mann's writing."—The Boston Globe

"Magnificent . . . one of the greatest bits of writing which one of the world's greatest writers has ever given us."—Chicago Herald-American

"Brilliant . . . one of those splendid novelettes which in this reviewer's opinion represent the very essence of Mr. Mann's literary art."—Saturday Review of Literature

The Tables of the Law recounts the early life of Moses, his preparations for leading his people out of Egypt, the exodus itself and the incidents at the oasis Kadesh, and the engraving of the stone tables of the law at Sinai. In Thomas Mann's ironic and telling style, this most dramatic and significant story in the Hebrew Bible takes on a new (and at times, witty) life and meaning. Like Joseph and His Brothers, it represents Mann's art at its best. He who dares to retell the story of the exodus must be bold, but to succeed he must be inspired as well. Here one would say Mann was inspired.

Newly translated from the German by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann.

Thomas Mann (1875–1955) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. His many works include Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain, and Confessions of Felix Krull.