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After five years of silence, Philipson has published a second novel. When a more well-known author launches a new work after a period of absence, it is often called a "literary event." There are surely many people who, like me, would not hesitate to apply that cliche to Philipson's new novel, "Jakobs röst".... Around his central characters swirl a congregation's intrigues, gossip, gibes and masques in a comedy reminiscent of Jewish chroniclers from Singer to Woody Allen. But there are always more profound intentions underlying Philipson's plot. Dramatic developments are normally followed by theoretical discussions among the characters, thus creating a kind of ring-dance polyphony. Examples, analyses and conclusions: there is more than a superficial resemblance to Dostoevsky in the consistency with which Philipson allows his characters to incarnate the human condition in both the public and private spheres. Often he portrays the way in which their ethical torments toss them back and forth "as in a fever."... In the 300 pages of "Jakobs röst", Philipson attempts to summarize the idea of human life after Auschwitz, and he succeeds astonishingly well... You might say that Philipson ends 30 pages before Dostoevsky, thus lobbing the ball over to the reader and to the future. Only an author who wants to be taken seriously and who has discharged his trust well would dare to take such an approach. This is a novel that was well worth waiting for.
Om Jakobs röst skrev Magnus Eriksson i Svenska Dagbladet den 4 oktober 1996:
"Jakobs röst" är något så ovanligt som en svensk roman som vågar vara öppet underhållande, samtidigt som den är filosofiskt och psykologiskt pregnant. Den är både en en uppfordran och ett oförskämt nöje.
Lennart Bromander i Aftonbladet samma dag kallade boken "storartat polyfon" och "en mycket fängslande roman".
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