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The Outside World
by
Tova Mirvis
Tzippy Goldman was born for marriage. She and her mother had always assumed she’d graduate high school, be set up with the right boy, and have a beautiful wedding with white lace and pareve vanilla cream frosting. But at twenty-two, Tzippy’s fast approaching spinsterhood. She dreams of escape; instead, she leaves for a year in Jerusalem.There she meets–re-meets–Baruch, the...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
May 10th 2005
by Vintage
(first published March 30th 2004)
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This was a great book! It manages to deal with religion and family relationships in a tender and entertaining way that is never disrespectful. I found it fascinating to learn more about modern Orthodox Jewish culture and beliefs, but most of all I was pulled in by the very real and multidimensional characters and the pain and joy they experience as families. It may be about Jewish families but the themes of fitting in, guilt, discovering truth for yourself and not comparing your spirituality to...more
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This is a book that is marketed to be about dating and relationships within Jewish Orthodoxy, but really it is a book about faith - what drives people's faith and belief in God, and why is there such a vast difference between people? It is a topic worthy of much discussion and deep introspection, so it was interesting to see it tackled within the context of Jewish Orthodoxy, a world most of us know little about.
I live in Brooklyn, probably just a few blocks from where this book takes place, so i...more
I live in Brooklyn, probably just a few blocks from where this book takes place, so i...more
I borrowed this from my best friend having already read "The Ladies' Auxiliary", Mirvis' previous book. My best friend said the book was good, but she liked LA better; I actually disagree. While I did give both books 4 stars--I would say this is the better of the two.
Being a Reform Jew who is fascinated with the Orthodox world, it was interesting reading how they view 'our' world--but also about the laws and rules that govern their faith and practice. Mirvis does a great job of talking about the...more
Being a Reform Jew who is fascinated with the Orthodox world, it was interesting reading how they view 'our' world--but also about the laws and rules that govern their faith and practice. Mirvis does a great job of talking about the...more
Sep 18, 2012
Sam
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Sam by:
looked up Tova Mirvis after I read the women's auxiliary
The flap of this book was misleading. I thought this book was going to be about the marriage between Tzippy and Bryan. It starts out that way but that's not really what the book is about at all. I was a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to reading more of a love story (not that there wasn't one in the book but that was only a small part of it).
What this book is really about is family and faith. It's very down to earth and easy to read. I enjoy Tova MIrvis's books because they revol...more
A very interesting look at the varieties of experience within the Orthodox Jewish community in and around New York City. A little slow to get started, but soon the characters and the story take over. The tale revolves around a young couple, Tzippy Goldman, whose mother had converted to Orthodoxy as a teenager and whose father is a n'er-do-well dreamer, and Baruch Miller, born to less observant parents who were nevertheless born into orthodoxy. There are so many points of comparison, and the reac...more
I really wish Goodreads had a 10 star system instead of five. This book is probably closer to 2 3/4 stars. It was interesting but plot wise it was a bit scattered and left a bit to be desired.
Read this if you are interested in a look at how people fit their personal beliefs/faith into their every day lives and how the demands of the world can affect both beliefs and actions. Through the characters in her book Tova Mirvis looks at questions such as: Why should I be religious? What does it mean to...more
Read this if you are interested in a look at how people fit their personal beliefs/faith into their every day lives and how the demands of the world can affect both beliefs and actions. Through the characters in her book Tova Mirvis looks at questions such as: Why should I be religious? What does it mean to...more
What I love about Tova Mirvis is that her books are idea-driven instead of plot or character based (not that they lack in either of those). The characters are fascinating to me because they function as well developed members of the family, but also serve as archetypal examples. I loved that you could relate to them, but they were clearly extremes. This one revolves around a wedding at first, but really the story is about how to be religious and exist in the outside world. She doesn't resolve it...more
It's described on the flap as a story of a marriage between Bryan, who becomes Baruch after spending a year in Israel after high school, and Tzippy, raised in an Orthodox family to fulfill her destiny of graduating high school, marrying, and spending the rest of her life rearing children to be good Orthodox Jews themselves. Although it starts out as the story of how Bryan and Tzippy come together from two different worlds, it ends more as a story about faith and beliefs and the effect the modern...more
Jul 29, 2011
Rachel
added it
This novel offered great insights into the everyday lives of modern Orthodox Jews. It's a truly thought-provoking, occasionally wrenching book. I found it fascinating to see the differences in the family members' level of belief and adherence to various traditions. My own family, a mix of Reform and Conservative Jews as well as non-Jews, experiences some of these same challenges. I'm not sure that non-Jews would be able to understand the rituals and some of the vocabulary Mirvis uses, though the...more
I had a real hard time getting into this book. There was a lot of Jewish terminology in the begining that really slowed me down and eventually turned me off to the book. A friend recommended so I had a source to ask for definitions and I powered further into the book based on her and other's recommendations that it would get better. It did get better, less danting terms but because of the rough start I never connected with any of the characters. So dispite getting better, it really did not hold...more
This would be a 3.5 if half stars were possible. I guess I'm in a festive Chanukkah mood so I'm rounding up. At first I found the author's tone annoying, thinking that she was critizing frumsters for being closed minded and modern Orthos for being too insincere. But as I got into the story it really got me thinking about whether its possible to be modern Orthodox and pass our values on to our children, without them moving too far to the right or the left. It's not great literature but it is a re...more
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I read her previous novel, The Ladies Auxiliary, a few years ago and really liked it. As an active, practicing Mormon, I find so much in common with Orthodoxy in the Jewish faith. This book is also about Orthodox Jews, but it's a tangle between two very different families who end up being joined by marriage between a son and a daughter from each family. Many of the issues brought up - spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual - seem very universal. I thoroughly enjoyed this story - it's full...more
I wanted to like this book more than I did; the subject was interesting and I really liked Mirvis' other book that I have read. She is an Orthodox Jew and one of the things I like about reading her books is the chance to see how a religious person writes about her religion and culture for outsiders who don't much about it. This book raised a lot of interesting questions in my mind about my own life and my own writing, but ultimately I wasn't that impressed with it. I felt like she created many i...more
I was so disappointed in this book. After reading and liking "The Ladies Auxiliary" several years ago, I stumbled upon this one, not even knowing Mirvis had written a second novel. So I really looked forward to reading it.....but it was a pretty poor imitation of her first novel.
As much as I like to read about other cultures and religions in novels, this one was just overboard with all of the Jewish lore, legend, language, and customs. The outline of the story was interesting, but all of the TED...more
As much as I like to read about other cultures and religions in novels, this one was just overboard with all of the Jewish lore, legend, language, and customs. The outline of the story was interesting, but all of the TED...more
Apparently I knew very little about Orthodox Jews before reading this book. I really love Passover and know about that (although not as much as I thought I did), but the day to day lives of current day (although I wondered if it was the 80's or 90's with the jean skirts being so popular and VCRs were mentioned...) Orthodox Jews was really interesting to read about. Plus, it was a good story, and I really liked how the book wasn't just told from one character's point of view, but from many charac...more
This is an excellent book about two observant Jewish families whose lives are woven together. One is very frum, living in Brooklyn, while the other is very modern and lives in New Jersey. The daughter from the frummie family wants to become more worldly and modern, while the son from the modern family goes to Israel and becomes very frum. And then of course the two meet, fall in love, and get married. I love this book because it describes worlds I know so well, and describes them beautifully. It...more
Not my brand of novel, usually -- but it was recommended and something drew me in, so I gave it a shot. So glad that I did -- set against the backdrop of Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Jewish culture in New York and New Jersey, the issues that the various members of two families have marrying their children, their faith, and their ideas about what should be are relatable to anyone who has ever been married or had parents whose world view did not necessarily define their own.
The story of two Jewish young people and their wedding and a little bit into their marriage. It gives quite a lot of background into their families, their different approaches to their religion, the background to a lot of orthodox Jewish lifestyle, and so on. It would be nice to talk to someone who is an orthodox Jew and ask about some of the traditions and beliefs after reading the book. Very interesting, quite engaging.
Two (differently) Jewish families come together through marriage and everyone grapples with faith and religion. The book started off light and enjoyable, but after the marriage took a turn for the more boring and uninteresting. I could never fully relate to the cast of characters who were developed unevenly. For the most part, the characters never made it into three dimensions and remained cliches.
Oct 02, 2010
Connie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one in particular
Recommended to Connie by:
book group
So, So. Not my favorite, but I finished it. I had to see what happened to everyone whose live started unraveling from the beginning of the book to the last. With 40 pages to read I wondered how the author was going to pull them out of the mire. I really needed a glossary in the back to translate and explain all the Jewish words and traditions. I felt I was only a gentile visitor most of the time.
And I thought my religion was peculiar. It was interesting to see the varied levels of belief, the s...more
And I thought my religion was peculiar. It was interesting to see the varied levels of belief, the s...more
This was a fun, entertaining read with well-developed characters and interesting glimpses into Jewish life and culture -- especially that surrounding the anxieties of finding "the one" to marry (at the practically old-maid status of 22!), as well as the different ways to find "yourself" through how you practice religion. As in her other book, The Ladies Auxiliary, I found many applications to growing up in my own religion and culture that were both amusing and insightful.
A good look at Orthodox Jewish life and the struggle to stay true to your beliefs or even know what you truly believe. I appreciated that the author didn't feel like the characters had to leave their orthodox life style behind in order to "find themselves". It was more about figuring out how to be themselves within the Orthodox faith. Well worth a read!
This book is titled The Outside World but it actually depicts the inside worlds of its main characters. In grappling with their lives, each looks inside and discovers a many-dimensioned, unending world of faith, tradition, and expectations. Sympathetic characters, well wrought and complex - it was a pleasure to dive into over the past few evenings.
This book shows how the Ultra Orthodox Jewish world goes about dating and marriage. It's not just about the Ultra Orthodox Jewish world. It shows how one must carve out a path in life for themselves and be themselves. It's funny and serious at the same time. I would recommend it to those outside the Jewish community as well.
I loved her first book and could not imagine liking another book as much. i was wrong. This was less a condemnation of a cultural group, and more of a loving empathetic window into 3 characters. I enjoyed the Orthodox setting but I think the story was universal and applicable to any one -- especially any woman.
I really enjoyed this book. Struggles with faith--how much is too much, how much is not enough in an Orthodox Jewish community in NY and then a much smaller community in Memphis. We get to see through the eyes of a teenager, mothers and fathers, and the main characters young adults preparing for and entering into the first year of marriage. There is no neat little bow to tie it all up at the end. Just like life, there are loose ends and the struggle continues. I loved her other book "The Ladies...more
Not as good as the Ladies' Auxiliary, but still a well-written story. I liked the conflict between the desire to be obedient and religious and the need to function in a world which believes so differently. I think the LDS and the Jewish communities share a lot of the same trials in this respect.
Fascinating look at the Orthodox Jewish religion. The book follows two families, joined by marriage and their differing views of the world: the "outside" world and the world of the Orthodox Jew. The detailed rules governing all aspects of daily life are amazing. Interesting characters but felt the ending was rather abrupt.
I found this book irritating. I just did not end up liking much of anybody in this book. There were some funny parts on it and it was at times sweet, but if a big wedding and worrying about what others think of you is what one's life boils down to then you can have it, not for me.
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Apr 15, 2008 02:01pm