The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
by Harry Bernstein
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 279)
Read in June, 2008
recommended to Shamae by:
Wendyrecommends it for: Everyone
This is an auto-biographical account of the author's experiences growing up in severe poverty in England during WWI. His captivating descriptions allow his audiences to see and feel the trials and discriminations he and his family encountered. The writing was wonderful and, although he wrote his dialogue in a Lancashire dialect, the writing was still easy to follow; this helped give the characters more texture.
The novel begins when Harry is about four years old and we travel with him until ...more
The novel begins when Harry is about four years old and we travel with him until ...more
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Read in June, 2008
This is one of the best books I have ever read!! It's written by a ninety-six year old man about his childhood on a poverty-striken street in London in the 1900s. One side of the street is Jewish the other side is Christian. The author, Harry Bernstein writes about the associations between the two sides and the events that helped break the religious barriers between them.
It was so interesting to see these two sets of people struggle with the same task of day-to-day survival and yet have them...more
It was so interesting to see these two sets of people struggle with the same task of day-to-day survival and yet have them...more
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Bernstein's memoir is set during the early 1900s, in a mill town outside of Manchester, England. Begins with Sarah, a beautiful girl from Harry’s street, offering him a penny if he'd fetch her something from Freddy’s shop. Harry agrees, but doesn't realize what's going on -- he's probably 4 or 5 years old. He ends up delivering a love letter from Sarah to Freddy, which is not merely cause for scandal, but forbidden. The problem is that Sarah is Jewish and Freddy is Christian. And that t...more
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i really loved this book about a jew street and an anglican stree split down the middle. back in england of the 1930's to forties. the author's sister falls in love with a christian across the street, all hell breaks lose.
this is a true story and it is very sweet and sad in both places at the same time... i think you should read it. his mom sits shivah for his "dead" sister, but she can't pretend forever. the heart is too big for false distance.
this is more than a love story a...more
this is a true story and it is very sweet and sad in both places at the same time... i think you should read it. his mom sits shivah for his "dead" sister, but she can't pretend forever. the heart is too big for false distance.
this is more than a love story a...more
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Read in September, 2007
I just finished this new release. A wonderfully written memoir narrated by the author as an observant, young boy growing up in an English mill town in the time before and after WWI. The 'invisible wall' refers to the division between the Christians, who lived on one side of the street, and the Jews, who lived on the other (the author's side). I was intrigued by the subtitle "A Love Story That Broke Barriers", and was pulled though the story by the compelling writing and the driving que...more
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Read in May, 2008
Harry has a hard life... Jewish and poor in England around WWI in a truly dysfunctional family. Little things bring him joy, many things in his life are scary. Each chapter provides a snapshot of the divided street, Jews on one side, Christians on the other. Harry paints a great picture of times gone by with horses, outhouses, and yet people warring against one another. One wonders how things have changed in the last century, when many considered WWI, the war to end all wars.
I could identify ...more
I could identify ...more
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A friend of mine wrote: "Another wonderful book I just read is The Invisible Wall, a new memoir by this 96 year old man who tells about a street in a northern English mill town before and during WWI. Thank God it predates the Holocaust because I read too many Holocaust memoirs. The wall is the barrier that separates Jews and Christians. The central story involves the relationship that develops between his Jewish sister, whom you will just love, and the Christian boy across the street. Ther...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
I stayed up reading this book until 12:30 this morning. What a great read (although the title is a little corny). It's a true story about a neighborhood in England, back in the forties, where the Christians lived on one side of the street and the Jews lived on the other. The story is told from the point of view of a Jewish boy and how his sister fell in love with a boy from the wrong side of the street. This book is also amazing because it was written by a 96 year-old man. The sequel to thi...more
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Read in March, 2008
I love reading about the life experiences of others and really enjoyed this book. The author was 96 when it was published! It's a memoir of his childhood and his experiences growing up in England, being Jewish and living on a street where Jews and Christians lived. It's about his family life, the lives of those who lived on his street and their interaction. I really felt for his mother, but then I was surprised at some of her behavior. I felt frustrated and wished things would have turned o...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone--especially if interested in history
Definitely worth reading. A memoir about a little Jewish boy in England during WWI. His side of the street is Jewish and the other side is Christian. The Jews' and Christians' lives do mix in some respects--they go to the same school, shop at the same candy store--but are completely separate in other respects. The major plot development is when Harry's older sister falls in love with a Christian boy. A very well written book. A meaningful story.
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Read in June, 2008
This memoir beautifully illustrates how religious differences divide people who would otherwise probably care deeply for each other. Sadly, this book gave me a deeper understanding of the sentiments I have heard expressed by people of my Grandparents' generation. (They were only slightly older than the author.) Attitudes of blatant bigotry - both Christian and Jewish - are conveyed with such depth and detail that one can't help but feel frustrated with these people.
Comparable to Angela's Ash...more
Comparable to Angela's Ash...more
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Read in March, 2008
It's a Jewish story that might not appeal to everyone, but I think there is something to be learned about hatred in it for everyone. It isn't just the bias that the Christians have against Jews, it also the Jews bias against the Christians.
I really liked this book. Best of all I loved the fact that the author was over 90 years old when he wrote this story and is now writing a sequel about his family's move to America. It just proves that you are never too old to do what you want.
I really liked this book. Best of all I loved the fact that the author was over 90 years old when he wrote this story and is now writing a sequel about his family's move to America. It just proves that you are never too old to do what you want.
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Read in April, 2008
This book reminded me of Angela's Ashes; about a boy from a large family. The Mother doing her best to keep her children safe, educated and fed. The father off drinking and really not a positive force in the family but a destructive one. Its amazing the author is well into his nineties and wrote The Invisible Wall when he was 91. It was a very good story and obviously based on his real life experiences living in England before, during, and after WWI.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
all
This beautifully written autobiography focuses on the author's childhood in industrial England, on his street where one side was Jewish and the other Christian. What brings them together? Bernstein's older sister and a young man from across the way...and the war. I hope Bernstein lives long enough to craft more novels; he's 96 I believe and his writing is like...well, it's on par with anything award winning you've read. You won't forget this book.
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Read in June, 2008
What an amazing personal account of the author's, Harry Bernstein's, childhood experiences during WWII. This story resonates with all walks of life. What is so impressive is that it was written by the author in his early 90s. This is a *one day* read. I couldn't put the book down and didn't want to. He's written a sequel and is working on the 3rd of the series. Mr. Berstein is a wonderful, wonderful storyteller.
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I´m so amazed that a 96 year old man still can look through the eyes he had when he was a little boy. I really liked to follow the life of this little boy and his family. He tells a story of the daily life in a little town with christian and jewish people. They have different customs but still they get involved in each others life. It´s a bit of history, how people lived their life nearly 100 years ago.
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A memoir written by a 90 year-old man of his upbringing in England where poverty and religion trump all. The story is told through his eyes as a young child and reveals many "honest" accounts, accounted as only a child could. The staggering levels of poverty are heart-wrenching as is the father's horrible alcohol abuse. And the lines between Christian and Jew have never been more clearly drawn.
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Fell in love with Harry and his wonderful memoir is a knockout. Little known fact is that his first book was actually written years ago about the modeling/fashion industry--who knew? They don't need to use the "1st published after 90" tale to bring you to the table--the book is teriffic. However, I do have lots of hope for being published, at least before my hundredth birthday...Go Harry!!
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Read in June, 2008
A wonderfully written memoir that magically takes you to a street in a small English town on the eve of WWI. The reader is pulled into the author's family and you become interested in the other families on the street. You also find that the problems that existed during the author's childhood are some of the same problems that exist today - almost 100 years later.
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Read in February, 2008
A sweet little memoir, easy and enjoyable read with homor. The story I love though is the story behind how the book came to be. The idea that a man can return to his love of writing in a time of great loss in his 90s is truly inspiring. It gives us all hope that dreams never die and ones passions are always there to help us work through the hardest of times.
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