Paula Berinstein's Blog - Posts Tagged "jews"

The Coffee Trader by David Liss

Reading this book was like living in a Rembrandt painting but with coffee. The author really made the period come alive and from what I know, really caught the spirit of both the Dutch people in the seventeenth century and the Jews who lived side by side with them.

While the story was interesting and held my attention, it was really the historical detail that captivated me. I have a rudimentary knowledge of my people's history, but there's so much I didn't and still don't know. I didn't know that Jews policed their own people to make sure they didn't break Talmudic laws. I didn't realize that some Jews turned to conniving in order to survive within the restrictions placed on them by the countries that hosted them. I didn't realize but could have surmised that Holland was more open and accepting of Jews at that time than most of the rest of Europe. I suppose that's all a big duh--I should have known because all that is obvious--but I hadn't thought about it so I didn't.

I had heard of the conversos--Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity but who practiced their religion secretly--but I didn't realize what that meant for their daily lives. For example, one of the female characters in the story was raised a Catholic and not told she was really a Jew until she got married. No wonder she continued to attend mass--secretly so her Jewish husband wouldn't find out. After eighteen years of thinking you're a Catholic it would be pretty hard to switch religions, particularly since Jewish men in Amsterdam wouldn't let women learn to read or tell them what Judaism was all about. They only told them what they needed to know in order to keep the sabbath, etc.

I also didn't realize how financial instruments worked in the seventeenth century--much like they do today, but at that time the protocols we take for granted were just developing. Selling short, for example, was a new phenomenon. It was implied in the story that buying on margin was new as well, although I may be wrong about that. Market manipulation, professional traders, all of that thrived during the seventeenth century. I didn't realize any of that, but then why would I? Who thinks about the origins of commodities markets?

If you're not familiar with finance and trade, you may find this book a bit dense. There's a lot of detail about buying and selling and puts and calls. I do know a fair amount about that stuff but still found myself skimming the technical sections. Not following every detail didn't affect my enjoyment of the story but I did read a review from someone who had difficulty. I think history buffs will get a lot out of the book regardless.

I read this book as part of my "historical novels from every country" project.

Peony by Pearl S. Buck

This is a strange book. Granted, the writing style was different when it was written in the early 20th century, but even making allowances for that I found it odd.

SPOILER ALERT!!

The main character, Peony, is a bondmaid for a Jewish family in a tiny Chinese town around the year 1800. She's in love with the son, but because she's a bondmaid she can't be involved with him unless he takes her as his mistress. That he won't do, so instead she, Peony, helps find him a wife, all the while secretly still desiring him. This is supposed to satisfy her, I guess, because . . . I have no idea why. Because a bondmaid isn't supposed to aspire to anything? Isn't supposed to have feelings? Maybe, because in the end she enters a convent and eventually finds peace there. What kind of an arc is that? It isn't satisfying--she doesn't end up with the man she loves--and it isn't a tragedy. So what is it?

I also have to comment on the book from a personal perspective. Because of my background I found it wrenching to read. The mother in the story doesn't want her son to marry a Chinese girl. Only another Jew will do. But there are virtually no Jewish girls in the little community, the only real prospect being the rabbi's daughter, and the son doesn't want her. The father is more easy going and isn't worried about the prospect of his son marrying a gentile. Then the son falls in love with a Chinese girl and has to make a choice: make his mother happy, or seize happiness for himself.

My problem with this scenario is that my own Jewish parents did the same thing to me. I didn't live in China and I didn't fall for a Chinese man, but to say that I was discouraged from dating outside my religion would be an understatement. Needless to say, I found this narrow and exclusionary attitude frustrating and infuriating. To this day I don't understand why people would voluntarily circumscribe their lives and miss out on all the interesting things this huge and diverse world has to offer.

So as I read I wanted to deck that mother, applaud the father, shake the son (who couldn't see what was right in front of him), and tell Peony to tell the guy how she really felt. Obviously this is my 20th- and 21st-century self talking to characters who were set in a completely different place and time, and the characters couldn't have done those things without dramatic repercussions. But I still wanted to hurl the book across the room (except that I read it on my phone, and that wouldn't have been good).

Now I understand to some degree where that mother was coming from. Jews were assimilating into Chinese life and she wanted her own culture to be preserved. I think this is where my parents were coming from too, although living in 20th century America is hardly the same as what the characters in the book faced. This is a real dilemma for many people, not just Jews, and yet, do we sacrifice our own happiness in order to preserve a culture in which we barely participate? My answer is no, but I understand if you feel differently.

So, I found the book interesting from a cultural and historical perspective, but the story was just plain weird. I still don't understand what the point was. The only one who really ends up happy is Peony, and she sacrifices everything she wants. Maybe Pearl Buck was taking a Buddhist attitude, that you can't have any expectations and should find peace where you can. As far as I can tell, no other conclusion makes sense.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

An exquisite book that was hard to read. Of course when the story is set in France and Hungary in the late 1930s and the war years, that's to be expected. So many hardships, so many atrocities.

However, because I read this book as part of my historical novels project I found it fascinating--if heartbreaking--to see what a Hungarian Jew studying in France might have gone through. When Andras began his architecture study in Paris in 1937, there were some restrictions on Jews--quotas for schooling and professions, for example--but as the years went by more and more rights and privileges were taken away. Imagine desperately wanting to become an architect, just managing to scrape together the funds to get you through school, and then having that dream snatched away just because you're Jewish. And that was only the beginning of his misfortunes. Over the course of a few years Andras lost not only his schooling but his job, his freedom, his home, and most of his family. (There are bright spots, though, so if you're interested in reading the book, know that there are hopeful moments.)

I'm generally less interested in 20th century history than in earlier times, but I found it fascinating to read about Hungary--a country about which I know virtually nothing--during the war. I feel that I've barely scratched the surface with this book, but at least I've been exposed. I'm looking forward to delving deeper.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

This is a seriously creepy book. It is also a marvel, a very clever murder mystery that showcases the science of pathology; the place of the church, women, Jews, and foreigners in English life (specifically Cambridge); and the superstitions, misconceptions, prejudices, and fears of the populace. But as I say, it is creepy, and if you can't handle reading about horrific sexual crimes do not open this book.

I read tons of novels set in England, both in the present and the past, but I don't read a lot about the twelfth century. However despite the fact that I know a fair amount about the period from nonfiction sources, I learned a lot. For example, until the realm of Henry II, the only Jewish cemeteries in England were in London. If a Jew died, they had to be transported to London to be buried.

I also didn't know that until the reign of Henry II, there was no such thing as a jury trial. He instituted that. In addition, if a crime was deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the church, the civil authorities had absolutely no power to adjudicate or punish; their criteria for judging guilt and innocence were their own, and definitely not what we're used to: a nun or priest who committed a crime was unlikely to be punished, no matter how serious the offense, and if the book is to be believed, there was absolutely nothing even a king could do about it. The Pope was supreme.

I also did not know that there was a medical school in Salerno, the Schola Medica Salernitana, which was renowned for training doctors (who weren't called doctors), including women!

There is a love story in this book, which although not central, is still a lot of fun. The object of the heroine's affections is no Jamie Fraser. He's a deeply flawed, maddening man whom she comes to love in spite of his imperfections. That made him so appealing to me that I wished I could meet him (and slap his face when I did). He finds her equally annoying and loves her all the same. I just love that.

I found the style a little artsy fartsy for the first few pages but then it settled down and became much more readable. Even so, you need a certain amount of patience, I think, to get through the book because it is rather intellectually challenging. It is worth it, though.