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Berlin Cantata
"A city that has lost one of its limbs and is receiving a miraculous gift, a little bump under the flesh, where the limb is just beginning to grow back." Thus does the American girl in Jeffrey Lewis' remarkable polyphonic novel describe Berlin and the "remnant Jews, secret GDR Jews . . . Soviet Jews . . . Jews who'd fled and come back with the victors, Jews who were lost mandarins now, Jews who'd believed in the universality of man and maybe still did" she finds at a gathering in the eastern city soon after the Wall fell.
At the center of Berlin Cantata is a house owned successively by Jews, Nazis, and Communists. In the house, the American girl seeks her hidden past. In the girl, a local reporter seeks redemption. In the reporter, a false hero of the past seeks exposure. In the false hero, the American girl seeks a guide. And so it goes, a round of conspiracy and desire. Berlin Cantata deploys thirteen voices to tell a story of atonement, discovery, loss, identity, intrigue, mystery, insanity, sadomasochism, and lies.
"The novel begs to be read more than once, to savor every nuance of expression, inner conflict, and resolution." Jewish Book Council
Jeffrey Lewis is the author of A Love Story (2005), Theme Song for an Old Show (2007), The Conference of the Birds (2007), and Adam the King (2008). He has won a string of awards, including the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Literary Fiction for his novels, and two Emmy Awards and the Writer's Guild Award for his work as a writer and producer on Hill Street Blues .
At the center of Berlin Cantata is a house owned successively by Jews, Nazis, and Communists. In the house, the American girl seeks her hidden past. In the girl, a local reporter seeks redemption. In the reporter, a false hero of the past seeks exposure. In the false hero, the American girl seeks a guide. And so it goes, a round of conspiracy and desire. Berlin Cantata deploys thirteen voices to tell a story of atonement, discovery, loss, identity, intrigue, mystery, insanity, sadomasochism, and lies.
"The novel begs to be read more than once, to savor every nuance of expression, inner conflict, and resolution." Jewish Book Council
Jeffrey Lewis is the author of A Love Story (2005), Theme Song for an Old Show (2007), The Conference of the Birds (2007), and Adam the King (2008). He has won a string of awards, including the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Literary Fiction for his novels, and two Emmy Awards and the Writer's Guild Award for his work as a writer and producer on Hill Street Blues .
- GenresFiction
220 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2012
3 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 11, 2012
In which I continue to fail at literary fiction. (Also at reading novels about post-Shoah Jews.)
It's just so bewildering, to read something and to not enjoy it. Not get pleasure from it. The prose here is workmanlike at best, overly demonstrative of its own cleverness at worst (Holly Anhalt's sections are like eavesdropping on a particularly precocious comp lit class), the characters aren't people I would willingly spend time with, the plot is slow-moving and never feels emotionally urgent — I keep coming away from books like this and wondering why the author wrote them. If they were to post in John Scalzi's "Big Idea" series, what would they say? What is the point? What drove them to spend time and effort writing and revising and editing and everything that goes along with publishing a literary novel in today's market? Why should I care?
I guess it's that line from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: For people who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.
It's just so bewildering, to read something and to not enjoy it. Not get pleasure from it. The prose here is workmanlike at best, overly demonstrative of its own cleverness at worst (Holly Anhalt's sections are like eavesdropping on a particularly precocious comp lit class), the characters aren't people I would willingly spend time with, the plot is slow-moving and never feels emotionally urgent — I keep coming away from books like this and wondering why the author wrote them. If they were to post in John Scalzi's "Big Idea" series, what would they say? What is the point? What drove them to spend time and effort writing and revising and editing and everything that goes along with publishing a literary novel in today's market? Why should I care?
I guess it's that line from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: For people who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.
September 21, 2019
3,5 stars.
February 15, 2012
There's the elements of a fine novel here. It's set in East Germany after the Berlin Wall has fallen and a Jewish woman has a claim on a country house that used to be in her family. The claim is more complicated then it appears at first and not only are there legal issues, Lewis delves into the moral issues of displacing the people that are currently living in the home.
The story is told in 13 voices and that feels like five to eight to many. We are too often taken away from the strongest voices and some of the elements never really come together. My biggest problem was that the emotional climax of the book is told from a woman's point of view who we haven't heard from previously. I would have preferred to have stayed with the emotional heart of the story. The Jewish woman who had traveled to Germany to recapture not just her parent's property, but their happiness.
The story is told in 13 voices and that feels like five to eight to many. We are too often taken away from the strongest voices and some of the elements never really come together. My biggest problem was that the emotional climax of the book is told from a woman's point of view who we haven't heard from previously. I would have preferred to have stayed with the emotional heart of the story. The Jewish woman who had traveled to Germany to recapture not just her parent's property, but their happiness.
May 18, 2012
This book took me down a path rooted in, what the new generation probably thinks, ancient history. The story of the Holocaust and its survivors struck home with me, as several of my ancestors also escaped. The main character, Holly, struggles with her real emotions and the emotions that she believes she should feel. I liked how the author employed the use of different characters throughout the story. Some of the various characters were a bit confusing at times, but that made the story all the more interesting.
August 11, 2013
Each chapter a different voice from a cast of characters each a different facets of the kaleidoscope that is Berlin after the fall of the Wall. Their lives intersect around the property of a Jewish family sold to a German family and used by the GDR. Beautifully and precisely crafted; not over-wrought, but pitch perfect.
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August 27, 2012Intriguing book on many levels. Please see my review for The Jewish Journal.(review copy provided by the publisher)
April 24, 2012
Excellent book. highly recommended
Read
October 13, 2012Really like this book. I have never read much description of present day Berlin. Good tour and good story
August 1, 2012
This is the story of an american woman who goes to Berlin to reclaim her heritage. I have to admit to getting lost at times. Sometimes too many other things going on. I won this from Librarything.
October 6, 2012
I found this Berlin novel rather trite and poorly researched. A pity.
Want to read
September 29, 2013Came across it at Book Loft...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews