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The Frozen Rabbi
And what happens when Bernie Karp, the impressionable fifteen-year-old son of the couple in whose home the rabbi lies frozen, inadvertently thaws out the ancient man? Such are the questions raised in this wickedly funny and ingenious novel by author Steve Stern, who, according to the Washington Post Book World, belongs in the company of such writers as Stanley Elkin, Cynthia Ozick, Michael Chabon, Mark Helprin, and Philip Roth, all of them "innovative and restless practitioners of contemporary American-Jewish fantasy."
When the rabbi comes fully and mischievously to life, Bernie finds himself on an unexpected odyssey to understand his heritage (Jewish), his role in life (nebbish hero), and his destiny (to ensure the rabbi’s future). And the reader enters the lives of the people who struggled to transport the holy man’s block of ice, surviving pogroms, a transatlantic journey (in steerage, of course), an ice-house fire in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and finally, a train trip to the city on the Mississippi.
An epic novel in the spirit of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Steve Stern's The Frozen Rabbi is a wildly entertaining yet deeply thoughtful look at the burdens inherent in handing down traditions from one generation to the next.
370 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2010
97 people are currently reading
843 people want to read
About the author
Steve Stern
29 books66 followersStern was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1947, the son of a grocer. He left Memphis in the 1960s to attend college, then to travel the US and Europe — living, as he told one interviewer, "the wayward life of my generation for about a decade," and ending on a hippie commune in the Ozarks. He went on to study writing in the graduate program at the University of Arkansas, at a time when it included several notable writers who've since become prominent, including poet C.D. Wright and fiction writers Ellen Gilchrist, Lewis Nordan, Lee K. Abbott and Jack Butler.
Stern subsequently moved to London, England, before returning to Memphis in his thirties to accept a job at a local folklore center. There he learned about the city's old Jewish ghetto, The Pinch, and began to steep himself in Yiddish folklore. He published his first book, the story collection Isaac and the Undertaker's Daughter, which was based in The Pinch, in 1983. It won the Pushcart Writers' Choice Award and acclaim from some notable critics, including Susan Sontag, who praised the book's "brio ... whiplash sentences ... energy and charm," and observed that "Steve Stern may be a late practitioner of the genre [Yiddish folklore], but he is an expert one."
By decade's end Stern had won the O. Henry Award, two Pushcart Prize awards, published more collections, including Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven (which won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish American Fiction) and the novel Harry Kaplan's Adventures Underground, and was being hailed by critics such as Cynthia Ozick as the successor to Isaac Bashevis Singer. Stern's 2000 collection The Wedding Jester won the National Jewish Book Award, and his novel The Angel of Forgetfulness was named one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post.
Stern, who teaches at Skidmore College, has also won some notable scholarly awards, including fellowships from the Fulbright and the Guggenheim foundations. He currently lives in Ballston Spa, New York, and his latest work, the novel The Frozen Rabbi, was published in 2010.
Stern subsequently moved to London, England, before returning to Memphis in his thirties to accept a job at a local folklore center. There he learned about the city's old Jewish ghetto, The Pinch, and began to steep himself in Yiddish folklore. He published his first book, the story collection Isaac and the Undertaker's Daughter, which was based in The Pinch, in 1983. It won the Pushcart Writers' Choice Award and acclaim from some notable critics, including Susan Sontag, who praised the book's "brio ... whiplash sentences ... energy and charm," and observed that "Steve Stern may be a late practitioner of the genre [Yiddish folklore], but he is an expert one."
By decade's end Stern had won the O. Henry Award, two Pushcart Prize awards, published more collections, including Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven (which won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish American Fiction) and the novel Harry Kaplan's Adventures Underground, and was being hailed by critics such as Cynthia Ozick as the successor to Isaac Bashevis Singer. Stern's 2000 collection The Wedding Jester won the National Jewish Book Award, and his novel The Angel of Forgetfulness was named one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post.
Stern, who teaches at Skidmore College, has also won some notable scholarly awards, including fellowships from the Fulbright and the Guggenheim foundations. He currently lives in Ballston Spa, New York, and his latest work, the novel The Frozen Rabbi, was published in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
May 11, 2017
Dieser Roman hat eigentlich alle Ingredienzien, die mich zu Begeisterung hinreissen könnten.
Jiddische Geschichte einer Familie quer durch die Jahrhunderte ganz so wie ich es mag, in Rückblenden a bissal polnisches Ghetto, a bissal Shoa, a bissal Auswanderung nach USA, a bissal kabbalistische Mystik versus gottloses kapitalistisches amerikanisches Judentum, a bissal Israel, Terrorismus (sorry Freiheitskampf) bei Staatengründung und Kibbutz - über mehrere Generationen verteilt. Jiddische Witze meist sexuell anzüglich bis fast schon unverschämt dreckig, ausschweifend erzählt mit Anekdöteln gespickt, jüdisches Leiden in jeder Situation und eingeflochtene jiddische Sprach. Dazu noch ein Familienfluch und das Versprechen einer skurrilen Familiengeschichte.
Leider waren diese wundervollen Komponenten für mich im völlig falschen Mischungsverhältnis vorhanden. Die Story zog sich permanent und zäh wie Strudelteig und ich habe lange gerätselt, was mich tatsächlich so derart gestört hat bei einer für mich so perfekten Ausgangessituation: Es war der Skurillitätszwang, den sich der Autor bei der Erzählung der jiddischen Familiengeschichte selbst auferlegt hat, der mich derart nervte. Sobald irgendwas in der Familienchronik einen Hauch von (spiessiger) Normalität versprühte, wie beispielsweise eine klassische Liebesgeschichte mit Hochzeit, normalen Kindern mit normalen Problemen und relativ normaler glücklicher Ehe wurde vom Autor sofort weggeblendet, ein paar Jahre übersprungen und das nächste Kuriosum erzählt. Somit ergab sich keine normale Familiengeschichte, sondern lediglich eine Aneinanderreihung im Kuriositätenkabinett. Ich fand den Autor einfach zu bemüht und angestrengt, sich bei all den Generationen nur die Skurillitäten herauszupicken, die mehr oder weniger doch jede Familie hat. Kuriositäten sollten wie Gewaltsszenen in einem Roman wohldosiert, in den Plot eingewebt und teilweise überraschend eingesetzt werden, sonst stumpft der Leser einfach ab und langweilt sich nur.
In die andere Richtung bin ich natürlich auch geneigt, Romane mit totalem fiktionalen Wahnwitz, die sich bei schwarzhumorigen Irrsinnspunkten ganz vorne einreihen, sehr zu schätzen zu wissen. In dem Fall war aber dann die Story eigentlich wieder viel zu normal, um in diese Kategorie zu fallen. So pendelte für mich das Werk permanent auf der Kippe zwischen Fisch und Fleisch (im Jiddischen selbstverständlich zwischen Fleisch und Milchprodukten herum). Was ich durch diese Erkenntnis aber gewonnen habe ist, dass ich verstehe, das dieses Buch sehr polarisierend rezensiert wurde, und dass es die einen lieben und die anderen hassen. Für mich war es gleichzeitig zu wenig und zuviel Skurrilität und deshalb bleibt meine Bewertung genauso wie die Geschichte auf dem Grad auf der mediokren Mittellinie.
Fazit: Nebbich mit guten Ansätzen hätte 2 komplett unterschiedliche gute Romane ergeben können.
Jiddische Geschichte einer Familie quer durch die Jahrhunderte ganz so wie ich es mag, in Rückblenden a bissal polnisches Ghetto, a bissal Shoa, a bissal Auswanderung nach USA, a bissal kabbalistische Mystik versus gottloses kapitalistisches amerikanisches Judentum, a bissal Israel, Terrorismus (sorry Freiheitskampf) bei Staatengründung und Kibbutz - über mehrere Generationen verteilt. Jiddische Witze meist sexuell anzüglich bis fast schon unverschämt dreckig, ausschweifend erzählt mit Anekdöteln gespickt, jüdisches Leiden in jeder Situation und eingeflochtene jiddische Sprach. Dazu noch ein Familienfluch und das Versprechen einer skurrilen Familiengeschichte.
Leider waren diese wundervollen Komponenten für mich im völlig falschen Mischungsverhältnis vorhanden. Die Story zog sich permanent und zäh wie Strudelteig und ich habe lange gerätselt, was mich tatsächlich so derart gestört hat bei einer für mich so perfekten Ausgangessituation: Es war der Skurillitätszwang, den sich der Autor bei der Erzählung der jiddischen Familiengeschichte selbst auferlegt hat, der mich derart nervte. Sobald irgendwas in der Familienchronik einen Hauch von (spiessiger) Normalität versprühte, wie beispielsweise eine klassische Liebesgeschichte mit Hochzeit, normalen Kindern mit normalen Problemen und relativ normaler glücklicher Ehe wurde vom Autor sofort weggeblendet, ein paar Jahre übersprungen und das nächste Kuriosum erzählt. Somit ergab sich keine normale Familiengeschichte, sondern lediglich eine Aneinanderreihung im Kuriositätenkabinett. Ich fand den Autor einfach zu bemüht und angestrengt, sich bei all den Generationen nur die Skurillitäten herauszupicken, die mehr oder weniger doch jede Familie hat. Kuriositäten sollten wie Gewaltsszenen in einem Roman wohldosiert, in den Plot eingewebt und teilweise überraschend eingesetzt werden, sonst stumpft der Leser einfach ab und langweilt sich nur.
In die andere Richtung bin ich natürlich auch geneigt, Romane mit totalem fiktionalen Wahnwitz, die sich bei schwarzhumorigen Irrsinnspunkten ganz vorne einreihen, sehr zu schätzen zu wissen. In dem Fall war aber dann die Story eigentlich wieder viel zu normal, um in diese Kategorie zu fallen. So pendelte für mich das Werk permanent auf der Kippe zwischen Fisch und Fleisch (im Jiddischen selbstverständlich zwischen Fleisch und Milchprodukten herum). Was ich durch diese Erkenntnis aber gewonnen habe ist, dass ich verstehe, das dieses Buch sehr polarisierend rezensiert wurde, und dass es die einen lieben und die anderen hassen. Für mich war es gleichzeitig zu wenig und zuviel Skurrilität und deshalb bleibt meine Bewertung genauso wie die Geschichte auf dem Grad auf der mediokren Mittellinie.
Fazit: Nebbich mit guten Ansätzen hätte 2 komplett unterschiedliche gute Romane ergeben können.
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September 17, 2012I disliked this book with a passion and I recommend it to no one. In a nutshell, teenage boy finds frozen rabbi in family freezer, Rabbi from a time long ago, family knew of Rabbi, boy defrosts the rabbi. The book covers, through alternating chapters, the rabbis travels from "Out of body" experiences that resulted in his freezing near a river almost 200+ years ago to his defrost, and the boy's story of coming of age. In the present, the boy thinks the Rabbi will be, well, a Rabbi to him, but instead the rabbi becomes a "guru" to the masses, a Jerry Falwell time 2.
This is deemed dark humor, I found it boring and offensive and uncomfortable.
There was no real character, the back stories lost cohesiveness,and the end was offensive. SPOILER!!!
It ends, in the last two pages, with a rape...or sort of. Yes, there is no such thing as "rape, sort of" and this is why this book was offensive and uncomfortable. The old rabbi reaches for a teenage girl and.... This is a huge plot point in the book - she is the girlfriend of the main character (boy) and they have wanted to have sex, but the boy has his troubles. The boy, like the Rabbi, travels outside his body and as a result (as well as the boy's inexperience), the boy and the girl can never have sex. So, the rabbi has sex with the girl and she has an out of body experience. End book.
And that end would have been fine...but instead the author himself uses the word rape...which makes this not a bizarre joining of 70+ man and teenage girl that would leave anyone uncomfortable, but a "rape" which made the whole thing repugnant. I am unsure what the author was going for here, again, the age difference was disturbing enough, but add the rape image, and I was left with an awful book, making me feel dirty myself.
This is deemed dark humor, I found it boring and offensive and uncomfortable.
There was no real character, the back stories lost cohesiveness,and the end was offensive. SPOILER!!!
It ends, in the last two pages, with a rape...or sort of. Yes, there is no such thing as "rape, sort of" and this is why this book was offensive and uncomfortable. The old rabbi reaches for a teenage girl and.... This is a huge plot point in the book - she is the girlfriend of the main character (boy) and they have wanted to have sex, but the boy has his troubles. The boy, like the Rabbi, travels outside his body and as a result (as well as the boy's inexperience), the boy and the girl can never have sex. So, the rabbi has sex with the girl and she has an out of body experience. End book.
And that end would have been fine...but instead the author himself uses the word rape...which makes this not a bizarre joining of 70+ man and teenage girl that would leave anyone uncomfortable, but a "rape" which made the whole thing repugnant. I am unsure what the author was going for here, again, the age difference was disturbing enough, but add the rape image, and I was left with an awful book, making me feel dirty myself.
December 27, 2014
This book maintained my interest sufficiently to make me want to read all of it, BUT I would not reccommend it to anyone else.
Briefly, the book follows the fate of a rabbi who becomes frozen into a block of ice somewhere in rural Poland sometime in the late 19th century. He remains frozen in this block whilst it it is transported across Europe, and then the Atlantic, to the USA. There, in the early 21st century, the refrigerator containing the ice-encased rabbi breaks down. The rabbi steps out of the freezer and rapidly adapts to life in the southern USA.
Alternate chapters deal with the history of the rabbi's travels betweeen the Polish 'shetl' and the southern States. In between these chapters, there are chapters that describe the rabbi's life after he has thawed out in 21st century USA.
A major problem with this interesting novel is its excessive length. The story would have been much more effective had it been about half or two thirds as long. As I read it, I felt as if the author was deliberately dragging out the text in order to produce a hefty volume. There was too much detail, but not enough justifuication for it.
Briefly, the book follows the fate of a rabbi who becomes frozen into a block of ice somewhere in rural Poland sometime in the late 19th century. He remains frozen in this block whilst it it is transported across Europe, and then the Atlantic, to the USA. There, in the early 21st century, the refrigerator containing the ice-encased rabbi breaks down. The rabbi steps out of the freezer and rapidly adapts to life in the southern USA.
Alternate chapters deal with the history of the rabbi's travels betweeen the Polish 'shetl' and the southern States. In between these chapters, there are chapters that describe the rabbi's life after he has thawed out in 21st century USA.
A major problem with this interesting novel is its excessive length. The story would have been much more effective had it been about half or two thirds as long. As I read it, I felt as if the author was deliberately dragging out the text in order to produce a hefty volume. There was too much detail, but not enough justifuication for it.
January 18, 2013
The Frozen Rabbi, or as I found myself calling it several times a day, "Der Frozener Rebbe", is a great American Jewish story. We might say that the author's subject is the holy and the profane. In the course of this novel there is no doubt that every mystical and divine and folklorish reality is, and is not, utterly real, and that every profanity and lustful desire is, and is not, the ultimate truth. Steve Stern plays with our minds, making the reader believe, mocking his or her belief, making the reader lust, mocking his or her lust, and searching all the while for the point where ultimate being and ultimate earthliness meet in joyful nothingness and oblivion.
Stern draws on a full pallet of Eastern European and Lower East Side cultural references, Jewish mysticism, and Memphis, Tennessee lore to paint a picture of astonishing feeling, velocity and depth. Thugs, low lifes, cheats and whores - all there. Lies, robbery, rape and murder - all there. The gender ambiguous, and the abused, and the deluding and the deluded and the simple miscanim (the pathetic ones), all trapped in the helpless physicality of life in a body, are woven into the fabric of the tale. If there is a Jewish truth or a Jewish angle on reality that he doesn't apply to some corner of this story, I don't know what it is. Excursions to a kibbutz in the 1930s and a Tennessee State Penitentiary in the 21st century are also handled with a great sense of language and place. He paints with all the colors of Jewish... on a canvas of Elvis.
To relay plot elements of how der Frozener Rebbe (that holy man! that charlatan! that old goat!) came to be ensconced in his block of ice, and preserved from the late 19th century to the early 21st century before thawing out and creating cosmic havoc in Memphis, would be pointless. For that you should read the book. Suffice it to say that there are at least three or four generations of characters who unwind here, and in the telling we experience an intense cultural authenticity (manner of expression, details of daily life), all in service of a much bigger, funnier and weirder tale than any of the individual lives alone. For readers who don't know much about various aspects of Jewish culture, I felt that this book does a marvelous job of explaining what it is talking about without being the least bit didactic about it. For those who are Jewishly familiar, I think you will be impressed with how well the author tells this vernacular American story, this Memphis Tennessee story, with an informed Jewish voice. Stern's similarity to Eastern Europeans like Isaac Bashevis Singer or Chaim Grade is easy to see, but he inhabits an American Jewish cultural position with a persuasive indigeneous authenticity. (Persuasive indigenous authenticity? Is that even a thing? Der Frozener Rebbe would surely permit it!)
I wouldn't say that this story has a didactic point, or even any point at all. Like the Rebbe perhaps it points beyond itself. Perhaps laughter is its mystical potion. Perhaps it exists to enable us to experience the joy of being alive, even when being alive hurts.
Read, read, read this book. Transmigrate your souls. Let the heavens and earth be joined in holy fleshly union.
Stern draws on a full pallet of Eastern European and Lower East Side cultural references, Jewish mysticism, and Memphis, Tennessee lore to paint a picture of astonishing feeling, velocity and depth. Thugs, low lifes, cheats and whores - all there. Lies, robbery, rape and murder - all there. The gender ambiguous, and the abused, and the deluding and the deluded and the simple miscanim (the pathetic ones), all trapped in the helpless physicality of life in a body, are woven into the fabric of the tale. If there is a Jewish truth or a Jewish angle on reality that he doesn't apply to some corner of this story, I don't know what it is. Excursions to a kibbutz in the 1930s and a Tennessee State Penitentiary in the 21st century are also handled with a great sense of language and place. He paints with all the colors of Jewish... on a canvas of Elvis.
To relay plot elements of how der Frozener Rebbe (that holy man! that charlatan! that old goat!) came to be ensconced in his block of ice, and preserved from the late 19th century to the early 21st century before thawing out and creating cosmic havoc in Memphis, would be pointless. For that you should read the book. Suffice it to say that there are at least three or four generations of characters who unwind here, and in the telling we experience an intense cultural authenticity (manner of expression, details of daily life), all in service of a much bigger, funnier and weirder tale than any of the individual lives alone. For readers who don't know much about various aspects of Jewish culture, I felt that this book does a marvelous job of explaining what it is talking about without being the least bit didactic about it. For those who are Jewishly familiar, I think you will be impressed with how well the author tells this vernacular American story, this Memphis Tennessee story, with an informed Jewish voice. Stern's similarity to Eastern Europeans like Isaac Bashevis Singer or Chaim Grade is easy to see, but he inhabits an American Jewish cultural position with a persuasive indigeneous authenticity. (Persuasive indigenous authenticity? Is that even a thing? Der Frozener Rebbe would surely permit it!)
I wouldn't say that this story has a didactic point, or even any point at all. Like the Rebbe perhaps it points beyond itself. Perhaps laughter is its mystical potion. Perhaps it exists to enable us to experience the joy of being alive, even when being alive hurts.
Read, read, read this book. Transmigrate your souls. Let the heavens and earth be joined in holy fleshly union.
December 8, 2011
ZERO STARS
Intrigued by the title, repulsed by the story. A rabbi is meditating in 1800's Poland, goes into a trance while at a lake, doesn't wake up, is frozen in the ice, removed by a family, and kept frozen and protected by that family for over 100 years. I like multi-generational stories, but this is ridiculous. The rabbi (in his zinc lined casket so he doesn't melt) is brought to America, kept in a Kelvinator freezer, and then one day the Rabbi melts and is once again alive. The family which kept the Rabbi goes through horrible disasters and tragedies for 100 years, and when the rabbi thaws, he's a jerk, and the obnoxious teenage boy in the family becomes religious. Ever enjoy a book except for whenever the main characters appears? Yeah, me neither.
Intrigued by the title, repulsed by the story. A rabbi is meditating in 1800's Poland, goes into a trance while at a lake, doesn't wake up, is frozen in the ice, removed by a family, and kept frozen and protected by that family for over 100 years. I like multi-generational stories, but this is ridiculous. The rabbi (in his zinc lined casket so he doesn't melt) is brought to America, kept in a Kelvinator freezer, and then one day the Rabbi melts and is once again alive. The family which kept the Rabbi goes through horrible disasters and tragedies for 100 years, and when the rabbi thaws, he's a jerk, and the obnoxious teenage boy in the family becomes religious. Ever enjoy a book except for whenever the main characters appears? Yeah, me neither.
July 2, 2010
The oldest thing I have in my freezer right now is a 48 count pack of fish sticks I bought in 2007. In the intervening 3 years I have purchased and consumed other fish sticks. I'm not sure why the catch of whatever day it was in 2007 is still in my freezer awaiting an archaeological expedition to make it to the oven. Maybe I just like knowing they are there at the ready? They have survived numerous minor power outages and 2 outages that lasted more than 3 hours. I have to say I'm a little proud of them.
However, I would trade them in for one Frozen Rabbi. It sounds like a drink doesn't it? "I'll have the Frozen Rabbi, shaken not stirred" and nice as that might be a Frozen Rabbi also makes a terrific novel. Ask for a Frozen Rabbi at your local independent bookstore and you will get a novel that you will love not the do-you-have-Prince-Albert-in-a-can kind of response that you might expect thanks to author Steve Stern.
Fifteen year old Bernie Karp lives with his family in Memphis Tennessee. Everything is all pretty typical. Then one day when Bernie's looking for some food out from the fridge comes a frozen old dude. Go figure. Young Bernie Karp finds the frozen Rabbi in his parents' basement freezer. The Ice Age began generations ago for Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr when he was accidentally frozen while meditating and was presumed dead by his colleauges. Later he was found in-cased in a block of ice by a Polish laborer and has been in that family's care ever since. Their own lost Ark of the Covenant to keep and preserve. The Rab-sicle has been a deaf, dumb and blind family burden through the worst the 20th century had to offer for Jews. He has been protected by the family until he defrosts one day in Memphis in 1999.
The big thaw makes young Bernie a bit of a mystic. He has out of body experiences, becomes a seeker of knowledge and has hundreds of questions for the Rabbi. The Rabbi on the other hand becomes more secular and more convinced that America is a paradise every day. The Rabbi bites into every indulgence that contemporary life has to offer. Of course he attracts flocks of followers and his New House of Enlightenment is an immediate successful.
Telling me that a book is funny is the kiss of death. There have been amusing moments in many novels I have read but I have always found that the phrase 'comic novel' is an oxymoron. I have been proved wrong. Steve Stern can write funny. There is funny end to end in The Frozen Rabbi. Everything from slapstick to sarcasm. There is also an outstanding novel in there. From the historical elements surrounding the Rabbi's travels in his ice cube disguise to Stern's dovetailing Bernie's new spirituality into the Rabbi's hedonism. The Frozen Rabbi is waiting to make you laugh so stop waisting time and go get him already.
It all makes me wonder what Walt Disney will do when he gets thawed out.
However, I would trade them in for one Frozen Rabbi. It sounds like a drink doesn't it? "I'll have the Frozen Rabbi, shaken not stirred" and nice as that might be a Frozen Rabbi also makes a terrific novel. Ask for a Frozen Rabbi at your local independent bookstore and you will get a novel that you will love not the do-you-have-Prince-Albert-in-a-can kind of response that you might expect thanks to author Steve Stern.
Fifteen year old Bernie Karp lives with his family in Memphis Tennessee. Everything is all pretty typical. Then one day when Bernie's looking for some food out from the fridge comes a frozen old dude. Go figure. Young Bernie Karp finds the frozen Rabbi in his parents' basement freezer. The Ice Age began generations ago for Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr when he was accidentally frozen while meditating and was presumed dead by his colleauges. Later he was found in-cased in a block of ice by a Polish laborer and has been in that family's care ever since. Their own lost Ark of the Covenant to keep and preserve. The Rab-sicle has been a deaf, dumb and blind family burden through the worst the 20th century had to offer for Jews. He has been protected by the family until he defrosts one day in Memphis in 1999.
The big thaw makes young Bernie a bit of a mystic. He has out of body experiences, becomes a seeker of knowledge and has hundreds of questions for the Rabbi. The Rabbi on the other hand becomes more secular and more convinced that America is a paradise every day. The Rabbi bites into every indulgence that contemporary life has to offer. Of course he attracts flocks of followers and his New House of Enlightenment is an immediate successful.
Telling me that a book is funny is the kiss of death. There have been amusing moments in many novels I have read but I have always found that the phrase 'comic novel' is an oxymoron. I have been proved wrong. Steve Stern can write funny. There is funny end to end in The Frozen Rabbi. Everything from slapstick to sarcasm. There is also an outstanding novel in there. From the historical elements surrounding the Rabbi's travels in his ice cube disguise to Stern's dovetailing Bernie's new spirituality into the Rabbi's hedonism. The Frozen Rabbi is waiting to make you laugh so stop waisting time and go get him already.
It all makes me wonder what Walt Disney will do when he gets thawed out.
January 7, 2011
Schon die erste Seite stimmt darauf ein, was einen mit diesem Buch erwartet: Bernie, 15jähriger Couchpotatoe, findet auf der Suche in der Tiefkühltruhe nach einem Stück Fleisch zur Selbstbefriedigung, einen tiefgefrorenen alten Mann in einem Eisblock. Durch einen Stromausfall unabsichtlich zum Leben erweckt, entpuppt sich der knapp 200 Jahre alte Rabbi als ein überaus geschäftstüchtiger Unternehmer, der sich darauf versteht, die Suche der Menschen nach Glück mit einigem Geschick in klingende Münze umzuwandeln. Doch dies dient nur als Rahmenhandlung für die eigentliche Geschichte: Wie Bernies jüdische Vorfahren seit mehr als 100 Jahren sich durch das Leben kämpften und dabei immer den Rabbi im Eisblock dabei hatten. Es geht vom Ghetto in einem russischen Rayon nach Lodz, dann weiter nach New York. Man erlebt die Entstehungsphase Israels mit und die Rückkehr in die USA, nach Memphis.
Stern spannt über diese 100 Jahre einen unglaublich bunten, lebendigen und witzigen Bogen voll mit skurrilen und merkwürdigen Gestalten: Jochebed, die jahrelang als Mann lebte; Schmerl, der bucklige Technikbesessene, dessen Erfindungen nicht immer zum Wohle aller waren; Ruby, der ewige Schweiger undundund. Es ist ein Panoptikum schräger Figuren und Geschehnisse.
Die Sprache ist gewöhnungsbedürftig: Das Buch ist voll mit jiddischen Ausdrücken, die sich jedoch wunderbar in die Handlung einfügen und damit eine einzigartige Atmosphäre entstehen lassen, die für das damalige jüdische Leben wohl so charakteristisch war. In der gebundenen Fassung soll es ein Glossar geben (war in meiner Ausgabe nicht vorhanden), so dass vermutlich nur wenig unklar bleiben wird.
Lediglich den Schluss fand ich deutlich übertrieben - hier wäre weniger eindeutig mehr gewesen. Dennoch: Wer absurde Geschichten mag, wird seine Freude an diesem Buch haben.
Stern spannt über diese 100 Jahre einen unglaublich bunten, lebendigen und witzigen Bogen voll mit skurrilen und merkwürdigen Gestalten: Jochebed, die jahrelang als Mann lebte; Schmerl, der bucklige Technikbesessene, dessen Erfindungen nicht immer zum Wohle aller waren; Ruby, der ewige Schweiger undundund. Es ist ein Panoptikum schräger Figuren und Geschehnisse.
Die Sprache ist gewöhnungsbedürftig: Das Buch ist voll mit jiddischen Ausdrücken, die sich jedoch wunderbar in die Handlung einfügen und damit eine einzigartige Atmosphäre entstehen lassen, die für das damalige jüdische Leben wohl so charakteristisch war. In der gebundenen Fassung soll es ein Glossar geben (war in meiner Ausgabe nicht vorhanden), so dass vermutlich nur wenig unklar bleiben wird.
Lediglich den Schluss fand ich deutlich übertrieben - hier wäre weniger eindeutig mehr gewesen. Dennoch: Wer absurde Geschichten mag, wird seine Freude an diesem Buch haben.
April 8, 2012
I'm sort of surprised Steve Stern isn't better known - it's clear he's a quite talented writer, the prose is beautiful at times, and at others captures that modern American ennui/irony beautifully. How can you go wrong with a book that starts with the sentence:
"Sometime during his restless fifteenth year, Bernie Karp discovered in his parents' food freezer - a white-enameled Kelvinator humming in its corner of the basement rumpus room - an old man frozen in a block of ice."
Then it slides immediately into a reference to Portnoy's Complaint. The mix of the absurd, the lyrical, and the whimsical make this really enjoyable.
This was an incredibly fun read, though you probably have to be pretty well versed in Jewish culture and 18th-19th century trends to fully enjoy it. I see that a lot of people didn't like the end, but I think that's because it didn't come together in a traditionally Western paradigm. I rather liked it, the cosmic unity above and below, as expressed by two souls placed somewhat randomly into two somewhat wretched bodies and lives, and ultimately, very Jewish in the idea that even enlightenment is illusory, isn't really what we're here for, but rather to writhe around on this earth.
Again, I'm surprised Stern isn't as well known as some of the other writers. I found him much more entertaining than some in the genre, and his prose is often beautiful.
"Sometime during his restless fifteenth year, Bernie Karp discovered in his parents' food freezer - a white-enameled Kelvinator humming in its corner of the basement rumpus room - an old man frozen in a block of ice."
Then it slides immediately into a reference to Portnoy's Complaint. The mix of the absurd, the lyrical, and the whimsical make this really enjoyable.
This was an incredibly fun read, though you probably have to be pretty well versed in Jewish culture and 18th-19th century trends to fully enjoy it. I see that a lot of people didn't like the end, but I think that's because it didn't come together in a traditionally Western paradigm. I rather liked it, the cosmic unity above and below, as expressed by two souls placed somewhat randomly into two somewhat wretched bodies and lives, and ultimately, very Jewish in the idea that even enlightenment is illusory, isn't really what we're here for, but rather to writhe around on this earth.
Again, I'm surprised Stern isn't as well known as some of the other writers. I found him much more entertaining than some in the genre, and his prose is often beautiful.
January 16, 2013
Amazon has never steered me wrong before, until now. And it's not to say that I hated this book, because I didn't. I just had a hard time getting along with it. I kept thinking I should put it down for good and read something else. While the characters are interesting, the plot leaves a lot to be desired. It's like molasses running uphill in the middle of January in New England. The Frozen Rabbi could have been a lot shorter and a lot better. And there are some plot points (that I won't mention because I'd rather not ruin it for those of you who do choose to read it) that really made me question Steve Sterns literary prowess. Not that he has any, I wouldn't know, this is the first work I've read by him. And while the first page was funny and grabbed me by the hair to pull me in, it just gradually started to let go after that. But, I soldiered on and finished it, disappointed by the way it ends. If you can even call it an ending. If you found this book in the sci-fi section, like I did, it's in the wrong place, unless you call a book about extreme Judaism Sci-Fi, which I don't, I call it a novel about Judaism. And that's what it is. There is so much Yiddish- really old school Yiddish, that I couldn't even understand a decent amount of it. Read at your own risk, and keep a Yiddish to English dictionary handy. And maybe a class of Brandy too, to help you through the slow parts. The really long slow parts.
February 11, 2011
You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy The Frozen Rabbi -- but it sure would help. Even more if you know a bissel Yiddish, since it's sprinkled liberally throughout. The highly original premise is what drew me: back in the way olden days in Poland, the head rabbi of the shetl goes to meditate near a body of water. He's in an "out of body" experience when the river overflows, drowns him and freezes, leaving the rabbi encased in a block of ice-perpetual preservation. Said block of ice is adopted by a family, which, through the generations, totes him from the old world to the new--where he's accidentally defrosted in present day Memphis, TN. The book is cleverly written, hilarious at times, and following the lives of the family who adopted the rabbi is interesting -- for a while. Eventually, the old rebbe's adventures in new world, meant to satirize, become overly ridiculous, and I stopped caring. Not sure I'd recommend to any but die-hard yid-o-files.
January 24, 2013
I still can not figure out why I bothered to finish this book. It was truly awful. Every character was horrible without a single redeeming characteristic. I am fairly certain the author wanted to make some sort of lofty point, but after reading the entire book, I can't figure out what that could be. The flashback/flash-forward storytelling wasn't too bad, but it didn't flow in any way that made sense. Another thing, if you don't have a fluent Yiddish vocabulary, you will miss a lot, because apparently even though this book is written in English by an American, a major portion of the book is written with Yiddish in almost every sentence.
June 23, 2010
A fantastic read - difficult to put down once you get going. Stern's bouncing back and forth between the current day and Bernie Carp and his dealings with the unfrozen rabbi, and the historical journey the rabbi took from his original freezing until he arrived in Bernie's freezer, are masterfully handled.
Stern is an author that cares both about the individual sentence AND the overall story. Absolutely go out and support this author and wonderful publishing house and buy, read and enjoy The Frozen Rabbi.
Stern is an author that cares both about the individual sentence AND the overall story. Absolutely go out and support this author and wonderful publishing house and buy, read and enjoy The Frozen Rabbi.
July 20, 2010
I *loved* this book..couldn't stop reading...up until about the last 40 pages. I enjoyed the look at the family through time (and would be glad to read more about Shmerl and Jocheved), and even liked the parts set in the present day. The ending, I must admit, rather lost me. So I'm giving it 4 stars for all the rest of the story!
January 2, 2021
Wanted to like this..but found it excruciating to read..The idea was intriguing...but the constant cleverness of word play and total absence of human like feelings or thoughts, made this dull and tiresome for me..However a brilliant feat of language play
February 21, 2010
Engrossing. Dazzling. Brilliant.
July 19, 2025
I liked the beginning of this book but then it went downhill for me, and I strongly disliked the ending. I’m not clear on the author’s purpose but wouldn’t personally recommend the book.
April 6, 2010
I need to see Tennessee. Not as much as I need to visit Virginia, but Memphis is definitely a destination. The Tennessee Titans (my favorite NFL team) play in Nashville, so I would want to get over to the Music City as well (preferably in the fall), but there is something going on in Memphis. At least that’s the impression I get from reading The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern, who is from Memphis and now teaches in upstate New York. A (very) good amount of the back story takes place in New York City as well as the traditional Jewish settlements in the Russian Pale and Eretz Israel, but the real action is in modern Memphis.
That’s where fifteen year old Bernie Karp discovers his family’s peculiar secret in the basement freezer. The Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr was in a state of transcendent meditation when his body was submerged and frozen by a freak storm. The only heirloom of the Karp family to survive the upheaval from Poland to America, the former Boibiczer Prodigy emerges from his suspended trance in new surroundings that are equal parts Gan Eydn and Gehenna. The tzaddik’s passage through time is remarkable, although the frozen rabbi serves primarily as a device for propagating the mystical transformations of a long line of Karps, including Bernie.
References to prominent Jewish texts and Yiddish terms abound, but Stern wields them with such fluency that they never become recondite. For a multiple award winning author (National Jewish Book Award) with multiple books published (The Angel of Forgetfulness), Stern is underappreciated (The Frozen Rabbi ought to have been an Indie Next pick for May). His writing has been compared to Michael Chabon’s, and it’s an apt comparison. There are elements reminiscent not only of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, as promised, but of Gentlemen of the Road as well. Phoebe Gaston, a book rep and friend who knows I have a weak spot for Chabon and writing that won’t tolerate a weak constitution, made that very comparison when she pitched The Frozen Rabbi to me. She knows her books and her audience! This is not a book for the faint of heart; credit Steve Stern for writing the book he wanted to write, and credit Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill for publishing it.
In June I will be in North Carolina, home of Algonquin. To be in such close proximity to both Tennessee and Virginia without the time to go to either state will be excruciating. If only I could learn to send my soul aloft, as Bernie and the Rabbi do, I could cover more states, mental and physical!
That’s where fifteen year old Bernie Karp discovers his family’s peculiar secret in the basement freezer. The Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr was in a state of transcendent meditation when his body was submerged and frozen by a freak storm. The only heirloom of the Karp family to survive the upheaval from Poland to America, the former Boibiczer Prodigy emerges from his suspended trance in new surroundings that are equal parts Gan Eydn and Gehenna. The tzaddik’s passage through time is remarkable, although the frozen rabbi serves primarily as a device for propagating the mystical transformations of a long line of Karps, including Bernie.
References to prominent Jewish texts and Yiddish terms abound, but Stern wields them with such fluency that they never become recondite. For a multiple award winning author (National Jewish Book Award) with multiple books published (The Angel of Forgetfulness), Stern is underappreciated (The Frozen Rabbi ought to have been an Indie Next pick for May). His writing has been compared to Michael Chabon’s, and it’s an apt comparison. There are elements reminiscent not only of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, as promised, but of Gentlemen of the Road as well. Phoebe Gaston, a book rep and friend who knows I have a weak spot for Chabon and writing that won’t tolerate a weak constitution, made that very comparison when she pitched The Frozen Rabbi to me. She knows her books and her audience! This is not a book for the faint of heart; credit Steve Stern for writing the book he wanted to write, and credit Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill for publishing it.
In June I will be in North Carolina, home of Algonquin. To be in such close proximity to both Tennessee and Virginia without the time to go to either state will be excruciating. If only I could learn to send my soul aloft, as Bernie and the Rabbi do, I could cover more states, mental and physical!
December 31, 2015
Es klingt wirklich verrückt: Da liegt ein gefrorener Rabbi in einer Tiefkühltruhe einer amerikanischen Familie, weil er als Glücksbringer von Generation zu Generation weitergegeben wurde. Doch während eines Stromausfalls geschieht das Unvermeidliche: Der Rabbi taut! Seit 100 Jahren eingefroren, findet er sich plötzlich in einer modernen Welt wieder.
Die Geschichte hätte interessant sein können, wäre der Erzählstil des Autors nicht so umständlich. Er schreibt seitenweise Hintergründe zusammen, ohne zum Punkt zu kommen. Das Buch besteht aus zwei Erzählsträngen: Dem einen aus der Neuzeit und dem anderen, der 100 Jahre zurückliegt und davon erzählt, wie der Rabbi letztlich in die Tiefkühltruhe gelangt ist. Dabei nimmt der zweite Erzählstrang fast mehr Umfang ein, obwohl er doch eigentlich nur Hintergründe erläutern soll.
Das Buch strotzt vor jiddischer Begriffe und Redewendungen, die leider nicht erklärt werden. Man muss sich schon gut in dieser Religion auskennen, um alles zu verstehen. Ist dies nicht der Fall, sind die Erläuterungen des Autors zu dürftig, um daraus schlau zu werden.
Keiner der Charaktere ist sympathisch und so wecken sie auch kaum Interesse.
Wirklich schade, vom Klappentext her klang das Buch so gut!
Die Geschichte hätte interessant sein können, wäre der Erzählstil des Autors nicht so umständlich. Er schreibt seitenweise Hintergründe zusammen, ohne zum Punkt zu kommen. Das Buch besteht aus zwei Erzählsträngen: Dem einen aus der Neuzeit und dem anderen, der 100 Jahre zurückliegt und davon erzählt, wie der Rabbi letztlich in die Tiefkühltruhe gelangt ist. Dabei nimmt der zweite Erzählstrang fast mehr Umfang ein, obwohl er doch eigentlich nur Hintergründe erläutern soll.
Das Buch strotzt vor jiddischer Begriffe und Redewendungen, die leider nicht erklärt werden. Man muss sich schon gut in dieser Religion auskennen, um alles zu verstehen. Ist dies nicht der Fall, sind die Erläuterungen des Autors zu dürftig, um daraus schlau zu werden.
Keiner der Charaktere ist sympathisch und so wecken sie auch kaum Interesse.
Wirklich schade, vom Klappentext her klang das Buch so gut!
February 11, 2011
This book started out slowly. It wasn't until page 130 that I was completely engaged and reading became effortless. I found the ending disappointing. However, the middle of the book was very good. The story goes back and forth between the turn of the 20th century and the turn of the 21st century. A rabbi, frozen in deep meditation, is carted by a family to the new world where he remains in suspended animation until he is thawed by young Bernie Karp whose jewish family migrates to Memphis Tennessee in the 1930s, keeping the rabbi in deep freeze in their basement. What I enjoyed about this book was the story of the jewish migration from Russia to New York and their life in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Included is a wonderful tale of the beginning of the state of Israel. The stories are rich, the characters wonderfully funny and beautifully human. Implied is a metaphoric meaning: a great mystical tradition kept in suspended animation through all the trials and persecutions of the late 19th and early 20th century, thawed in time to become a part of the self help frenzy of the turn of the 21st century. Very rich indeed.
December 31, 2015
Ein furchtbares Buch!
Der pubertäre Bernie Karp findet in der Gefriertruhe einen in einem Eisblock eingefrorenen Rabbi, der sich seit über 100 Jahren in Familien"besitz" befand und beim nächstbesten Stromausfall natürlich sofort auftaut und zum Leben erwacht.
Ich erwartete hier ein lustige Geschichte davon, wie sich der aufgetaute Rabbi in der modernen Welt durchschlägt, aber weit gefehlt. Überwiegend wird die Geschichte der Familie erzählt, die den gefrorenen Rabbi jahrzehntelang gehütet und von A nach B gechleppt hat, wobei er komischerweise nie aufgetaut ist. Leider ist jede einzelne der dabei relevanten Personen verschroben, unsympathisch oder abstoßend, einer betätigt sich sogar als Terrorist im heiligen Land, was aber einfach so nonchalant erzählt wird, als wäre das völlig normal und akzeptabel. Dazwischen wird von Berni berichtet, der durch den Kontakt zum aufgetauten Rabbi plötzlich spirituell wird und vom Rabbi selbst, der sich aber nach nur kurzen Anlaufschwierigkeiten direkt in unsere kapitalistische Gesellschaft stürzt.
Dieses Buch bis zu Ende zu lesen war wirklich ein Qual. Am liesten möchte ich Minus-Sterne vergeben!
Der pubertäre Bernie Karp findet in der Gefriertruhe einen in einem Eisblock eingefrorenen Rabbi, der sich seit über 100 Jahren in Familien"besitz" befand und beim nächstbesten Stromausfall natürlich sofort auftaut und zum Leben erwacht.
Ich erwartete hier ein lustige Geschichte davon, wie sich der aufgetaute Rabbi in der modernen Welt durchschlägt, aber weit gefehlt. Überwiegend wird die Geschichte der Familie erzählt, die den gefrorenen Rabbi jahrzehntelang gehütet und von A nach B gechleppt hat, wobei er komischerweise nie aufgetaut ist. Leider ist jede einzelne der dabei relevanten Personen verschroben, unsympathisch oder abstoßend, einer betätigt sich sogar als Terrorist im heiligen Land, was aber einfach so nonchalant erzählt wird, als wäre das völlig normal und akzeptabel. Dazwischen wird von Berni berichtet, der durch den Kontakt zum aufgetauten Rabbi plötzlich spirituell wird und vom Rabbi selbst, der sich aber nach nur kurzen Anlaufschwierigkeiten direkt in unsere kapitalistische Gesellschaft stürzt.
Dieses Buch bis zu Ende zu lesen war wirklich ein Qual. Am liesten möchte ich Minus-Sterne vergeben!
August 7, 2010
I began reading and was fascinated by the book very quickly. The story, the Jewish background, the Yiddish, all of it. The language was a bit challenging for me, english not being my mother tongue, but Stern's style kept me hooked almost until the end. I would really give five stars to this book if it wasn't for the ending. It felt to me as if Stern didn't know how to end the story, as if he was building up to something he couldn't define as he started writing. So he decided to trash it all, to destroy the characters in what I saw as an evil way, as if he was fed up with them and just wanted to get rid of them all. When I love a book, I don't want it to end, but this book, towards the end, made me want to stop reading it. I kept reading because the first 3 quarters of it were so good, that I still hoped for a better resolution - but I was wrong.
Read
July 21, 2014I'm uncertain how to rate this. The first page instantly captured my attention, and the first 90 percent held me enraptured, unable to put the book down as I took in the Karp family's travails and misfortunes over the century. There's quite a bit of Yiddish in this book, but it all more or less makes sense in context and I didn't feel particularly hindered by it. The action in this book barreled forward quickly, and I honestly found the stories of each new young member of the Karp clan as fascinating as the last (though Julius was the least interesting and sympathetic of the lot). However, the book suddenly changed gears and wound down to a sort of clunky and repulsive ending.
All in all, it was a wonderful bizarre novel with a grossly disappointing ending that didn't feel very connected to the rest of the book. If I could have skipped the last 10%, I would rate this 5 stars.
All in all, it was a wonderful bizarre novel with a grossly disappointing ending that didn't feel very connected to the rest of the book. If I could have skipped the last 10%, I would rate this 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2011
That was just plain enjoyment. You'll laugh, you'll cry ... This is a densely-written book that rewards you for paying attention; don't take a month to read it.
If you don't know any Yiddish, go read something else first, maybe some old MAD magazines or another author - but you won't need much, and most of the terms are spelled out or obvious in context. There are plenty of interesting characters of the "put them together and stand back to watch" kind. Your willingness to suspend disbelief will be tested, but you never lose sight of the fact that it's just a story, so that's easy.
The ending was a bit weak, but not enough to spoil it all.
I'm going to look for "The Angel of Forgetfulness" now, and I'll have a look at anything else Stern writes.
If you don't know any Yiddish, go read something else first, maybe some old MAD magazines or another author - but you won't need much, and most of the terms are spelled out or obvious in context. There are plenty of interesting characters of the "put them together and stand back to watch" kind. Your willingness to suspend disbelief will be tested, but you never lose sight of the fact that it's just a story, so that's easy.
The ending was a bit weak, but not enough to spoil it all.
I'm going to look for "The Angel of Forgetfulness" now, and I'll have a look at anything else Stern writes.
June 20, 2012
I felt different ways about this book at different times along the narrative. My favorite part was the story line about Jochaved and Schmerle; I looked forward to it during the Bernie interludes, and never really stopped missing it once the story moved on beyond their time. The writing is funny and understated in all the right places. As a fellow Memphian, I felt a little insulted by the repeated references to lilacs, which do not grow here, and the idea that in 2002 we would have had a racist mayor grumbling about improper mixing. We elected our first black mayor in 1991! I also still am not sure how I feel about the ending. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable read.
October 7, 2010
Two and a half stars. I generally love multi-generational storytelling, but this was a time where it didn't work.
Every time I grew attached to a character, that character would be swapped out for a younger relative, resulting in a watered down portrait of the Karp clan. If this had been solely a story about a boy and his defrosted rabbi, it may have succeeded as a comic satire, but by interweaving that story with tales of the young Bernie's predecessors, Stern weakened all the plotlines.
Every time I grew attached to a character, that character would be swapped out for a younger relative, resulting in a watered down portrait of the Karp clan. If this had been solely a story about a boy and his defrosted rabbi, it may have succeeded as a comic satire, but by interweaving that story with tales of the young Bernie's predecessors, Stern weakened all the plotlines.
September 15, 2016
The funniest Jewish fiction I've ever read, surpassing the Woody Allen short story Hassidic Tales. It was a plus that I wanted to increase my vocabulary of Yiddish and had a good translation website. Stern covered some much history in 370 pages, it made me wonder what Herman Wouk was doing with the 50,000 pages he published. Very eclectic, well-written, intelligent, and funny.
October 2, 2021
Stern is an OK storyteller, but not exactly in the same league as his landsmen Mailer, Bellow, Roth, Singer... -- his mindset is Chabon's & Woody's and Groucho's virtuoso zaniness & eccentricity for it's own sake...
March 28, 2022
What started as a quirky, funny, mildly irreverent story ended as a creepy tale of . . . I don't even know what. The novel was about 100 pages too long, and other than some very interesting peripheral characters, I don't know what the point of it was. Spent too long invested in this one.
June 8, 2018
I regret the time I spent reading this book instead of others.
December 19, 2018
Don’t even go there! No one in my book club liked this book for many reasons.
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