Jewish Book Club discussion
Literary Chat & Other Book Stuff
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WHAT ARE YOU READING? A place for remarks, recommendations or reviews
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Hi Tony,
Somehow... I remembered a bit of your introduction to our group and went back to read it again. Im sure you are aware of the issue with jewish theme books and their authors these days.
I thoroughly enjoyed Fleishman- thought it was an clever updated novel - yes like Roth who wrote many stories that are autobiographical. What was the first book you read by Roth?
Mine was "My Name is Asher Lev". ( published in 1972)
Stacey B wrote: "Tony wrote: "Lee wrote: "I've got a couple of new books I'm intrigued by that I haven't started yet. Fervor is a debut novel by Toby Lloyd about a Jewish family in London that seem..."Hi Stacey, I've only read a couple of Roth's, definitely Human Stain and Portnoy's Complaint, maybe others, but I know his reputation in modern American literature; I need to read more of his back catalogue. Do you mean, 'My Name is Asher Lev' by Chaim Potok? Another book and author for my reading list!
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Tony,
OMG, thank you, thank you, for the catch.
My bad for not proofreading. Had to let the dog out.
I meant.. .to write "Goodbye Columbus" 1993. Good movie as well.
I was going to suggest My Name is Asher Lev,. Ha,its rare I mis up up authors, but somewhere in between those 30 seconds I guess brain freeze took over.
In contrast to hot off the presses fiction, I spent time today reading a 100 year old translation of almost 1000 year old poems by Judah Halevi. The translation could be awkward but still got across their power, I thought. Here’s a short one I liked (stripped of its “Thee”s):With all my heart, in truth, and with all my might
Have I loved You. In open and in secret
Your name is with me: how could I go alone?
He is my beloved: how could I sit solitary?
And He is my lamp: how could my light be quenched?
And how could I halt, since He is a staff in my hand?
Men have held me in contempt, knowing not
That my shame for Your name's glory is my glory.
Fount of my life! I will bless You while I live
And sing You my song while I have my being.
I was on Hoopla and saw a title that caught my eye: On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety. A sweet story of an introverted man nearing retirement and his beloved wife who sets him up for success during and after their life together. Went so fast I also read the second in the series Still On Herring Cove Road: Hickory, Dickory, Death and I am about to get the third. So far, my favorite is the first one, but writing is good enough for me to keep reading.
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Lee,
Thanks for posting this. Its very powerful.
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I read them too . Thought they were excellent!
I think it was on this site that I heard about Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino. Then it was mentioned as a good beach read. I purchased it for my Kindle and finished it the other day. The summary begins by explaining that twenty year old Marilyn is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation. This is New York in 1960. The getting caught scene was very funny. The book is light, cute in places, a little predictable in others. Marilyn is sent by her parents to live with a great aunt Ada as a punishment while stern, no -nonsense - you-will-get-married father decides what to do about her. I liked aunt Ada, while Marilyn whined like a twenty year old. Perhaps because of my age, I found her less appealing as a main character. Marilyn’s big complaint is that she does not want to get married and be tied cooking and with kids bored to tears. She wants to be her own person and live her life her way. Her big plan to get out of this fate is to figure out how to live at home or to live with Aunt Ada. Somehow, I couldn’t identify with a person who is willing to let others support her while she becomes her own person. The ending had a little twist, that I suspected. It is an easy read and maybe I’m being too harsh in my review of the main character.
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Irene,
I LOVED THAT BOOK. Yes, a beach read or any read. I have her newest book " Behind Every Good Man"- set for Aug 6th publ.
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Oh.. the parts you write about set up the issue everyone thinks she has. We find out "who" has the issues. :)
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I've been reading some great Jewish picture books. Joyful Song: A Naming Story, Rosalind Looked Closer: An Unsung Hero of Molecular Science, On Friday Afternoon: A Shabbat Celebration - highly recommend all of these!
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She was writing after I was already a young adult and then a grown-up, so I too missed most of her books, Brina. My daughter remembers reading some, though. And I tried jumping on the bandwagon by reading her last book for adults, In the Unlikely Event. I did like that one & wrote it a Goodreads review.
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Are you reading for a child or younger relative, Liza? I recently read and reviewed Jane Yolen's [book:Too Many Golems, thinking about my grandchildren. 🤩
(Sorry, can't get rid of those italics at the moment!)
Jan wrote: "Liza wrote: "I've been reading some great Jewish picture books. Joyful Song: A Naming Story, Rosalind Looked Closer: An Unsung Hero of Molecular Science, [book:On F..."I've been reading picture books for research and to share as gifts! I heard wonderful things about Too Many Golems and just read your review. I need to order this one from my library!
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
And I will say its a mighty fine one at that! :)
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The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.Americans Victor Ambros, Gary Ruvkun win Nobel Prize in medicine for microRNA discovery
Nobel Assembly says duo’s discovery is ‘fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function’; Ruvkun is Jewish; Ambros’s father endured forced labor by the Nazis
Today, 3:01 pm
The Nobel Assembly said that their discovery is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.”
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By Juan Melamed October 13, 2024 2:36 pm
You could say he said sorry with a little help from his friends.
Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, attended Yom Kippur services on Saturday with his Jewish wife in Santiago, Chile. He had performed a solo concert there on Friday night, the beginning of the Jewish holiday of atonement.
Ariela Agosin, president of Chile Jewish Community, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that McCartney had arranged his attendance at the Círculo Israelita Synagogue through a friend but that very few in the congregation had been aware in advance that he would be present.
“It was very moving to have the presence of Sir Paul and his wife Nancy Shevell among us,” Agosin said. “Of course, as a community we feel honored by their company and respect the moment of recognition they wanted to give by attending Yizkor, the memorial service of the deceased.”
Shevell’s father, Myron, died in 2022; her mother Arlene, a cousin of Barbara Walters, died in 1991.
Photos taken in Santiago show McCartney and Shevell entering and leaving the modernist synagogue building, designed by Chilean Jewish architect Jaime Bendersky Smuclir, as well as wearing a white kippah while inside. McCartney left shortly after the service for Brazil, where he is due to play several concerts this week.
Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress, the regional branch of the World Jewish Congress, told JTA that McCartney’s participation had provided valuable visibility for Jewish life in Chile, home to an estimated 18,000 Jews.
“Paul’s presence in a Jewish religious ceremony contributes to the consolidation of the interreligious diversity that Chile has,” Epelman said. “That is a very valuable asset.”
It is not the first time that McCartney has surprised Jewish worshippers by showing up at services with Shevell, a New York Jew whom he married in 2011. The day before their civil wedding, they attended Yom Kippur services at St John’s Wood’s Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London, the Jewish Chronicle reported at the time. He has also reportedly attended Yom Kippur prayers at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El in the past.
McCartney’s first wife, Linda Eastman, was also Jewish; the couple were married from 1969 until Eastman’s death in 1998. In 2008, shortly after starting to date Shevell, a former member of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority board, McCartney performed in Israel, saying while there that he supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His current tour, called “Get Back,” has no planned stops in Israel, which banned The Beatles from performing in 1965 out of concern about the moral influence of the pioneering band.
Among the thousands of fans at McCartney’s Friday night concert was Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a harsh critic of Israel and of Chilean Jews who support it.
I just finished One Day in October: Forty Heroes, Forty Stories, which is part of my coming to grips with where we are today, and how we got here. Next up on my list is Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which I think will be insightful, as well as Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England, The Rise and Fall of a Remarkable Jewish Businesswoman which I heard about from https://rabbiaubreyhersh.podbean.com/... In between the intensity, I read silly mysteries to clear my mind and re-set my energy.
Stacey B wrote: "I just finished "The Liar" by Ayalet Gunder-Goshen. 4 starsWhat would you do if you were a seventeen yr old girl who told a lie that skyrocketed out of control, you couldn't take it back because o..."
Sounds fun and intriguing!
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Go Perlie!!!
I just read your post regarding the books you finished. "One Day in October...." must have been tough on the heart. Im not sure I could do it. As you, visiting the kibbutz's a few months after was extremely devastating, which is the segway for your next book up"Ghost of a Holy War...."
That I believe is a book that shows how history repeats itself in "war ".
Its funny that last week someone mentioned Licoricia of Winchester. I hadn't heard that name until then. Ihe synopsis of this short book is fascinating. I went a step further and looked her up. She left an unbelievable legacy. I don't consider these books or podcast silly, at all. It takes a lot to clear a mind.
Peace of mind is precious; I cant recall the last time I felt it.
I just finished Jordan Rosenblum’s “Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig,” and it was 100% amazing. This is an easy read without any academic jargon and it’s extremely thoughtful and educational. I highly recommend it!
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. I saw it featured on the JBC page , and I mentioned to Jan and Stacey that this sounds like something Nicole Krauss would write. Hopefully the author meets might expectations.
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. I saw it featured on the JBC page , and I mentioned to Jan and Stacey that this sounds like something Ni..."Yes you did :)
It would be sensational if it were.
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P.S. Here, on "What are you reading," it's okay to post whatever you're reading, whether Jewish or not. Anything you're reading that you'd like to talk about for a minute. Or tell somebody about.
Please give in to that urge and comment right here! :)
--Jan
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Matal,
Love your comment. I want to look at this one.
Finished The Book of Paradise: A Yiddish Comic Novel by the Yiddish writer Itzik Manger, which I liked a lot. It’s a simultaneously irreverent, serious, and exuberant appraisal of Jewish life and sacred texts. I’d recommend Dara Horn’s review over my own; may its introductory paragraph tempt you!“What about joyful Yiddish literature—not merely humorous works, which can have a bitter edge, but genuinely delightful Yiddish literature? If you can’t name a Yiddish author whose work meets this description, well, that’s what I’m here for. Dear readers, meet Itzik Manger.”
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/ar...
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Hi Lee-
I saw that article in Tablet too. Glad you liked this one.
Im thinking... Jan is more versed in this subject than I am. All I know is my mother found a Yiddish site online with so many member discussions. It keeps her laughing.
I just finished listening to Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. We've all heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey. This is Penelope's version of the twenty years she waited for Odysseus' return. It was written as a monologue to the reader, so the audio version was comfortable to listen to. Penelope talks directly to us from her place in the afterworld, giving us an inside look of her thoughts and actions. She is always described as the faithful wife, but little else of how she felt. This book tells of her relationship with her mother-in-law, her maids, the suitors, and especially Helen. I read the Iliad and the Odyssey many years ago and I forgot many of the events of those books. Her opinions of events is an interesting reminder and viewpoint. Since she is speaking from the underworld, she is able to speak to us in modern times and present current feminist philosophy and a court room drama. It is definitely worth reading,
I'm almost finished with On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates. These timely and short essays about Jewish life post-October 7 are both a cathartic reflection of my own experience and add more perspectives I'm don't aware of - plus, I'm adding more authors and books to my list. One of the authors, Talia Carner,, discusses her experiences of antisemitism in the publishing industry post-Oct 7, in particular, on Goodreads, with users tanking her new book with one-star reviews. The Goodreads admins have refused to respond to these hateful reviews, which are still up. I've seen these kinds of reviews for other Jewish books, and I report them, but nothing happens. Goodreads' apathy and refusal to abide by their guidelines against harassment is a shanda. This has inspired my decision to start writing (positive) reviews for Jewish authors to do my small part to combat this.
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Lenny-
That is awesome. I could just kiss you :)
While publishers and Goodreads stay silent, jewish authors are on many black-ball lists, this is the least we can do besides buying their books.
Looking forward to reading your review!!!
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Irene,
Im right there with you with you re Iliad and the Odyssey. It was long ago for me too. So Penelopiad is a stand alone, but do I need to peruse the Iliad ... before I read it? Or does Atwood reference a lot of it?
Lenny wrote: "I'm almost finished with On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates. These timely and short essays about Jewish life post-October 7 are both a cathartic reflection..."It's so good to hear that we're stepping up for one another when it's crickets on many of these platforms.
I just bought Steve Stern's The Village Idiot. I'm not crazy about magical realism, but the story of the painter Chaim Soutine is intriguing. Has the Club already read this book, by chance? I probably should have nominated it for their magical-realism selection. I plan to write a review/post comments when I finish reading it.
I'm reading "Words that Hurt, Words that Heal: How to Choose Words Wisely and Well" by Joseph Telushkin. I love it so far, and after I finish this I want to start "Everyman's Talmud" by A. Cohen.
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Thats a great book for you Jason, written by a wise Rabbi.
I just finished Lavie Tidhar's Maror, a crime novel that covers decades of Israel's recent history. Very impressive and I immediately requested two more of his books from the library.I also finished The Red Towers of Granada by Geoffrey Trease, children's historical fiction, set in 1290 it covers Edward I's expulsion of the Jews from England.
A few weeks ago I read Miriam Karpilove's A Provincial Newspaper and Other Stories which has finally been translated from Yiddish.
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Kerry, this is great. What did you think about Karpilov's book?
Stacey B wrote: "What did you think about Karpilov's book?"I really liked it. The novella part was about working on a new Yiddish newspaper in a town away from New York. How the owner tries to take advantage of the female writer just because she is a woman and how she has to push back.
There is an account of the start of Karpilov's three years in Palestine which for my husband was an actual account of his family history as Karpilov travelled in 1926 with family including my husband's father, grandparents & great grandfather. She was the cousin of my husband's grandmother. So fun to read about my late father-in-law as a young impetuous child!
The third part of the book is a selection of short, witty stories that she wrote for the Yiddish Forverts 'Foward' magazine.
I read her Diary of a Lonely Girl, or The Battle against Free Love last year and found it more difficult as I don't normally read that type of work.
Jewish books that I've also recently read: Jane Yolen's latest picturebook The Many Problems of Rochel-Leah, David Grossman's The Thinking Heart: Essays on Israel and Palestine, Bernard-Henri Lévy's Israel Alone, Arnošt Lustig's Lovely Green Eyes and Delphine Horvilleur's Living with Our Dead: On Loss and Consolation.
I finished reading The Village Idiot. My Goodreads review of it is too long to fully append here, so below is just the middle paragraph that gives the essence of my assessment.It was because of the muddled point of view and the disjointed and emotionally distant narrative that I gave The Village Idiot only four stars. Otherwise, the book is brilliant. Sometimes Stern’s diction is gratuitous, even for me (his use of “avoirdupois,” for example, feels like he just finished reading the letter “a” section of a dictionary and wanted to show off a new word), but there’s no question he’s a literary virtuoso. The descriptions in The Village Idiot—of Soutine’s painting process, personal hygiene, bohemian lifestyle, and friendships with Amedeo Modigliani and others in the Paris art scene—are mostly what kept me reading. Complaints have been made about the book’s slow pacing, but to me the pacing is fine. I think the “slow-pacing” complaint is really just a way of expressing dissatisfaction with the disjointed narrative structure, which isn’t very conducive to dramatic tension. That may actually be one of the reasons why Stern chose to spread the regatta scene over the entirety of the book: to give it an artificial narrative arc. As it is, the book has almost no narrative arc at all until the last 100 pages or so. Things happen in individual scenes, but until Soutine’s relationship with Gerda Groth late in the book, very little happens generally, and if Soutine were to die on page 100 and the narrative were to suddenly shift to the perspective of a different character, most readers would just shrug and move on. So why did I keep reading? Simply for the pleasure of encountering Stern’s dazzling sentences.
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Stacey B wrote: "Irene wrote: "I just finished listening to Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. We've all heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey. This is Penelope's version of the twenty years she waited for Odysseus' retur..."She references a lot of it. For example , she will talk about all the suitors who have shown up since they believe he is dead. Or will reference the various places mentioned in the original and it is not necessary to know the details about them, just that they exist in the story. References like this are enough to jog my memory, and to understand what is happening in her book. It is only 3 CDs, so the book itself must be fairly short. Since it is from a woman's perspective, with some interesting 21st century drama, I found it to be unusual and enjoyable.
I am reading two books about Bob Dylan: 1) Jewish Roots, American Soil by Harry Freedman and 2) Dylan and Me by Louie Kemp. My belief was that Dylan is an observant Jew that kept his private life separate from his music career. His relationship with Louie Kemp and his marriage to Sara Lowndes support this theory.
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Kerry, is Bob Dylan still married to Sara?
I just finished reading "Together They Built a Mountain", by Patricia Talbot Davis. It is the story or Rabbi Mortimer Cohen and Frank Lloyd Wright in building Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pa. Rabbi Cohen was a student at Jewish Theological Seminary, when Solomon Schechter was the Chancellor. Schechter offered him a full scholarship to study for the rabbinate. Another of his professors was Mordecai Kaplan. He became the rabbi of the temple in 1922, when the original building was opened. As things changed, he felt that the congregation needed to move to another area of the city to better serve the Jewish population. They would need a new building. Rabbi Cohen felt the temple should be a mountain of light, a reminder of Mt. Sinai where God revealed the Torah. Through a mutual acquaintance, he was told the only architect that could translate his ideas into physical form was Wright. This book, written from the 12 notebooks of Rabbi Cohen tells the history of the relationship between the two men.
It is an interesting a story, detailing the issues, problems, personalities of both men. The book is about 50 years old and has a what I will call a goody-two-shoes attitude. In other words, today an author may say he was an irascible, stubborn, SOB. In this book, the person would be described as determined or arrogant. This was Wright's last project. He accepted designing a religious building because he felt that Rabbi Cohen's vision and spirituality matched with his own. In a very rare, if not unheard of demonstration, Wright gave Rabbi Cohen credit for working on the design of the building.
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Hi Lee, thank you for the heads-up about Long Island Compromise. When I chose 'Fleishman' for a book group nearly 2 years ago - I thought randomly at the time - it was my first realisation that there was Jewish-themed fiction, coinciding with me finding out about my heritage (see 'Welcome' thread in April this year). My 'Jew-ish' bookshelf has grown steadily since. Back to LIC, Wikipedia has this quote, "... a great American Jewish novel whose brew of hilarity, heartbreak, and smarts recalls the best of Philip Roth. A triumph." You can't buy that sort of recommendation!