As a Driven Leaf - March 2015

[Jan]

I've tried my hand at setting up the discussion for this month.

[Joey]

I read this book a year and a half ago after my Rabbi recommended it to me. VERY intense and dense. It's not an easy read, but it IS a very engaging story. I'm going to try to re-read it and discuss it in detail. I highly recommend it. I'm interested in hearing how Orthodox and more liberal Jews, each, see the story. Nu?

[Jan]

So, I read this book in recent times, about five years ago. The book I have is from my uncle and grandparents' library. I wanted to lay hands on it before writing anything tonight and have just been on a scavenger hunt to find it; it was eluding me but I finally found it on the bookshelf right behind me. It's the 1939 edition--the year the book was published. When I read it the dust jacket fell apart; tonight I actually found that before the book showed itself.

At the point I read it I had come in from the cold a couple of years before, after being "lost in America" most of my life. The first rabbi I was studying with recommended it at a book club. For me it was reminiscent of three books from the majority culture that I'd read in my youth--Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, and The Robe, but Jewish. (I just looked those up, and only the last of them is the contemporary of As a Driven Leaf; the former two are from the late 1800s!)

I should probably read it again, too, because it sort of imprinted itself on me as "how it really was." Maybe there are parts of it I'd now read differently or question what I was reading.

[Peter]

There is one author I would like to recommend to the Jewish Book Club community.

Her name is Faye Kellerman. She is a mystery writer. To date she has written no less than 26 novels. Every book of hers has a Jewish theme. Even some of her titles are immediate giveaways:

"The Ritual Bath" ( spoiler alert: murder in a mikvah.)
"Milk and Honey"
"Day of Atonement"

Full disclosure: I know Faye personally, as well as her husband. His name is Jonathan Kellerman. His mysteries feature a tough, hard-boiled detective. His books have no Jewish theme.

Peter Kubicek

[Jan]

Peter wrote: "There is one author I would like to recommend to the Jewish Book Club community.

Her name is Faye Kellerman. She is a mystery writer. To date she has written no less than 26 novels. Every book of ..."

Please see my comment here.

[Anna]

I got my copy of this book today. I had to buy it from a seller in the USA so it has taken about 3 weeks to get to me. I have been wanting to read this book for such a long time so am looking forward to getting stuck into it.

[H.L.]

Started this back in February. Didn't care for the writing or story and haven't picked it up in weeks. I know I'm not going to finish.

[Jan]

I had such a different reaction, H. I read it hungrily. Even though at the time I associated it with those other books I mentioned, it wasn't a tearjerker like them. I guess it reminded me of a genre of older fiction I'd read in my youth, and that's what I said what I did. Wikipedia has a short but sweet write-up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_a_Dri...

When I was looking for the book the other day I found another book by the author, The Making of the Modern Jew from 1933--also belonged to my grandparents. What a time to be writing!

[✡ Shira]

Thank You Jan for holding up the book group while I was unable to!

I have been very busy at school and just finished a week long, 12 hour days conference for actors and writers. I was one of 6 people who stayed up from midnight to 6am to write a 10-minute play. The next day, 3 student actors and a student director took the script and by the evening we put the play on for the festival. We rocked the stage.

It was an exhausting week and the weeks prior to the conference I spent writing short plays for practice, so I let my part in the book club slide. Thank you for holding it up!!

For anyone who is interested, this is the result of my all-night writing adventure at the conference.
On The Other Side

שלומ



Jan wrote: "I've tried my hand at setting up the discussion for this month."

[Jan]

I figured it was OK since it looked just like yours--but I'm glad you're back!

[Anna]

This is a slow read. I am persevering with it though.

[Jan]

I reread the introduction and also the first chapter, setting up the internal conflicts of the main character, and I still like it. The historical setting ten years after the destruction of the Temple resonates with me, and then I remember (although I didn't reread) the part about how the Rabbis prevail over those pushing for war, in what therefore became the diaspora revolt. Of course the warmongers are shown in a very negative light.

It seems that what's most memorable for me are the wider historical views, not necessarily the tale of Elisha himself.

[Jan]

Michelle, I'm happy for Shira's idea to set up the book club in such a way that we can keep on discussing our books with no need to be limited to one month. :)

[Jan]

Michelle wrote: "I thought this was an interesting recent article about this book and author from the Wall Street Journal:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/balancing..."

Thanks for that, Michelle. Here's an additional link given in the third comment under the Wall Street Journal article: http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/6210/...