Old Men at Midnight (Jewish Literature Challenge #4 of 4)

Chaim Potok is one of my favorite authors. He wrote The Chosen, The Promise, the Asher Lev books, and Davita's Harp. I actually wrote a paper about The Chosen when I was in high school and I liked doing it. Old Men at Midnight is a book of three short stories connected to Ilana Davita Dinn from Davita's Harp. The stories are not about Davita, but rather about some of the people she comes in contact with through her life. In "The Ark Builder," seventeen year old Ilana meets Noah Stremin, the only survivor of the Nazi destruction of his village in Poland.

When Ilana is is working on her doctorate in "The War Doctor", she convinces a former KGB interrogation officer to write the story of his life - the horror of war, the anti-semitism in Russia, and the terror of Stalin's reign.

The final story is a bit more psychological than the other two. It is about Benjamin Walter, who Ilana moves in next door to when she is a woman in her sixties writing fiction for a living. Benjamin sees her as something she is not - a well maintained, beautiful middle-aged woman. But Ilana is really overweight and dowdy. But Benjamin's wife is ill and he has too suffered during World War II as a soldier in the British Army. "The Trope Teacher" was the man who had a lasting and painful effect on Benjamin.

Potok's writing is always impressive. He has a wonderful way with language and while it did not strike me in the same way The Chosen and Davita's Harp did, it was a great book.

The Innkeeper's Song (Jewish Literature Challenge # 3 of 4, Once Upon a Time III #1 of 5)

The Last Unicorn is one of the most beautiful and poetic books I've read. I LOVED it. Loved it. So I was thrilled when I found out that Peter Beagle has written other books. This fantasy seemed like it would be right up my alley and it was at first. Told through the eyes of several narrators (in the end I think it was too many narrators), three women: Lal, Nyateneri, and Lukassa to an inn run by an old crab named Karsh. Other important characters who also narrate include Marinesha and Rosseth (two teenage orphans who work at Karsh's inn), Tikat (who is following Lukassa), and the Fox who is a shape-shifter. That's the point of view of eight characters which I'm not saying inherently is a bad thing but I wasn't able to stay with it all the way through. Here is the Innkeeper's Song upon which the story is based:


There came three ladies at sundown:
One was brown as bread is brown,
One was black, with a sailor's sway,
And one was pale as the moon by day.

The white one wore an emerald ring,
The brown led a fox on a silver string,
And the black one carried a rosewood cane
With a sword inside, for I saw it plain.

They took my own room, they barred the door,
They sang songs I never had heard before.
My cheese and mutton they did destroy,
And they called for wine, and the stable boy.

And once they quarried and twice they cried —
Their laughter blazed through the countryside,
The ceiling shook and the plaster flew,
And the fox ate my pigeons, all but two.

They rode away with the morning sun,
The white like a queen, the black like a nun,
And the brown one singing with scarlet joy,
And I'll have to get a new stable boy.

I didn't quite love this book but I didn't dislike it. There was a very alarming sexual scene in the middle that seemed out of place in the book to me...something important was discovered becasue of it but it just seemed a bit gratuitious and it caught me completely off guard. But it was just that one random scene and that was it. There was some nice romance too though.

Freefall (Jewish Literature Challenge #2 of 4)

I read a review of Anna Levine's YA novel about an Israeli girl and knew I had to give it a try. Aggie, who lives in Jerusalem, will soon be drafted into the Israeli Army (all Israeli citizens serve their country for two or three years after high school). While she isn't sure exactly what she wants to do, she's pretty sure she doesn't want to push paper in an office for two years. She also isn't exactly sure that she isn't attracted to her best friend's older brother Noah who is already in the middle of his military service. Though her parents completely oppose it, Aggie decides she wants to try out to be part of an elite squad and is determined to prove herself.

I liked Aggie. She seemed like a good girl with a reasonably frustrating home life. She was tough and yet had enough indecision in her to make her be a real teenager. I loved the descriptions of Israel and the information about the Israeli Army was interesting. Also the romance was fantastic.

People of the Book (Jewish Literature Challenge #1 of 4)

Geraldine Brooks based this amazing novel on the story of an actual book called the Sarajevo Haggadah (a book which describes how the Passover Seder is to be performed). Hanna Heath is an expert in old books - a serious expert. She is invited to Bosnia to analyze a rare volume and try to determine its authenticity and its origin. Using tiny artifacts found in the book (a hair, a piece of an insect wing, salt, and a wine stain) to trace its history.

The story is told backwards with Hanna's experiences interspersed with glimpses into the book's past, the most recent events explored first. The Haggadah survived some of the world's most tragic moments and been protected by some very brave individuals, several of them not Jewish. Hanna's family life has been less than ideal and as she studies the Haggadah she is forced to confront some of her most difficult relationships.

People of the Book was an intriguing and painful book to read. Some of the scenes I couldn't even get through because they were so disturbing. The interweaving of Hanna's life and the backwards progression of the book worked very well. I have enjoyed all of Geraldine Brooks' other books and this was no exception.

Jewish Literature Challenge

Here are the rules for the Jewish Literature Challenge:

What: Reading at least 4 books by Jewish Authors or about Judaism
When: December 21, 2008 (Beginning of Hanukkah) to April 27, 2009 (End of Passover)
Who: Anyone who wants to participate! Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike
Where: Right here of course! You can also post your picks and reviews to your own blog if you have one of course.
How: Sign the comments on THIS post to join the challenge. Tell me if you want to be added to the blog. If so, include your email address. (put it like this to prevent spam: yourname AT yourdomain DOT com) Once I've added you, you can post your picks here and when the time comes, post your reviews here too.

I think I will read:
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle
Freefall by Anna Levine
Old Men at Midnight by Chaim Potok