This new novel by Nora Gold is very pertinent to what is happening today on college campuses all over the United States and as Gold makes clear in this novel in Canada also. This is a story with many layers. First there is the situation of prejudice and anti-Semitism on the college campus and how that is being dealt with or in this case not handled well. On another level this a story of relationships. There is the relationship between Judith and her father, the relationship between Judith and Bobby and also the interactions between Judith and her classmates and in a way the State of Israel. Each of these plot lines can be examined in and of itself for an interesting discussion.
Together they set up a novel about a 30 something woman who seems lost after returning home to Canada from Israel to nurse her father in his last days. As a last wish to her father she agrees to stay home for a year and get an advanced degree at the local college. At the beginning of the novel she appears to be an immature young woman who cannot stand up for herself. She can hardly wait to escape back to Israel. As the novel progresses, with the support of an old romantic flame, Bobby, Judith seems to mature and find her voice. She tries to speak out at school about anti-Semitism she is witnessing. She learns about friendship and trust.
She is growing up and maybe she wonders if that is why her father exacted the promise from her that he did. Bobby gives her an idea of what her father was thinking, when during an argument he blurts out, "...your father totally nailed it. ..He was right. You're able to commit yourself to an ideal or to something abstract, but not to anything real, like another person. Or anyway, not a living person. You probably love Herzl, Rabin, and the poet Rachel better than you love anyone in the real world."
Author Nora Gold comments on Judith's character and why she is so determined to return to Israel saying, "I think, though, that when you are dealing with people's "dreams", you often encounter "lack of realism", "immaturity", etc. Judith seems to me typical of a certain type of person who has invested a great deal in a dream and can't come to terms with the possibility that it is in some ways flawed."
In an interview chat with author, Nora Gold, she spoke about her reasons and thinking as she was writing the book. This always gives such wonderful insight and makes the book come to life. Gold has lived and traveled to Israel as an adult. She also went to Zionist camp as a child and she said it changed her life. After that she does not feel the book is biographical at all. Gold says she was concerned about the anti-Israelism at colleges today and wanted to write about it.
Along with that the other topics presented in the book will also be fodder for some great discussions for book groups; courage to stand up for what you believe in, betrayal, loyalty, friendship, politics and love.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Asylum City
Another crime novel writer from Israel, Liad Shoham. This is quite exciting. I wrote my masters thesis on murder mystery authors and their detectives and had not run across this author, but he is terrific. This was a great mystery novel that keeps the reader intrigued and trying to uncover the murder all the way through.
There are many characters to follow so you have to stay on your toes, but as you follow along it all starts to make sense. There are the police officers, some corrupt and others uncovering the criminal element that runs the crime network. There are corrupt lawyers, who are under the thumb of the crime lord. Whenever there is a system in place that keeps the poor indigent, immigrant in poverty there is a criminal underworld that is taking advantage of the system to create a network of illegal activity.
This is the story of immigrant Africans coming in from Ethiopia and Eritea who find it hard to become an Israeli citizen. As they come into the country they can either become involved with people really have their best interest in mind, like Michal Poleg or they can get mixed up with the underworld figures like "The General' and "The Banker" who offer assistance but not really to help the immigrants but to line their own pockets.
When Michal Poleg uncovers the corruption and is killed for her efforts the police and the network are in a race to see who will find "The General" first. The reader is taken along for the ride with a wonderfully descriptive story that keep you guessing till the end.
The book deals with an important issue that faces not only Israel but others countries around the world, how to take care of the many people coming from countries with harsh governments to seek refuge in another country. This book along with being a intriguing mystery story tries to explain how it is hard to bring all these refugees into the country and how they are exploited. Shoham has done a fantastic job writing these real issues in a entertaining story line.
Liad Shoham is Israel's leading crime writer and a practicing attorney with degrees from Jerusalem's Hebrew University and the London School of Economics. All his crime novels have been critically acclaimed bestsellers. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and two children. He has also written the novel Line Up and is working on his next book featuring police officer Anat Nachmias.
There are many characters to follow so you have to stay on your toes, but as you follow along it all starts to make sense. There are the police officers, some corrupt and others uncovering the criminal element that runs the crime network. There are corrupt lawyers, who are under the thumb of the crime lord. Whenever there is a system in place that keeps the poor indigent, immigrant in poverty there is a criminal underworld that is taking advantage of the system to create a network of illegal activity.
This is the story of immigrant Africans coming in from Ethiopia and Eritea who find it hard to become an Israeli citizen. As they come into the country they can either become involved with people really have their best interest in mind, like Michal Poleg or they can get mixed up with the underworld figures like "The General' and "The Banker" who offer assistance but not really to help the immigrants but to line their own pockets.
When Michal Poleg uncovers the corruption and is killed for her efforts the police and the network are in a race to see who will find "The General" first. The reader is taken along for the ride with a wonderfully descriptive story that keep you guessing till the end.
The book deals with an important issue that faces not only Israel but others countries around the world, how to take care of the many people coming from countries with harsh governments to seek refuge in another country. This book along with being a intriguing mystery story tries to explain how it is hard to bring all these refugees into the country and how they are exploited. Shoham has done a fantastic job writing these real issues in a entertaining story line.
Liad Shoham is Israel's leading crime writer and a practicing attorney with degrees from Jerusalem's Hebrew University and the London School of Economics. All his crime novels have been critically acclaimed bestsellers. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and two children. He has also written the novel Line Up and is working on his next book featuring police officer Anat Nachmias.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The Monopolists
Where would "shredded wheat", "elevator", and "aspirin" come up in conversation with Formica, Teflon, Coke and Monopoly? In the Mary Pilon's new book, The Monopolists, which takes the reader on a journey through the history of the board game Monopoly.
Whether you are a fan and aggressive player of the game or just curious about trademarks and monopolies this book will keep you glued to your chair until the end. It is a fascinating story of how Parker Brothers built their company on the game, but possibly not in the most ethical way. It is the story of how a individual with the idea for another game, Anti-Monopoly went up against the giant Parker Brothers and General Mills to win his right to sell his game.
It is the story of the history of the board game going back to Atlantic City, NJ and even further back to Lizzie Magie and her version, The Landlord's Game, created as a teaching tool inspired by economist and politician, Henry George.
Interesting and informative this is a book that will hold your attention and astonish you as you route for the underdog against big business. You will cheer for the small businessman fighting the large conglomerate. You will see how our country deals in the courts with trademarks and monopolies.
In the end you will understand how terms like "shredded wheat", "elevator" and "aspirin" can be used as descriptions, but words like, "Xerox", "Coke", and "Formica" are copyrighted and can only describe a brand. So you should ask someone to; "make a copy", not ask them to; "please xerox this".
Mary Pilon also describes the long hours and in-depth process she went through to write this book and even that is interesting and entertaining at the end of the book. It is interesting to see where everyone involved in this history is today. A well written story.
Whether you are a fan and aggressive player of the game or just curious about trademarks and monopolies this book will keep you glued to your chair until the end. It is a fascinating story of how Parker Brothers built their company on the game, but possibly not in the most ethical way. It is the story of how a individual with the idea for another game, Anti-Monopoly went up against the giant Parker Brothers and General Mills to win his right to sell his game.
It is the story of the history of the board game going back to Atlantic City, NJ and even further back to Lizzie Magie and her version, The Landlord's Game, created as a teaching tool inspired by economist and politician, Henry George.
Interesting and informative this is a book that will hold your attention and astonish you as you route for the underdog against big business. You will cheer for the small businessman fighting the large conglomerate. You will see how our country deals in the courts with trademarks and monopolies.
In the end you will understand how terms like "shredded wheat", "elevator" and "aspirin" can be used as descriptions, but words like, "Xerox", "Coke", and "Formica" are copyrighted and can only describe a brand. So you should ask someone to; "make a copy", not ask them to; "please xerox this".
Mary Pilon also describes the long hours and in-depth process she went through to write this book and even that is interesting and entertaining at the end of the book. It is interesting to see where everyone involved in this history is today. A well written story.
Friday, March 6, 2015
After Birth
In a stream of conscience, writing about her feelings and reactions to having just given birth by ceasearian section and trying to breastfeed her new born son, Ari is suffering from post partum depression and learning to adapt to life as a mother.
There is so much that the books about motherhood don't explain. Ari is also a mother without a mother of her own to lean on and consult. She imagines conversations with her mother as she tries to not mistakes with her new child. Having lost her mother at a young age, she feels that she missed out on much of the knowledge she would need to be a woman. She tried to learn from her friends and their mothers as she was growing up. But she carries a lot of anger within her.
She feels isolated in a new home that she and her husband, Paul bought outside New York City. As she looks back on her life she feels like she has always been a fish out of water. The odd man out, never really fitting in with any group in school or summer camp. Trying out friendships that never last. Always finding fault with the girls and women she befriends, ending the relationships and feeling abandoned.
Then she meets Mina , a poet, who is renting a near by house in the neighborhood and has just given birth to a son, they become fast friends. Ari works hard not to destroy this relationship like she has all the others. The two women bond over the hard work of motherhood. The idea that no one warns you about the trials and tribulations of nursing and the pressure to supliment with formula.
Throughout the novel are some wonderful quotes that as a mother you can relate to. Author, Elisa Albert, really captures the feelings of being a new mother within those first few months. The feeling of not being able to accomplish anything except breast feeding your child. Not showering, or eating yourself and not being able to clean up after yourself. Yet there is a peacefulness that comes over you as nurse the baby. "Soon he was finished on the left side, big boy. I lifted him up, held him close, delicious soft hilarious drunk face, patted his back, and put him to work on the right. We passed weeks this way, he and I, submerged, disoriented, in a twisted sort of contentment. Now I yearn for that time, want to lie with him connected and safe. "
Elisa Albert has captured so many of the feelings and thoughts that every new mother experiences during that first year after giving birth to that first child. Many of these have never really been shared, like a secret society, sworn to secrecy that has finally been revealed.
There is so much that the books about motherhood don't explain. Ari is also a mother without a mother of her own to lean on and consult. She imagines conversations with her mother as she tries to not mistakes with her new child. Having lost her mother at a young age, she feels that she missed out on much of the knowledge she would need to be a woman. She tried to learn from her friends and their mothers as she was growing up. But she carries a lot of anger within her.
She feels isolated in a new home that she and her husband, Paul bought outside New York City. As she looks back on her life she feels like she has always been a fish out of water. The odd man out, never really fitting in with any group in school or summer camp. Trying out friendships that never last. Always finding fault with the girls and women she befriends, ending the relationships and feeling abandoned.
Then she meets Mina , a poet, who is renting a near by house in the neighborhood and has just given birth to a son, they become fast friends. Ari works hard not to destroy this relationship like she has all the others. The two women bond over the hard work of motherhood. The idea that no one warns you about the trials and tribulations of nursing and the pressure to supliment with formula.
Throughout the novel are some wonderful quotes that as a mother you can relate to. Author, Elisa Albert, really captures the feelings of being a new mother within those first few months. The feeling of not being able to accomplish anything except breast feeding your child. Not showering, or eating yourself and not being able to clean up after yourself. Yet there is a peacefulness that comes over you as nurse the baby. "Soon he was finished on the left side, big boy. I lifted him up, held him close, delicious soft hilarious drunk face, patted his back, and put him to work on the right. We passed weeks this way, he and I, submerged, disoriented, in a twisted sort of contentment. Now I yearn for that time, want to lie with him connected and safe. "
Elisa Albert has captured so many of the feelings and thoughts that every new mother experiences during that first year after giving birth to that first child. Many of these have never really been shared, like a secret society, sworn to secrecy that has finally been revealed.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Mathematician's Shiva
The Mathematician's Shiva is a book with many layers. On the surface this is the story of family loss.
It is also a study in the relationship of mother and son. The pride and driving force of parents who are intelligent and driven to push their children to their vision of success. It is also a story of the immigrant experience, coming to America from Russian following WWII.
Right at the beginning we meet Sasha as he is preparing to sit shiva for his mother, who has died of cancer. Rachela Karnokivitch was a famous mathematician, who it is rumored has solved the million dollar Navier-Stokes Millennium prize problem, a mathematical problem that has something to do with the elusive phenomenon of turbulence. As Sasha and his father also a prominent mathematician prepare to privately mourn the death of their loved one, rival mathematicians and fans of Rachela descend on their house.
The book then divides into chapters that look back at Sasha's relationship with his mother growing up, the present situation and journal entries Sasha finds that his mother kept about her life. Rachela is a Russian emigre whose life has been directed toward math she writes because of her experiences during World War II. Not being respected as a mathematician in Russian brought her to the United States where she has been able to be recognized as a mathematical genius but has also bumped into a glass ceiling.
Now after her death we meet the other mathematicians, a group of social misfits, who either looked up to her as a inspiration or were in competition with her to reach the goal of discovering the answer to the Navier-Stokes problem and win the prize. They come to the funeral and to sit shiva. They take up residence in the Karnokivitch's living room, looking for clues that Rachela may have hidden that will help them solve the problem. They search her house and her office at the local college. They even listen to her pet parrot, Pascha hoping that some of his mutterings may be a key to solving the formula.
While the mathematicians are searching, Sasha is working through the relationship he had with his difficult but loving mother. As the author, Stuart Rojstaczer says in an interview, "...she is the sun around which all the others orbit." Sasha looks back over his childhood and how her input and parenting have led to his lonely adulthood. It is a time for him to reflect and move on with his life. He is able to see his father for who he really is and fulfill his mother's wish that they end their estrangement. In the end Sasha even connects with a daughter he has never known.
The whole story takes place in the seven days Jews spend sitting to mourn the passing of a loved one.
It is also a study in the relationship of mother and son. The pride and driving force of parents who are intelligent and driven to push their children to their vision of success. It is also a story of the immigrant experience, coming to America from Russian following WWII.
Right at the beginning we meet Sasha as he is preparing to sit shiva for his mother, who has died of cancer. Rachela Karnokivitch was a famous mathematician, who it is rumored has solved the million dollar Navier-Stokes Millennium prize problem, a mathematical problem that has something to do with the elusive phenomenon of turbulence. As Sasha and his father also a prominent mathematician prepare to privately mourn the death of their loved one, rival mathematicians and fans of Rachela descend on their house.
The book then divides into chapters that look back at Sasha's relationship with his mother growing up, the present situation and journal entries Sasha finds that his mother kept about her life. Rachela is a Russian emigre whose life has been directed toward math she writes because of her experiences during World War II. Not being respected as a mathematician in Russian brought her to the United States where she has been able to be recognized as a mathematical genius but has also bumped into a glass ceiling.
Now after her death we meet the other mathematicians, a group of social misfits, who either looked up to her as a inspiration or were in competition with her to reach the goal of discovering the answer to the Navier-Stokes problem and win the prize. They come to the funeral and to sit shiva. They take up residence in the Karnokivitch's living room, looking for clues that Rachela may have hidden that will help them solve the problem. They search her house and her office at the local college. They even listen to her pet parrot, Pascha hoping that some of his mutterings may be a key to solving the formula.
While the mathematicians are searching, Sasha is working through the relationship he had with his difficult but loving mother. As the author, Stuart Rojstaczer says in an interview, "...she is the sun around which all the others orbit." Sasha looks back over his childhood and how her input and parenting have led to his lonely adulthood. It is a time for him to reflect and move on with his life. He is able to see his father for who he really is and fulfill his mother's wish that they end their estrangement. In the end Sasha even connects with a daughter he has never known.
The whole story takes place in the seven days Jews spend sitting to mourn the passing of a loved one.
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
OK I must admit I was trying to avoid reading this book. I know that Roz Chast is a well respected cartoonist who has been published on the cover and inside The New Yorker magazine. She won the coveted Reuben Award for Best Gag Cartoon in 2013 from the National Cartoonist Society.
She has written other books and now has won awards for this book, including the Kirkus Award for nonfiction and is a finalist for the National Book Award for nonfiction.
But lets face it, this is not a topic anyone of a certain age who has elderly parents is looking to read for pleasure. In the end, despite the challenge of reading her lettering style, the idea of reading a graphic depiction of how to handle the subject of elderly parents turns out to be unescapable.
Of course now after reading the book I am telling all my friends about it. So I now see why it is so popular. It is a subject that so many of us are going through, or have been through or even though you might hope to avoid, you will go through at some level. Chast's experience is more involved than mine but it is funny how much of my own experience I see as I am reading the book. She does a wonderful job of showing the reader how your parents slowly are changing and slipping away sometimes without you really being prepared. She also shows how the relationship developed years before when you were really the child has set the stage for how much influence and control you will have over your stubborn parents. The changes in your parents health and sense of reality also sneaks up on them and it is hard for them to realize they are not as capable of taking care of themselves as they once were. They do not realize they have changed, inside they still think they are younger than they are on the outside. There is so much that any reader can relate to in this book that makes it a great book. It is a quick entertaining way to unwind after a long day visiting your parent at the assisted care facility.
So in the end, it is like going to a group therapy session or at least out for drinks with friends and sharing your stories about life with elderly parents that gives you a chance to see that you are not alone and maybe even a laugh about the hard times. It will help you keep things in perspective as you also help your parents through old age.
She has written other books and now has won awards for this book, including the Kirkus Award for nonfiction and is a finalist for the National Book Award for nonfiction.
But lets face it, this is not a topic anyone of a certain age who has elderly parents is looking to read for pleasure. In the end, despite the challenge of reading her lettering style, the idea of reading a graphic depiction of how to handle the subject of elderly parents turns out to be unescapable.
Of course now after reading the book I am telling all my friends about it. So I now see why it is so popular. It is a subject that so many of us are going through, or have been through or even though you might hope to avoid, you will go through at some level. Chast's experience is more involved than mine but it is funny how much of my own experience I see as I am reading the book. She does a wonderful job of showing the reader how your parents slowly are changing and slipping away sometimes without you really being prepared. She also shows how the relationship developed years before when you were really the child has set the stage for how much influence and control you will have over your stubborn parents. The changes in your parents health and sense of reality also sneaks up on them and it is hard for them to realize they are not as capable of taking care of themselves as they once were. They do not realize they have changed, inside they still think they are younger than they are on the outside. There is so much that any reader can relate to in this book that makes it a great book. It is a quick entertaining way to unwind after a long day visiting your parent at the assisted care facility.
So in the end, it is like going to a group therapy session or at least out for drinks with friends and sharing your stories about life with elderly parents that gives you a chance to see that you are not alone and maybe even a laugh about the hard times. It will help you keep things in perspective as you also help your parents through old age.
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