The Dogs and the Wolves

This is, I think, one of Irene Nemirovsky's best novels.  The translator points out at the beginning of the book that in French there are multiple translations for the for the words wolf and dog.  Those subtle inferences don't come across as well in English.  In spite of her frustration with the differences between languages, I think, the messages and nuances in the book are terrific. The plot is interesting and the differences between the rich and poor classes are well defined.  The life of Jews living in both Russia and France are vividly described.  This is the story of the Sinner family, who through the generations have become separated and one part of the family is wealthy and the other the poor relations.  How these two factions interact and help each other is represented in a very realistic way and quite fascinating.

A friend who grew up in Belgium and speaks French as her first language, explains that in French there is very little difference between a wolf and a dog.  It is a fine line and there is a saying that at dusk it is hard to tell the difference between a wolf and a dog.  In this book, Nemirovsky uses that overlap to show the fine line between the Jews who live at the top of the hill, who are wealthy and those who are at the bottom of the hill, just managing to scrap by.  The reader may go into the story thinking they know who the good and bad guys are, but the line is fuzzy.

Harry is the handsome cousin who has been brought up in the mansion in luxury, and Ben the cousin who grows up in poverty.  Ada is in love with Harry, but knows her place in society and settles for marriage to Ben.  She spends her life watching Harry's life from the outside.  She watches him going through life from the outside.  Some of the descriptions of Ada watching Harry at parties as dusk turns to darkness, so that it is hard to tell which of them is the dog or the wolf.  Ben also gets in bed with Harry's uncles in business, at first to take advantage of their position to bring himself up in the world, then to bring them down with him when his business dealings fail.  Again a slim line between who is the wolf and who is the dog in this case.

Nemirovsky is a wonderful storyteller, one who understands human nature and also clearly describes the social casting of life in Russia and prewar France.  Her writing seems somewhat autobiographical as she creates the characters in this book.  She seems to use her personal relatives as models for the characters in this book.