Book Description
“There are places that I have never forgotten. A little cobbled street in a smoky mill town in the North of England has haunted me for the greater part of my life. It was inevitable that I should write about it and the people who lived on both sides of its ‘Invisible Wall.’ ”
The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the “invisible wall” that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, it they were miles apart.
On the eve of World War I, Harry’s family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry’s mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes that might secure Harry’s admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day be whisked off to the paradise of America.
Then Harry’s older sister, Lily, does the unthinkable: She falls in love with Arthur, a Christian boy from across the street.
When Harry unwittingly discovers their secret affair, he must choose between the morals he’s been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart.
A wonderfully charming memoir written when the author was ninety-three, The Invisible Wall vibrantly brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. It is a moving tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love.
Customer Reviews:
A captivating story of a harsh life.......2007-09-03
This book is full of the details of a life that many of us will never experience. The authors story of extreme poverty living in a large family with a hardworking but struggling mother and a distant and often abusive father is both horrifying and captivating.
While it sounds like this should be a depressing book, the details of the moments of hope and happiness lifts it out of the dark side of life in Lancashire and made me wonder about the future for the various key characters. The book is set before and after the great War, but it could be timeless. The central location is a street of two rows of houses facing each other with the 'jews' on one side and the 'christians' on the other. For most of the book there is almost no mingling between the two sides. But at times when their lives are most difficult, they do get together to support one another.
I don't want to give away the story line too much. Some of the difficult scenes are extremely hard to endure, but the details really light up this book even things are hardest.
I would not recommend for anyone younger than about 13, there are too many difficult details here. But for the rest of us, there's LOTS to learn about the silly things that divide us and the fact that despite religious difficulties our lives are more similar than we'd like to believe.
Poignant and profound.......2007-06-26
An absolutely wonderful book written by a 93 year old author who captures the very essence of anti-semitism in pre-World War I England through his own childhood experiences. The last chapter is so descriptive and poignant...really tugs at the heartstrings. I hope Mr. Bernstein continues to share his gift of the written word.
Excellent book.......2007-05-28
Wonderfully written. This book surprised me because of its unpredictability. I couldn't put it down. Mr. Bernstein's story is beautiful, it's a wonder why he waited so long to share it.
A read to get you thinking.......2007-05-25
My six member book club read this last month, and all of us, including our most critical member, found this book very enjoyable and enlightening. The inclusion of dialog easily puts the reader in the time period. The tone and style of the author encourage empathy and understanding of both populations on either side of the invisible wall. The author conveys his and his sibling's emotions in the gentlest of ways while the reader easily grasps that at the time they were much more. While not quite a page turner, my attention never lagged and I would have willingly read more. I would have appreciated more wisdom on the overall subject such as was found in Arthur's letter to Lily.
Vivid Memoir.......2007-05-25
Harry Bernstein writes in a descriptive manner that makes all the characters seem to be living right in front of the reader's eyes. The story is so interesting that I could not put the book down until I finished. It was hard to believe that a man at ninety years of age could remember so much detail and emotion back to his early childhood. The book was well worth reading. I look forward to Mr. Bernstein's next book.
Average customer rating:
- Hilarious if ultimately a one-joke enterprise
- Eye-opening, politically-incorrect and challenging satire.
- If anyone should be in jail it should be the author of this satire.
- How would you like your sacred cow?
- The humor ends pretty quickly
|
My Holocaust: A Novel
Tova Reich
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Satire, General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Political
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Jewish American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel
-
Fieldwork: A Novel
-
Kalooki Nights: A Novel
-
The Ministry of Special Cases
-
Boomsday
ASIN: 0061173452
Release Date: 2007-04-03 |
Book Description
A satire on the culture of victim glorification and Holocaust memory exploitation, My Holocaust follows the careers of the father–son team, Maurice and Norman Messer, who know a good product when they see it. That product is the Holocaust–and Maurice, a survivor with a self–enhancing inflated personal history, and Norman, enjoying vicarious victimhood as a participant in the second–generation movement, proceed to market it enthusiastically. Not even the disappearance of Nechama, Norman's daughter and Maurice's granddaughter, into the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, where she is transformed into a nun, Sister Consolatia of the Cross, deters them from pushing their agenda. The novel follows them on a tour of the Auschwitz–Birkenau death camp, which Maurice, now the driving force behind the most powerful Holocaust memorialization institution in the U.S., organizes to soften up a major potential donor, and which Norman takes advantage of to embark on a surrealistic search for his daughter.
The novel reaches its climax in the takeover of the U.S. Holocaust museum by a coalition of self–styled victims all seeking Holocaust status, bringing together a large cast of characters from every side of the spectrum–from Holocaust wannabees (African and Native Americans, Muslims, women, etc.) to Holocaust professionals– who proceed to mindlessly sacrifice their own children and drain all meaning from suffering and memory in the fevered competition to win the grand prize.
Customer Reviews:
Hilarious if ultimately a one-joke enterprise.......2007-06-19
I feel ungrateful not giving more stars to a novel that made me laugh as much as this one did but it's not a completely successful venture. The author is a true satrist with a real, stinging wit and you can read her book as a sort of breezy riff on the explotation of tragedies/victimhood but it's not really a developed novel. The characters aren't formed, they're just there to make points. That's fine but the downside is that the book feels slight and doesn't linger. I kept wishing that Reich had really brought the characters to loony life (a la "A Confederacy of Dunces"). Still, this is a really talented writer and I can't wait to read her next book.
Eye-opening, politically-incorrect and challenging satire........2007-06-17
MY HOLOCAUST isn't the usual nonfiction account one would expect: it's a fictional satire packed with social commentary, and its premise is certain to spark debate, interest and controversy. Here other minorities and causes want to profit from the Holocaust and its attention - and two opportunity-driven businessmen make their living peddling the Holocaust to groups that seek status through victimization. A Holocaust Museum effort backfires when terrorists try to take over the memorial in this eye-opening, politically-incorrect and challenging satire.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
If anyone should be in jail it should be the author of this satire........2007-06-16
I think it is discussing to trivialize any massive massacre in human history. Amazon sells "Lectures on the Holocaust" by Germar Rudolf which is a revisionist classic that questions the Holocaust facts in a scholarly and academic and non-hateful and very loving way. Yet the author, Germar Rudolf, is in jail in Germany for THOUGHT CRIMES for writing "Lectures on the Holocaust." If anyone should be in jail it should be the author of this satire. Shame on her! BUT, I give high marks for her unique writing style.
How would you like your sacred cow?.......2007-06-03
An A for effort - great writing, a sharp eye for detail, and the brazen concept. The author bravely goes to the edge - and then jumps right off. The first 3/4 of this book contain some brilliant bits of savagely funny satire - there were several times when I put the book down and just laughed for a minute or two. Loses steam and becomes tiresome in the last 100 pages.
The humor ends pretty quickly.......2007-04-20
I do not object to a humorous book about the exploitation of the Holocaust. There is no doubt that the Holocaust has made too many scoundrels rich and famous. There is also no doubt that it deserves a comic treatment, at least as part of a normalization of the abnormal.
At first the novel is indeed funny, hilariously so. It is no crime on the part of the author to be unable to keep this up for the whole length of the book. The humor quickly ends and the rest of the novel is deadly dull. I am in no position to complain about this, there is considerable talent in this book. It just cannot sustain itself long enough to be taken seriously. Nice try thought.
Book Description
"Do you know why I write so much? Because as long as you read, we are together."
-- Raizel Garncarz (Sala's sister),
April 24, 1941
Few family secrets have the power both to transform lives and to fill in crucial gaps in world history. But then, few families have a mother and a daughter quite like Sala and Ann Kirschner. For nearly fifty years, Sala kept a secret: She had survived five years as a slave in seven different Nazi work camps. Living in America after the war, she kept from her children any hint of her epic, inhuman odyssey. She held on to more than 350 letters, photographs, and a diary without ever mentioning them. Only in 1991, on the eve of heart surgery, did she suddenly present them to Ann and offer to answer any questions her daughter wished to ask. It was a life-changing moment for her scholar, writer, and entrepreneur daughter.
We know surprisingly little about the vast network of Nazi labor camps, where imprisoned Jews built railroads and highways, churned out munitions and materiel, and otherwise supported the limitless needs of the Nazi war machine. This book gives us an insider's account: Conditions were brutal. Death rates were high. As the war dragged on and the Nazis retreated, inmates were force-marched across hundreds of miles, or packed into cattle cars for grim journeys from one camp to another. When Sala first reported to a camp in Geppersdorf, Poland, at the age of sixteen, she thought it would be for six weeks. Five years later, she was still at a labor camp and only she and two of her sisters remained alive of an extended family of fifty. In the first years of the conflict, Sala was aided by her close friend Ala Gertner, who would later lead an uprising at Auschwitz and be executed just weeks before the liberation of that camp. Sala was also helped by other key friends. Yet above all, she survived thanks to the slender threads of support expressed in the letters of her friends and family. She kept them at great personal risk, and it is astonishing that she was able to receive as many as she did. With their heartwrenching expressions of longing, love, and hope, they offer a testament to the human spirit, an indomitable impulse even in the face of monstrosity.
Sala's Gift is a rare book, a gift from Ann to her mother, and a great gift from both women to the world.
Customer Reviews:
A gift to mankind.... individually few would be worthy.......2007-10-10
I was so moved by this book I will include share my heartfelt comments to the author.
Just want to THANK YOU for such an amazing book! Your decision to share your mothers personal life with readers who benefit so from your investment of labor and emotion is generous and to be admired! When you were complete it must have looked like E=Mc squared did to Einstein! Simple on the surface with the complexity of the universes author within. My highest regards to you and Sala Kirschner.
Glenn from Tampa Fl and sometimes Lake Tahoe Nv
EXCELLENT........2007-08-16
I picked this book, figuring it would be an interesting read. It is, hands down, one of the best books I have read regarding the Holocaust. What a wonderful book! Where other books have let me down, this book did not. It is a must read.
Unforgettable Story!.......2007-08-03
I read an article in the Ladies Home Journal and wanted to read more about this amazing woman. I bought the book and my mother and I have both just finished reading it. What an unforgettable story - and what a strong and courageous woman is Sala! Thank you, Ann, for bringing this to the rest of the world and for all the incredible extra research you have done to fill in the spaces. It is the story of a life that is much too important to be kept in a box. My husband will read this beautifully and lovingly written book next and I have recommended it to my book club. Thank you! Thank you!
Beautifully Moving and Reflective.......2007-07-17
The author's mother is a woman of courage at many levels. In the Nazi work camps it was forbidden to keep letters. Her defiance and courageous evasion of this rule has given us a rich history of life for the ordinary Polish Jew as arrests, deportations and deprivation grinds down the survivors. We are drawn into her family in an intimate and caring way.
The book is beautifully written. It flows through a story that could be disjointed or monotonous in the hands of a lesser writer. There is so much to learn about love and friendship. How a life is saved when a moment of luck and courage intersect. How new "family" is formed from the fractured remnants of old ones. When hope and succor come from surprising places. The ominous shadows that draw over friendships as the precious lifeline of correspondence with cherished ones grows silent one by one. The network of support and care as new friends build each other up. The courage and hope and the path to a new life after the horror.
I am grateful for Mrs. Kirschner's courage now to open such a tightly sealed vault of pain to us. On a return visit in the 90's she leaves the threshold of her old home in Poland and says "I am so much more now than when I left. " So are we, dear readers. Thank you, Mrs. Kirschner, for your gift to us.
Excellent, informative, moving.......2007-07-09
I am grateful that this loving daughter took the time and energy to compile this very moving and informative story. i felt tremendous compassion for both the mother and the daughter. A wonderful read!
Average customer rating:
- A Bridge Among Jewish Communities
- a wink of the numinous
- An Unusual Delight
|
With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
Manufacturer: Invisible Cities Press Llc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Anthologies
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| AIDS
| Abuse
| Adults
| Aging
| Children
| Class
| Communities
| Culture
| Death
| General
| History
| Leisure
| Marriage & Family
| Medicine
| Men
| Occupational
| Race Relations
| Religion
| Research & Measurement
| Rural
| Social Groups
| Social Situations
| Social Theory
| Suburban
| Urban
| Women
Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
| Alternate History
| Anthologies
| Arthurian
| Contemporary
| Dark
| Epic
| Fairies & Elves
| General
| Historical
| History & Criticism
| Magic & Wizards
| Series
| Urban
General
| Foreign Languages
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Reference Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
As a Driven Leaf
-
The Many Faces of Van Helsing
-
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 14
-
The Painter of Signs (Penguin Classics)
-
The Birth of America: From Before Columbus to the Revolution
ASIN: 0967968356 |
Book Description
Bringing together 24 contemporary writers from 19 different countries, this anthology captures the exuberant storytelling tradition of the Jewish people that has been shaped by centuries of legends, folklore, and mysticism. These writers—from Central Asia, Iran, Morocco, Russia, Siberia, Israel, Latin America, Europe, and the United States—show the diverse strains of the Jewish fabulist imagination. Teeming with passion and humor and rooted in the triumphant and tragic history of a people, these stories illustrate—regardless of language and locale—the Jewish fascination with the mysteries of the imagination and the endless possibilities of life.
Customer Reviews:
A Bridge Among Jewish Communities.......2001-09-04
Others have praised the delightful stories in this rich volume, so I won't spend my time repeating--although I may well say that every good word spoken about this anthology is true. What I shall emphasize is how extraordinarily this book bridges various Jewish communities and sensibilities.
Contemporary Jewish culture has become extremely fragmented during the last fifty or one hundred years. Then here comes a book including Jewish stories from nearly two dozen countries, showing that we all have so much in common despite our differences. Jews in Morocco can relate on these pages to Jews of Russia and Iran and Argentina and Mexico and Siberia and Finland and France and Israel of course, and so on. Ashkenazi and Sephardi and Mizrahi all together sharing the same quests. This book PROVES that we are a united people despite our petty differences. THIS book should be the constitution of the World Jewish Congress. THIS book brings Jewish diversity together in one volume. THIS book should be given to every bar and bat mitzvah around the world. Then we would be one people as in ancient times.
a wink of the numinous.......2001-07-26
This is a delightful anthology with an intriguing title. As it appears, "fabulist" has to do with imagination, in this case Jewish, which raises each story to the level of a mystical adventure. For example, Tehila Lieberman's "Anya's Angel" with wistfulness and delicacy evokes a touching love story with many links to the infinite; Daniel Jaffe's own "Sarrushka and her Daughter" is a highly intriguing folk legend exploring extra-sensory powers in individuals. And here are, to my mind, the best six: Mark Apelman's "A Visitor's Guide to Berlin" is an amazingly powerful evocation of Holocaust memories and an utterly convincing artistic emplotment of those memories, in their intensity and brutal reality, as inhabiting modern-day Berlin and claiming a reality that is more than real. Yakov Shechter's "Midday," a story about the search for meaning and about shaping one's own destiny, has a strong atmosphere of the numinous - the clouds keep darkening, the mystical intent comes more and more into focus - towards the resolution, still mysterious yet imaginatively satisfying. Joan Leegant's "The Tenth" is a powerfully imagined story of a rabbi whose faith, learning, tolerance, whose intellectual and spiritual endurance are callenged and tested by the appearance of an unusual candidate to complete a minyan. (A similar case of a rabbi who is tested by a rebellious pupil is treated flatly and unimaginatively by Steven Sher in "Tsuris," which only shows that what matters and what makes a story fabulous (excuse the pun!) is not the fabula but the quality of imagination and a way with language.) Ruth Knafo Setton's "The Cat Garden" is electrifying, memorable, descriptively evocative. The anthology ends with two of the strongest stories: Dina Rubina's "Apples from Shlitzbutter's Garden," which explores the semi-mystical ways in which our forefathers' inheritance follows its paths into the consciousness of the younger generation, does so with singular warmth and a sense of humor that makes everything vivid. Here the translator (who is Jaffe himself) does an exceptional job conveying an impression of a friendly, chatty narrator communicating real warmth and charm - and yet the story touches on the inevitably painful theme of the memories of our collective past. The last story in the collection is Steve Stern's "the Tale of a Kite," a marvelous fable humorously teaching us a lesson about human nature as well as making an eloquent case for the human need to believe utterly, unsceptically and completely. As in all anthologies, unevenness is the other side of variety.Given so many excellent stories it is a mild disappointment to have alonside some weak ones, such as Galina Vromen's "Sara's Story," Moacyr Scliar's "The Prophets of Benjamin Bok," Steven Sher's "Tsuris" and Cyrille Fleishman's "One day, Victor Hugo." These stories' weakness is, predominantly, in their defective imagination, which treats the supernatural realm as a source of tricks rather than of significance. In the middle stand stories such as John Shepley's "A Golem in Prague" - good, gripping writing that keeps the reader in suspense for something meaningful, yet the design of the story is incomplete, as if it is waiting to fill a mould not yet fully in view. To conclude - "fabulist" or "magical" or whatever we choose to term it, the common denominator in these stories is a wink of the numinous, a pull towards that extra significance which makes life gain a richer hue. This is, if we generalize, what connects the best fabulist stories with all truly good literature. Clearly, I feel enriched by having read this anthology.
An Unusual Delight.......2001-06-14
Over the years, I have read quite a number of Jewish-themed and other anthologies. I certainly expected this one to be of interest, but was taken aback at its freshness, its unique approach, its range and cultural sensitivity. Not only is the emphasis on spirituality and mysticism refreshing, but this book showcases numerous writers on the rise with whom I had not been familiar. I will now seek out their books. And so many translations of works that are simply not available in English elsewhere! This anthology introduced me to writers and literary cultures I'd known only marginally. Kudos to the editor. My favorite stories were those by E. Seltz of Israel (originally from Siberia of all places!), M. Scliar of Brazil, A. Muniz-Huberman of Mexico, and a few from U.S. writers--D. Jaffe (the editor), R. Knafo Setton, and M. Apelman. Contemporary issues of questioning the presence of spirituality in our lives, ancient historical themes, Holocaust themes, and as Mr. Jaffe says in his Introduction, several stories on the theme of Jew as other. (One would expect the Introduction to be a useful overview for college students, by the way.) Half men authors, half women authors, secular and religious perspectives, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi sensibilities. Quite a representative mix of global Jewish culture. And fine literature at the same time. A must read.
Average customer rating:
- Cynthia Ozick at her most emotionally gripping!
- Decent read...
- A disturbing and moving work
- beautiful
- jam packed with excitment
|
The Shawl
Cynthia Ozick
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Ozick, Cynthia
| ( O )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
( O )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Survival In Auschwitz
-
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Penguin Classics)
-
Heir to the Glimmering World
-
The Puttermesser Papers: A Novel
-
The Drowned and the Saved
ASIN: 0679729267
Release Date: 1990-08-29 |
Book Description
A devastating vision of the Holocaust and the unfillable emptiness it left in the lives of those who passed through it.
Customer Reviews:
Cynthia Ozick at her most emotionally gripping!.......2007-10-01
Their is no denying that Ozick is a brilliant writer. Her work breaths
pure brilliance. Ozicks' prose are generous,rich and reaching somewhere between epic poem or prolific essay. She is everything that you expect from a Jewish writer. But in the Shawl you see Ozick at her most sensitive and raw. Though everything is beutifully expressed, Ozick brings a sense of emotional heartache that you just don't see in any of her other work. And unlike many of her male counterparts, Ozicks', "Rosa," manages to capture a whole life, and a few others, in a scant sixty of seventy pages. A must read to short story fans.
Decent read..........2007-07-13
Cynthia Ozick's "The Shawl" tells the story of Jewish women, her fourteen year old niece (Stella), and infant daughter on a death march to a concentration camp. Rosa, the mother is afraid that if her infant daughter Magda is found by the Nazi officer's that she will be killed, therefore she keeps her hidden away in her shawl throughout the entire march, and much of the time that they are in the camp. Rosa's fourteen year old niece, Stella, is jealous of the comfort that Magda has with her shawl during this horrific experience. Stella decides to take Magda's shawl one day while in the camp to warm herself from the cold, thus causing her to be discovered and killed. The characters in a story may give you a sense of actually being present in the events taking place in the story.
However, the section titled Rosa was a bit more confusing as one has to read in and out of her open verbal thoughts (speaking) and personal thoughts about those whom she encounters.
A disturbing and moving work .......2007-02-06
This short work telling of the death of a child in the Shoah, and the subsequent life- destroying effect on the mother of the child is a disturbing and moving one. The symbolic 'shawl' connects the two parts of the work. It had helped keep baby Magda alive in a concentration camp, , and fifty years later the Mother Rosa holds on to as if it contained within it the life of her dead baby. Ozick's writing is brilliant especially in her depiction of the aging survivors in Miami. A note of hope enters in the figure of an elderly suitor Persky who attempts to woo Rosa back to a life of her own. But as Ozick makes painfully clear the message of Rosa's life is that what has been most loved in the past is far more real than any present or future can be.
beautiful.......2006-04-25
Is there a better writer out there? I cannot imagine one. Ozick is a powerful writer -- a magician, in the truest sense of the word. This short book is actually two long stories that originally appeared in the New Yorker. Both segments contain mostly the same people, but at 40 years distance. In the first part, Stella and Rosa, along with Rosa's baby, are force marched and then imprisoned as Jews by the [...]. Through a sort of fantasy, the baby is kept alive for a period of time through the use of the shawl mentioned in the title. 40 years later, Rosa is spiritually still in the camp, though she lives in Miami Beach. When asked about her life, she says it was stolen from her. I won't say anything else except to say that this is so affecting that you won't be able to read it unmoved. I highly recommend this book.
jam packed with excitment.......2005-04-19
"The Shawl" was an exciting adventure that brought me from Rosa's young/middle ages to her elder ages. It brought me through a various range of emotions very quickly. Once you start the book it will be hard for you to put it down. It's a nice brief book jam packed with excitement. Since it is a brief book the level of excitement stays at that same level it starts out as.
Rosa Lublin, the main character has a very hard time in the beginning of the book when she sees her baby daughter, Magda, get killed. That was the hardest thing she has to deal with while being in the Nazi Holocaust. After her hard ships she winds up settling down in Florida. She's a loner, only because she can't let go of her past. But eventually finds her way back to reality after a little help. The author, Cynthia Ozick, has a way of blending everything, emotions, objects, thoughts, hallucinations, ect, into the fast pace book.
I strongly recommend this book to people who can keep up with its fast pace adventure, and who are interested in concentration camps. However if you are a person who wants a real cheerful book this one isn't for you.
Average customer rating:
- Magnificent and Masterful, Spirited and Profound
- Wonderful storyteller
- The Vanished Yiddish World Returns To Life
- A lost world from the inside
- One of the greatest short stories collections of all time
|
The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
British
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Singer, Isaac Bashevis
| ( S )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
German
| European
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Stories for Children
-
Enemies, A Love Story
-
Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories
-
In My Father's Court
-
Shosha: A Novel
ASIN: 0374517886 |
Book Description
The forty-seven stories in this collection, selected by Singer himself out of nearly one hundred and fifty, range from the publication of his now-classic first collection, Gimpel the Fool, in 1957, until 1981. They include supernatural tales, slices of life from Warsaw and the shtetls of Eastern Europe, and stories of the Jews displaced from that world to the New World, from the East Side of New York to California and Miami.
Customer Reviews:
Magnificent and Masterful, Spirited and Profound.......2007-01-13
Isaac Bashevis Singer was a master storyteller and any reader will be well-rewarded for spending time with his "Collected Stories." Many of these stories are set in Poland before World War II or post-war New York City, but there is a spiritual energy that drives all of these tales, regardless of location. Old World demons and devils can be found in "The Unseen," "The Destruction of Kreshev," "Henne Fire," "Zeidlus the Pope," about the Devil tempting a Rabbi into becoming the Pope, and one of the collection's best, "The Dead Fiddler," about a would-be bride inhabited by dueling dybbuks. New World mystical forces are recounted in "Powers," about a man's seductive past, and "The Psychic Journey," about war breaking out during a writer's trip to Israel. Several stories involve survivors of World War II, among them "The Cafeteria," about a woman who imagines seeing Hitler in a New York City deli, and the unexpectedly heartbreaking "The Joke," about a practical joke taken seriously. Every story is deeply felt and richly detailed, including the more comic ones such as "Gimpel the Fool," "The Yearning Heifer," and "The Admirer," about a writer's fan disrupting his day. Choosing favorite stories in this collection is almost impossible, because they are all unforgettable, but ones that resonated most richly for me include "Taibele and her Demon," about a woman's mysterious night visitor, "The Little Shoemakers," about a family of cobblers who courageously survive two world wars, "The Manuscript," about a mistress who saves her lover's novel from destruction, and the transformative "A Crown of Feathers," about a young woman losing and then trying to regain her faith.
Wonderful storyteller.......2006-12-28
This is the first ive read of Bashevi Singers work but its sure aint the last.
Ive read quite a lot of the classics and more than a couple of the Nobel prize winners, but I can honestly say that I have a hard time remembering such joyous storytelling. Singer was amazing; it all seems so easy when he tells his stories; its almost like the stories flows from his pen.
The fact that the stories often stem from the culturally rich jewish community in Europe makes it even more interesting. We tend to forget today, that much of what we call art was carried at great length by that community, together with the russian.
Anyway...if we forget all this and center on the prose, i end up with the following recommendation:
If you want to read something marvellous, enchanting and extraordinary,
dont miss Singer.
The Vanished Yiddish World Returns To Life.......2005-09-17
This truly excellent collection of Singer's stories (all originally composed in the Yiddish language) are as colorful as the people about whom the stories were written. Here are tales of weddings, of jokesters, of happy occasions of all variety, of feuding farmwives, and of unrepentant fools. After reading through a handful of Singer's works, a person gets the feeling of how it must have been to live as a Jew in eastern Europe a hundred years ago. This was a culture rich in its traditions and lore, a people who loved life and kept their identity through good times and bad. Singer, himself born and raised in the region so many of his short stories describe, was one of very few authors I would unhesitantly dub "a human treasure".
A lost world from the inside.......2005-04-01
The greatest paragraph in all of Singer is the one at the beginning of his story, Shosha, where he says he knew two dead languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, and was educated to read about the cultic requirements of a temple which had not existed for 1900 years; he knew Yiddish which he considered perhaps not a language at all, and that although his ancestors had lived in Poland for five or six hundred years he knew only a few words of Polish, although he lived in Poland for all of his youth until he came to America.
Nothing says more about the unhealthy state of the Jews than this. Zionists should use this quote as the supreme justification for their idea that Jewish life in the Diaspora was very disfunctional and certainly unhealthy.
One of the greatest short stories collections of all time.......2004-07-19
Singer is one of the supreme masters of the short story. His stories are filled with incredible energy and life. Demonic lust drives many characters, and one of the reasons he is much loved is his seeming modern depiction of characters who come from the old world, the world of Jewish Poland . But the stories I most love are ones in which a power of beneficence overwhelms in some surprising way. The great Gimpel the Fool is one example of this, the story of the cuckold the eternal innocent and believer who knows once he stops believing in his wife he will stop believing in God and the goodness of the world. Another of these great stories is the Little Shoemakers with its tale of successive generations in old world and new continuing the family trade despite the loss and transformation in tradition time brings. Another of this kind of great story is the 'Spinoza of Market Street' with its revelation of an unexpected love. The list is long of very great and moving stories.Singer is a master- teller who can be stark and frightening at times but gives that sense the great writers' do , of life in literature as something deeply deeply meaningful. Who reads this book will taste life deeply and more deeply love it.
Average customer rating:
- A RABBI, A MUSLIM AND A NUN WALK INTO THE TENT OF ABRAHAM AND EACH ONE DISCOVERED THEMSELVES AT HOME
- Praises for this contribution to peace
- Courageous Grief Provides Room Under the Tent for All
- Historical Background
- Doyal
|
The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Joan Chittister ,
Saadi Shakur Chishti ,
Arthur Waskow , and
Karen Armstrong
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Study
| Old Testament
| Reference
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Stories
| Reference
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Islam
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Judaism
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Study
| Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
| Sacred Writings
| Judaism
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
| Sacred Writings
| Judaism
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Armstrong, Karen
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
All Deals
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Religion & Spirituality
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding
-
The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible
-
The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart
-
Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
-
The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
ASIN: 0807077283 |
Book Description
In recent years there has been an explosion of curiosity and debate about Islam and about the role of religion, both in the world and in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The numerous books published on these questions speak to issues of politics, history, or global security. None speaks to the heart and the spirit, and yet millions of people experience these issues not as political, economic, or intellectual questions but as questions of deep spiritual, emotional, and religious significance.
The Tent of Abraham provides readers with stories that can bring all the faiths together. Written by Saadi Shakur Chishti, a Scottish American Sufi, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, an American Jew, and Joan Chittister, a Benedictine sister, the book explores in accessible language the mythic quality and the teachings of reconciliation that are embedded in the Torah, the Qur'an, and the Bible. It also weaves together the wisdoms of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions into a deeper, more unified whole.
The Tent of Abraham is the first book to tell the whole story of Abraham as found in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources and to reenergize it as a basis for peace.
Joan Chittister, OSB, is a best-selling writer and lecturer. She lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Arthur Waskow is the director of The Shalom Center in Philadelphia and author of numerous books, including Seasons of Our Joy (Beacon/ 3611-0/ $18.00 pb) and Down-to-Earth Judaism. Saadi Shakur Chishti (Neil Douglas-Klotz) is an internationally known Sufi scholar and writer. His most recent book is The Sufi Book of Life.
Customer Reviews:
A RABBI, A MUSLIM AND A NUN WALK INTO THE TENT OF ABRAHAM AND EACH ONE DISCOVERED THEMSELVES AT HOME.......2007-07-20
Please notice the reading regarding Abraham receiving the three travellers is this Sunday's First Reading in the Roman Catholic liturgy, followed by the Gospel Reading regarding the complementary hospitality of Mary and Martha.
And if you find that representation as bar joke unappealing, let us read it like Dante: A nun, a rabbi and a Muslim awoke in the midstream of their lives to discover themselves in a dark woods of war and danger, of fear and cruelty, and fled back to the welcoming refuge of Abraham's tent.
Or Biblically: Abram looked out from his tent and saw three strangers approaching: A Rabbi, a Muslim and a nun. Abram ran out to prostrate himself at their feet and beg them to come into his tent to rest and to eat and to pray together. They told him to call himself Abraham and his wife Sarah. And the rest is our history.
An interesting aspect of this recent book is that it reads best from the back to the front. Thus alone do we discover the unmentioned and secret author, the Rabbi Phyllis Berman, sharing her secret story, treasured for ages in secret among Hebrew women, of the profound love, alliance, solidarity and companionship of Hagar and Sarai, and thus of all the peoples engendered by Abraham: The Judeo-christian and Islam, an inheritance more numerous than the grains of sand by the sea and the stars at night.
The leaves high at the top of a mighty oak tree might know only their separation, might feel only their beating one another in the powerful winds that pass. Only by looking way back may they perceive that they in fact spring from the one thick and solid trunk and are in fact children of the one Father.
Other important books to read in this regard were written by the Islamic scholar and Roman Catholic Deacon, George Dardess, in particular his great Do We Worship the Same God?: Comparing the Bible And the Qur'an as well as his Meeting Islam: A Guide For Christians (A Many Mansions Book).
Truly this present volume is a monument necessary for our needlessly divided times which profit no one but the war mongers and munitions makers. By this great cornerstone may we rebuild the great kingdom of peace and compassion which our One God commanded, to which our One God guides us, the thirst for which our One God fills our Spirit.
This book serves well for Lectio Divina, including the remarkable Forward by Karen Armstrong, who reminds us that Abraham, in receiving the Three Strangers into his Tent, receives God. "The act of practical compassion led directly to a divine encounter." She goes on: " . . .it expresses a religious truth found in all the major traditions: it is compassion, not righteousness and doctrinal certainty, that leads us into the presence of what monotheists call God, . . ."
Recall here that the Latin roots of our word religion indicate a binding back together again, to ourselves, to one another, to God. Religion therefore ties us all together in one family, one humanity, united by God. Religion explicitly does not permit us to kill one another, not even in the name of God, but to love one another.
Truly this book is far too profound and important and prophetic for our times for me to attempt a superficial summary here. This is a book to live with, and to awaken by to the welcoming fact that we all dwell within the generous tent of Abraham. This book comes recommended by several authoritative sources, including Tikkum, which writes, "This book will open your eyes to the possibilities of collaborative work between our traditions, and is a must read for those doing interfaith peacework."
Our duty as believers is to do interpersonal peacework. Blessed are the Peacemakers. Do for others what you want them to do for you. Read this book and live it, please, for the sake of our children and their children.
Late last year Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, paused in silent prayer inside Turkey's Blue Mosque, breathing our unity of Faith. May we follow faithfully his holy example.
And what a joy and a relief to read in this context the great Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, still strong and prophetic. I also strongly recommend her The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages (Crossroad Spiritual Legacy Series). It was she who led me to this Tent of Abraham, now available in paperback and important for us to study carefully and prayerfully today.
Praises for this contribution to peace.......2007-03-25
This is a most important book, and I highly recommend it. The combination of a Christian Sister, a Rabbi and a Sufi Murshid discussing their views of Abraham and Sarah's lives/tent from an in-depth perspective offers a model for peace and discussion that can be used in Churches, Mosques and Synagogues around the world.
The authors present a discussion and model for deeper discourse that offers much hope in our seriously troubled world. The following Sura quoted from the Qur'an on page 133 of The Tent of Abraham highlights its message:
"So turn your face and purpose towards the priordial religion of the upright, the hanif, the nature innately formed by the One Reality in which the One created humanity. Let there be no change in this work created by the One. This religion is self-subsisting, the standard, always resurrecting itself. But most among humanity do not understand. Turn to and remain conscious only of the One, remaining constantly in prayer. Don't deify anything else in yor life, not concepts or beliefs. Don't divide yourselves into sects that contratulate themselves on their own ideas (translation of Sura 30:30-32).
We are all part of one human family who simply need to realize our divine Unity. Thank you Sr. Joan Chittister, Rabbi Waskow and Murshid Saadi for such a heartful book.
Sharon G. Mijares, Ph.D.
Primary author of The Root of All Evil: An Exposition of Prejudice, Fundamentalism and Gender Imbalance.
Courageous Grief Provides Room Under the Tent for All.......2007-01-04
The story of Father Abraham is shared by Jews, Christians & Muslims. The fac that the two sons Issac & Ishamel reconcile in order to honor their Father in death provides a basis for Peace if we will make this our story.
Historical Background.......2007-01-04
The book provides a good historical background of the three major religious movements. As a Christian, I learned a great deal more about the foundations of both the Jewish and Muslim faiths. It was helpful to my understanding of circumstances as they exist today.
Doyal.......2006-11-04
The Tent of Abraham presents a vision of hope: what Jews, Christians and Muslims can do for a mutual understanding of the essence that binds these three great religions in Abraham. This book is especially clutching in showing the reader how women, mothers caught up in the madness of war, can see more clearly than politicians, that our humanity and our compassion should inform us that war can never be a satisfactory solution to any human need. People of all faiths should read this book.
Average customer rating:
- A union of man and woman is most likely to last if they cherish the same virtues and despise the same evil.
- Fantastic Example of Fine Victorian Literature
- WOW!
- A Positive View of Judaism by one of the Victorian era's greatest authors
- The last of one of the best- Courageous moral Literature
|
Daniel Deronda (Penguin Classics)
George Eliot , and
Terence Cave
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
19th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Eliot, George
| Classics
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Classics
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
British
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Eliot, George
| ( E )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Eliot, George
| ( E )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
British
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
19th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Eliot, George
| Classics
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Classics
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Adam Bede (Penguin Classics)
-
Middlemarch (Signet Classics)
-
The Mill on the Floss (Penguin Classics)
-
Romola (Penguin Classics)
-
Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days
ASIN: 0140434275 |
Book Description
George Eliot’s final novel and her most ambitious work,
Daniel Deronda contrasts the moral laxity of the British aristocracy with the dedicated fervor of Jewish nationalists. Crushed by a loveless marriage to the cruel and arrogant Grandcourt, Gwendolen Harleth seeks salvation in the deeply spiritual and altruistic Daniel Deronda. But Deronda, profoundly affected by the discovery of his Jewish ancestry, is ultimately too committed to his own cultural awakening to save Gwendolen from despair.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the 1878 Cabinet Edition.
Customer Reviews:
A union of man and woman is most likely to last if they cherish the same virtues and despise the same evil........2007-08-05
Imagine a crowd of men and women of various age, stature, and alibi assemble in a place where you the spectator are going to infer an observation as to their true sentiment. This task is difficult in a train packed with commuters, but easy in a casino where gamblers share one and only desire; to extract gain from someone's loss. This is where the two main characters of George Eliot's final novel "Daniel Deronda" first catch a glimpse of each other.
Gwendolen Harleth, young and vivacious, full of beauty but low on luck in a game of roulette resorts to gambling in order to help her destitute mother. With the last whirl of the disk comes the hope of big win amongst the sybarites vying for bestowal from the mindless wheel. The sight of the ill-fated creature bewitches Daniel. For is it not true that attraction is at its superb when mixed with sympathy?
In this classic, George Eliot creates an exemplar in the character of Daniel Deronda, a fine English man with chiseled look. His magnanimity is put to the test with the introduction of Mirah Lapidoth, a poor Jewish woman whose striking beauty emanates from the person who wishes to see it. Her magnificent feature is like the underwater world visible only to the diver.
Oh, if only our heart came in two like most parts of our body; so that we continue to live if we lose one. While our brain chooses as many objects to fill its contentment, our heart chooses singularly when it comes to truest love. Moreover, why is it when we lose this true love our head which houses our big brain does not hurt yet our heart feels inexplicable pain, what a power this organ as small as our fist has on our being.
Like Daniel, we face ultimate decision, which puts our susceptibility in check. Nevertheless, most of us are not as steadfast as he is. We continue to err because our values change with whoever we are with now akin to chameleon in search of prey and acceptance.
Fantastic Example of Fine Victorian Literature.......2006-10-07
I read this book as part of a graduate class on the "study of the novel" and was absolutely blown away by it. This was my first attempt at George Eliot and though I had been wanting to read her for some time, the sheer girth of most of her works prevented me from adding them to my "leisure reading" list.
The character of Gwendolen Harleth is strong and commanding, Henleigh Grandcourt is perhaps one of the best villains ever written into literature, and Daniel Deronda is unequivocally the most inherently flawless character ever created who does not bore the reader with his goodness.
This is a big book to be sure, but it reads fast and there is much said about the appearances and prejudices of Victorian society. There are many recurring themes and parallels to be on the lookout for. This is an intensely "smart" read, and for that reason it is one of my favorite Victorian novels ever---next to Dickens' "Dombey and Son" and "David Copperfield," that is.
I look forward to reading more of Eliot's work in the future. She was a brilliant writer and observer.
WOW!.......2006-09-27
OHMYGOD- this book rocks! Quit work for a week and dive in- Every sentence will enrich your soul- She's THAT amazing.
A Positive View of Judaism by one of the Victorian era's greatest authors.......2006-07-05
Daniel Deronda was the final novel authored by George Eliot
(1819-1881) whose real name was Mary Ann Evans. In this novel
Eliot tells the story of two intriguing fictional characters:
Gwendolyn Harleth-egocentric, spoiled and rich husband hunting
young lady noted for her beauty, wit and charm. Her marriage to
the older aristocrat Grandcourt proves disastrous. Gwendolyn
emerges at the end of this 800 page three-decker as a more
mature person eager to live and grow.
Daniel Deronda is a young man raised as an English Protestant
who has a mysterious past. During the novel he learns of his
Jewish blood; becomes a good friend of Mordecai the prophetic
voice of the Jewish hope for a homeland in the Middle East.
Daniel falls in love with Mordecai's singing sister Mirah.
The novel is slow moving. Today it would have undergone editing
to reduce its numerous pages. It is a work which is sympathetic
to the beginnings of Zionism and has a postive view of the Jews.
All of this in a nineteenth century society which was very Anti-
Semitic.
George Eliot is more interested in the human mind and its many
labyrinthal peregrinations from youth to maturity. She is a forerunner of writers like Henry James who explores what underlies the surface behavior of fictional characters.
Eliot did not have the widescope of Dickens nor the practical relation of cold facts as did Trollope. She did have a massive intellect who told serious stories for thinking adults.
She is one of my favorite writers who is well worth knowing.
The last of one of the best- Courageous moral Literature .......2005-11-01
In her final novel George Elliot courageously tells the story of a young man , Daniel Deronda who raised in an assimilated family goes on to discover his Jewishness, and make it the center of his life. Eliot is a master portrayer and analyer of the moods of human character. As he is befriended by the hero Gwendollyn who is suffering in her unhappy marriage, he develops in exploring his Jewishness, and eventually comes to 'marry the girl ,'Mirah"and go on to make a life for himself.
Average customer rating:
- Discerning book lover
- A Pleasant Read
- A Inspiring True Story!
- A TRUE STORYTELLER...
- If you are looking for the meaning of YOUR life...
|
The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness: A True Story
Joel ben Izzy
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Special Needs
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Jewish
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Motivational
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
True Accounts
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Espionage
| Murder & Mayhem
| Organized Crime
| Serial Killers
| True Crime
General
| Mythology
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Storytelling
| Mythology
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
New Age
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
| Astrology
| Chakras
| Channeling
| Divination
| Dreams
| General
| Goddesses
| Meditation
| Mental & Spiritual Healing
| Mysticism
| New Thought
| Reference
| Reincarnation
| Self-Help
| Theosophy
| Urantia
| Visionary Fiction
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Beggar King and Other Tales From Around The World
-
The Ice Harvest
-
Tell Me a Riddle
-
Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions
-
The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction (Penguin Classics)
ASIN: 1565125126 |
Book Description
"Wonderful!” (Grace Paley).
“Heartwarming and smart and wonderfully written” (
Detroit Free Press).
“Provides edifying advice, intimately given, like the best-selling
Tuesdays with Morrie” (the
Dallas Morning News).
“Altogether original” (Dr. Laura Schlessinger).
“This story will speak to the humanity of the reader” (
Jewish Book World).
The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness is that rare, magical book—a book that tells a good story but also shows us how the tales we learned when we were children shed light on our adult lives. Joel ben Izzy had the unusual opportunity to relive those lessons when he lost his voice and reconnected with his old teacher, Lenny, a retired storyteller. Through his meetings with Lenny, Joel rediscovers the wisdom of ancient tales and takes us on a journey into a world of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, lost horses and buried treasures—and in the end tells us the secret of happiness.
Customer Reviews:
Discerning book lover.......2007-01-05
I had picked up this book at a book fair a while back and it sat on my book self for months. One afternoon I started reading it and I was completely capitivated by the beauty, insight and inspiration contained in this bright treasure. The book speaks to your soul. It is also funny, wise and instructive. Ben Izzy gives us an opportunity to learn from his strength and challenges. When life hands you lemons you have options on what to do with them. Ben Izzy explores and discovers the ability to make lots of lemonade. This book was so moving that I wanted several special people in my life to have it and be able to read it again and again. Everyone that recieved a copy was equally knocked out. All I can say is do not pass this one up. This book will warm your soul and inspire you.
A Pleasant Read.......2006-09-08
This book intersperses short stories from around the world with the author's struggles coping with partial muteness. Rather than being preachy or sentimental, the author entertains us by providing international tales that foretell lessons he learns in his own life. The author's advice re: happiness reminds me of Theodore Roethke's beautiful lines:
"I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go."
I did not provide this book with five stars, only because I felt the author's relationship with his friend Lenny was co-dependent and deserved less attention. Of course, that relationship leads the author to a large part of his self-actualization, but I would have liked to hear more about his wife--she shines in every small aside about her. If you want to be entertained and read a story about an author coping with an illness (that affects his ability to speak) in his own unique, admirable way, this is the book for you.
A Inspiring True Story!.......2006-08-25
This book found me the day I was attending the wake of a good friend. I was feeling miserable of course and decided to start this book minutes before I got out of the car at the funeral home to take my mind of off my grief. I read the prologue and was hooked to this story. It has changed my outlook on life and on the death of my friend. It is great how the author takes each folktale and applies it to his life. This book is full of many life lessons and I am truly inspired to look through the curses in my life to find the blessings like Joel ben Izzy did. I have just bought this book and plan to read it to my High School World History classes this fall. I think this is a must read book for everyone. Give yourself a gift and read this book!
A TRUE STORYTELLER..........2006-03-19
Each person has their own story to share. Joel ben Izzy shares his story in this small book with great power. The author weaves wisdom stories from a multitude of cultures and applies them to his life story. The meaning and measure of ben Izzy's words challenges the reader to think of their story and emphasizes the importance of sharing it with someone.
Ben Izzy, recounts his life focusing on a central event, him losing his voice due to cancer. The tale describes the family heartache and personal struggles he must overcome to find the true story within himself. Read and reread this wonderful tale of love, loss, and enlightenment.
If you are looking for the meaning of YOUR life..........2005-09-28
...this is a good place to start. Joel draws you in with his engaging storytelling, insight, humble nature. I found myself trying to slow down and read just a little every night because I didn't want it to end so soon. But I could just have easily read the book in one sitting. Don't miss this one.
Average customer rating:
- Strange, good, satisfying
- Best of the Trilogy
- Interesting portrait of immigrants in Victorian England
- "You Don't Know Her, She'll Fight..."
- A MUST READ!!!
|
The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 3)
Philip Pullman
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Animals
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
| Fiction
| Nonfiction
Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Pullman, Philip
| ( P )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Pullman, Philip
| ( P )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
Mysteries
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Teen Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
( P )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| Parish, Peggy
| Park, Barbara
| Parr, Todd
| Paulsen, Gary
| Peet, Bill
| Pilkey, Dav
| Polacco, Patricia
| Potter, Beatrix
Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Mysteries
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Shadow in the North (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 2)
-
The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 1)
-
The Tin Princess
-
Lyra's Oxford
-
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
ASIN: 0679826718
Release Date: 1992-02-18 |
Book Description
Sally, now 25, is comfortably settled with her child, Harriet, her work, and her London friends. But when a complete stranger claims to be both her husband and Harriet's father, Sally's whole world comes crashing down around her. With nowhere to turn, she escapes with Harriet into the slums of London's East End--and finds help in some unexpected quarters.
"Pullman is fast becoming a modern-day Dickens for young adults. The setting is the same, the strong eye for characters is there, as are the brooding atmosphere, the social conscience, and the ability to spin plot within plot. Sally Lockhart is now a young woman, left alone with a toddler. Nothing prepares her for the shock of receiving a summons from a man she has never even heard of, suing for divorce and the custody of her beloved Harriet. Sally struggles against the net closing around her, seeking to find out who is persecuting her and why. The writing style is lively and direct, and there's lots of action. This is a suspense novel with a conscience, and a most enjoyable one."--School Library Journal.
Customer Reviews:
Strange, good, satisfying.......2007-10-05
I loved Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy so much, so I picked up his Sally Lockhart series to keep my glow going. They're really good; not quite as incredible as the HDM books, but very interesting, engaging and suspenseful. I loved the first book in the series; the second was confusing but very good too. This one, book 3, was a very odd book, with odd characters, to put it mildly. But it was even more gripping than the previous Sally Lockhart installment. Some awful things happen in it, too; I cried several times throughout reading this. I most definitely recommend this, but read books 1 and 2 first, to get the background of the characters and their motivations.
Best of the Trilogy.......2005-08-11
I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading this book on a night before I had to go to work. It was worth every minute: a page-turning thriller that would put any of the "adult" novels of the genre to shame.
Interesting portrait of immigrants in Victorian England.......2005-05-19
This book is quite different from the previous Sally Lockhart Mysteries for a couple of reasons: The story really doesn't involve the characters we'd come to know and enjoy in The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, with the exception of Sally herself. It seems to be more of a political/social history of the "Jewish Question" and the prejudices of and persecutions by the lower classes against the new immigrants from eastern Europe who came to settle and build a new life for themselves in London. Too, the identity of the Tzaddik was pretty transparent. I figured out who it was less than half-way through the book. Now I'm not saying it wasn't a good, fast-paced, exciting read...it was. I just think it was different and less of a YA type novel than the previous two. I think older YA readers (and adults) would be able to understand it more than the younger ones. It's a shame Mr. Pullman didn't continue with the Sally Lockhart series after The Tiger in the Well. I learned quite a bit about the times and the people of 19th Century London and am interested in learning more. Fortunately, I just received a copy of George MacDonald Fraser's latest novel Flashman on the March from amazon.uk. so I can continue my education about Victorian England and laugh at the misadventures of Sir Harry as he lies, cheats, and tries to get as far away from anything that hints of danger as possible...unless there is a beautiful woman somewhere to be pursude, wooed, and abandoned. Tally ho!
"You Don't Know Her, She'll Fight...".......2004-10-20
"The Tiger in the Well" is the third of the Sally Lockhart books, and definitely my favourite. Despite the prolonged absence of Jim Taylor, it is the darkest of the books, where the stakes are at their highest. Whilst Jim Taylor and Webster Garland are away on holiday, Sally receives a letter from a man named Mr Parrish, who claims that she is his wife and her baby daughter Harriet is his own. Making it worse, it accuses her of being an unfit mother, and that custody of Harriet should be given to Parrish. Sally is horrified - not only has she never heard of this man before, but the law is not on her side. Somehow there exists a marriage certificate for the two of them, and a birth certificate that testifies Parrish is Harriet's daughter. Despite help from her financial consultant Margaret Haddow and the servants of the house, Sally's case in a court of law seems hopeless - her lawyer didn't even know that Harriet was a girl! There seems only one thing to do, and that's take Harriet and disappear.
And so Sally and her daughter become fugitives, sinking from hotel rooms to poor houses to the street, whilst the law steadily closes in on her. How can she investigate the mystery surrounding her when she must also look after a baby? Soon however, she comes into the path of a man named Daniel Goldberg, a Jewish political writer who claims that they can help one another - he can give Sally a safe place for Harriet, and she can help him uncover the identity of the Tzaddik. This man is one who few have seen, but is feared by almost all, especially the Jewish community. They say he has a `dybbuk' for a servant, a little imp from hell that waits on him, and that he controls almost all the underworld dealings. More importantly however, Goldberg believes that he is behind Sally's dilemma.
"The Tiger in the Well" is definitely my favourite Sally Lockhart book, where Pullman excels himself in his writing skills. The predicament that Sally finds herself in is truly frightening - just think, at any moment your life could be pulled out from under your feet because of spiteful unknown powers. Her gradual decline is realistic and unsettling, and is made especially difficult with the presence of a young child (one who isn't potty trained and is slightly feverish to boot). Often she seems to be hanging at the end of a thread, and it's scary to see this capable woman put in such a position. In such cases, Pullman often gives us the most poignant scenes, such as a waiter advising Sally to change her give-away accent, or of Sally turning in shock, certain that Fred Garland (Harriet's father) is behind her.
For those who missed them in "The Shadow in the North", Rosa and Trembler make appearances, and although Jim Taylor is away for most of the book, he does return in time to make a splash with the invaders who take over his house. But this is mostly Sally's book, especially since we see her both at her strongest, and her most vulnerable.
Pullman also uses Daniel Goldberg has a device to highlight the exploitation of Jews and other immigrants coming into England, and the prejudice held against them - two realities that are sadly going on even today. Perhaps what comes across most vividly in the stories is the readiness with which people are prepared to turn on unknown foreigners, and eagerly foster their hate for those who seem to have more then them. Likewise is the truly appalling plan that the Tzaddik had organised for Harriet - I won't give it away, but it's just horrible, almost unthinkable. One thing that I didn't like however was the huge `deux ex machina' that Pullman instigates in order to resolve the story - for someone who presents himself as an atheist, he certainly heavily relies on the Hand of God in order to save Sally. Some fans of Fred may also not like the new love interest for Sally, and I myself thought it was a bit unnecessary (especially considering that Sally has always been presented as an independent young woman), but it certainly doesn't overshadow the more important aspects of the book.
"The Tiger in the Well" is also the book that has quite a bit of foreshadowing for Pullman's more famous works, the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, including a nasty little monkey, the power of stories, and even a glass of Tokay. It's always interesting linking up stories by the same author, and there are other little thematic touches that appear both here, and in the "Materials" trilogy. The Sally Lockhart books can be read out of order, but if you want to get the best out of this one, I definitely suggest reading "The Ruby in the Smoke" first - the Tzaddik's true identity won't have the same resonance if you don't.
One last note: the Amazon editorial review is from an entirely different book, and must have been posted on the wrong web page. If you're ordering this book, double-check to make sure you're getting the one you want.
A MUST READ!!!.......2004-08-30
this is the most enjoyable book...
the best ever...
when i started reading this book i didn't want to stop, and i didn't want to finish reading it.
i didn't want to finish those enjoyable days...
well, is philip pullman the best story teller ever???
ofcourse he is ...
this book let u live with sally and feel with her.
the best in the series
Books:
- The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl, Book 5)
- The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel (P.S.)
- The Matzah Man: A Passover Story
- The Merchant of Venice (Cambridge School Shakespeare)
- The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World
- The Painted Veil
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)
- The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World
- The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power
- The Silver Spoon
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Rise Above: God Can Set You Free from Your Weight Problems Forever
- Dinner with a Perfect Stranger: An Invitation Worth Considering
- Statistics in Ecotoxicology
- The Finite Element Method in the 1990's: A Book Dedicated to O.C. Zienkiewicz
- WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR
- Caribbean Elegance
- An Essential Guide to Choosing Your Cold Water Aquarium Fish
- The Lhasa Atlas: The Changing Face of a City
- The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Building in the Chicago Area,
- Genus Collybia
MY FATHER'S SECRET WAR: A MEMOIR
Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World
The Diary of Petr Ginz
