The following is part of a series of columns in which local community members write about their favorite Jewish books. This week’s column is by Paula Fine, the librarian at Congregation Beth Israel.
For me, one of the pleasures of summer is being able to immerse myself in books. In summer, the pleasure doesn’t feel as guilty as it does the rest of the year, when there seem to be so many responsibilities that take precedence.
Even as a librarian, I usually need to remind myself that when I read it’s really OK because I’m “working” and other things can wait.
But not during the summer! During these months, I give myself permission to read and reread whatever I want.
As a child I spent many vacations in Lake Geneva at the lakefront library, reading as many books as the librarians would allow, while my sisters and cousins splashed in the water and sunbathed on the beach right outside the library’s windows.
I was the only one who returned to our home in Chicago without a tan (which, in retrospect, was probably a good thing).
When the Chronicle asked me to write an article about some of my favorite Jewish books, I knew immediately which ones I would choose, although there is not room to mention all of them.
So here is my abridged list, in no particular order, because it is summer after all and I don’t need to write a proper ALA (American Library Association) approved bibliography.
I’ve just finished rereading “A Simple Story” by S. Y. Agnon, translated from the Hebrew by Hillel Halkin. On its face, it is a “simple story” about a thwarted love affair in a small Polish town in the early 1900s. But the simplicity is deceptive, and as Halkin points out in the afterword, the novel can be understood on many levels.
The writing is wise, psychologically insightful, loving and humorous.
I have read “Call It Sleep” by Henry Roth at least three times, and with every reading I discover more to savor. It is a remarkable book that deals with the immigrant experience from the perspective of a sensitive young boy whose family we would now call dysfunctional.
The writing is exquisite and there are scenes and passages in the book that will forever be embedded in my mind.
Amos Oz’s memoir, “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” is a glimpse into not only his own life, but also into the life and development of Israel. After reading this book, two things happened.
First, I understood in a much more visceral way what it was like for the people who were living in the fledgling state and the sacrifices and hardships they endured. Second, I knew I needed to read more Oz.
I love reading Rebecca Goldstein’s books — she is a philosophy professor who also happens to be an exciting writer — and my two favorites are “The Mind-Body Problem” and “Mazel.”
In the first book, which I found to be witty, feisty and thought provoking, she explores the life of the mind as well as the pleasures of the body, and the tension that can exist between the two.
Goldstein displays her considerable gifts as a storyteller in “Mazel,” a novel about three generations of women, incorporating elements of magical realism with social satire and humor. Her newest book, “Betraying Spinoza,” is a biography of the renegade Jewish philosopher published as part of the Nextbook biography series.
When I first read “As a Driven Leaf” by Milton Steinberg, I was young and I don’t think I fully appreciated his novel. I don’t know what made me seek out the book many years later — perhaps it was an essay that I came across or a review of a new edition — but something drew me to the book at a time when I needed to read it.
They say that the teacher will come when the pupil is ready, and that is how I feel about “As a Driven Leaf.” Although the novel takes place in Judea after the destruction of the Second Temple, for me it is a contemporary work in its depiction of one man’s struggle between faith and reason. If you read it, make sure you have the edition with a forward written by the late author Chaim Potok.
Arthur Sammler, the protagonist of Saul Bellow’s book, “Mr. Sammler’s Planet,” is a character who has stayed with me. I read the book many years ago and it sits on my desk now waiting for a summer reread. Mr. Sammler is a survivor in every sense of the word and he is memorably and lovingly drawn by Bellow.
I was reminded of Arthur Sammler again in a book I recently read, “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. One of the main characters is Leo Gursky, an old man living alone in Manhattan with his memories of a past love and a life before the Holocaust. “The History of Love” is a complicated book to read and figure out, but well worth the effort.
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Philip Roth. His earlier works, which I enjoyed, were absent the complaining, self-pity and self-hatred that I believe he subsequently reveled in, particularly in the Zuckerman trilogy. But his most recent books have redeemed him in my mind.
His latest novel “Everyman” has a difficult theme – a man’s (every man’s) confrontation with death. He looks back over his life with painful honesty and little of the kvetching that so many of Roth’s previous protagonists indulged in.
I’ve just finished reading Michael Chabon’s newest book “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union,” a Jewish detective story and more. It can be dark, but it’s also very funny, and it helps if you know some Yiddish to fully appreciate the puns and word play. It’s a very different book from his earlier novel, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.”
It’s my hope that some of these titles or authors have piqued your interest. Since this is only the end of July, there is still time to indulge in summer reading. That’s what I plan to do.
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