Andrew Sanders (2)Critiques

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I was eager to read this book, as a Jewish woman of Hungarian descent. Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations. For one, the author repeatedly stated that he discovered something, but that he'd tell us about it later. Later, later, later. One time there were three instances of this on a single page. I found this frustrating and annoying and almost stopped reading because of it.

I also was not a fan of the author's style. He interweaves conversations he is supposedly having with his deceased ancestors. I presume he uses this as a vehicle to convey what he has learned about their lives, and while novel, I found the whole concept strange, perhaps because I'm just not one for the paranormal. In at least one instance, the first half of the page is spent with him explaining to the deceased relative that they're dead and that he's in the future having the conversation with them in his mind. I got tired of reading fluff like this.

In the end, I did like the parts where he mentioned the history of Hungary, which was my main reason for reading this book. However, unless you're a relative of the author, I'm not sure how much you'd really get from this book.

I received a copy of this book from Librarything Early Reviewers in exchange for my honest review.

Such a neat concept. I loved how he took historical facts that he dug up on his family members and then seamlessly blended them into a fictional story of his family. He really brings his ancestors to life and makes history breathe beneath your fingertips. Great book!

Through a wealth of documents, researchers and luck, Andrew Sanders has managed to trace his Jewish ancestors to the mid eighteenth-century. The book alternates between his "conversations" with the deceased and his detailed research rail. Although I have an interest in genealogy, I found this book extremely dull. It jumped around so much that it was difficult to understand his family dynamics and piece together what actually happened. Overall, I believe that this book is more appropriate for a family reunion than wide-spread publication.

As someone who is deep into my family's history, this book was a must read. The author takes known facts and mixes them with speculation of what took place, then adds conversations with long dead relatives (oh how I wish I could actually do that!) and winds up with a fascinating book about his roots and Hungarian-Jewish history.. The book ranges from concerns about what to do when Austrian Emperor decrees that only the oldest son can marry in a Jewish family, to the family’s migration to Hungary, to the country’s eventual betrayal. Readers will find themselves a part of the family, celebrating and suffering along with them, as if actually there among them.

This is a must read for anyone who has caught the "genealogy bug". How many times have we wished we could talk with our ancestors to learn about their lives? The author did just that and then tied in the facts to what he speculated happened in their lives. I expected that the book would address more about the family's life during the holocaust and that it would be a very sad and emotional story. However; the focus on how the family ended up in Hungary and all of their trials and tribulations was very fascinating. I definitely enjoyed the book and will share it with family and friends.

Andrew Sanders tells the story of Hungarian Jewry, a now destroyed but once thriving community, and his own ancestors who lived there. He does so in two ways. First by describing what he found by researching, looking at documents, by visiting the country, seeing the places his ancestors lived, and talking to people. He also tells his tale by mean of imaginary sometimes somewhat funny always informative dialogues with his now long dead ancestors, such as a great great grandfather who died centuries ago who told him he would be happy to talk with him; he has nothing else to do. Sanders informs us about life from a couple of centuries ago until the present when “bullet holes (fired at Jews are) still clearly perceptible in the wall.”

Jews lived in the Czech provinces for a long time until 1726 when the shortsighted Austrian emperor Charles VI decided that he wanted to reduce the number of Jews in his kingdom. He ordered that only the oldest son of a Jewish family could marry and have children.

Unwilling to live without spouses and families many Jews traveled to nearby Hungary. The ethnic Hungarians were more farsighted than Charles. They recognized that the Jews could help improve their primitive and backward country.”Oh,” his great great grandfather from 1820 said to Sanders, “they welcomed us with open arms. They needed us. They begged us to come. They needed our brains, our initiative, our energy.” They welcomed them with open arms, but in their hearts they retained a simmering anti-Semitism that held the Jews back from achieving all they could, and not allowing the Jews to help Hungary as much as they could. Some towns even refused to allow Jews. Soon Hungary had over a million Jews and, as is well-known, the Hungarians helped kill the Jews in the 1940s.

Yet, despite all, the Jews created a relatively satisfactory life in Hungary. They helped improve the culture. Ironically, in view of later events, they stressed the culture of Germany, and spoke German along with the language of Hungary.

Sanders includes interesting stories and pictures, including the story of the monk who loved and sang the prayer Shema Yisrael. Was he once Jewish?