Nora Gold

Thank you to the author for this ARC which she was asking for readers to review and I graciously accepted since they seemed interestingly enough though I usually don't read novellas and especially flip books (turn the book over to get the other one).

The plots of these novellas were stand alones and unrelated.

One side was Yom Kippur In A Gym where it concentrated on five people, both women and men. They all have their issues and downfalls and they reflect on them on the last day of Yom Kippur while in the gym with over 800 people. These 5 people come together in an unexpected way.

3 stars.

In Sickness and In Health was about a 45 year old woman who has epilepsy. I didn't realize it until I read some reviews that it was fictionalized memoir. I didn't like it as much probably because it was sad and she dealt with a lot especially when she was young and didn't know better. Her parents told her that is was sort of a dream having epilepsy and then in school she was told she was retarded. She was an art teacher and she had more bad days than good holed up in her bedroom without being able to do anything. Her husband worked from home and left her food basically.

I hate to give this 2 and ½ stars but I am.

They were both interesting and short reads and overall 3 stars.… (plus d'informations)

18: Jewish Stories Translated From 18 Languages by Nora Gold
In this book the editor is able to get many stories from the Jewish community never translated into English.
Start of the book tells you where the stories came from and by who. During the stories there are footnotes about particular items of interest.
The things I like best are that the Jewish were for the most part able to escape during the war and head to other countries to survive. Their struggles and obstacles and hwo they overcome them is important to me.
Some stories are very tragic, some are a windfall. Love hearing of the traditions and customs that they hope to pass down to the next generations. There are glimpses of proverbs and other prayers. Ends with dedication page.
References are also included at the end of the book. Section also about the author and all they stood for.
Received this review copy from the editor and this is my honest opinion.… (plus d'informations)

I came across mention of this book on a blog I was reading and it sounded a little different. I was interested in how the author dealt with the issues she wanted to address in a fiction setting.
Judith is a Canadian who made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel ten years ago, she's returned to Toronto in order to nurse her dying father and now has stayed on to attend a graduate program in her field of social work. In Israel she has been a left wing activist, volunteering in a number of programmes designed to bring ordinary Palestinians and Israelis together. She is passionate about her political beliefs, religious and keen to get back to Israel once this year of study is over. She has also picked up an old relationship with her previous boyfriend, they love each other but it is clear that he is never going to do aliyah, he is too career oriented and so she knows she'll have to leave him.
Everything starts well, she's considered a star student by her professors, she forms good friendships with a few other women.Then she discovers that the college's Social Justice committee is bringing in a keynote speaker who is a supporter of terrorism against Israeli citizens (book is set during 2nd Intifada) for the annual Anti-Oppression Day, the opposition is against her, as an Israeli Jew, when she tries to speak up for dialogue not vilification. The lack of support makes her question her own beliefs, those of people around her and slowly her life begins to fall to pieces.
I read this with interest even though it isn't necessarily a great novel, not nuanced enough, and the ending is a bit overwrought. The debate over hate speech versus free speech on campus, and a growing normalisation of anti-Israel content in classes needs to be addressed, but this novel is a bit too clunky - I don't need explicit passages about her lovelife. And fairly polemic, though as the book centred so much on the main character and considering the author wanted to raise particular issues within her story I was able to accept this. I liked how Judith's love of Israel was always present throughout the novel, it is Judith's raison d'etre and yet she is realistic about the Arab-Israeli conflict. I also liked the weekly ritual of Shabbat that she shared with her boyfriend, they did have a great relationship, just in the wrong (for Judith) location.
Possibly my verdict is that this topic works better in a nonfiction treatment, but I had no trouble racing through the book in a couple of days.

The writer is an academic who has researched and lectured about anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism for many years.
There's a useful Q&A with the author here: http://www.erikadreifus.com/2014/05/from-my-bookshelf-helpful-to-israel-and-the-....… (plus d'informations)