Eva MeklerCritiques

Funny enough, most Yiddish language books are. I did think the examples (usually versions of old Jewish jokes) for some of the words made this a little better than many of the rest. All of the words are in transliteration with some emphasis notes added. Mostly it functions as an entertaining dictionary which is what I assume they are going for. I wish one of these books would also come with a CD so one could hear the phrases.

Really amazing depiction of post-Holocaust anti-semitism and how it continues to affect those left behind. I'm not sure I was ready to read this because the story is truly haunting. But Mekler does a great job of telling a horrific story with effective and beautiful prose. The climax, when it comes, is completely unexpected and heartbreaking.

I enjoyed most of this book, but like others, I think the romantic involvement of the Phillip and Karolina was unecessary.