A short novel- Holy Lands-by Amanda Sthers ,told through letters feels empty despite the melodrama in another dysfunctional family saga. ( )

Das Buch erzählt von einer jüdischen Familie aus Paris. Die Eltern Monique und Harry sind schon lange getrennt. Die Tochter Annabelle studiert in New York. Sohn David ist schwul und ein bekannter Theaterautor. Der Vater, eigentlich Kardiologe, geht nach Nazareth um dort Schweine zu züchten. Der Titel des Buches ist nicht nur die Beschreibung dessen, was der Vater tut, sondern auch der Titel eines Theaterstücks, das David in Paris zur Aufführung bringt.
Ich mochte das Buch wahnsinnig gern. Es ist in Briefen und Emails erzählt, streckenweise sehr witzig, streckenweise sehr traurig. Die Grundkonstellation leuchtet mir zwar nicht ein (Warum geht Harry nach Israel, warum hat er keinen Kontakt zu David?) ebensowenig erschließt sich mir, warum beide im dritten Drittel des Buches nicht nach Paris zurückkehren. Aber ich bin dennoch begeistert. Das Buch hat mich richtig hineingezogen in diese Familie und obwohl ich am Ende Rotz und Wasser geheult habe, war es doch irgendwie ein Wohlfühlbuch.
Außerdem fand ich, dass es sehr klug geschrieben ist. Gerade der Briefwechsel zwischen dem Rabbi und Harry gefiel mir. „Ich sage es ihnen, Herr Rabbi, wenn wir ein paar Witze über die Shoah reißen, wird kein Mensch mehr auf Godot warten. Wäre das so schlecht? Ich weiß es nicht. Man müsste es sehen. Wenn man die Erinnerung wach hält, verhindert diese, dass die Geschichte sich wiederholt? Sicherlich nicht. Die Geschichte ist dazu da, um vergessen zu werden, Die Geschichte ist dazu da, um wiederholt zu werden. Die Geschichte der Juden, die der Frauen, die der Araber die der leidenden Menschen, die vom Rotkäppchen. Und die Großmutter hat immer, immer, spitze Zähne“. ( )

At turns preposterous and poignant, this book's premise required a little stretch of imagination. Harry Rosenmerck is a retired cardiologist who has settled in Israel to raise pigs. Stubbornly he refuses to have a phone (landline or mobile) or email, so the only recourse his family has to reach him is letters. This is how the book is presented. His ex-wife Monique Duchene, his estranged son, David and his favored daughter Isabelle all write him for various reasons and then correspond with each other through email and other methods we are party to. It becomes an interesting web of communication, with a rabbi thrown in for good measure - Harry's conscience and sounding board. Told only in the space of 9 months, quite a bit happens to this small family. David is a playwright and stages a new show - his letters are the most touching because he desperately wants to reconnect with Harry who has shut him out presumably because he is gay. Monique develops a serious illness, and Annabelle struggles to get over a failed relationship with an older man who won't leave his wife. Meanwhile Harry has quite a trial justifying pork to Jewish and Muslim locals and his friend Rabbi Moshe helps him sort out the priorities in his life - especially those he hasn't been facing. Humorous and heart-felt, the story highlights lovable characters who think and feel deeply and don't take life at face-value. ( )

Ok the book is funny and full of Jewish humor, but it's not that funny. Its basically the same joke over and over again. Meh. ( )

As comic as it is deeply moving, Holy Lands chronicles several months in the lives of an estranged family of colorful eccentrics. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his thriving medical practice in New York--to raise pigs in Israel. His ex-wife, Monique, ruminates about their once happy marriage even as she quietly battles an aggressive illness. Their son, David, an earnest and successful playwright, has vowed to reconnect with his father since coming out. Annabelle, their daughter, finds herself unmoored in Paris in the aftermath of a breakup.

Harry eschews technology, so his family, spread out around the world, must communicate with him via snail mail. Even as they grapple with challenges, their correspondence sparkles with levity. They snipe at each other, volleying quips across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Europe, and find joy in unexpected sources.

Holy Lands captures the humor and poignancy of an adult family striving to remain connected across time, geography, and radically different perspectives on life. ( )