La inextricable relación entre el ayer y el hoy, entre la vida y la muerte, concentra todo el interés de August Kleinman. A sus setenta y ocho años, viudo, con tres hijos y muy rico, Kleinman rememora su vida intentando explicarse cómo un muchacho judío que huyó de la Alemania nazi ha llegado a ser quien es. No hay una sucesión cronológica en sus recuerdos, éstos surgen de forma desordenada y aleatoria, tal como funciona la memoria, creando un efecto asombroso y casi musical de simultaneidad con el presente del anciano. Su infancia, su precipitada huida de Alemania con su madre, su adolescencia en un barrio humilde de Nueva York, el amor, el trabajo, el trato con sus hijos, el lazo con su nieto recién nacido, su incómoda relación con el dinero, el nexo cuestionado y siempre presente con el judaísmo; cada paso de su camino está ahí, pero lo que hace única su historia sucedió en una cueva de una isla del Pacífico, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. De aquella gruta, Kleinman salió con una carta que un soldado japonés había escrito a su amada y, más de medio siglo después, decide emprender el viaje siempre postergado. Ha de ir a Japón a entregar esa misiva, porque lo que sucedió en aquella cueva profunda, húmeda y oscura, es la verdadera clave de su existencia.

Found it at Boekwissel Utrecht Centraal in april 2022 wirh BCID 564 12947570 with another cover.
vertaling May van Sligter, Carry Me Across the Water


https://opc-kb.oclc.org/DB=1/XMLPRS=Y/PPN?PPN=239774582 KB

Searching with ISBN 90 414 0669 7
gives
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56340095-draag-mij-over-het-water
better is
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24399494-draag-mij-over-het-water
wirh the same cover as my copy and the real author name
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/50743.Ethan_Canin

While the plot is compelling and the character of August Kleinman is both strange and revealing, so much of the man pivots on being rich. He earned his millions honorably and is sharing some before his will leaves the balance to his three children Yet, he does not buy the lovely paintings of the son of the unarmed Japanese soldier he killed during World War II.

And, why did he decide to bayonet this final soldier when he could easily have taken him prisoner?

The plot moves quickly between the times of his life with too much foreshadowing, making outcomes too predictable.

Still, I read it all again the next night, wanting to be sure I had remembered The Cave correctly
and for the imagery and sweet build-up to Kleinman's apple and the meeting with a President. ( )

A character study that is told in little pieces back and forth across time, a jigsaw puzzle that the writer and reader put together, from his life as a Jewish boy in Germany to the present time of the novel (2000) when he is a 78 year old man trying to connect with his first grandchild as well as his son. This is a novel but it also can be seen as a number of short stories broken into even smaller vignettes that tie the pieces of the man's life together. There are little puzzles and mysteries in here.

What a portrait Ethan Canin has painted here in a unique way. An excellent book that resonated with me. This will be in my top ten books of the year. ( )

August Kleinmann, un uomo anziano, durante la seconda guerra mondiale uccide un soldato giapponese a Okinawa, portando con sé una lettera della vittima indirizzata alla donna amata, sposata con un altro uomo, da cui ha avuto appena un figlio. Quasi cinquanta anni dopo Kleinmann decide di mettersi sulle tracce di quel bambino. Un romanzo breve, sobrio e compatto, stilisticamente inappuntabile, eppure estremamente freddo. ( )