{"id":32286,"date":"2019-04-12T03:45:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T10:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32286"},"modified":"2019-04-17T22:27:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T05:27:02","slug":"persistence-a-common-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/04\/12\/persistence-a-common-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Persistence a common theme"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a bounty of books to read and review at the Jewish Independent<\/em>. One of the many perks of my job is that I have so much culture literally at my fingertips. But, given the weekly deadlines and other demands of running a newspaper, I can\u2019t always be au courant. So, hopefully I will be forgiven for reviewing four books published last year for this Passover issue: a memoir, a work of fiction (perhaps \ud83d\ude09 and two young adult novels. I\u2019m excited to report that two of the books were written by people who have written for the JI<\/em> and one was written by a local community member.<\/p>\n

My favourite podcast is Wait Wait \u2026 Don\u2019t Tell Me!<\/em> And, even though I don\u2019t run, one of my favourite magazines is Running Room<\/em>. I\u2019m not sure how I got onto their mailing list, but I always enjoy reading people\u2019s inspirational stories of why they started running, I like the recipes and nutritional advice and the training tips, which are useful for other types of exercise. Anyway, all that to say I was excited when the host of Wait Wait<\/em>, Peter Sagal, who is Jewish, came out with his new book, The Incomplete Book of Running<\/em> (Simon & Schuster, 2018).<\/p>\n

\"book<\/a>Sagal shares personal stories about why he started running, some of the marathons in which he has participated and people he has met along the way, notably a couple of runners who were blind (or almost), for whom he acted as a guide. Scattered throughout, he offers various facts and figures about running; its health benefits, as well as its downsides (I did not know about, to put it delicately, the digestive issues long-distance runners can face). He speaks somewhat vaguely but openly about the dissolution of his first marriage and he is refreshingly honest about his struggle with depression.<\/p>\n

Running has helped Sagal deal with difficult circumstances, and continues to not only be a form of exercise for him, but something that informs how he lives. Among other things, running has taught him persistence and has made him more courageous; it has contributed to his \u201cfaith in the possibility of positive change\u201d and his realization of just how enduring is love.<\/p>\n

I admit that, despite Sagal\u2019s enthusiasm, reading about multiple marathon experiences, as a non-runner, got a little tiresome. And the book isn\u2019t chronological, so I wasn\u2019t always sure of what point we were at in Sagal\u2019s life. But, those minor criticisms aside, I enjoyed the book a lot, especially Sagal\u2019s conversational style of writing and his humour. Having listened to him almost every week for so many years, it felt, at times, that he was right there, telling me his story; that I was listening to him, rather than reading him.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no doubting that Curt Leviant is a talented writer, that he has a wicked sense of humour and a heightened sense of observation and awareness. Katz or Cats; Or, How Jesus Became My Rival in Love <\/em>(Dzanc Books, 2018) is his most recent of many novels and fans will not be disappointed.<\/p>\n

A book editor, John, and a writer, Katz, meet on the subway. On their commutes into New York, Katz shares what is ostensibly his brother\u2019s love story, though it may be Katz\u2019s. Part of the novel\u2019s plot revolves around just how true, or fictional, is the story of Katz\u2019s brother, who also goes just by his surname, Katz.<\/p>\n

\"book<\/a>As the story goes, Katz (or Katz) meets a woman on a train. Maria is supposedly a devout Christian, but she has no trouble permitting a stranger to put his arm around her on first meeting, nor having sex pretty soon thereafter with said stranger, Katz, who she thinks might be married. Their relationship \u2013 and the novel \u2013 comprises much sex, a lot of talking about sex and many discussions about religion \u2013 Jesus, specifically, and Maria\u2019s recurring feelings of guilt for not being what she thinks a good Christian should be.<\/p>\n

As Katz relates the tale to John, the editor interjects every once in awhile to question apparent contradictions or errors in the telling. Some aspects \u2013 Katz\u2019s marital status, for instance \u2013 remain unclear, and purposefully so.<\/p>\n

Ironically, perhaps, given that the premise of the novel is a writer telling a story to an editor, Katz or Cats<\/em> would have benefited from some tighter editing. More than one topic recurs and some points are made multiple times. While Katz\u2019s wit and intelligence provide much to think about, I didn\u2019t find him to be a sympathetic character, so \u201clistening\u201d to him became difficult. And, while I\u2019m not a huge fan of political correctness, I found his treatment of Maria to be condescending and rude at times, and some of his quips to be on the edge of disrespectful towards other cultures. Though Katz refers to Maria more than once as smart, her waffling and some of her responses to Katz \u2013 and his reactions to her \u2013 don\u2019t really support that notion.<\/p>\n

Overall, while provocative in many ways, I found Katz or Cats<\/em> to read like a book from another era. Many male writers, from Seneca to Henrik Ibsen to Thomas Mann to Leviant himself, come up in conversations in the novel, reinforcing my feeling that this book would be most appreciated by older, male readers. But I could be wrong. When I shared my views with Leviant \u2013 who regularly writes for the Jewish Independent<\/em>\u2019s holiday issues (see page 34 of this issue, for instance) \u2013 he shared that a similar novel of his, translated into French, got great reviews from young women critics.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since reading No One Dies in the Garden of Syn<\/em> in 2016, I have been waiting for the second book of local writer Michael Seidelman\u2019s trilogy featuring teenage heroine Syn. And, late last year, my wait was over.<\/p>\n

\"book<\/a>Everyone Dies in the Garden of Syn<\/em> (Chewed Pencil Press, 2018) starts with a violent prologue that both heralds what\u2019s to come and starts to explain the \u201cCreepers\u201d \u2013 weird-looking creatures that seem to be combinations of two people or a person and an animal or insect \u2013 we met in the first novel.<\/p>\n

In the introductory pages of Everyone Dies<\/em>, Seidelman, in addition to moving the story along, reminds readers of what has come before. The action in this book centres around Syn\u2019s need to rescue her sister, who has been kidnapped by Cole, a \u201cboy\u201d who befriended and then betrayed Syn \u2013 or, from his point of view, was befriended and betrayed by Syn.<\/p>\n

Still missing as Everyone Dies<\/em> starts are Syn\u2019s parents, who disappeared when she was 5. Because of Syn\u2019s actions in the first book, the garden, which once had healing powers \u2013 \u201cno one dies\u201d \u2013 has lost them, so now \u201ceveryone dies,\u201d or can die, in the garden. Therefore, the situation is that much more dangerous now for Syn, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. Whereas she didn\u2019t have to worry about her health in the first novel, it becomes another thing she has to battle in the second.<\/p>\n

And there is many a battle in Everyone Dies<\/em>, and lots of running and chasing. There were a few times I lost track of which universe (there are multiple) we were in, and, sometimes, who was fighting whom, but the action moves along and the tension builds. There\u2019s a wonderfully satisfying twist at the end. And so begins the wait for Book 3.<\/p>\n

To read more about Seidelman\u2019s first Syn<\/em> novel, visit jewishindependent.ca\/first-book-of-trilogy-now-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my 13-year-old son devoured Bulfinch\u2019s Mythology<\/em> after reading Rick Riordan\u2019s Percy Jackson<\/em>, I realized we need an exciting, thought-provoking series based on Jewish history, something that will send our kids reaching for a Torah, a Talmud or a Book of the Apocrypha,\u201d wrote Emily Singer to the Jewish Independent<\/em> in an email about her new book, Gilgul I: Rededicatio<\/em>n (Hadassa Word Press, 2018).<\/p>\n

Singer, who lives in Israel, is a writer and a high school teacher. When she and her family lived here, she taught at Vancouver Talmud Torah. She has written several articles for the Jewish Independent<\/em> so, when she contacted the paper about Gilgul, I happily agreed to review it.<\/p>\n

\"book<\/a>Not surprisingly, knowing Singer\u2019s skill as a writer, Gilgul <\/em>is a compelling and radical take on the Chanukah story. While all the book\u2019s hero David wanted to do was to play the game skyros with his friends, the game takes on a deadly seriousness for the 15-year-old when King Antiochus sacks the Temple and starts a war against the Jews.<\/p>\n

David must be smart, brave, strong and compassionate to stay alive and save his family and his people. He must figure out who to trust, and the fact that it\u2019s not always clear who the good guys and bad guys are adds tension and meaning to the novel. Even with the help of his equally heroic sister Leya, some unexpected courageous allies and a little magic, David has his work cut out for him. Gilgul <\/em>will leave readers thinking anew about Chanukah, the rededication of the Second Temple, the Maccabees, the miracle of oil, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a bounty of books to read and review at the Jewish Independent. One of the many perks of my job is that I have so much culture literally at my fingertips. But, given the weekly deadlines and other demands of running a newspaper, I can\u2019t always be au courant. So, hopefully I will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[4339,8871,6133,8870,4526,8873,8872,5837,7381,6385],"class_list":["post-32286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-curt-leviant","tag-emily-singer","tag-fiction","tag-gilgul","tag-memoir","tag-michael-seidelman","tag-peter-sagal","tag-syn","tag-writing","tag-young-adults"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}