Reading, Writing, History

Sometime soon, I’m going to get yelled at for invading a stranger’s privacy as I look over his shoulder on the train, inch closer to her beach chair, or spy from under dark glasses in a doctor’s waiting room. I simply want to see the title of the book she’s holding. I am fascinated by what people choose to read and wish I could just go up to them and ask if they like it, Sometimes I get up the courage to do it, striking up a conversation with the person next to me, which can be great for a few moments, until it becomes awkward. That’s what book groups are for!

I belong to a few local book groups. We have a moderator with the tough job of controlling the flow of the discussion, allowing an opportunity for all to speak. There are varied personalities in attendance, ranging from the quiet listener to the active participant. Our facilitator makes sure each member has a few moments to voice her opinion, give a “thumbs up or down” and back that up with some relevant facts or feelings. We heartily discuss future book picks for the group. Some people want current bestsellers, others want to revisit romantic classics. Some desire indulging in trashy “summer books,” while others prefer challenging themselves to a more intellectual read. Some only want to delve into Jewish subjects, while others enjoy strictly secular books. We choose a few promising titles, have an informal vote, and eventually get around to reading all genres anyway.

Mira Rosenfeld Sennett, my brilliant, literary friend, educator and book discussion facilitator, recently surprised me with her comment that there are enough books written by Jewish authors covering the gamut of human experience and emotion to afford one a lifetime of reading. She said she simply didn’t have time anymore to read anything else and now keeps exclusively to “Jewish books.” Through my association with the Jewish Book Council I have been finding her sentiment to be absolutely true.

As a volunteer book reviewer for the quarterly Jewish Book World and as Hadassah Nassau Region’s scout to find and book interesting authors to enhance our programs, I’m experiencing firsthand the vast scope of Jewish writers and their subject matter. Whether you fancy history, mystery, memoir, biography, poetry, philosophy, humor, a novel, children’s tales, recipes, and the entire range of excellent Israeli literature in English translation, it’s all readily available, written by a member of our tribe, the “people of the book.”

I do indulge in great reads which have absolutely nothing to do with Jewish life; it gives me a break and helps me vicariously experience the “outside” world. Reading the Sunday New York Times Book Review and attending the Javits Center Book Expo keeps me up to date on wonderful bestselling titles like The Help, Room and The Paris Wife.

Lately I’ve noticed that my editor at Jewish Book World is sending me more and more Holocaust memoirs and fiction related to the Shoah to review. Just in the past twelve months I read these new titles: Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz, Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling, The Final Reckoning by Sam Bourne, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, The Price of Escape by David Ungar, The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi, Blood in the Promised Land by Eliot Sefrin,The Rescuer by Dara Horn and All That I Am by Anna Funder. Some are award winning publications translated into multiple languages. Each is unique in geographical location and varies by the narrator’s age, gender and point of view. They are tragic, horrifying, heartbreakingly sad, but also personal, uplifting and awe-inspiring. All are incredibly important to read and know.

The JBC must be receiving a glut of manuscripts on this subject. Writers may be feeling a sense of urgency to get their families’ stories out “now or never” as the Holocaust generation is tragically disappearing. First hand accounts will soon no longer be available; it’s the last opportunity for survivors to be interviewed, for their testimonies to be recorded and for the true story to be published. Future generations will learn about their own history through these detailed retellings. Hopefully the Holocaust deniers will be thwarted.

I had trouble completing a recent reading assignment. It could be due to the writing style - narrators and time frames switching from chapter to chapter confuses me. I slogged through this otherwise fascinating account of the lives of Jewish anti-war activists in Berlin and London before and during WWII. When offered yet another story about Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, I hesitate for a moment and sigh, sensing the emotional and physical toll it will exact from me. I always say yes, though the books cause me nightmares and knots in my stomach. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to continue reading and promoting these manuscripts about our people’s recent past. We can always find time for a light book, but time is running out for these recountings of the era our parents and grandparents lived through.

Memoirs about the Russian Jewish immigrant experience are steadily rising as the children feel the freedom to tell their tales; perhaps the next group to “come out” will be Cuban. As a child of refugee parents, I’m in awe of these accomplished memoirists as I barely scratch the surface researching my father’s history. I delay, not because it’s boring or irrelevant, quite the opposite – it’s a story worth telling. It’s about circumstance and choices, overcoming hardship through effort and luck and achieving success.

It’s tough for me to be unsentimental and objective since it’s my grandparents’, parents’, and my children’s tale. It’s difficult to record the past objectively while keeping it personal and heartfelt. However, I’m realistic about having to self-publish and about the result being simply a legacy for my kids.

In the meantime, I’m happily learning about writing by reading. I’ve been reassured by my author friends that this is totally legitimate. Instead of working on editing and adding to my 70 pages, I feel justified spending time devouring real author’s works. I’m delaying writing in favor of delving into everyone else’s, procrastinating until inspiration or a sense of urgency appears. So if you happen to notice me coming up behind you, just show me the book you’re reading and I’ll smile and move along.

For Hadassah’s author event dates call the Nassau Region office 516-766-2725. For Jewish book and author info go to www.jewishbookcouncil.org

Miriam Bradman Abrahams is Cuban born, Brooklyn bred and lives in Woodmere. She can be reached at mimiyoga27@gmail.com