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melissa_h's review against another edition
4.0
Dark comedy at its best. Throw in Anne Frank and I am one happy reader.
boundtwobooks's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this book spontaneously one day after spending way to much time on bookdepository.com. It had come up as a new release and I loved the cover and the author’s name, Shalom Auslander (his last name translated from German means foreigner).
The book was first published in 2012, but I didn’t actually start reading it until recently. It was one of those books that sat on my bookshelf collecting dust. Even though I don’t believe in fate, I still think that somehow this book was waiting for the right moment to catch my attention. Eventually that day came, and I decided to start reading the book a few days before I took a 3.5hr train ride to Germany. I figured it would be the perfect time to indulge this new book and author and to really see where the writing would take me.
With no real reference points, reviews or friendly recommendations to curb my biases about the book, I began to read. And I was mesmerized. The basic plot outline for this book is that a young Jewish family decide to move to a more country/suburban house to try to help their marriage and sickly child. The house has a funky smell, but is otherwise quaint and homely. The husband (and main character) Kugel begins to hear noises in the attic. After investigating, he finds that there is an old and rather crazy lady who claims to be Anne Frank.
“You’re frightening yourself.
You’re torturing yourself.
It’s narcissistic.
It’s delusions of grandeur.
It’s optimism.
It’s mice.
Didn’t sound like mice, though.” (4)
Auslander swaps between prose and poetics as he unveils the complications of marriage, family, and the burden of history. Germany after WWII went through, and is still going through an existential shift alongside the country’s coming to terms with the past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung in German). Auslander explores his idea of an American-Jewish man coming to terms with the past as well as issues of guilt and inter-generational trauma.
“Was he really going to throw an elderly, half-mad Holocaust survivor out of his house? Speak of madness! He could never do it, he knew that, even if she was old and emotionally damaged enough to think she was Anne Frank. Pity was a funny thing: it would be easier to throw out the real Anne Frank than it would be to throw out a Holocaust survivor so fucked up by the Holocaust that she thought she was Anne Frank. Can you imagine the headlines? Can you imagine the outrage?” (29)
As cliche as it sounds, I feel like this is a book that you will either love or hate. It is dark and morbid and you find yourself laughing at situations that make you feel uncomfortable. It is eye-opening and thought-inducing. Above it is weird and wonderful.
If you want to find out more about the book or Auslander you can go to his website:
http://www.shalomauslander.com/
The book was first published in 2012, but I didn’t actually start reading it until recently. It was one of those books that sat on my bookshelf collecting dust. Even though I don’t believe in fate, I still think that somehow this book was waiting for the right moment to catch my attention. Eventually that day came, and I decided to start reading the book a few days before I took a 3.5hr train ride to Germany. I figured it would be the perfect time to indulge this new book and author and to really see where the writing would take me.
With no real reference points, reviews or friendly recommendations to curb my biases about the book, I began to read. And I was mesmerized. The basic plot outline for this book is that a young Jewish family decide to move to a more country/suburban house to try to help their marriage and sickly child. The house has a funky smell, but is otherwise quaint and homely. The husband (and main character) Kugel begins to hear noises in the attic. After investigating, he finds that there is an old and rather crazy lady who claims to be Anne Frank.
“You’re frightening yourself.
You’re torturing yourself.
It’s narcissistic.
It’s delusions of grandeur.
It’s optimism.
It’s mice.
Didn’t sound like mice, though.” (4)
Auslander swaps between prose and poetics as he unveils the complications of marriage, family, and the burden of history. Germany after WWII went through, and is still going through an existential shift alongside the country’s coming to terms with the past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung in German). Auslander explores his idea of an American-Jewish man coming to terms with the past as well as issues of guilt and inter-generational trauma.
“Was he really going to throw an elderly, half-mad Holocaust survivor out of his house? Speak of madness! He could never do it, he knew that, even if she was old and emotionally damaged enough to think she was Anne Frank. Pity was a funny thing: it would be easier to throw out the real Anne Frank than it would be to throw out a Holocaust survivor so fucked up by the Holocaust that she thought she was Anne Frank. Can you imagine the headlines? Can you imagine the outrage?” (29)
As cliche as it sounds, I feel like this is a book that you will either love or hate. It is dark and morbid and you find yourself laughing at situations that make you feel uncomfortable. It is eye-opening and thought-inducing. Above it is weird and wonderful.
If you want to find out more about the book or Auslander you can go to his website:
http://www.shalomauslander.com/
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
It was okay. A very Jewish comedy, but it was a bit too Woody Allen at times so it definitely got a little tiring.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
Outrageously funny, so wildly original you forgive a certain amount of repetitiveness, a rude offspring of Philip Roth and Franz Kafka. The sort of book where you constantly want to put it down and call everyone you know to read them the passages you just read.
Solomon Kugel is a neurotic obsessed with death who recently moved with his family to a farmhouse in upstate New York. One night he hears noise coming from the attic, goes up to investigate, and discovers Anne Frank living up there. But not just any Anne Frank, but a cranky, old, foul-mouthed one who is trying to write a book but laboring under the weight of her previous book which, as she constantly reminds us, sold 32 million copies.
Meanwhile, downstairs Kugel's Mother is obsessed with the Holocaust, constantly invents stories about being a survivor, along with bizarre claims (like: see this lamp it's your uncle, but the sticker on it says "Made in Taiwan." Well they wouldn't put Made in Auschwitz on it would they. This then gets repeated with a bar of ivory soap).
The book explores optimism vs. pessimism, the former being personified in Kugel's brother-in-law (Pinckus, who appears to be a stand in for Stephen Pinker) and the later in Kugel and his hilarious psychiatrist Professor Jove.
I don't want to spoil any more, you should just read it.
Solomon Kugel is a neurotic obsessed with death who recently moved with his family to a farmhouse in upstate New York. One night he hears noise coming from the attic, goes up to investigate, and discovers Anne Frank living up there. But not just any Anne Frank, but a cranky, old, foul-mouthed one who is trying to write a book but laboring under the weight of her previous book which, as she constantly reminds us, sold 32 million copies.
Meanwhile, downstairs Kugel's Mother is obsessed with the Holocaust, constantly invents stories about being a survivor, along with bizarre claims (like: see this lamp it's your uncle, but the sticker on it says "Made in Taiwan." Well they wouldn't put Made in Auschwitz on it would they. This then gets repeated with a bar of ivory soap).
The book explores optimism vs. pessimism, the former being personified in Kugel's brother-in-law (Pinckus, who appears to be a stand in for Stephen Pinker) and the later in Kugel and his hilarious psychiatrist Professor Jove.
I don't want to spoil any more, you should just read it.
gettinglostinagoodbook's review against another edition
2.0
Apparently this was not the book for me. I felt the description did not truly prepare me for the novel itself. While I did not enjoy it, after reading several reviews I felt that perhaps I did not approach this novel in the right vein - I was not expecting a farce, nor am I truly drawn to that type of story.
I must admit I was disappointed with the portrayal of Anne Frank - and that really did colour my perception of this book. Perhaps unfairly I admit, but ...
Sorry Auslander, obviously I am not your target audience.
I must admit I was disappointed with the portrayal of Anne Frank - and that really did colour my perception of this book. Perhaps unfairly I admit, but ...
Sorry Auslander, obviously I am not your target audience.
shogins's review against another edition
1.0
Could've made a decent short story, but not enough meat for a novel. Nothing happened, plus I learned nothing about that characters I didn't know by the first chapter.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
3.0
Solomon Kugel is almost manic in his anxiety. He and his wife recently bought a home in Stockton, NY -- home, birthplace, final resting place of nothing and no one significant. He's concerned about the lack of rent coming in from his borderline-senile mother, who lives in a downstairs apartment, the unpleasant tenant renting the other apartment, and the rash of home arsons in the area. He's so manic in his anxiety that he's praying for mouse droppings when he goes to investigate a noise in his attic and discovers Anne Frank (yes, that Anne Frank). Having been advised that she's better off as a dead celebrated writer than a live one, she's been hiding out for the last few decades and is upset that she's run out of matzoh.
Honestly, I read half of this book and then shelved it. I didn't think it was that bad, I just didn't find it really all that funny and part of me suspects that it's because I'm a gentile from southern Ohio -- I'm just not the right market for this story. Also, and I know this it nitpicky, but it's so hard for me to read books that don't utilize quotation marks. They exist for a reason and not using them doesn't make you cool or edgy or unique. It makes your book harder to read.
Honestly, I read half of this book and then shelved it. I didn't think it was that bad, I just didn't find it really all that funny and part of me suspects that it's because I'm a gentile from southern Ohio -- I'm just not the right market for this story. Also, and I know this it nitpicky, but it's so hard for me to read books that don't utilize quotation marks. They exist for a reason and not using them doesn't make you cool or edgy or unique. It makes your book harder to read.
literallykristen's review against another edition
2.0
I don't think I really understand Jewish guilt. Perhaps this is because I am not Jewish...or prone to guilt?
ekmitchy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
randrenfrow's review against another edition
4.0
Shalom Auslander is like Kurt Vonnegut only Jewier and even darker in his satire. In other words, amazing.