Scan barcode
brotherbear's review
Poorly organized. Difficult to parse. This feels more like a blog than a professional work.
mattshervheim's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
An engaging history of a century of Jewish history. I have a few reservations about it (in particular, while Lebrecht decidedly shows that Jews changed the world, I thought his case for the role of anxiety as a driver of genius was underdeveloped) but overall, a very good read, and a fascinating look at some of the 19th and 20th centuries’ most notable figures through the lens of their Jewishness. Recommended.
veryperi22's review against another edition
5.0
I've been meaning to review this book for a couple of weeks now, but seeing that I probably won't get to it, I'll just paste my follow up notes here, so I don't lose it.
Disraeli: Coningsby, Sybil, Tancred
Thakeray: Colingsby
Dickens caricature of Disraeli in Hard times: James Harthouse
Samson Rafael Hirsch: 19 letters
History of Geiger and Reform jews
The Prime Minister by Trollope (features bemont as mellmonte)
The Age of innocence by Edith Whaton ( features Belmont)
Oiliver Twist by Dickens (fagin, Eliza Davis attacks dickens about this)
Our Mutual friend by Dickens (atonement to Eliza Davis for Fagin)
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (early inspiration for Zionism )
Who is Sarah Bernhardt, actress, celebrity
Watch Carmen, first premiered featuring Bernhardt
Kol nidrei by Hermann Levi (musical pc)
Who is Solomon Schechter?
movie: A serious man: about conservative Judaism
Israel Zangwill. Children of the Ghetto. Who is IZ?
Hatikva: smetana Moldova source
Without Schnitzler, there Is no Freud (read more about Schitzler and Hirschfeld, sexual science)
Watch the movie Eyes Wide Shut, based on schnitzlers play.
Irving Berlin, American music. 1500 songs.
Kafka and belz in Marienbad?
Leo Szilard: his version of the facts ( anti atomic bomb activist, inventor of the atom bomb)
Watch the movie Casablanca
Disraeli: Coningsby, Sybil, Tancred
Thakeray: Colingsby
Dickens caricature of Disraeli in Hard times: James Harthouse
Samson Rafael Hirsch: 19 letters
History of Geiger and Reform jews
The Prime Minister by Trollope (features bemont as mellmonte)
The Age of innocence by Edith Whaton ( features Belmont)
Oiliver Twist by Dickens (fagin, Eliza Davis attacks dickens about this)
Our Mutual friend by Dickens (atonement to Eliza Davis for Fagin)
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (early inspiration for Zionism )
Who is Sarah Bernhardt, actress, celebrity
Watch Carmen, first premiered featuring Bernhardt
Kol nidrei by Hermann Levi (musical pc)
Who is Solomon Schechter?
movie: A serious man: about conservative Judaism
Israel Zangwill. Children of the Ghetto. Who is IZ?
Hatikva: smetana Moldova source
Without Schnitzler, there Is no Freud (read more about Schitzler and Hirschfeld, sexual science)
Watch the movie Eyes Wide Shut, based on schnitzlers play.
Irving Berlin, American music. 1500 songs.
Kafka and belz in Marienbad?
Leo Szilard: his version of the facts ( anti atomic bomb activist, inventor of the atom bomb)
Watch the movie Casablanca
msjg's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't buy the author's thesis, and at times, I'm not sure he did either, but the anecdotes were enjoyable, as was the portrait of Jewish cultural, social, and religious life before the Holocaust.
don_intj's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
בס"ד
.Definetely a favourite of mine
.Definetely a favourite of mine
davidr's review against another edition
4.0
Years ago, I enjoyed Lebrecht's book, [b:Who Killed Classical Music?: Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics|792584|Who Killed Classical Music? Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics|Norman Lebrecht|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387719996l/792584._SY75_.jpg|778568]. Most of his other books are also about music, but this book is about a very different subject; it is about the lives of Jews who were very influential across the century 1847-1947. What is most surprising to me, are the names. Of course, I realized that Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland were Jewish. However, I had not recognized a host of others who significantly influenced our civilization, were also Jewish.
For example, Rosalind Franklin was a key player in the discovery of the role of DNA in biology. (I think she was cheated out of becoming a co-winner of the Nobel Prize.) Paul Ehrlich won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunity, and made important discoveries in cancer research and the invention of chemotherapy. Siegfried Marcus invented one of the first gasoline-powered automobiles. Gustav Mahler, Arnold Shoenberg, and Stephen Sondheim were extremely influential composers. The list goes on an on, perhaps a hundred miniature biographies, with their lives often intertwined in interesting ways.
On the large scale, the book unfolds chronologically. But on the small scale, the book often bounces around. Many times a personage is introduced first at a dramatic stage in his (or her) life, and then backtracks to his early life story. Time is also played with, because the entire book is written in the present tense! The book is an interesting read, and certainly engaging. Fascinating anecdotes are slipped in, and the pace never slows down.
For example, Rosalind Franklin was a key player in the discovery of the role of DNA in biology. (I think she was cheated out of becoming a co-winner of the Nobel Prize.) Paul Ehrlich won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunity, and made important discoveries in cancer research and the invention of chemotherapy. Siegfried Marcus invented one of the first gasoline-powered automobiles. Gustav Mahler, Arnold Shoenberg, and Stephen Sondheim were extremely influential composers. The list goes on an on, perhaps a hundred miniature biographies, with their lives often intertwined in interesting ways.
On the large scale, the book unfolds chronologically. But on the small scale, the book often bounces around. Many times a personage is introduced first at a dramatic stage in his (or her) life, and then backtracks to his early life story. Time is also played with, because the entire book is written in the present tense! The book is an interesting read, and certainly engaging. Fascinating anecdotes are slipped in, and the pace never slows down.