Scan barcode
misajane79's review
4.0
It's a fabulous memoir, first published in 1912. It's an immigrant story, but I loved the way so much of the book is set in Russia and that not only is there the challenge of adjusting to America, but also quite a bit of religious questioning (Antin is Jewish). And it was far more entertaining than I imagined. This book had been languishing on my shelves for years, and I'm slightly kicking myself for not pulling it down sooner. Read it, if this sounds the slightest bit intriguing!
yetilibrary's review
4.0
This memoir, though occasionally overly-sentimental and purple-prosed, is quite touching and is a beautiful snapshot of what it was like to be a Jewish immigrant to America in the late 19th Century. Antin's writing is lovely and self-aware--she often acknowledges when she's being over-the-top in her descriptions--and her picture of America is very idealistic: it's what most people think of when they hear the phrase "The American Dream." The idealism is what also makes the memoir fall short, though: despite her family's poverty, Antin is completely unaware of the systemic problems in America that keep the poor, poor. (She is aware of her family's sacrifices to help HER excel and get out of poverty, and her gratitude to them is profound and intense, but she is blind to the idea that not every family has a child to which they can pin their hopes, and not every child is as lucky as she was to make influential and helpful friends.) She is also blind to racial and ethnic strife, even though it existed and she would have at least SEEN some of it. The result is an odd duality where she realizes she's lucky, but fails to realize that not everyone is going to get that same luck. The United States of America is not the same land of promise for everyone.
All of that said, I did really enjoy this memoir. As I said, Antin's writing is lovely, and in many ways her naive idealism is charming. While her story is far from universal in the way she seems to think it would be (at least for immigrants), it is, again, a beautiful snapshot of what America was for her.
All of that said, I did really enjoy this memoir. As I said, Antin's writing is lovely, and in many ways her naive idealism is charming. While her story is far from universal in the way she seems to think it would be (at least for immigrants), it is, again, a beautiful snapshot of what America was for her.
More...