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A review by sjgrodsky
The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
4.0
First, this is a fantastic choice for a book club. There are so many questions of morality and motivation that it's sure to engender a lively discussion.
Second – and another reason the book is a good book club selection – is that it's a reveal: You slowly learn the facts that bring the narrative into focus as the pages turn. It's easy to miss a crucial detail. So it's good to discuss with others who may have noticed what you didn't.
Now a few criticisms:
1
--
Baruch and Leora are very intelligent people. But you never learn exactly what their plan was in fleeing to Yalta. Would two such bright people jump on a plane and not have any good idea of what they were going to do when they got to their destination?
2
--
The character of Leora is disappointingly drawn. In the first half of the book you learn that she's smart, she's politically engaged and she has a sarcastic sense of humor. As the pages turn you hear less and less from her. You long to know what's going on in her head. And, key question: Does she really think she's going to start a new life outside Israel with a long-married, sixty-something Knesset member who is dragging tons of baggage?
But, of course, these criticisms only demonstrate how engaged I was in the story.
Second – and another reason the book is a good book club selection – is that it's a reveal: You slowly learn the facts that bring the narrative into focus as the pages turn. It's easy to miss a crucial detail. So it's good to discuss with others who may have noticed what you didn't.
Now a few criticisms:
1
--
Baruch and Leora are very intelligent people. But you never learn exactly what their plan was in fleeing to Yalta. Would two such bright people jump on a plane and not have any good idea of what they were going to do when they got to their destination?
2
--
The character of Leora is disappointingly drawn. In the first half of the book you learn that she's smart, she's politically engaged and she has a sarcastic sense of humor. As the pages turn you hear less and less from her. You long to know what's going on in her head. And, key question: Does she really think she's going to start a new life outside Israel with a long-married, sixty-something Knesset member who is dragging tons of baggage?
But, of course, these criticisms only demonstrate how engaged I was in the story.