Современная зарубежная литература
Различные книги в жанре Современная зарубежная литература
The Pawnbroker
For most of us, remembering the Holocaust requires effort; we listen to stories, watch films, read histories. But the people who came to be called “survivors” could not avoid their memories. Sol Nazerman, protagonist of Edward Lewis Wallant’s The Pawnbroker, is one such sufferer.At 45, Nazerman, who survived Bergen-Belsen although his wife and children did not, runs a Harlem pawnshop. But the operation is only a front for a gangster who pays Nazerman a comfortable salary for his services. Nazerman’s dreams are haunted by visions of his past tortures. (Dramatizations of these scenes in Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film version are famous for being the first time the extermination camps were depicted in a Hollywood movie.)Remarkable for its attempts to dramatize the aftereffects of the Holocaust, The Pawnbroker is likewise valuable as an exploration of the fraught relationships between Jews and other American minority groups. That this novel, a National Book Award finalist, remains so powerful today makes it all the more tragic that its talented author died, at age 36, the year after its publication. The book sold more than 500,000 copies soon after it was published.
The Sea Beach Line
Set in post-Giuliani New York City, The Sea Beach Line melds mid-20th- century pulp fiction and traditional Jewish folklore as it updates the classic story of a young man trying to find his place in the world.After being expelled from Oberlin for hallucinogenic drug use, Izzy Edel seeks out his estranged father—a Polish Jew turned Israeli soldier turned New York street vendor named Alojzy who is reported to be missing, possibly dead. To learn about Alojzy’s life and discover the truth behind his disappearance, Izzy takes over his father’s outdoor bookselling business and meets the hustlers, gangsters, and members of a religious sect who peopled his father’s world. He also falls in love.As Izzy soon discovers, appearances can deceive; no one, not even his own father, is quite whom he seems to be. Vowing to prove himself equal to Alojzy’s legacy of fearlessness, Izzy plunges forward on a criminal enterprise that will bring him answers—at great personal cost.Fans of Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn, Nathan Englander’s For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, and Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union will relish to Ben Nadler’s combined mystery, love story, and homage to text and custom.
pH: A Novel
The manuscript for this book was just one of the top five finalists for the 2015 Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature. Although this novel is imaginative and humorous, the science supporting it is authentic. pH is cutting edge Cli-Fi (named hottest reading trend by Sierra Magazine 2014) and will interest anyone who loves the nature. It will also appeal to fans of science art or art based in science and the connections among science, art, and culturally‐defined beliefs are major themes. The book will include an author Q&A and reading group discussion questions. Like JIMMY BLUEFEATHER, this novel is full of quirky characters and their relationships and beautifully crafted, breathtaking descriptions of nature. Nancy is passionate about place, history, and the natural environment. She is actively engaged in conservation and community-building causes across the United States. She recently completed ten years as a trustee of the Alaska Conservation Foundation.
