Rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Call It Sleep?
First Edition of Call It Sleep
Manhattan is an enormous Jewish ghetto that many don’t want
to escape. French anti-Semitism has deep roots, going back to the Dreyfus case, that could be awakened by the
Jihadist violence. While the French don’t like being under siege, one wonders if
there isn’t a certain part of the electorate that believes the Jews are
only making matters worse, in terms of increasing the level of violence on
French soil. First comes the outrage against the killers and then comes the
second stage, which mirrors in some ways the response that cancer victims
sometimes get when the initial sympathy for their condition has passed: did
they bring this upon themselves? It’s always nice to let the blame fall on the
victim. An etiology is better than bald-faced tragedy. But Manhattan is a
little like Israel. It’s where the Diaspora ended a long time ago for some Jews. Jews may not outnumber other
ethnic groups but they're a significant force politically, economically and culturally. Those who talk about Manhattan seceding from the United States, which
is really an extended joke at mid-America’s expense, are really talking about the other Promised Land. Indeed Tel Aviv and New York, as two of the most
cosmopolitan cities in the world, have many things in common. There have been
reports that as many as 15,000 French Jews, who no longer feel safe, are contemplating
moving to Israel (“15,000 Jews to leave France for Israel, Jewish Agency says,”The Telegraph, 1/13/15). In the meanwhile New York’s Jews aren’t going anywhere. They've already arrived, a journey whose birth pangs were documented in Henry Roth’s novel about turn of the century immigrants, Call It Sleep.
This sad, wonderfully written book of tormented immigrants at he turn of the last century from the eyes of an 8 year old child, is vivid and painful. A portrayal of the growth of a youngster, and the gradual revelation of the source of his pain is not easy reading. Roth's power of description of people and scenes are like verbal photographs. This is a work of art.
Francis Levy's debut novel, Erotomania: A Romance, was released in August 2008 by Two Dollar Radio.
His short stories, criticism, humor, and poetry have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Village Voice, The East Hampton Star, The Quarterly, Penthouse, Architectural Digest, TV Guide, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, and other publications. One of his Voice humor pieces was anthologized in The Big Book of New American Humor (HarperCollins). His collection of parables, The Kafka Studies Department with illustrations by Hallie Cohen will appear in
September.
This sad, wonderfully written book of tormented immigrants at he turn of the last century from the eyes of an 8 year old child, is vivid and painful. A portrayal of the growth of a youngster, and the gradual revelation of the source of his pain is not easy reading. Roth's power of description of people and scenes are like verbal photographs. This is a work of art.
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