The Loves of Judith

by Meir Shalev

Book Overview

Hak-Hak Yang Sesuai Dengan Fitrah dan Dikuatkan Oleh Syar'iat: Berbicara tentang hak-hak dan kewajiban-kewajiban seseorang sesuai urutan kewajiban yang seharusnya dilakukan oleh seseorang dalam... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880016353
• ISBN13: 9780880016353
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 315 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Devour this book

The story of a young man and his experiences as he grows up in Israel is a cross between IB Singer and Amos Oz. Full of magic, pain, the wonder of a child, the redeeming of lost love, land and history. The descriptions are so fresh you can smell, taste and feel them. You will want to devour this book.

A good story, well told, with a melancholy tone and a touch of magic realism.

This 1994 Israeli novel has something in common with all the other Israeli novels I have read lately. It has a melancholy tone and a touch of magic realism. Originally written in Hebrew and set in what is now Israel, the story starts at the end of the First World War and gives the reader a picture of a small Jewish village which was not unlike stories I've read about villages in Europe around that time in history except that the weather, the foliage and the crops were all indigenous to Palestine (which was what the area was called at the time). This is the story of a boy named Zayde and his three fathers. Yes, three fathers. Of course the story takes place years before DNA testing and each one of three men believes that he could have been Zayde's biological father. His mother, Judith, had come to the village after a tragedy of her own, and worked as a housekeeper for a widower named Moshe and his children. She refused to sleep in his house however, and lived in the cowshed with the cows. Moshe loved her and so did two other men - Globerman, the rough and unscrupulous cattle dealer and Jacob, the gentle dreamer who over the course of several decades, invited Zayde to his home for four memorable meals and, at the same time, gradually unveiled the secrets around Zayde's birth and Judith's death when Zayde was only ten years old. This is a sad, beautiful and wistful story and I could almost hear the violins playing a minor-keyed rhapsody in the background as it unfolded. Soon, I was caught up in the characters, the concept of the story and the well-planned pacing and very anxious to understand all the mysteries that the author introduced. This is a good book, and a story well told.

Rich and whimsical

A wonderfully written story , a masterpiece of contemporary Israeli literature , rich in imagery and deeply human. It is the story of the boy Zayde and his enigmatic mother , Judith , as well as Judith's three lovers, all of which take the role of Zayde's fathers. We are kept guessing who Zayde's real father is , but we never find out. Ther story takes us from the 1930's to the 1980's in Israel Highly reccomended for a rich and whimsical read.

One of my favorites

I have a great love for Jewish literature and culture, and this book reinforces the beauty of each of those things through Shalev's marvelous storytelling. Each one of the characters is uniquely and vividly drawn, from jealous Aunt Bathsheba to mournful Moshe to cold and beautiful Rebecca. The book takes place over several decades, weaving in and out of time as each person's history is revealed. As you begin the book, you might think that "The Loves of Judith" only refers to Zayde's three fathers, but you soon find that even Zayde himself and Naomi, his adopted sister, are defined by their love for this mysterious woman. The story is told primarily through the memories of Zayde, Judith's son, and Jacob, one of Judith's suitors. Each of the four sections of the book circles around a meal which Jacob prepares for Zayde. As Zayde savors the food Jacob prepares, he also savors the memories of his mother that Jacob shares with him. Through their remembrances, we learn that Judith is a woman who defies the common practices of the time period, remaining true only to herself and rejecting her suitors' attempts to possess and define her. Every main character's path is set by Judith's actions, and each comes to love her for a different reason."The Loves of Judith" explores the ways in which love affects individuals, families and even entire villages. Love brings some characters together and tears some apart, predicts their destinies and lingers with them until their deaths. The story is like a good meal: flavorful, unpredictable, and completely satisfying. Trust me, you'll want to help yourself to this novel again and again.

A real treat

The narrator of this marvelous novel has three different fathers. There is no rankle nor fuss here, this is just the way things are. With characters both real and unreal and plots that vibrate with expectancy, the tale is as mystical and luminous as the land, Israel, from which it sprang. Hurrah to the author for such a fine piece of writing.