Arnold Zable

A good bookclub discussion about migration (and family who stay behind) and descendants who revisit the homeland.
While not an exciting book it contained many evocative descriptions of people and places (eg. Ithaca)

To say the subject matter within Arnold Zable’s collection of essays, The Watermill is not uplifting would be somewhat of an understatement. The wrongs perpetrated are incalculable and, quite frankly, incomprehensible to those of us that have lived lives with minimal hardship and our liberty uncurbed. However, the resilience of the people that is their focus is inspiring.

This being my first experience of Arnold Zable’s writing, I was immediately struck by the confluence of a talented show more observer’s objectivity and well-spring of empathy for people far and wide. His respect for lived experience, for the elderly. His appreciation of, and the value he ascribes to, the smallest moments, from a hand gesture that is a tell for a Holocaust survivor’s coping mechanism ('Republic of the Stateless'), to the perilous nature of the individual against the immensity of both nature and political/societal forces. Continue reading >> https://bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/03/the-watermill-by-arnold-zable-review-mo... show less

Powerful story
rich writing;
thought provoking

Text in Yiddish and English; history of Yiddish theater in Melbourne, Australia