Nathan Englander

Worth the Wait: For those of us who have been waiting for Englander's next book , "The Ministry of Special Cases" was certainly worth the wait. While set in Argentina during the Dirty War, the mind-numbing-struggle this family faces against a totalitarian regime that refuses to acknowledge its sins, is a universal one. The story is deeply tragic and yet somehow Englander laces it all with his special brand of humor. We laugh and cry with the characters because Englander makes them breathe show more for us. We watch them live the full spectrum of human experience and sometimes life hurts but still the author helps us find reasons to laugh along the way. show less

We are all Jews. Englander's stories are set in a Jewish world, with protagonists as diverse as settlers on the West Bank, secular couples in Florida or old World survivors in Israel. Yet, as rooted as they are in this particular world with its own customs and language, their ethical dilemmas are clearly universal, and the reader cannot help but be drawn in. The story about the Author's readings provides a little dip in the momentum, but otherwise all stories in this book are gems. The show more author dissects these quandaries with Talmudic precision: when and how to forgive? What is a life worth living? By what standards should you pick your friends? The author has chosen Jewish settings from past and present in which these questions crystallise, and people need to make life-and-death decisions based on what othermise might be academic niceties. The author's kindness, humour and intelligence shine through throughout in a beautifully written and memorable book that I will want to re-read soon. show less

When Larry's Orthodox father dies, he finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being responsible for saying the Kaddish. He resents this obligation, is offended by its spiritual necessity and rebels against his family's blind devotion to a silly religious protocol. He intends to perform it in a half-hearted and imperfect way. However, his sister goes berserk, accuses him of lying and has a huge and public fight with him. She says that if he will not do this one thing for his father show more that is demanded of him, then he will have to find someone who will.

After a disappointing revenge wank in his sister's home, Larry finds a website which offers to have the ritual performed by a school of religious students in Israel. He immediately has a feeling of relief and satisfaction that his father will, despite it all, be getting the service he deserves. This simple transaction brings on a religious transformation in Larry of epic proportions. He returns to his faith, becomes a rabbi, marries, and even returns to teach at the Jewish school where he taught.

However, after many years of piety, his failure to perform the Kaddish for his father weighs on him. Moreover, he worries that some child in Israel is now the true son of his father. He has essentially sold his birthright and he is obsessed with recovering it. This leads him on a madcap mission to the Holy Land to find the person running a transactional prayer business on the other side of the world.

This book is darkly funny and strangely touching. The protagonist is silly and loveable and his journey of faith is sometimes poignant and sometimes hilarious. This was a great read and a light hearted look at Orthodox Judaism that is rarely portrayed in media. show less

this isn't an easy, fun, quick, or traditionally enjoyable read, but wow i still really liked it. first of all - nathan englander can really write. i remember *loving* his book of short stories, for the relief of unbearable urges and looking forward to this one for a long time. that always makes me nervous, but right away i could tell that i was going to love his writing, and the intimate jewishness that he writes with, just assuming readers will know what he's talking about. (and, really, i show more don't know that unfamiliarity with jewish custom/law/ritual would make the book hard to understand or anything, but knowing it certainly adds to the experience of reading him.)

this takes place in a time period i'm ashamed to have known nothing about - the disappearing of people in argentina under the junta. it's about community acceptance (or ostracism), labels, loss. how two married people can approach/react to/recover from a traumatic situation so differently, and how this can lead to impossible distances between them. irrecoverable distances. it's a sad, terrible story, but told somehow with lightness and even some humor (those parts, to me, recall john irving, as he can make a reader surprised to laugh when reading about tragedy) and a touch of the tone of a fable (those parts, to me, recall gabriel garcia marquez).

his writing talent is extraordinary. i will read anything he writes.

"'To dream of one government ending doesn't mean you'll want the one that comes in its place.'"

"A flatbed truck with a tank on its back crawled across the next avenue. Another one followed behind. These trucks, moving through the city at a speed fit only for funeral processions, lumbering along. Where is the surprise at this speed? Trouble does not break out anywhere in the world, Lillian thought. War is not unleashed. It is slowly, it is carefully, installed."

"We make adjustments, Lillian thought. We ignore things bit by bit until they've gone too far." show less