Ilana Kurshan

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: In Children of the Book, Ilana Kurshan explores the closeness forged when family life unfolds against a backdrop of reading together. Kurshan, a mother of five living in Jerusalem, at first struggles to balance her passion for literature with her responsibilities as a parent. Gradually she learns how to relate to reading not as a solitary pursuit and an escape from the messiness of life, but rather as a way of teaching independence and forging show more connection. Introducing her children to sacred and secular literature—including the beloved classics of her childhood—helps her become both a better mother and a better reader.

Chief among the books Kurshan reads with her children is the Five Books of Moses, known as the Torah, which Jews the world over read in synchrony as part of the liturgical cycle. In the five parts of this memoir, Kurshan explores the surprising resonances between the biblical text and her experiences as a mother and a reader—from the first picture books that create the world through language for little babies, to the moment our children begin reading on their own leaving us behind, atop the mountain, as they enter new lands without us. A testament to the enduring power of shared texts, Children of the Book celebrates the deep pleasures of books.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I am anti-religion. It is a vicious, coercive system meant to instill authoritarian values. It's used here for those aims...forcing children to eat is wrong.

"What the hell, old man, why are you rating this more than a single star?"

This is why: "As I tell my daughter, I know the book is not really mine, because nothing I own is truly mine. But I write in the margins because the book is part of a conversation that has been unfolding for generations. I want to add my voice to that conversation, and someday, when she is older, I hope she will, too." I think the author didn't realize it, but in that simple statement, she handed her child the key to the prison.

The reason to teach children to love reading, to love the words that show us the shape of our culture, is to give them exactly that sense of joining a conversation. It is the reason the authoritarians are working so very hard to squash our trust in cultural institutions like libraries, laboratories, and other relativistic systems of judging knowledge. It never works in their favor; they can't compete on the "strength" of their ideas; and people do not like to be ordered around. The demographics are against the religious nuts as overall "belief" is shrinking everywhere, which leads to lunacies like Bible-Belt churches being sold off (suitable for a ministorage conversion is my favorite reuse!) as congregations vanish...a thing I'd've told you was utterly impossible fifty years ago is now happening.

No wonder "They" are so determined to take control of all the structures of Authority and destroy them. "They" are losing, and they know there is only a slim chance that can be slowed down.

So look at that bolded passage above, realize the key is in your hands, and for the sake of a future worth living in, PASS IT ON. show less

Full disclosure: I've met the author and sometimes I sit next to her husband in shul (Hello, Daniel!).

I loved this, both as a memoir about learning daf yomi and as a book about someone who loves books. It reminded me of Anne Fadiman's essay collection [b:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader|46890|Ex Libris Confessions of a Common Reader|Anne Fadiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435782351s/46890.jpg|1468318] as the author chooses a life surrounded by and informed by literature and show more reading. I had one glorious moment when she referenced a Wendy Cope poem and I reached out without moving from where I was sitting to pick up a copy of [b:Two Cures for Love: Selected Poems, 1979-2006|7191103|Two Cures for Love Selected Poems, 1979-2006|Wendy Cope|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347418419s/7191103.jpg|7769327] that my mum bought us, to read the poem in full.

That alone would have been enough for me, but the core of the book is not just reading, it's learning. The commitment to knowing more, doing better, relentlessly striving for better understanding of self, of context, of place is astonishing and inspiring.

Frank, funny and fabulous. Like I said, I loved this. show less

Ilana Kurshan's memoir recounts the seven and a half years she spent doing daf yomi, the cycle of reading the 37 volumes of the Talmud, and how that experience interwove with the other events that happened in her life during that time. Kurshan begins studying in the wake of her divorce to her husband of only a year when she is feeling at a loss, uncertain about her life in Israel (which she moved to for her ex-husband) and her career. By the end of the study cycle, Kurshan is in a different show more job, married, and has three young children. Observing her journey and the insights to her faith she gains through reading the Talmud was fascinating for this reader and I enjoyed immersing myself in the life of someone whose experiences are so different from my own. show less

After an unexpected divorce, Conservative rabbi's daughter Ilana decides to embark on Daf Yomi--the cycle of daily Talmud study. Over the next 7 1/2 years, she completes the Talmud, embarks on a new relationship, marries, and has children. The memoir is organized by the tractates of the Talmud, and like that work, the organization in each chapter is a little loose as she dips between discussion of the tractate, her life, and other religious and literary digressions. But she's a good writer, show more and the detours are interesting.

(I also realized she's from my hometown, which was funny.) show less