Benjamin Stein (2) (1970–)
Author of The Canvas
For other authors named Benjamin Stein, see the disambiguation page.
5 Works 123 Members 5 Reviews
Works by Benjamin Stein
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Stein, Benjamin
- Birthdate
- 1970-06-06
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Germany
- Birthplace
- Berlin, Germany
- Places of residence
- München, Germany
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Reviews
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hrebml | 2 other reviews | Sep 5, 2019 | Six-word review: Memory and identity, smoke and mirrors.
Extended review:
The twists and turns of this book include literally turning the book upside down to read the half that goes in the opposite direction, like a bilingual instruction manual with two fronts and no back. The ends of the two narratives meet in the middle. Deciding how far to read in one half before switching to the other is up to the reader, placing this book somewhere within the wider reaches of the category of ergodic literature.
Ordinarily I dislike gimmicks in books, and I'm not sure how necessary this one was to the realization of the author's intention, but it does enhance the sense that nothing in this story is straightforward and linear. Some books achieve that sort of circularity without special effects; one that I can think of is The God of Small Things. Nevertheless, I do see the physical configuration of the hard copy as a meaningful contributor to the experience of reading the novel.
I've given it four stars because it's a well-written and original treatment of an endlessly fascinating theme, that of memory and identity, with many layers and interesting story elements and complex characters. It also sent me off for a reread of The Picture of Dorian Gray (and that's not a spoiler, or if it is, I have yet to figure out how). I enjoyed letting the author lead me through this hall of mirrors. But as for what actually happened in there, I'd have to read it again before I could form a coherent hypothesis. For now, I'm content to entertain the questions.… (more)
Extended review:
The twists and turns of this book include literally turning the book upside down to read the half that goes in the opposite direction, like a bilingual instruction manual with two fronts and no back. The ends of the two narratives meet in the middle. Deciding how far to read in one half before switching to the other is up to the reader, placing this book somewhere within the wider reaches of the category of ergodic literature.
Ordinarily I dislike gimmicks in books, and I'm not sure how necessary this one was to the realization of the author's intention, but it does enhance the sense that nothing in this story is straightforward and linear. Some books achieve that sort of circularity without special effects; one that I can think of is The God of Small Things. Nevertheless, I do see the physical configuration of the hard copy as a meaningful contributor to the experience of reading the novel.
I've given it four stars because it's a well-written and original treatment of an endlessly fascinating theme, that of memory and identity, with many layers and interesting story elements and complex characters. It also sent me off for a reread of The Picture of Dorian Gray (and that's not a spoiler, or if it is, I have yet to figure out how). I enjoyed letting the author lead me through this hall of mirrors. But as for what actually happened in there, I'd have to read it again before I could form a coherent hypothesis. For now, I'm content to entertain the questions.… (more)
1
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Meredy | 2 other reviews | May 20, 2014 | The primary themes in this tale are memory and identity. Memories can change, identities can be forgotten. Identities can be chosen, memories can return. Memories can be shared, memories can come in dreams. Identities can be forced upon one, identities can be faked. Two characters, Amnon and Jan, struggle to live their lives and the intersection of their lives in this psychological novel. The backdrop for the book is Orthodox Jewry, with a touch of Kabbalah mysticism.
I am left with the profound desire to discuss this book with someone else who has read it, because I do not think I can fully grasp its meanings without some shared conversation. I think anyone who reads this will have a similar experience.… (more)
I am left with the profound desire to discuss this book with someone else who has read it, because I do not think I can fully grasp its meanings without some shared conversation. I think anyone who reads this will have a similar experience.… (more)
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hemlokgang | 2 other reviews | Mar 9, 2014 | This author caught my attention when I read somewhere that he was in the tradition of Leo Perutz, an Austrian author writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, whose novels would probably be classified as Magical Realism today. He is not particularly popular, but not completely forgotten either (Borges, among others, regarded him highly), and I read two of his novels a few years back which I both loved. My interested in Benjamin Stein piqued, I checked out his work so far (currently three novels and one volume of prose – none translated into English yet, although Canvas is apparently scheduled for a release in September 2012) and decided (as I’m a sucker for reading chronologically) to give his first published work a try.
As it turned out, Das Alphabet des Juda Liva owes more to another Austrian writer of roughly the same period as Perutz, namely Gustav Meyrink, whose work has even stronger tendencies towards the fantastical. He is still well remembered today for The Golem, and Stein openly references both that novel and the legend it is based on in his own book – the Juda Liva of its title is none other than Rabbi Loew, creator of the Prague Golem.
Das Alphabet des Juda Liva takes place (for the most part) in 20th-century Berlin and Prague, but it is steeped in Jewish legend and Cabbalistic mysticism. It is nested into several narratives frames, it contains a host of characters (quite a few of which are either related to each other or lovers), it jumps back and forth in time (not just the narrative viewpoint, there appears to be some actual time travel involved, too), between places and (I suspect) realities, and about halfway through it I noticed that I did not have the faintest clue anymore what the hell was going in this novel.
The author keeps grasping new characters apparently out of thin air, throws them at the reader, then sets them in relation to five other previous characters whose names one barely remembers, and while one is still struggling to figure out in what time period to locate them (or is it an alternative reality?), the novel has already moved on to a bunch of new characters (or are those previous ones? the names do seem somewhat familiar…). Now, it is of course entirely possible that this might have been avoided with more careful reading and some note-taking, but having approached the novel with a rather relaxed attitude, I was completely lost und utterly confused.
I kept reading on, carried by my own momentum, while wondering whether I should just give up and shelf this as DNF, or maybe start over from the beginning, when I noticed something surprising – I was actually still enjoying reading the novel even after it had fallen apart for me, and never felt like it dragged even after reading it to its conclusion. What carries the novel along even after it has crumbled into a series of barely connected vignettes is the sheer power of the author’s imagination that turns even contemporary Berlin into a place where the strange and mystical can happen and the impact of his writing that – in marked contrast to the fevered fantasies it spins out – remains cool and collected throughout, but never grows distant, rather a like a somewhat wry observer, who cannot quite believe what he is seeing, but finds himself rather fascinated by it regardless.
As fascinated as I found myself with Das Alphabet des Juda Liva – I am rather hoping that will eventually get around to reading at a second time, this time paying somewhat closer attention. Probably not before having read Benjamin Stein’s other novels, though…… (more)
As it turned out, Das Alphabet des Juda Liva owes more to another Austrian writer of roughly the same period as Perutz, namely Gustav Meyrink, whose work has even stronger tendencies towards the fantastical. He is still well remembered today for The Golem, and Stein openly references both that novel and the legend it is based on in his own book – the Juda Liva of its title is none other than Rabbi Loew, creator of the Prague Golem.
Das Alphabet des Juda Liva takes place (for the most part) in 20th-century Berlin and Prague, but it is steeped in Jewish legend and Cabbalistic mysticism. It is nested into several narratives frames, it contains a host of characters (quite a few of which are either related to each other or lovers), it jumps back and forth in time (not just the narrative viewpoint, there appears to be some actual time travel involved, too), between places and (I suspect) realities, and about halfway through it I noticed that I did not have the faintest clue anymore what the hell was going in this novel.
The author keeps grasping new characters apparently out of thin air, throws them at the reader, then sets them in relation to five other previous characters whose names one barely remembers, and while one is still struggling to figure out in what time period to locate them (or is it an alternative reality?), the novel has already moved on to a bunch of new characters (or are those previous ones? the names do seem somewhat familiar…). Now, it is of course entirely possible that this might have been avoided with more careful reading and some note-taking, but having approached the novel with a rather relaxed attitude, I was completely lost und utterly confused.
I kept reading on, carried by my own momentum, while wondering whether I should just give up and shelf this as DNF, or maybe start over from the beginning, when I noticed something surprising – I was actually still enjoying reading the novel even after it had fallen apart for me, and never felt like it dragged even after reading it to its conclusion. What carries the novel along even after it has crumbled into a series of barely connected vignettes is the sheer power of the author’s imagination that turns even contemporary Berlin into a place where the strange and mystical can happen and the impact of his writing that – in marked contrast to the fevered fantasies it spins out – remains cool and collected throughout, but never grows distant, rather a like a somewhat wry observer, who cannot quite believe what he is seeing, but finds himself rather fascinated by it regardless.
As fascinated as I found myself with Das Alphabet des Juda Liva – I am rather hoping that will eventually get around to reading at a second time, this time paying somewhat closer attention. Probably not before having read Benjamin Stein’s other novels, though…… (more)
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Larou | 1 other review | Aug 7, 2012 | Lists
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- Works
- 5
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- 123
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- #162,201
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 46
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- 5
I did read the book by alternating chapters between the two tales, but it didn't really add much until the very end. There is a little interrelated imagery that echoes between the earl chapters of the two texts, but there's so few actual events described by the two equally out of whack narrators until the final chapter(s), that it seemed like it might have had more impact reading each of the narratives straight through one after the other.… (more)