This book tells the story of three generations the Jewish Ziskind family, originally from Russia and relocated to the US. The primary storyline involves twins Ben and Sara. Recently divorced, Ben goes to a singles gathering at a Jewish museum, where he finds a work of art that belonged to their family. On an impulse, he steals the painting (or steals it back). The story is told from multiple points of view with flashbacks and flash-forwards, relating the twins’ childhood, the painting’s provenance, the backstories of their grandfather and parents, and a bit about the (real) artist, Marc Chagall and (real) Yiddish writer, Der Nister. It includes many references to history (e.g., Vietnam, Chernobyl, Stalin’s Reign of Terror), literature, art, and religion.

The narrative is creative, weaving in ideas about life after death, creation of tombs, and even including several characters’ experiences in the womb. I found the first three-quarters particularly enjoyable. Toward the end, it veers off in a different direction. The ending….well, let’s just say it is most likely symbolic (or at least that is the way I interpreted it). Themes include love, loss, trust, cultural trauma, perseverance, storytelling, afterlife, and anti-Semitism. I liked the complex mix of elements, and I enjoyed the creativity, but found it difficult to maintain the same level of engagement toward the end. I think it would serve as an excellent selection for discussion in a book group or a subject for analysis in a literature class. ( )

Horn's second novel tells a multi-generational story of a Russian Jewish immigrant family in the US, weaving between various time periods and centering on each of three consecutive generations. It centers on the third generation in the present, Benjamin Ziskind and his twin sister Sara, starting with Benjamin spotting a painting by Chagall that was once owned by his family and promptly stealing it from the museum.

The book ends oddly, as did Horn's first novel, with a dreamy description of Sara's son in his pre-birth period, following an apparent talmudic or midrashic fable and learning about the world before birth, before he heads to the real world.

Horn is a beautiful writer, and there are paragraphs in here that make the reader cry. I found much of the story depressing- the world to come might be great, but the world of the Ziskinds is no great shakes. And I'm not thrilled with the ending. I've now read four of her novels in quick succession, and I have to say that they get better as she goes- this is worth reading for sure, but later novels are better. ( )

DNF

It was completely different than what I expected. In some moments dark and disturbing. Totally not my cup of tea. Plus, I wasn't in a mood for something serious.

Ben steals a small painting from a museum because it looks like the one his parents had in his childhood home. We follow the story of how the painting came into being and how Ben's mother Rosalie got it and why she sold it. Chagall had a colleague at a boy's orphanage where he was teaching and where Ben's grandfather was after the pogroms who stuffed his Yiddish stories into Chagall's frames. Rosalie found them later as an adult and published them as English children's stories--plagiarism or the survival of cultural heritage. The final chapter covers the pre-birth of Ben's nephew, as a "not-yet" child. Reminiscent of The Goldfinch. A non-linear plot, which makes it hard to follow. ( )

Another beautiful example of the genre (is there a name for books about early middle twentieth century eastern european jews, magic, and late 20th century american jews? like Foer, or History of Love, etc?). Anyways, great. Joy in hard times, humor in tragedy. ( )