The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

What bugs me about the Bildungsroman is the scent of sanctimony that often accompanies it: lessons are learned, obstacles overcome, and what emerges is a well-rounded and faintly smug protag like David Copperfield who looks back on his youthful misadventures with an air of tolerant amusement. That's not what happens to Duddy K though: what he learns about life and human nature in the course of the novel he mostly misinterprets or misuses, and if anything he's a less sympathetic character when we leave him on the cusp of majority than at any point prior. That's not to say he's unlikeable — driven by a blunt sense of justice, intolerant of hypocrites, and unafraid to make a fool of himself, there's plenty to get behind — but his show more dedication to seeing others only in terms of what he can get out of them means his allure is of the car-wreck kind. The extended introduction, framed through the sad story of the schoolmaster MacPherson, tormented by the young Duddy, eloquently prefigures this theme.

I can see what made this novel popular. The dialogue and the atmosphere of mid-century Montreal, especially the Jewish 'hood and its characters, is very convincing. I love how D will casually "grab a couple of smoked meats" to cheer himself up after a reverse, his frustrated ver gerhargets and all his haring about town in harebrained pursuit of the big score. And every character's convincing, too. In fact, you can see it as a book about the disturbances caused by Duddy's "apprenticeship" in the lives of those unlucky enough to fall into his orbit. By putting this amoral loose-cannon at the heart of his novel, Richler draws the reader's focus and sympathy to the supporting cast and the setting, which I guess is what the book is really about and explains why I liked it so much. show less

Duddy Kravitz is a third generation Jewish immigrant who reminds me of Kevin Spacey's character in House of Cards. Although Duddy is only a teenager growing up in 1950s Montreal, he is amoral, scheming, conniving, sly, and even amusing. He goes after what he wants with a corrupt, combative, yet subtle bully air just like a well trained politician. He knows how to hustle for jobs while hustling people at the same time. No one is immune to his charms or betrayals. At the heart of the story Duddy has plans to own land because, in his mind, that is the only way he can be sure he will be Somebody in the end. He'll steamroll over anybody and everybody to get what he wants. His pride won't let him be human. In the end, Duddy ultimately becomes show more Richler's mouthpiece for topics such as greed, politics, religion, and family and you can't help but admire Duddy's tenacity no matter how much you hate his moral character. Just like Frank Underwood, he is a begrudgingly likeable villain. show less

Of course there is the movie, introducing Richard Dryfuss. I recalled scenes from it, but the novel is much more than the movie. Duddy is desperate to get ahead, to get noticed, to get approved of, and he hustles with such determination that at times I felt exhausted by his juggling act. While we watch him, we see the small, tight community of Montreal Jews after WWII, where everyone knows everyone and the local heroes are not always admirable. Duddy's hunger to be somebody and his ties to his family drive the story.

Richler doesn't leave out humor. Some of the episodes are screamingly funny. But this is not a satire; it's a portrait of a boy, a community, and a specific time. Excellent.

Maybe Montreal was a different place in the late 1940s/50s when young Duddy Kravitz was taking on the world. A poor, motherless Jewish boy, he had big dreams; most of all he wanted to fulfill his grandfather's mantra: "a man without land is nothing." In order to do so, he knew no bounds. Nothing would or could stop him in his quest for money and power. In the wake of his brash single-mindedness he leaves the detritus of his actions: the teacher's disabled wife who dies trying to get to the phone with Duddy at the other end delivering a crank call, an epileptic friend, put behind the wheel of a delivery van by Duddy, who suffers a tragic accident, a devoted girlfriend, taken advantage of to the extreme, and on and on. Duddy took show more advantage of everyone in his way as his quest for money and land consumed him.

To say he was unlikable is an enormous understatement. He's detestable. He displayed not a single redeeming quality and the way Richler told the story apparently was employed in order to emphasize that this book was a character study and no more. The book was told almost from beginning to end, with nothing but dialogue. Short, choppy sentences were meant to illustrate the life that Duddy leads. Very little narrative thrust was spent on describing the setting or even the other characters, whom we learn about through Duddy's descriptions.

At the end, when you think there might be a resolution or at least a comeuppance to his horrible treatment of others we're left seeing that the author provided none for this dismal character. So what do you get out of a book that has no scintillating prose and a protagonist that you detest? I’m not sure but I’m still thinking about it over a week after finishing the book. show less

I don't know why I waited so long to read Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. This is a work of genius.

From a literary perspective, Richler's style is relentless, employing very little environmental description, choosing instead dialogue that scintillates. He cements plot with sharp, keen characters, an elegantly simplistic language. There isn't a scene, a phrase, a word out of place here.

From an entertainment perspective this a rocketing good read, with a beginning that seems slow to start and then suddenly launches off into the nervous, fidgeting, finagling world of huckster-Duddy. You detest his crass and insouciant behaviour. You weep for him when his tender underbelly is revealed. You are right there in the show more seedy world of 1950s Montreal.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz will now have a place in our permanent library here at The Old Stone House. show less

Duddy Kravitz, is a motherless boy, on his own in the world of the Jewish community of 1950's Montreal. And that is the best that can be said of him. Highly energetic, and wonderfully manipulative, Duddy achieves a goal he thinks will place him in his family's bosom. No such luck! But we are left with a wonderfully realised portrait, of a very unlikeable man.

Duddy's story of doing whatever he can to buy land around a lake in Quebec is not an easy or pleasant read. What makes this novel great is the layers which all the characters have -- none of them is flat or static. Duddy is a fallible character: he uses people, connives, and hurts to achieve what he considers success. His approach, though, makes it difficult for me as the reader to really like him or even want him to succeed. I don't really know if there is any character I really like (maybe Cuckoo), but their struggles and interactions are all very real and profoundly interwoven.
I don't love this book, but I understand why it's a Canadian classic and why Mordecai Richler is a Canadian icon.