People love dead Jews; reports from a haunted present

 

Title of the book: People Love Dead Jews; Reports From A Haunted Present

Author: Dara Horn

Publisher: Norton

Publishing Date: 2021

ISBN: 978-0-393-53156-5

Summary:

Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture—and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks—Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the "righteous Gentile" Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, and so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present.

Horn draws upon her travels, her research, and also her own family life—trying to explain Shakespeare’s Shylock to a curious ten-year-old, her anger when swastikas are drawn on desks in her children’s school, the profound perspective offered by traditional religious practice and study—to assert the vitality, complexity, and depth of Jewish life against an antisemitism that, far from being disarmed by the mantra of "Never forget," is on the rise. As Horn explores the (not so) shocking attacks on the American Jewish community in recent years, she reveals the subtler dehumanization built into the public piety that surrounds the Jewish past—making the radical argument that the benign reverence we give to past horrors is itself a profound affront to human dignity.

Author Info:
(From goodreads)

Dara Horn, the author of the novels All Other Nights, The World to Come, and In the Image, is one of Granta’s "Best Young American Novelists" and the winner of two National Jewish Book Awards. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.

Table of contents: 

Introduction

Everyone's (second) favorite dead Jew 

Frozen Jews 

Dead American Jews Part One 

Executed Jews 

Fictional dead Jews 

Legends of dead Jews 

Dead American Jews Part Two 

On rescuing Jews and Others 

Dead Jews of the desert 

Blockbuster dead Jews 

Commuting with Shylock 

Dead American Jews Part Three: Turning the page 

Personal Opinion:

My first compliment will definitely have to go towards the cover: in a rare case it's an ambiguous cover and can be interpreted in a few ways, although paired up with the title, I have to admit that my thoughts go towards the dark version, as sad as it sounds. I also loved all the essays, the most stunning one being one where she and her son listen to Shylock. All I can say is, from the mouth of babes and it's definitely stunning on how much we search to make things much prettier than they are. I also was surprised by how much the Jewish literature differs from say English or western canon and  i didn't even realize it. ( I think I will now start thinking of examples of western literature and of Jewish literature. Funny thing is that Jewish literature kind of follows in direction of Chinese and Japanese classics...) it was definitely a raw read but very necessary for everyone, especially for christians because somehow I doubt they understand what it means to be us. What I found slightly frustrating is the fact i have no idea when the essays were written and published. Perhaps seeing the original publications of the essays might have helped me realize more about the connections between each one. Also later on I will write more in depth on the essays in the book, especially my responses to them which will be long. For now though, buy it, keep it, and never let it go. 

This was given for a review 

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)