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A very interesting set of notes/memoirs/thoughts from a left leaning British Jew. This book can evoke contrasting responses from people depending on where they lay on the politico-social-populist divides.
Many chapters are informative (God, family, comedy, security), others were confirmatory for me (Israel, race). The two that stood out were the ones on the internet and Poland.
The former was a bit all over the place—it has several important messages but could've been massively improved by skipping some bits (this chapter will also trigger a lot of people on all sides of the political landscape. The latter chapter was tremendously moving, even for anyone who thinks they know all about the Holocaust.
A memoir written as a letter to the mother. It's beautifully written, though disjoint as times, as our thoughts often are.
I loved the sections of experiences with mom and grandmom, of finding love, of loss (twice), and of addiction. The short section of friends lost to drug addiction was simple yet moving. The prose sometimes, written as thoughts flow, often made comprehension hard. It was a bit hard to read, to stay interested in. Yet, there are many moments from the book, both beautiful and sad, which have stayed vividly in memory.
The book is slow to start. It is also hard comprehend initially—is a book length dialog with interspersed timelines and characters, and few names.
Yet, by the time the key characters start getting drink, so did I start getting hooked on the slow, bubbling conversation.
Three book is nothing special. It's just two nearly 60yos spending an evening if drinking and talking, jumping back and forth over 30 years.
If there wasn't a pandemic around, I'd inviting friends over for a catch-up in Dublin tomorrow.
The quality of this book is evident from how well it's aged. Written in late 1970s, much of it is still very relevant today.