Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Mountain Family, a Story of a Family's Journey to Yiddishkeit.

This book is an original, unique recounting of a woman and her family's trek to Yiddishkeit. The Mountain Family goes from Mrs. Berger's childhood through grandmotherhood covering many diverse situations, locations and trepidations.



Judging the Book by its Cover -  a first glance review:

The cover is enough to say that this is not your typical nonfiction Artscroll book. It doesn't give away much more than that its a book about a family that lived in a cabin and now has a connection to religious Jews and Jerusalem.

Some Details I Liked:

I liked the large span of time that the book covered. Obviously, it is hard to consolidate memories and key events, but it was done very well. The years flowed into each other, yet the next stage always held a distinction of maturity compared to the one prior. 

Who This Book is For:

This is a great family book. It touches on some of the emotional challenges that Mrs. Berger went through, but doesn't dwell on them. At first, I felt that it took away from the depth of the story, but then I appreciated that I could recommend the book to younger readers without being concerned about over exposure. 

Who This Book Isn’t For:  

It was also nice how the author maintained terminology that pertained to her at that time in life. For example, her kids are referred to as their names from birth until the book discusses when they chose their new names. To me, it added to the reality of the book, but I can imagine that some might not appreciate the detail.

What I Didn’t Like/Would Have Made it Better: 

As much as this story is extreme and that is what made it print-worthy, I would love to read a autobiography of a giyores who was coming from a more easy to relate to background.
What helped the book a lot was to read one daughters synopsis of the whole situation. It would have been nice if all or almost all the children could have contributed.  Additionally I am curious to read the father's story...


In Conclusion: 

This is a great new nonfiction and possibly inspiring book. Definitely not something that someone just imagined and wrote up, but almost as exciting and unbelievable.

Disclaimer:

I received this book for the purpose of reviewing it, but that it no way changed the way I read it and reviewed it.