2009/04/27 Lviv
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Mystery

Decency

Brody or Brodi is a small provincial town about a hundred kilometers miles east of Lviv.
Joseph Roth was born in this town.
Yesterday we visited Brody. We went to the rather large Jewish cemetery that strangely enough survived the war and we saw the remains of a synagogue.
There is a plaque on the gymnasium that Joseph Roth attended and a street is named after him. The address where he was born and where he lived till he moved to Lemberg remains a mystery.
In 1927 Joseph Roth wrote: “Es ist furchtbar schwer, ein Ostjude zu sein.” (“It’s terribly hard to be an Ostjude.”)
Thank God I’m not an Ostjude; I’m a decent German Jew.


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19 comments Last_comment
And I thought that it is terribly hard to be just a Jew.
said Mieke Dutoit 27/04/2009 17:45 • x
Another fine author I knew nothing about (happily we can read some of his work on http://www.pgeu.net/ - I am reading there Venus In Furs, although I did know something about that author)
said Bernard f 27/04/2009 19:37 • x
Zonder Israël is elke Jood een ongedekte cheque?
said Mieke Dutoit 27/04/2009 20:28 • x
I would like to start reading some books by Joseph Roth, do you have any recommendations about which one(s) to start with Mr. Grunberg?
said M. J. 27/04/2009 23:29 • x
MJ
His most famous novel is "The Radetzky March".
said Arnon Grunberg 28/04/2009 08:09 • x
On this beautiful literary magical mystery tour,
do not forget Arnon, our guide,
nor the chauffeur !
(Karol, are you the driver? Are you Polish?)
said Bernard f 28/04/2009 11:18 • x
To Arnon
This is quite rare isn't it? That you choose to praise the most wide read book of an author.
said Pjötr Nembkow 28/04/2009 11:50 • x
Pjötr
Not so rare. Arnon praised Karel van het Reve and Coetzee a lot in the past.
said Mieke Dutoit 28/04/2009 13:35 • x
To Pjotr
What's wrong in acknowledging a writer's most read book as his best book? The idea of correlating a book's obscurity with its quality is quiet elitist in my opinion.
said Pablo Sifrim 28/04/2009 16:04 • x
Pjötr
I noted that his most famous novel is "The Radetzky March" -- that's all. I don't feel competent to make recommendations regarding Roth, because I haven't read enough of him. I believed that my answer to MJ made this clear, apparently I was mistaken.
said Arnon Grunberg 28/04/2009 18:31 • x
Mieke
For the English translation of the Herzberg quote you can go to my salon.com article, translation by Sam Garrett:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/05/15/israeli_army/
said Arnon Grunberg 28/04/2009 18:34 • x
Bernard
Karol is a literary translator Polish Dutch.
said Arnon Grunberg 28/04/2009 19:28 • x
Bernard
I'm surely not the driver and the Ukrainians that we encounter during our trip believe that I am Polish and I do not try to make them think otherwise
said karol l. 28/04/2009 19:37 • x
To Mieke
Reading carefully you will notice that we are not contradicting each other.
said Pjötr Nembkow 29/04/2009 00:10 • x
To Pablo

I don't believe to have taken a personal stance.
said Pjötr Nembkow 29/04/2009 00:13 • x
@Karol
Thanks for the info. I have seen your name a lot of times on this blog during Arnon’s voyages. And Arnon does not drive, hence my mistake.
said Bernard f 29/04/2009 10:26 • x
Pjötr
Having read carefully, I agree with Arnon that the mentioning of Roth's novel didn't include a value judgement.
said Mieke Dutoit 29/04/2009 10:43 • x
To Mieke
Do you agree with me, that I couldn't make that out from your initial reaction?
said Pjötr Nembkow 29/04/2009 16:01 • x
Pjötr
I agree.
said Mieke Dutoit 29/04/2009 16:51 • x
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