Last week, Booknik pumped iron with all his might, so no one will be able to call him “a puny Jew” anymore; he sang songs by Alexander Galich, put on a white ribbon, and went out in the city square in a long trendy frock-coat, attended the Hermitage in search for the original Russian salad, and lost at chess to Booknik Jr. Who, in the meantime, decided to become a paleontologist, and fell in love with the Little Red Riding Hood.
Alexander Galich, the Complete Biography, by Mikhail Aronov
Despite some very interesting quotes, and the wide scope of the presented material, the book turned out to be some disappointment for our literary critic, Booknik’s editor-in-chief Sergey Kuznetsov. He believes that the author is too much in love with his subject, and he is too eager to deflect critical assaults of his character’s contemporaries. In fact, the story of Galich does not tell us about a repented literary functionary but a foppish light entertainment star who went too much in his stylistic exercises.
Combat Dentists, and the Jewish Body
The Jewish Body , by Melvin Konner
The myth of a “puny Jew” is a thing of the past now, and the Booknik book reviewer Marina Karpova knows it only too well. Those who had been hollering about “Jewish feebleness” are now indignant with “the crimes of Israeli military.” Although, Konner notes, with recognizing Jews’ strength, the world did not love them more. No matter how you look at it, though, to be unloved but strong is much safer.
The old curiosity shop
The Shawl, by Cynthia Ozick
This is the book about the impossibility of living in the past, grieving and reminiscing only, our reviewer Yevgenia Ritz thinks. Your grief will not bring the dead back; it will only destroy the survivors. The holocaust survivors do not only have the past, they also have the present and the future that lies in the post-war reality of Israel, America, or liberated Europe. Thy live in the day-to-day reality of their new love and friendship, in their common human life. In order to realize that, a special kind of courage is needed.
…and many other memorable memoirs in the Books & Reviews section.
Jews in Russia are only visiting, so they should not take sides in their hosts’ arguments—or, they should come out in the streets as Jews. Do you want to know what our contributors Galina Zelenina, Semyon Parizhsky, Victoria Mochalova and others think about it? Read the transcript of their roundtable discussion on Jews’ participation in the politics of their host country.
…and many other disparate disputes in the Articles & Interviews section.
Sex, Drugs, and Jacques Katmor
At the Nachum Gutman Museum of Art, in Tel Aviv, there is the exhibition now on display, entitled “The Third Eye: Jacques Katmor Is Wishing You a Good Death.” Booknik’s highly moral reporter Elisha Zinde walked through it in solitude. Make sure there are no kids around, and see his photo feature.
Fashion in the Barricades
Fashion and revolution, like genius and evil, are quite compatible, no matter what the people say. Booknik’s reporter Mila Dubrovina is ready to prove it with her own example, and not only her own one.
…and many other remarkable reportages in the Events & Reports section.
A Masterpiece from the Hermitage
There is a hypothesis that claims that in the 1880s, the owner of the Moscow restaurant “Hermitage” Lucien Olivier first cooked and served his guests not a salad at all but a sumptuous dish called “a wildfowl mayonnaise.” Nevertheless, for many soviet and post-soviet people, the “real Olivier salad” was the one their grannies made. Our contributor Irina Golovinskaya shares the “Russian salad” and other grandmother’s recipes with Booknik readers.
When setting himself a task of finding ten differences between Russia and Israel, Booknik’s inquisitive reporter Elisha Zinde did not limit himself with the earth only. He looked at the sky, and found there that the Russian moon looks like P without a stick or C, depending on its phase, and it hangs in the same spot approximately all through the night. The Israeli moon, on the other hand, migrates through the skies, and does not look like a letter at all.
…and any other differential differences in the Columns & Columns section.
Hebrarium, the Lexicon of Jewish Whatnots: Sh-3
Why do Jews like to play chess? When do they celebrate Shabuoth? What are the occasions for our video know-it-all Kirill Chichayev to wear a shtreimel? Watch our Hebrarium and learn everything to your heart’s content.
The Flickering Jew 14: The Love to the Things Past
We have 1991 in the country formerly known as the USSR. It is next to impossible to turn back to the soviet past, so the soviet people turn into simply Russians slowly but truly. However, these new Russians are still prone to illnesses of the past, and one of those is anti-Semitism. Booknik’s editor-in-chief and film critic Sergey Kuznetsov watches the film Love, directed by Valery Todorovsky who scrutinizes the Jewish family of three women in it. The romantic relations between Masha and Sasha are a good start to look into the world of post-soviet Jews, soon-to-be émigrés to Israel.
…and many other visual visions in the Video Blog section.
Mandelbroit for Tu Bishvat
Booknik Jr. decided to make some cookies with the symbol of the Shvat month (almonds), and raisins, the fruit of the Land of Israel, one of the seven. The cookies are called Mandelbrodt, Mandelbrot, Mandelbroit, or Mandelbread, and in Yiddish, they are, essentially, almond bread.
Are You a Tree?
Tu Bishvat is the New Year of the Trees. On this holiday, in Israel, they plant trees. Booknik Jr. wants to ask his readers about various fantastic and mythological trees.
Jaws. A Watercolor
Sharks and Other Sea Monsters, by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart
Upon reading this book, one has the impression that all sea legends of Leviathans and Krakens are no legends at all but some narratives of Mesozoic old-timers. The children will be thrilled, of course. The grown-ups will melancholically think of humans being a weird anomaly on this planet. In short, the book is excellent for the first introduction to paleontology.
Rotlappchen muss weinen, by Beate Teresa Hanika
As it is a custom with all Germans, the author meticulously describes the life of a teenage girl, day after day. However, the book is neither only about her, nor about the modern-day Germany. Some dark clouds are gathering over the girl’s head. Her grandfather is a Nazi, and her father is a family tyrant. Her gender rights restricted mother is quite prepared to surrender her own daughter. Do not worry, though, for the modern-day Little Red Riding Hood will conquer her wolf, just like her fairy-tale predecessor.
…and many other things at Booknik Jr., also known as Family Booknik, our own web site for kids and their parents.
You know, there's only 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about. Booknik and Family Booknik are supported by the AVI CHAI Foundation.
