"Books that craft Jewish characters to embody the endurance of the human spirit in all its nobility are, in fact, denying these characters’ humanity." --Ilana Masad on Holocaust Beach Reads
Thanks for publishing this. I've long felt this way about a lot of Holocaust fiction and have a hard time articulating it as well. I used to work in synagogue libraries and as a non-Jew immersed in Jewish books I've noticed that many if not most non-Jews have almost no interest in Jewish books that don't involve the Holocaust and that many people lean towards books like this as unchallenging, books that reassure them about their own superiority, moral and otherwise. The books often infantilize the Jewish characters and turn them into holy martyrs, which as you point out, is not the case- they were people like anyone else, complex and flawed and either lucky or not. It's hilarious that John Boyne pointed this out considering how hugely his career has benefited from use of those same tropes. Try to talk about Boy in the Striped Pajamas with anything but glowing praise to many readers and watch what happens. It's a maddening subject. Thank you Ilana and Maris for discussing and focusing on this topic.
This essay on the "Holocaust Beach Read" is essential. I wish I'd had it a few years ago, when I tried to explain to my daughter why The Boy in the Striped Pajamas made me queasy!
I bought You Dreamed of Empires a few weeks ago! I’m pleased to see such a positive review from you & makes me excited to read it soon! I appreciate a genuinely funny book.
Thank you for sharing the HBR essay - a great observation and articulation of the bizarre trends of Holocaust / Jewish suffering fiction. How these books permeate the best seller lists and become so popular is always deeply unsettling. One of the most unfortunate things (among many) is that people truly believe they are ‘learning’.
Thank you Maris for commissioning the essay, and Ilana for writing it so thoughtfully and with such attention to detail. Thank you also for making this post public, as I'd like to share it around.
Illegal occupation? Israel wasn't occupying gaza. Israel offered millions to get hamas to agree to a peace treaty, turn gaza into a paradise and stop trying to murder israelis. Haniyeh didn't want that. He wanted the whole country because his definition of "illegal occupation" (a weird term since there's no such thing as international law) is the entirety of Israel.
The critique of happy holocaust literature is solid. The bullshit columbia university nazi talking points is pathetic. Israel fights for survival and people who didn't have a problem with Jordan occupying Judea and Samaria between 1947 and 1967 keep claiming that the place is illegally occupied and that's a good excuse to commit mass murder and rape children
Thanks for publishing this. I've long felt this way about a lot of Holocaust fiction and have a hard time articulating it as well. I used to work in synagogue libraries and as a non-Jew immersed in Jewish books I've noticed that many if not most non-Jews have almost no interest in Jewish books that don't involve the Holocaust and that many people lean towards books like this as unchallenging, books that reassure them about their own superiority, moral and otherwise. The books often infantilize the Jewish characters and turn them into holy martyrs, which as you point out, is not the case- they were people like anyone else, complex and flawed and either lucky or not. It's hilarious that John Boyne pointed this out considering how hugely his career has benefited from use of those same tropes. Try to talk about Boy in the Striped Pajamas with anything but glowing praise to many readers and watch what happens. It's a maddening subject. Thank you Ilana and Maris for discussing and focusing on this topic.
This essay on the "Holocaust Beach Read" is essential. I wish I'd had it a few years ago, when I tried to explain to my daughter why The Boy in the Striped Pajamas made me queasy!
Thank you for publishing the powerful essay about the phenomenon of the HBR.
Those covers are so cringy and the contents evidently more so.
Wonderful essay. Thank you for sharing.
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
I bought You Dreamed of Empires a few weeks ago! I’m pleased to see such a positive review from you & makes me excited to read it soon! I appreciate a genuinely funny book.
Thank you for sharing the HBR essay - a great observation and articulation of the bizarre trends of Holocaust / Jewish suffering fiction. How these books permeate the best seller lists and become so popular is always deeply unsettling. One of the most unfortunate things (among many) is that people truly believe they are ‘learning’.
Thank you Maris for commissioning the essay, and Ilana for writing it so thoughtfully and with such attention to detail. Thank you also for making this post public, as I'd like to share it around.
Great essay.
This is why I've always loved "Maus."
Illegal occupation? Israel wasn't occupying gaza. Israel offered millions to get hamas to agree to a peace treaty, turn gaza into a paradise and stop trying to murder israelis. Haniyeh didn't want that. He wanted the whole country because his definition of "illegal occupation" (a weird term since there's no such thing as international law) is the entirety of Israel.
The critique of happy holocaust literature is solid. The bullshit columbia university nazi talking points is pathetic. Israel fights for survival and people who didn't have a problem with Jordan occupying Judea and Samaria between 1947 and 1967 keep claiming that the place is illegally occupied and that's a good excuse to commit mass murder and rape children
https://open.substack.com/pub/marlowe1/p/jobs-chapters-6-8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=sllf3