House of Childhood: A NovelOther Press, 2006. aug. 17. - 299 oldal "One of the most important novels of contemporary Austrian literature."—Neue Zürcher Zeitung Max Berman, a successful but rootless New York restoration architect, socialite, and ladies' man, remembers his childhood home in the small Austrian town of "H," mostly through his mother‚'s cherished photographs and vivid stories. When she dies, still longing for the house she fled with her husband and young children in 1928, Max temporarily abandons his playboy lifestyle and travels to H, determined to reclaim the confiscated house. In H, Max encounters Nadja, a young woman convinced that her late mother was Jewish and that the local synagogue will provide the sense of community she lacks. Recognizing that she is too talented for her provincial neighbors, he arranges for her to attend college in the U.S., where she becomes the most significant of his many lovers. He also befriends Arthur Spitzer, a Holocaust survivor and the leader of H's dwindling Jewish community, who helps him regain legal control of his mother's house. When, years later, the last of his tenants finally moves out, Max returns to investigate his family's ties in H for a fateful year that challenges his restlessness and seems to offer the chance for real belonging. Acclaimed Austrian writer Anna Mitgutsch's novel is a powerful examination of the meaning of home—in a place, a community, a relationship—and the difficulty of finding one in our tumultuous world. |
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afternoon already apartment asked Max bar mitzvah beneath called cemetery Central Park child childhood coffeehouse dark death Delancey Street Diana door dreams everything eyes face father fear feel Frau Vaysburg friends front garden gave glass hair hand happy Helene High Holy Days Jewish Jews kitchen knew later laughed leave Leitner light live looked Malka matzo Max asked Max thought Max's memory Mira Mira's morning mother Nadja never night nodded Obergruppenführer Ofra Park past pogrom prayer house Przemyśl Reichsgau remember river Russian Tea Room Saul seemed sense Shabbat silent sitting smile Solothurner Literaturpreis someone sometimes Sophie Spitzer Spitzer's office stand stay stood stranger street Sturmbannführer synagogue talked terrace things Thomas told took town trees turned voice waiting walked Wallace Harrison wanted window woman women York young