The World To Come by Dara Horn
The World To Come by Dara Horn (2006) (read in the Danish translation Den Næste Verden) is the young American author’s second novel. The book, which has received best fiction recognition in the 2006 National Jewish Book Awards, is a magic-realism novel, which plotline revolves around a small oil painting, “Study for’Over Vitebsk’” (1914) by Marc Chagall. The painting’s actual theft in 2001 from the Jewish Museum in New York City inspired the work of fiction.
The story gives us glimpses into the lives of a number of people who, in one way or another, have come into contact with the painting. The framework for the complex storyline is the events in Benjamin Ziskind’s life surrounding his theft of the painting from the museum, a painting which hung in his childhood home and which belonged to his family for several generations. During the course of the novel, the painting’s history and the lives of the people the painting has influenced are revealed.
The title refers to life transitions and the never-ending chain between lives: not only between parents and their future children, between yet-to-be-borns and their born counterparts, between the living and the dead who watch over them, and between the earth-bound and their life-released selves, but also transitions within life-from one status of life to another caused by such events as personal maturation, moves, sorrow due to death or lost love, life-changing accidents (loss of function), new loves discovered, families developed, and similar.
The author uses the term very specifically to explore the world of the yet-to-be-born, their paradise-like existence in the womb, and their fear and resistance to being born. Throughout the novel the author develops womb-like images, and refers to the tale of how yet-to-be-borns learn all wisdom before their births, but then are made to forget it all before being cast out of their protective paradise. Thus the author offers an explanation for the indentation between the nose and the lips-the place where an angel presses a finger causing the yet-to-be-born to forget all its prescient knowledge. The final chapter beautifully relates this transition into “the world to come”.
Horn develops her complex story like a painting, layering chapters like colors on the ground of Benjamin Ziskind’s story. Each chapter tells a story, often several-personal stories, tales and poems, many taken from the Yiddish language’s rich literary tradition. The stories reveal members of Ziskind’s family over several generations (his twin sister Sara, her husband Leonid and his family, their parents Daniel and Rosalie, and grandparents Boris and Tatiana); painter Marc Chagall; Yiddish writer Der Nister (Pinkhas Kahanovitch), who was part of Chagall’s circle before the painter left Russia; and museum worker Erica Frank, who uncovers not only Ziskind’s role in the painting’s theft, but also discovers a depth of feeling for the man behind the theft.
Horn’s love of the Yiddish language and its lore are infectious, and the charming stories of life and death are captivating in their droll, unique perspectives.
The novel blends reality and fantasy in a masterly fashion, and Horn lets the reader float in the clouds like Chagall’s floating figure on her “bridge of words to the heavens” but always with a fast hold on the ground. This was a splendid, colourful novel, and inspired me to read some of the other books written by Jewish authors and about Jewish subjects that have been cluttering up my bookshelf.
I am thereby officially launching my 2007 Jewish Book Festival, in good time for Hanukkah and as an antidote for all the Christmas spirit I will be enduring over the next two months. The next book on the list is Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
"Study for 'Over Vitebsk'" (1914) by Marc Chagall
The story gives us glimpses into the lives of a number of people who, in one way or another, have come into contact with the painting. The framework for the complex storyline is the events in Benjamin Ziskind’s life surrounding his theft of the painting from the museum, a painting which hung in his childhood home and which belonged to his family for several generations. During the course of the novel, the painting’s history and the lives of the people the painting has influenced are revealed.
The title refers to life transitions and the never-ending chain between lives: not only between parents and their future children, between yet-to-be-borns and their born counterparts, between the living and the dead who watch over them, and between the earth-bound and their life-released selves, but also transitions within life-from one status of life to another caused by such events as personal maturation, moves, sorrow due to death or lost love, life-changing accidents (loss of function), new loves discovered, families developed, and similar.
The author uses the term very specifically to explore the world of the yet-to-be-born, their paradise-like existence in the womb, and their fear and resistance to being born. Throughout the novel the author develops womb-like images, and refers to the tale of how yet-to-be-borns learn all wisdom before their births, but then are made to forget it all before being cast out of their protective paradise. Thus the author offers an explanation for the indentation between the nose and the lips-the place where an angel presses a finger causing the yet-to-be-born to forget all its prescient knowledge. The final chapter beautifully relates this transition into “the world to come”.
Horn develops her complex story like a painting, layering chapters like colors on the ground of Benjamin Ziskind’s story. Each chapter tells a story, often several-personal stories, tales and poems, many taken from the Yiddish language’s rich literary tradition. The stories reveal members of Ziskind’s family over several generations (his twin sister Sara, her husband Leonid and his family, their parents Daniel and Rosalie, and grandparents Boris and Tatiana); painter Marc Chagall; Yiddish writer Der Nister (Pinkhas Kahanovitch), who was part of Chagall’s circle before the painter left Russia; and museum worker Erica Frank, who uncovers not only Ziskind’s role in the painting’s theft, but also discovers a depth of feeling for the man behind the theft.
Horn’s love of the Yiddish language and its lore are infectious, and the charming stories of life and death are captivating in their droll, unique perspectives.
The novel blends reality and fantasy in a masterly fashion, and Horn lets the reader float in the clouds like Chagall’s floating figure on her “bridge of words to the heavens” but always with a fast hold on the ground. This was a splendid, colourful novel, and inspired me to read some of the other books written by Jewish authors and about Jewish subjects that have been cluttering up my bookshelf.
I am thereby officially launching my 2007 Jewish Book Festival, in good time for Hanukkah and as an antidote for all the Christmas spirit I will be enduring over the next two months. The next book on the list is Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
"Study for 'Over Vitebsk'" (1914) by Marc Chagall