Simcha-Sophie
a lovely mishmash of opinions interspersed with moments of clarity and vision by a vegan lesbian feminist mystery-loving, history-loving reader and writer.
Currently reading
My Bridges of Hope
I read this following Bitton-Jackson's remarkable "Elli," and wow, was I disappointed. While "Elli" has somewhat the feel of a YA book, it is never dumbed-down and never glossed over.
"My Bridges of Hope" covers a longer time span, and perhaps that's part of the problem with it, but it feels mostly like a summary of the author's time following the Holocaust to her immigration to America. There are a couple chilling moments, some times when emotion peeks through the list of events, but overall there is something about the dialogue, the constant "my God" exclamations, that feels both exaggerated and over-dramatic. Although the events of the Holocaust were probably much more harrowing than the aftermath, the quiet remembrance of events, the writing itself, in Bitton-Jackson's first memoir evokes emotion in the reader - Bitton-Jackson mastered there the art of telling the emotional, dramatic story that she just didn't repeat here.
It has its moments of beauty, but certainly not enough to make this worthwhile reading. Stop while you're ahead. Read "Elli" and skip this one.