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Overview
From the celebrated author of The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev, a trilogy of related novellas about a woman whose life touches three very different men—stories that encompass some of the profoundest themes of the twentieth century.
Ilana Davita Dinn is the listener to whom three men relate their lives.
As a young girl, she offers English lessons to a teenage survivor of the camps. In “The Ark Builder,” he shares with her the story of his friendship with a proud old builder of synagogue arks, and what happened when the German army invaded their Polish town.
As a graduate student, she finds herself escorting a guest lecturer from the Soviet Union, and in “The War Doctor,” her sympathy moves him to put his painful past to paper recounting his experiences as a Soviet NKVD agent who was saved by an idealistic doctor during the Russian civil war, only to encounter him again during the terrifying period of the Kremlin doctors’ plot.
And, finally, we meet her in “The Trope Teacher,” in which a distinguished professor of military history, trying to write his memoirs, is distracted by his wife’s illness and by the arrival next door of a new neighbor, the famous writer I. D. (Ilana Davita) Chandal.
Poignant and profound, Chaim Potok’s newest fiction is a major addition to his remarkable—and remarkably loved—body of work.
Synopsis
From the celebrated author of The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev, a trilogy of related novellas about a woman whose life touches three very different men—stories that encompass some of the profoundest themes of the twentieth century.
Ilana Davita Dinn is the listener to whom three men relate their lives.
As a young girl, she offers English lessons to a teenage survivor of the camps. In “The Ark Builder,” he shares with her the story of his friendship with a proud old builder of synagogue arks, and what happened when the German army invaded their Polish town.
As a graduate student, she finds herself escorting a guest lecturer from the Soviet Union, and in “The War Doctor,” her sympathy moves him to put his painful past to paper recounting his experiences as a Soviet NKVD agent who was saved by an idealistic doctor during the Russian civil war, only to encounter him again during the terrifying period of the Kremlin doctors’ plot.
And, finally, we meet her in “The Trope Teacher,” in which a distinguished professor of military history, trying to write his memoirs, is distracted by his wife’s illness and by the arrival next door of a new neighbor, the famous writer I. D. (Ilana Davita) Chandal.
Poignant and profound, Chaim Potok’s newest fiction is a major addition to his remarkable—and remarkably loved—body of work.
Book Magazine
Potok's novel is only briefly about old men at midnight. It's actually a collection of three linked novellas, all of which feature an inquisitive Jewish woman named Ilana Davita Dinn. In "The Ark Builder," an eighteen-year-old Ilana tutors a terrified concentration camp survivor fresh to New York from Poland. "The Trope Teacher" concerns a famous academic who becomes obsessed by the arrival next door of the famous novelist I.D. Chandal (actually Ilana). The most engrossing of these stories is "The War Doctor," in which Ilana is a young teacher at Columbia University who becomes involved with a recent KGB defector, Leon Shertov. Fascinated by Shertov's life, Ilana pesters him for details and written notes, which he steadfastly refuses to give. Later, a thick manuscript—his painful, riveting life story—appears in her mailbox. Potok never reveals much about Ilana, and her passivity seems a mere device that allows the author to spin tales of the people with whom she comes into contact. The stories themselves are masterfully written. This delicately realized book about history and memory is shot through with flashes of humanity.
—Chris Barsanti
Editorials
From The Critics
Potok's novel is only briefly about old men at midnight. It's actually a collection of three linked novellas, all of which feature an inquisitive Jewish woman named Ilana Davita Dinn. In "The Ark Builder," an eighteen-year-old Ilana tutors a terrified concentration camp survivor fresh to New York from Poland. "The Trope Teacher" concerns a famous academic who becomes obsessed by the arrival next door of the famous novelist I.D. Chandal (actually Ilana). The most engrossing of these stories is "The War Doctor," in which Ilana is a young teacher at Columbia University who becomes involved with a recent KGB defector, Leon Shertov. Fascinated by Shertov's life, Ilana pesters him for details and written notes, which he steadfastly refuses to give. Later, a thick manuscript—his painful, riveting life story—appears in her mailbox. Potok never reveals much about Ilana, and her passivity seems a mere device that allows the author to spin tales of the people with whom she comes into contact. The stories themselves are masterfully written. This delicately realized book about history and memory is shot through with flashes of humanity.—Chris Barsanti