Mortal Love (novel)
Encyclopedia
Mortal Love is a Novel by Rivka Keren
, written in Hebrew
(אהבה אנושה Ahava Anusha, Am Oved
, HaSifria La'am Series, 1992) translated to English
by Yael Politis, “Mortal Love” YWO, 2008, and to German
by Helene Seidler, "Liebe wie der Tot", forthcoming.
In “Mortal Love”, Rivka Keren raises some basic, universal questions: to what extent do we shape our lives? What happens when we ignore our fundamental nature? Is there predestination?
and Greece
. There are several perspectives and the characters are connected not by unbreakable cables but by translucent, easily frayed willowy threads. The chapters written in first and third person and connected by short "fragments", which are representing sessions of psychotherapy
that illuminate the plot from different angles, style "Rashomon
".
Beno (Benjamin) Gottzeit, a self-righteous and domineering Holocaust survivor, is obsessed with rectifying past injustices, those that he suffered as well as those that he caused. His compulsive need to set things right wreaks havoc on his relationships with two women, his lover Margit Cimbalom and his daughter Edna.
Margit, a talented but disturbed artist, is tormented by Beno’s inability to match the intensity of her devotion to him.
Edna, unable to extricate herself from the powerful influence of her father, perches on the brink of self-destruction as she tries to reconcile her own yearnings with the expectations of those around her. The unexpected details of their lives unfold through streams of memory and confession, revealing a history as intricate and fragile as an origami bird.
The struggle between intent and reality, hope and disappointment, expands to include more characters.
Zohar, Edna’s husband is a history teacher-turned-land surveyor, orphaned at a young age and desperately searching for the love and security that he did not get as a child.
Ilias, a Greek Orthodox monk, was raised in Greece, like Edna in Hungary, by a father with rigid and unreasonable expectations: it is his arrival in Jerusalem that unexpectedly shapes the destiny of all the others and brings the novel to its staggering conclusion.
“Mortal Love” is a study in contradictions: it juxtaposes the best of intentions with the worst of circumstances, the most ebullient hope with the deepest despair. By foregoing the obvious and focusing on the ambiguities, Rivka Keren allows the readers to explore an uncharted dimension of their world, and of themselves.
Rivka Keren
Rivka Keren is an Israeli writer.-Biography:Rivka Keren was born as Katalin Friedländer in Debrecen, Hungary. She immigrated with her parents and small brother to Israel in 1957. She has been writing since childhood, first in Hungarian, later in Hebrew...
, written in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
(אהבה אנושה Ahava Anusha, Am Oved
Am Oved
-History:Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief.It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publishing books that would "meet the spiritual needs of the working public." Its most well-known series is "Sifriyah...
, HaSifria La'am Series, 1992) translated to English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Yael Politis, “Mortal Love” YWO, 2008, and to German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by Helene Seidler, "Liebe wie der Tot", forthcoming.
In “Mortal Love”, Rivka Keren raises some basic, universal questions: to what extent do we shape our lives? What happens when we ignore our fundamental nature? Is there predestination?
Plot and Characters
“Mortal Love” traces the story of five central figures, the devastating impact of love on them and the ways in which their lives are intertwined. The plot is not linear, leaping back and forth in space and time between anticipation and memory, set in Jerusalem, HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. There are several perspectives and the characters are connected not by unbreakable cables but by translucent, easily frayed willowy threads. The chapters written in first and third person and connected by short "fragments", which are representing sessions of psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
that illuminate the plot from different angles, style "Rashomon
Rashomon
Rashomon may refer to:* Rashōmon, the former main city gate in two Japanese capital cities, Heijokyō and Heiankyō * Rashōmon , a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa first published in 1915...
".
Beno (Benjamin) Gottzeit, a self-righteous and domineering Holocaust survivor, is obsessed with rectifying past injustices, those that he suffered as well as those that he caused. His compulsive need to set things right wreaks havoc on his relationships with two women, his lover Margit Cimbalom and his daughter Edna.
Margit, a talented but disturbed artist, is tormented by Beno’s inability to match the intensity of her devotion to him.
Edna, unable to extricate herself from the powerful influence of her father, perches on the brink of self-destruction as she tries to reconcile her own yearnings with the expectations of those around her. The unexpected details of their lives unfold through streams of memory and confession, revealing a history as intricate and fragile as an origami bird.
The struggle between intent and reality, hope and disappointment, expands to include more characters.
Zohar, Edna’s husband is a history teacher-turned-land surveyor, orphaned at a young age and desperately searching for the love and security that he did not get as a child.
Ilias, a Greek Orthodox monk, was raised in Greece, like Edna in Hungary, by a father with rigid and unreasonable expectations: it is his arrival in Jerusalem that unexpectedly shapes the destiny of all the others and brings the novel to its staggering conclusion.
“Mortal Love” is a study in contradictions: it juxtaposes the best of intentions with the worst of circumstances, the most ebullient hope with the deepest despair. By foregoing the obvious and focusing on the ambiguities, Rivka Keren allows the readers to explore an uncharted dimension of their world, and of themselves.
Additional Sources
- Ruth Seif: Review of the novel "Mortal Love" by Rivka Keren. Jewish Book World, Winter Issue 2009, Page 33.
- “Beno”, a chapter from Rivka Keren’s novel “Mortal Love” (Ahava Anusha), Translated by Yael Politis, Jerusalem Post, 4.2.1993
- Jeff Green, “Lost Hungarian Soul”, Jerusalem Post Magazine, 4.2.1993
- Ronit Lentin, Israel and the daughters of the Shoah – Reoccupying the Territories of Silence, Berghahn Books, 2000
- Efraim Sicher, The Holocaust Novel (Genres in Context), RoutledgeRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
, 2005