Benjamin Ivry is a frequent Forward contributor.
Benjamin Ivry
By Benjamin Ivry
-
Culture Novelist Patrick Modiano Peers Into Moral Ambiguity
Few European writers today have been more consistently haunted by modern Jewish history than French novelist Patrick Modiano. The selection of works by Modiano available in English represent only a small fraction of his prolific fictional output. All his books, including “Dora Bruder,” (University of California Press, 1999), the brooding account of his search for…
-
The Schmooze Jewish Novels From the Finnish Saul Bellow
The modern history of Finland’s Jews, who during World War II fought on the Nazi side to combat the Russians, is genuinely surreal. It seems appropriate that the leading novelist of Finland’s tiny Jewish population — today estimated at around 1,500 people — should be equally expressive of a surrealist sensibility. Daniel Katz, born in…
-
The Schmooze How Jews Can Defend Animals without Invoking Treblinka
French Jewish philosopher Élisabeth de Fontenay has published books on Jewish themes, such as 1973’s “The Jewish Faces of Karl Marx” (Les figures juives de Marx) from Les editions Galilée, and on animal rights, such as 1998’s philosophical inquiry “The Silence of Animals” from Les éditions Fayard or 2008’s “Without Offending Mankind” from Les éditions…
-
The Schmooze Gil Ben Aych Breathes Life into France’s Sephardi Experience
On February 24, L’École des loisirs publishing group reprinted two minor classics of French Jewish writing for young readers: “The Hand-Towel for Your Feet” (L’Essuie-mains des pieds) and “Granny’s Trip” (Le voyage de Mémé). Originally published in 1981 and 1982, respectively, by French author, philosophy teacher, and wine merchant Gil Ben Aych, both books charmingly…
-
The Schmooze Dream a Little Dream of Tobie Nathan
The Cairo-born French Jewish ethnopsychiatrist Tobie Nathan author of a 2010 novel, “Who Killed Arlozoroff?” from Les Éditions Grasset about the 1933 murder of left-wing Israeli political leader Haim Arlosoroff, has also focused on psychiatry’s ultimate father figure, Sigmund Freud. In a 2006 novel from Les Éditions Perrin, “My Patient Sigmund Freud, Nathan offers a…
-
The Schmooze French Feminist Cathy Bernheim Investigates a Hypnotic Ancestor
An interest in family roots can appear without warning. A new biography, “Hippolyte Bernheim: a Destiny Under Hypnosis” (“Hippolyte Bernheim, un destin sous hypnose”), appeared in March from Les éditions Hugo & Cie, recounting the life of a French Jewish neurologist and pioneer of hypnotic therapy. Its author is French novelist and essayist Cathy Bernheim,…
-
The Schmooze Arnold Schoenberg and the American Dream
Coming to America is normally shorthand for the opening of opportunity: apparently not for Arnold Schoenberg. Commentators on modern music have long undervalued the Vienna-born composer Arnold Schoenberg’s years in America, from 1934 until his death in 1951. Admittedly, there were some disappointments, such as when the Guggenheim Foundation notoriously refused to grant Schoenberg a…
-
The Schmooze Lydia Flem: Words Beyond Suffering’s Reach
The Belgian Jewish author Lydia Flem explored her family’s heritage in 2004’s “How I Cleared Out My Parents’ House” (Comment j’ai vidé la maison de mes parents) from Les éditions du Seuil. Holocaust survivors, Flem’s parents never spoke of their wartime sufferings. Flem, spared the horror of her family’s history, writes that her generation “had…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward ‘Murdered for speaking truth’: Netanyahu and US Jewish leaders mourn Charlie Kirk
- 2
Antisemitism Decoded Israel is being blamed for Charlie Kirk’s death. Here’s what that conspiracy theory says about the far right’s divide
- 3
News Who was Horst Wessel, and why are people comparing Charlie Kirk to him?
- 4
Culture Charlie Kirk kept a ‘Jewish Sabbath.’ What did he mean by that?
In Case You Missed It
-
Looking Forward Everyone thought I was crazy for majoring in religious studies. Here’s why it matters now more than ever.
-
Culture Charlie Kirk kept a ‘Jewish Sabbath.’ What did he mean by that?
-
Fast Forward At least 5 countries have said they will or could boycott Eurovision if Israel is included
-
Opinion ‘A long record of failure’: Is it time to put the two-state solution to rest?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
