| The World to Come, by Dara Horn, is a book about death. Am I oversimplifying? Of course I am. The book has so much more to offer - complex relationships between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and parents and children – a unique perspective on the Russian state in the early 20th Century – violence against Jews - and let’s not forget a fantastic mystery about how a small Marc Chagall painting made its way from middle-of-nowhere Russia to suburban New Jersey. For me though, it is a book about death and how people deal with it – or fail to deal with it. I first read this book a few years ago, at the end of what was a very trying year in my life, in which I dealt with my own personal tragedies. Reading through it the first time I had to force myself to put the book down, I could not help but be touched by the story enfolding in front of me. I think back on my reading of this book as putting some needed closure on what was a tumultuous year. While this book is not “new”, and I am a few years removed from reading it, I found myself thinking about it recently – one because a colleague of mine just read it – and because it is nearing that time on the calendar when certain anniversaries are approaching. This was a book that I will never forget. To say that I enjoyed reading it would be a vast understatement. It’s worth so much more to me than that. |
