reviews - Jewish Book Council

ecause of religious persecution carry the
scars forever. The cost of such escape never
seems to leave Bert Stern, one example of an
adult son who knows, as he states so directly
in “Lotty is Born,” “...let them tell me if they
can/if I am recompense for what they
endured.” The remaining five parts of this
notable collection might be described as an
appreciation for the beauty and fragility of
life thereafter. In the title poem, Stern notes
the full effect of such survival, “...he said what
he hoped,/as if God gave us life/as we want it.
But order is like houses children weave from
grasses, twigs/and leaves.” Nature as it
appears in upstate Buffalo, New York is a
repeated mirror image of deep beauty and
death, with the latter being existentially, not
morbidly, depicted. One other outstanding
poem is “Midrash: Abraham” in which after
his son remains after the great sacrifice
“...broken there, complete and alone,/bent by
perfection.” Steerage is a celebration of new
life forever renewed by the past. DS
THESE MOUNTAINS:
SELECTED POEMS
OF RIVKA MIRIAM
Rivka Miriam; Linda Stern Zisquit, trans.
Toby Press, 2009. 260 pp. $14.95 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-159-264-249-6 (pbk.)
These Mountains: Selected Poems of Rivka
Miriam, translated and with an introduction
by Linda Stern Zisquit, is the first
time that a book-length translation of the
poet’s work appears in English. As such, this
new book makes an important contribution
to contemporary Hebrew poetry available in
English. Readers should be especially grateful
that the publisher, Toby Press, continues to
publish volumes of translated poetry that
contain both the original Hebrew and the
English side-by-side. This dual-language presentation
adds depth even for those with only
minimal Hebrew skills.
Rivka Miriam, born in Israel in 1952, is a
child of Holocaust survivors who became a
published poet at the age of fourteen. Her
earliest poems were inspired by what she had
learned about the Holocaust and her family’s
experience. She is similarly influenced by
Jewish texts and religious and theological
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ideas, some of which seeps into and infuses
the poetry.
Rivka Miriam’s poems are deceptively
simple at times. The language is straightforward,
yet worlds are contained within it.
Some lines come directly from Biblical or
liturgical texts, while others could be everyday
speech.
Biblical characters are featured in many
poems, as in “The Stripes in Joseph’s Coat”
which employs an economy of language to
paint a rich history of Joseph’s whole ancestry.
“The Song to Jacob who Moved the
Stone from the Mouth of the Well” is a powerful,
moving interpretation of the relationship
between Jacob and Leah, told from
Leah’s perspective, which contains the lines,
“Flocks of sheep hummed beneath our blankets,/tent-flies
were pulled to the wind,” and
ends with the lines, “And he didn’t know I
was Leah/And flocks of sons broke through
my womb to his hands.” This poem functions
as modern midrash, which gives Leah a voice
and adds a perspective missing from the Biblical
text. God, too, appears frequently in the
poems, an intimate presence with whom the
poet is in relationship, as in “Still,” in which
God knocks on the window and enters the
room.
Many of the poems use maternal imagery
such as breasts and nursing, as in “I Nurse a
Very Old Woman,” or “Oh My Mother.”
Sometimes these images are comforting and
nurturing, but they can also be quite disturbing,
as in the images of children suckling ash
and leaves in “Never Will I Be Like the Mother
in the Picture” or fire asking to be nursed
in “The Fire, Blushing from Fear.”
The land of Israel is also a common theme
in Miriam’s poetry. She writes of a mystical
connection to the land, markedly different
from so many of her Israeli peers who
respond with irony when exploring a connection
to the land. Hers is an unironic relationship,
one that is deeply physical and sensual.
The land in her poetry is a living being, a
friend and sometimes a lover. In “These
Mountains” the mountains sit in armchairs
and eat cake like comfortable visitors while in
“Lest it Be Revealed” in which “Only when
my land is asleep/spread out before me/I
whisper whisper her name/and she moans.”
There are references in this poetry to the
pain and trauma of the Holocaust that Miriam’s
family experienced. The two related
poems “Chaya’s Unborn Child” and “And
Shalom, Chaya’s Husband” speak of violence
and loss with poignancy while avoiding any
hint of sentimentality. These poems are dis-
Visual Arts
quieting, disturbing. There is a sense that the
poet cannot help but bring forth what her
legacy has bequeathed her, and that she is
continually trying, over and over, to make
sense of her family history of European suffering
and the struggle of modern Israel.
Linda Zisquit has done a masterful job in
these translations. She manages to convey
both the directness and the richness of the
Hebrew, while making the poems read as if
they were always meant to be read in English.
I can only hope that Miriam and Zisquit will
continue to collaborate for years to come, and
bring forth many more such volumes of
achingly beautiful poetry. Interview with
Rivka Miriam, notes, translator’s note. HEP
VISUAL ARTS
REVIEWS
THE BOOK
OF GENESIS
Robert Crumb; Robert Alter, trans.
W.W. Norton & Company, 2009. 214 pp. $24.95
ISBN: 978-0-393-06102-4
Finally! An adult version of one of the
world’s most widespread and debated
books gets inked. Esteemed artist and illustrator
Robert Crumb greets this project with
open arms; a graphical adaptation of all 50
chapters of Genesis. Crumb is known for his
distinctive drawing style, critical and satirical
views of mainstream America, and involvement
in the underground comic scene, often
depicting content forbidden in conventional
publications. Some feel Crumb is a wonderfully
unlikely candidate to breathe new life into
the founding narrative of privilege and authority
in the Judeo-Christian world. To his
defense, Crumb’s goals were not to be comedic
or ironic but rather to interpret this sacred text
completely through his own style of illustration.
As he states in the introduction, “there
was no monkeying around with the text.”
Crumb has done a fantastic job of delivering
all 50 chapters without deviation or
abomination. To maintain authenticity, the
entire book is drawn with ink and remains in
black and white. Crumb refrains from delving
into the typical grotesque and pornographic
illustrations for which he is known, a challenge
which he met with grace—despite his
Spring 5770/2010 Jewish Book World 59