Rachel 7

At that moment Mr Tendler comes in, returning from his work as history prof at UVic, University of Victoria. One glance suffices for him to sum up, "ah ha, book reports."
"Yes Dad," Naomi sulks.
With a wicked smile, he picks up Gulag Archipelago, "Naomi honey, you have my heartfelt sympathy."
"Really Dad?"
"Absoutely, that is the most colossal bore I've ever seen."
"Perhaps Dad, you could talk with the teacher?"
"No honey, it'll be a good learning experience for you."
Crestfallen look, "it will?"
"You see honey, at first the book shocks. That of course was the author's intent; to put pressure on the then Soviet government. Sad to say, he didn't know when to stop. Shock fades away, replaced by an overpowering sense of numbness. Continuing down the yellow brick road, this mutates into boredom, which becomes angrier and angrier."
"Ah Dad, wasn't that the author's intention?"
"No honey, not at all. You get angry at the author, for so completely boring you to death. His original hope was you'd be angry at the USSR. But still, it's a good experience for you."
Mr Tendler's eyes fall on my book. A look resembling awe comes over his face, quiet tone, "Rachel, do you realize just how much you've been flattered?"
"Ah flattered?"
"Indeed, your teacher must be confident of your French abilities. Sad to say, I only read the English translation. As well, she'd feel you are capable of dealing with the greatest fictional character ever created and the second best depiction of time and place ever done."
"Really?"
"It's told in first person, makes it that much more compelling. A fictional SS officer, starting the war as a First Lieutenant; ending as Lieutenant Colonel. Now making him gay, a doctorate in law, and a reader of philosophy was a stroke of brilliance. It allows him to detach, stand back much better than most and observe."
"Mr Tendler, I'm shocked, you admiring a Nazi. You should be ashamed."
He laughs easily, "you misunderstand. I did not say I admire Maxmilien Aue. I said he was the single most brilliant creation of a fictional character ever. It's the author I admire. But then, you knew he was Jewish?"
I gasp, "for real?"
"American, largely educated in France. His book did a huge service to Jews overall."
"How?"
"The whole research thing had been hung up on he-did-this and he-did-that syndrome. Endless evidence of acts with almost no understanding of the lives or thinking of the participants. Even apart from that achievement, he showed time and place in the second best manner ever done."
"What comes first?"
"Beyond any doubt, no one on the planet has ever matched Vikram Seth in 'A Suitable Boy', showing 1950 India." Wicked grin, "but just be glad your teacher didn't assign that."
"How so?"
"It's about 1,400 pages. There is no childrens' version. You see the original adult version, being an Indian creation and hence more prudish, was already suitable for children."
Everyone laughs.
He winks at me, "still, let's just keep that our secret."
"How so?"
"Let's just say a whole lot of Jews would be hugely sniffily offended if you state a non-Jewish book came first. That's stuff you'd only tell close friends."
I feel honored, almost like I've become a family member.