September 2021 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

Rereading (“The”) A Book

Simchat Torah, “Rejoicing with the Torah,” is a one-day Jewish holiday which this year begins at sundown on 28 September 2021 (23 Tishrei 5782). The celebration marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of reading Torah (the Five Books of Moses in the Old Testament) and the beginning of a new cycle. In one breath, we read of the death of the great prophet Moses at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy. The Torah scroll is rewound, often held aloft and danced with, and in the next breath, we read how the world is born in the creation story that opens the Book of Genesis. The holiday falls days after the Jewish High Holy Days, when Jews, after repenting and “returning” to acts of goodness, begin a new year with a clean slate. Simchat Torah, both literally and symbolically, marks this new start. As the weeks unfold, we read — as if for the first time — the story of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, the arrival of the patriarchs and matriarchs in The Land, the Exodus of The People from Egypt following 430 years of slavery, receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and the perilous forty-year journey through the desert as we return to The Land. Moses again dies, but earth, sky, and sea are created anew. Children love to have their favorite books reread to them. Some adults reread books. Not me. I read a book once, reflect on it, and later recall characters and events that left an impression. But with so many other books on my reading list, and new ones added all the time, I don’t pick it up again. Torah is the exception. I am about to embark on my thirty-second reading of “The Book.” With each cycle, a story I’ve never read before awaits me, evoking different reactions and insights. For the first time, I am reassessing the wisdom of those who reread other books. Might I follow their example? Books don’t change, but readers do. Now in my mid-seventies, what would I make of the novels I read in my twenties? Surely, the story would not be the same. More thoughts about reading and writing at REFLECTIONS.

Torah is a circle; it has no beginning or end

Why writers read: “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” – Confucius

Declined is Not Disowned

In answer to a question about roles he was disappointed not to get, actor LeVar Burton said “That which is mine, no one can take away from me. That which is not for me, no amount of wishing or stamping my feet will make it so” (“LeVar Burton’s Quest to Succeed Alex Trebek” by David Marchese, The New York Times Magazine, 06/25/21). Writers should keep that wisdom in mind when submissions are declined. The work we’ve published is ours to own. The work that’s turned down may never achieve print. But unlike actors, for whom rejection means losing the opportunity to create that role, writers can always say they created that manuscript, whether or not someone else is inclined to publish it. More thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” – Ernest Hemingway

What I’m Reading: Careless Love by Steve Zettler

My Goodreads and Amazon review of Careless Love by Steve Zettler (Rated 5) – A Carefully Constructed Tale. Imagine being told by your mother as she confronts the end of her life that the person you thought was your father was not the man half responsible for beginning yours. (Not a spoiler; readers learn this at the novel’s outset.) With little to go on, the narrator of Steve Zettler’s carefully constructed novel Careless Love sets out to discover not only who his real father was, but also the identity of the man who killed him. His dogged pursuit uncovers a cast of often unsavory, but always intriguing, characters. Set in Hawaii, the sordidness of the lowlifes contrasts sharply with the pampered lives of the privileged guests at the beach getaway where Grace and Lee, the narrator’s parents, have each retreated to escape their respective demons. Likewise, the flashbacks to the grim realities of the war in Vietnam are in stark contrast to the sweet romance between these central characters. The detective work brings to mind an absorbing film noir production. As a fiction writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire Zettler’s deft blend of plot and personality in this entertaining and revelatory tale.

Why writers read: “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” – Joyce Carol Oates

What I’m Reading: Something Wild by Hanna Halperin

My Goodreads and Amazon review of Something Wild by Hanna Halperin (Rated 5) – Scary, Scarring, and Salving. Hanna Halperin’s novel Something Wild is about female desire and the fraught relationship between women and men, but mostly about the complex connections between women: mothers and daughters, and sisters. If the book has a flaw, it’s that the men are one dimensional. Yet, in a sense, these stereotypical men only highlight how complex and worthy the women are. Halperin questions what draws them close, what drives them apart, and what ultimately pulls them back together. Sisters Tanya and Nessa, close as children, became distanced from each other after a traumatic sexual encounter as teenagers. As adults, they discover that their stepfather Jesse is abusing their mother Lorraine. Sex and violence — something wild — simmer below the surface of every page and, inevitably, erupt. Yet, despite these big events, the book’s impact lies in its small moments: a big sister showing her little sister how to insert a tampon; the women warming each other’s feet under a treasured blanket. Halperin throws rocks into the water, but waits to watch the ripples they generate. Not that the book lacks for plot — its momentum never flags— but it plumbs the depths rather skimming the surface. As a writer who also observes ripples rather than hurling rocks (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciated her ability to linger, to wonder whether calm can ever be restored after a traumatic or tragic event. In this scary and scarring account, sisterly love is the salve that heals.