Reviews

• In Ozick's book, "The Puttermesser Papers" the reader encounters brilliance, insight and literary wisdom which is perhaps unsurpassed. The book presents the dilemma of a highly trained and highly intelligent and highly well read protagonist, who observes her life and presents her life philosophy, as it tangentially touches the rest of the world. Despite this life of mostly solitude and unhappiness there is the incisive uncovering of a universality of man/woman. The book discusses the cycles of life, and afterlife, through the eyes of the protagonist, Puttermesser. Her life starts on a good footing; she makes certain decisions that are done mostly for ethical and aesthetic reasons. The changes make her happier, sometimes, and unhappy most of the time. Nonetheless, she perseveres. She stumbles through life's pitfalls and works them through, both professionally and personally. In fact, with a little help from some spiritual friends, she rises to exalted levels of power. But, then the cycle changes. Those same friends that got her to high places, conspire to ruin this achievement, and in fact are successful at destroying it. She becomes a pariah in her own town, in her own neighborhood. And she sadly watches as all she has accomplished comes undone. At the nadir of her life, she dies. And she does not just die, she is murdered. But that is not where the story ends. The story continues into Paradise, the Garden of Eden, Heaven, where she finds what she did not really expect. In Paradise, she finds that it is only necessary for one to 'think it so,' and it is so, in Paradise. But similarly to real life, all things must pass, and thus whatever one thinks into existence in Paradise, is also destined to disappear. And thus, Ozick reveals, that Paradise is not only Heaven, but also Hell simultaneously: A simulacrum of life. And thus, Ozick leaves us with the age old question: Is it better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all? Or, as Ozick put it "Better never to have loved than loved at all. Better never to have risen than had a fall." The book is recommended for all highly read people as the literary references are many. And the uses of them are brilliant. In addition, the book is recommended to anyone who is trying to answer the question of love, in terms of whether it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. The book provides spiritual, mundane and metaphysical thoughts on the cycle of life and afterlife, that provide highly provocative concepts to consider with regard to that question.

• je ne connaissais pas cette écrivaine, et étais curieuse mais j'ai beaucoup de mal à "entrer" dans le livre qui est abandonné dans un coin en attendant l'été (où je serai peut-être plus disponible

• I loved this book. I heard it reviewed on the BBC radio programme A Good Read and it sounded wonderfully unique. I enjoyed every word. One caveat: this book is not for everyone.

• This book will delight some and frustrate others. It is a very witty, often sharply satirical novel partly pointed at modern urban life and partly a re-telling of an ancient and mystical legend of the Jewish "GOLEM." Cynthia Ozick takes the reader into a veritable maze of myth and knowledge interwoven in a fantasy of the supernatural which spins the reader into questioning what this tale is really about. Is it more a modern tale of contemporary urban decay or more a redemptive fabled Jewish legend? In turn, it is both and those parts scuffle and compete to engage the reader while pulling her/him into an uncanny den of literary allegory. Ruth Puttermesser's life is both humorous and tragic. Puttermesser, however, doesn't dwell in self pity or regret. She handles her unlucky disappointments with wit and resignation, never sentimentality. As she repeatedly fails to achieve the happiness or the life that she aspires to....for whenever it's within her reach, it eludes her grasp, she moves on, without remorse, to other pastures. In the end, Ruth Puttermesser has 'lost her edge' and in her solitude of old-fashioned ways, become that "butter knife" who cannot ultimately carve out a safe passage in a big and often violent city. An imaginative, complex and rewarding journey into some impossible ideals and fantasy landscapes that come alive to enhance this smart and witty entangled tale.

• Yes it is meta fiction, yes it is not realistic. yet it still packs an emotional punch despite all the technical flourishes and narrative pyrotechniques

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