The finest edge
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2001
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In the stories 'A Tale of Four Cities- Fremantle, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa', 'Secrets'
and the novella The Finest Edge, I have attempted to come to terms with my experience
as a child of a family involved in the Holocaust.
'A Tale ofFour Cities' introduces my cousin, the writer Simon Louvish, and how
our first meeting in Perth celebrated a reunion with Simon, his wife, my brother and
myself while attending a Jewish Writer's Conference. 'Tel Aviv' examines my meeting
in Israel with Ya'akov Ariel, my mother's nephew, and his family. 'Jerusalem' takes me
to the home of my mother's first cousin, Misha Louvish. 'Haifa', brings me to the city
and mountain, Mt. Carmel, after which I was named.
Family history unravels in these four sections as I make my first trip to Israel.
Memories link the story's parts- my mother's memories of her village and family, my
own memory of growing up with her.
In the novella, three characters - Esther, Am and Monique - meet and encounter
each other in a private clinic dealing with drug related problems. The theme of
Holocaust enters again in a fictional setting through the reminiscence of the character
Esther, who is portrayed as a child of Holocaust survivors. She views her own past and
identity in the light of this historical event. The characters take turns addressing each
other in a series of dramatic monologues.
The story 'Secrets' examines the manner in which five people attempt to come to
terms with their Jewish background and the difficulties they face in an Australian
setting.
The writer Aharon Appelfeld, said of his own oblique approach in writing about
the Holocaust, 'one does not look directly at the sun'. I have used both ficto-memoir
and fiction to describe the space where history and memory merge.
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