jakebittle's review against another edition
Never been prouder to be a Jew of a Canadian descent.
al07734's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
All in all, it was a pretty entertaining read. The constantly switching perspectives (if you have the mental bandwidth) can be kind of fun but not enough for the unnecessary amounts of bigotry, hemophilia, racism, etc. that the characters say. Honestly it seems like Richler was told to write a "raunchy" novel so he filled it with characters saying as many slurs as possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Ableism, and Addiction
Uses the n-word casually and unnecessarilyjuliapappo's review against another edition
5.0
indeed, he was!
embroiling jewry into every major canadian historical event of the past 200 years (not to mention the international ones!) is pure chutzpah. it's this quality that makes mordecai richler so riotous and touching to me - in everything he wrote, he goes all in. the gurskys are larger than life, yet even in the final pages richler draws them back to montreal - to the family mansion in westmount, no less.
in the second grade, i was assigned to present to the class on any canadian province of my choosing. my dad is originally from montreal - my family left for toronto in the early 70s - so of course i had to pick quebec. for more than half my time in front of the class, all i could do was go on about mordecai richler. the jacob two-two tv show had recently taken over my life, and at home i would look up to find my dad's copy of barney's version on his bookshelf, listening as he would go on about how good the film adaptation of duddy kravitz was to me.
being jewish in toronto can at times feel like being a montreal jew, twice removed. the city looms large in the collective memory, both of my family and of canada itself - listening to stories of my dad growing up in snowdon, going to the cinema and the deli beside it, feels as definitive to me as reading richler's characters trudge up and down st. urbain. you know the exact spots to go, which bakeries have the best bagels, who attended which public school, and all the gossip of mcgill alumni, even if they are six hours away. the city has been idolized as a key originating point for so long that it feels intrinsic to canadian jewish identity, and seeing richler give the same treatment to the rest of the country and it's tales is an absolute delight.
gursky spans generations, and the points of genealogy can be hazy at best. but instead of seeming lackadaisical, it feels true to life. moses berger's unrelenting research to fill in the gaps of such an infuriating family is compounded by complications even further than the circumstances - rampant alcoholism, mysterious disappearances, and relationships so fragmented it's a wonder the whole mctavish enterprise can stay afloat. it's well deserving of its 540 pages - for all its cyclicity, revisionist history, and undeniable personality.
embroiling jewry into every major canadian historical event of the past 200 years (not to mention the international ones!) is pure chutzpah. it's this quality that makes mordecai richler so riotous and touching to me - in everything he wrote, he goes all in. the gurskys are larger than life, yet even in the final pages richler draws them back to montreal - to the family mansion in westmount, no less.
in the second grade, i was assigned to present to the class on any canadian province of my choosing. my dad is originally from montreal - my family left for toronto in the early 70s - so of course i had to pick quebec. for more than half my time in front of the class, all i could do was go on about mordecai richler. the jacob two-two tv show had recently taken over my life, and at home i would look up to find my dad's copy of barney's version on his bookshelf, listening as he would go on about how good the film adaptation of duddy kravitz was to me.
being jewish in toronto can at times feel like being a montreal jew, twice removed. the city looms large in the collective memory, both of my family and of canada itself - listening to stories of my dad growing up in snowdon, going to the cinema and the deli beside it, feels as definitive to me as reading richler's characters trudge up and down st. urbain. you know the exact spots to go, which bakeries have the best bagels, who attended which public school, and all the gossip of mcgill alumni, even if they are six hours away. the city has been idolized as a key originating point for so long that it feels intrinsic to canadian jewish identity, and seeing richler give the same treatment to the rest of the country and it's tales is an absolute delight.
gursky spans generations, and the points of genealogy can be hazy at best. but instead of seeming lackadaisical, it feels true to life. moses berger's unrelenting research to fill in the gaps of such an infuriating family is compounded by complications even further than the circumstances - rampant alcoholism, mysterious disappearances, and relationships so fragmented it's a wonder the whole mctavish enterprise can stay afloat. it's well deserving of its 540 pages - for all its cyclicity, revisionist history, and undeniable personality.
mwill's review
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
patthebook's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! If that’s not THE Great Canadian Novel, it’s definitely one of them. The true history elements blend seamlessly with the fictionalized family saga, however sprawling absurd it may be.
gracklefan's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
laharder's review
3.5
Moses Berger is obsessed with the life of Solomon Gursky, one of three grandsons of Ephraim Gursky. Tracks the lives of all. I enjoyed the book, but the ending seemed a bit dull. Not sure how it could’ve been otherwise
nharkins's review against another edition
5.0
recommended by nina. loved it.
proof that i don't trash everything she likes? :)
proof that i don't trash everything she likes? :)
velocitygirl14's review against another edition
3.0
This was a re-read and I was interested by the fact that Richler mentions the Franklin Expedition as the start of the Gursky family entering the periphery of Canadian life and then becoming a major player.
Solomon Gursky is the elusive figure in all of this and despite being unpleasant, had charm unlike his other two brothers.
Sadly, this book is very dated and occasionally vulgar with no real reason to be. Again, a portrait of a Canada long gone.
Solomon Gursky is the elusive figure in all of this and despite being unpleasant, had charm unlike his other two brothers.
Sadly, this book is very dated and occasionally vulgar with no real reason to be. Again, a portrait of a Canada long gone.
jooniperd's review
5.0
this was a re-read for me... but i last read it when it was published (1989) and have a crap memory. so all i retained was the barest of strings, and the sense of just loving this story.
i have to say that i get so much enjoyment out of reading richler (and, as with carol shields, i get bummed fairly frequently over the fact they are no longer here to share new work with us). if the word 'romp' were ever well used in reviewing a book, it would be for this novel. it's a total romp. (can't believe i'm using that word!) it's epic and grand, fun and sharp, and for all its literariness, there is also an interesting mystery.
in her review for the NY Times, [a:Francine Prose|12180|Francine Prose|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1249678588p2/12180.jpg] says this of the book:
(here's the link to prose's review, if you are interested, written 08 april 1990: https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/21/home/richler-gursky.html )
i have to say that i get so much enjoyment out of reading richler (and, as with carol shields, i get bummed fairly frequently over the fact they are no longer here to share new work with us). if the word 'romp' were ever well used in reviewing a book, it would be for this novel. it's a total romp. (can't believe i'm using that word!) it's epic and grand, fun and sharp, and for all its literariness, there is also an interesting mystery.
in her review for the NY Times, [a:Francine Prose|12180|Francine Prose|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1249678588p2/12180.jpg] says this of the book:
"In this, his ninth and most complex novel, Mr. Richler, a Canadian, is after something ambitious and risky, something slightly Dickensian, magical realist: ''Two Hundred Years of Jewish-Canadian Solitude.'' Richler fans will find the scenes one expects in his work -funny, biting, snide-sympathetic takes on Montreal Jewish life - incorporated into a fanciful superstructure of history, geography, myth... Regardless of what its author may actually have experienced, ''Solomon Gursky Was Here'' reads as if it were great fun to write. Dense, intricately plotted, it takes exuberant, nose-thumbing joy in traditional storytelling with all its nervy cliffhangers and narrative hooks, its windfall legacies, stolen portraits, murders and revenges, its clues that drop on the story line with a satisfying thud."and i think the cool thing prose hit on in her review was the aspect of fun -- as i was reading i kept hoping richer had as much fun writing this as i was having reading it. there seems to be a whole lot of mischievous joy seeping from the pages, and that was a great experience!
(here's the link to prose's review, if you are interested, written 08 april 1990: https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/21/home/richler-gursky.html )
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