The Elected Member [Hardcover]

Bernice Rubens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1983

In this 1970 Booker Prize-winning novel, Norman is the clever one of a closely-knit Jewish family in London's East End. Infant prodigy, brilliant barrister, the apple of his parents' eyes—until at 41 he becomes a drug addict, confined to his bedroom, at the mercy of his hallucinations and paranoia.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Booker Prize Winner in 1970. Norman is the clever one of a rabbi's close-knit family in London's East End. Following the prodigious achievements of his childhood, he becomes a brilliant barrister, the apple of his parents' eyes. However, at the age of 41, he experiences a terrible fall from grace, becoming addicted to drugs and being confined to his room where he is prey to hallucinations and paranoia. Rubens explores the Old Testament notion of a family scapegoat, the elected member of the title, to brilliant effect; it is an idea also present in the work of R D Laing, the psychiatrist, one of her acknowledged influences. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author

Bernice Rubens was born is Wales and worked as both a writer and a film maker. She is the winner of the Booker Prize for The Elected Member, and was shortlisted for the same prize for a subsequent novel: A Five Year Sentence. She died in 2004. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd (September 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241111129
• ISBN-13: 978-0241111123
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,130,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic fall of a family, December 16, 2003

By 

Tyler (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elected Member (Paperback)

Bernice Rubens' novels are difficult to find here in America but are definitely worth reading.
The Elected Member is about the Zweck family, a well-to-do Orthodox Jewish family in England, and how it slowly disintegrated because of their firm hold onto their culture. The novel centers on the eldest son Norman who once was a top lawyer, but had to be admitted to a mental instituion after suffering a nervous breakdown. But what causes his breakdown? Was it his parents who simply hold onto him too tightly? His 2 sisters whom he committed crimes of the heart against? Rubens expertly transport us to the Zwecks' family past and slowly reveals how past mistakes can come back to haunt everyone in a family.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy winner of the Booker Prize, March 21, 2011

By 

Darryl R. Morris "Kidzdoc" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Elected Member (Paperback)

This Booker Prize winning novel about a close-knit but dysfunctional Jewish family is set in the East End of London in the 1960s. Norman Zweck, the golden son of a rabbi and his late wife, whose promising career as a barrister has been derailed by drug use and mental illness brought on by his mother's incessant demands and his personal failings, is slowly becoming unhinged -- again. He spends his days in his parents' old bedroom, locked away from his father and younger sister, popping amphetamine pills in a futile attempt to keep his demons at bay. His father and younger unmarried sister Bella, who deeply love Norman but fear his ever more worrisome outbursts, work together to place him in a mental institution, in a last ditch effort to get him back to his old self.

As he recuperates in the institution, the three members of the family, and Norman's estranged sister Esther, reflect on how they reached this critical point. Past actions, indiscretions, and tragic decisions haunt each of them, but none more than Norman. The Zuckers attempt to reconcile their differences once and for all, as Norman descends further into madness and as his father's health begins to fail.

"The Elected Member" was a enjoyable read, filled with humor despite its tragic elements, and hope in the face of despair and crisis.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for a book club, October 27, 2010

By 

Nancy S. Sisson "nancy" (saint louis) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Elected Member (Paperback)

We just read this book in our book club and we are all pleasantly surprised at what great discussion it generated. While reading the book, one can get a sense that parallel plots are orbiting the primary plot all the time but you never can quite put your finger on exactly what they are. As a group we all picked up on different concepts that once someone said it we would agree at how right on the person was and how we didn't come up with it on our own. After the discussion we all wanted to read the book again with our new insight into the book.