Customer Reviews

Flora's Suitcase

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Flora's Suitcase provides the essential experience for the reader of fiction--it transports you to another world and fills it with fascinating people and places. The story moves seamlessly from straightforward narrative to a flowing dream logic where anything is possible, and where characters and places reveal their mysteries in unexpected ways.

The writing is both colorful and economical. I found it fast moving but rich in detail. If you enjoy Garcia-Marquez or Cynthia Ozick, or value new, interesting literary voices, I happily recommend this book.

In light of the ever-raging immigration debate, "Flora's Suitcase" could not be published at a better time. The locales, conditions and ethnicities may be different than those of today, yet this is a beautifully personal, instructive immigrant tale that defies time. Flora is a woman in 1930s Cincinnati. Though she owns a bright spark of independence, she nonetheless marries Dovid after a brief, rather unromantic courtship. Dovid is a man of time and place. His extended family is forced to flee Stalinist Russia, a migration that eventually takes the extended Grossenberg family to Columbia. It's a sorry lot for Flora. She's stuck in a Third World country with a remote husband, a growing family and a pool of Grossenberg sisters who not only reject her independence, but attempt to subvert her because of it. Flora must fight these conditions and the restrictions on women to find her freedom. In some ways, "Flora's Suitcase" is another chapter in the lonely, oppressed women's genre. In the capable hands of author Dalia Rabinovich, however, it becomes much more than that. Intriguing about Rabinovich is her ability to meld so many different styles and genres seamlessly. "Flora's Suitcase" is part immigrant tale, part Jewish saga, part chick story and part Third World exploration. Rabinovich throws in a dose of magical realism to boot, then wraps it all in the voice of Jewish classics. What remains is a spartan, detached narrative that packs emotional punch. This style allows the story to roam freely. Whether Flora is being mistaken by peasants for a saint, or being asked by Dovid to give their daughter to a childless relative, Rabinovich never falls prey to melodrama, nor do such spectacular events seem implausible. This is a skilled new writer very much worth following.

I find it interesting that the reader from Virginia was reminded of a Monet painting, as I was strongly reminded of Chagall's colorful and fanciful depictions of the mystical aspect to Jewish village life. Flora's Suitcase paints a lush and evocative portrait of a family's struggles and triumphs that relates to all of our families' collective past, present -- and, I would suspect, future. Ms. Rabinovich has a keen eye for the subtle ironies that cross cultures to describe the human condition, and she describes it in a way that will be enjoyable and enriching to all.

Give us more, give us more!

This book --pathetically trying to grasp the concept of Magical Realism but failing to do so over and over again-- is a completely pointless read. The characters have little if any depth; there is no discernible plot; the author seems to suffer from memory loss and conveniently erases characters' traits or stops mentioning the characters altogether. Confounding, ridiculous, and an unflattering and inaccurate portrayal of mid-century Colombia.

Once I got used to the magic and superstitions in this book, I really enjoyed it. The writing is discriptive and beautiful, and often more than a little funny. Although at times sequences were a little hard to follow,especially in the beginning it is well worth reading on. One of my favourite scenes in the story is the birth of Ruthie, the unwanted child. Her reluctant exit from her mother's womb is both funny and poignant. I laughed out loud at Marina the maid and Dorothy, Flora's unflappable friend. But lest it sounds like this book is only comical, I should add that it is full of life in all it's forms.

I THINK THAT WE WILL ALL ANXIOUSLY AWAIT ANY FUTURE WORKS BY MS. RABINOVICH

If you are into lots of empty flowery words with no strong story or interesting characters then perhaps you will enjoy this book, otherwise stay clear. Overall impression, this book is merely colorful waffle. Very disappointing.