Go Down to Silence [Paperback]

G.K. Belliveau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2001

Jacob Horowitz, a worn and bitter business tycoon, has never spoken to anyone about his experience of Nazi persecution during World War II -- not even his recently deceased wife, Liza. Suddenly stricken with terminal cancer, the aging Jew receives an invitation from his old friend Pierre, a Gentile Christian and former Belgian underground operative, to pay him one last visit in Belgium. Jacob accepts, and determines to take along his estranged son Isaac. In this fast-paced, vivid historical account set alternately in war-torn Europe and today's United States, the consequences of war become clear. Momentous events push the hardened Horowitz toward reconciliation with his youngest son, with his past, with God, and with himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this refreshingly unpredictable Christian novel, Belliveau fictionalizes the boyhood experiences of an actual Belgian Holocaust survivor, and in doing so avoids compressing events into the tired formulas upon which Christian and historical fiction so often rely. As readers get to know Jacob Horowitz, now an elderly Cleveland businessman, through flashbacks to his harrowing wartime experiences in the Belgian underground, we never know what to expect. Each character, whether Jew, Nazi or Christian, is multidimensional, and each vignette from Jacob's young life vibrates with the strangeness of truth. For example, when Jacob is torn between the faith of his Christian protectors and the Jewish identity his mother insists he maintain, Belliveau renders each perspective sympathetically, helping readers understand why, in the face of this dilemma as well as wartime horrors, Jacob chooses, for most of his adult life, to close down spiritually and emotionally. Interestingly, this novel focuses as much on Jacob's late-in-life emotional catharsis as it does on his spiritual quest, suggesting that the two are inextricably bound. Belliveau's exploration of Jacob's emotional life departs radically from the norms of many Christian novels written by men; instead of trading on gender stereotypes that glorify male strength and stoicism, Belliveau shows how young Jacob's stoicism emerged when he found himself overwhelmed by pain and rage. Jacob's attempts to face difficult memories and relationships in the narrative present suggest redemption, but readers are left to imagine how that redemption will play out.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When businessman Jacob Horowitz is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to make peace with his estranged son, Isaac, and with his past. Jacob sees novelist Isaac's use of the pen name "Jack Oxford" as a denial of his Jewish heritage and of the suffering the Horowitz family endured during World War II. However, Isaac knows nothing of the family history, since his father never shared the horrors of the past nor the reasons for hiding his faith. As the two strong-willed men revisit Jacob's old friends and memories, Jacob's story unfolds in flashbacks. The crusty old man metamorphoses into a frightened little boy fleeing Nazis again in his mind. This powerful, poignant journey of discovery by Belliveau (Say to This Mountain) is suitable for all collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (February 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576737365
• ISBN-13: 978-1576737361
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,417,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Belliveau is a 2008 Christopher Isherwood Foundation Grant recipient for his novel-in-progress COLLISION. He is also a 2002 Christy Award finalist for Best First Novel Go Down To Silence (Multnomah: A Division of Random House, 2001). He has written non-fiction: Say to This Mountain: The life of James T. Jeremiah (RBP, 1999). Belliveau has an MFA from Pacific University, OR. He lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A moving account., July 28, 2001

By 

Affaire de Coeur - See all my reviews

This review is from: Go Down to Silence (Paperback)

What does it mean to be a young Jewish boy in war-torn, occupied Belgium during WWII? It means that your life suddenly becomes a living hell where you're constantly afraid, always in hiding, and you watch the Nazis (whoever they are) take your father and uncle to the death camps, and you're not even sure what's going on or why you're being hunted. Those were the thoughts that kept going through seventy-one-year old Jacob Horowitz's mind as he waited at the airport for his son, Isaac. He was taking Isaac to Belgium to show him his roots This is a deeply personal, emotional first person story of a young Jewish boy's trials in trying to stay alive while understanding the horrors of World War II. Then, after surviving the war, he grows up into a somewhat bitter old man who realizes he needs to set his house in order before he dies. Very moving and easy to follow, even though the time line jumps back and forth from the past to the present. Well written.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I almost didn't read it, June 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Go Down to Silence (Paperback)

I just happened to snag this one off the "new books" shelf at the library (sorry Mr. Belliveau) and wasn't particularly excited about reading it since I've read so many books on the holocaust and figured this probably wouldn't provide a new perspective. I was wrong. It was gripping text from the beginning and brings up questions about where our sense of right and wrong comes from and how we make the choices that we make. Never once while reading this did it occur to me that this was a "Christian" book. . .I learned that the instant I finished the book and walked to the computer to beg my own redemption by writing a review. In fact, I kept looking at the author's name and wondering if he too was a Jewish man who was using a pseudonym like one of the characters in the story. This is a book about people, both Jewish and Christian, who suffered in WWII and this is the first time I have taken the time to let others know about a really, really good book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very moving novel, May 28, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Go Down to Silence (Paperback)

Due to the help of Belgium Christians, Jew Jacob Horowitz survived the Holocaust. However, he never forgot the horrors of the Nazis even decades later. Although his mother pleaded he remember he was Jewish, the terror destroyed his faith in God. Now several decades later, Jacob is a successful Cleveland businessman with two grownup children with families of their own. Jacob and his youngest son Isaac are alienated because he has always refused to mention the horrors he faced during the Nazi abomination. That estrangement seems silly now to Jacob when he learns he is dying and that one of his European benefactors is near death. With his son in hand, Jacob plans to say good-bye to Pierre and hello to his family.

Told in flashbacks, GO DOWN TO SILENCE is a fantastic human drama that will inspire anyone with a soul. The story line is incredible as readers feel Jacob's emotions as his life winds down and he tries one last time for salvation on the spiritual and mortal planes. G. K. Belliveau has written an amazing tale that brings the aftermath of the Holocaust home in a way rarely seen in a novel.

Harriet Klausner