Customer Reviews

The Illuminated Soul

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

 

 

Stollman creates a marvelous work of fiction in "The Illuminated Soul." His characters are so real that they acquire a life of their own. Joseph, through whose eyes we see the story, is a noted scientist in the field of neuroanatomy who has written a book called "The Illuminated Soul." Thus, we have a book within a book. His brother Asa, is blind. Both men are unmarried and take care of each other. For them as for the story, the past overshadows the present. Their mother Adele was an earthy woman who supported her sons as a kosher caterer. Their lives are forever changed by a vistor, the luminous Eva Higashi. It is through the power of these characters that the story affects us.

Stollman's prose is among some of the most lyrical and affecting. His concluding paragraph is stunning, "For a short while, a long time ago, we were like those celestial beings, arrayed in the higher realms, looking out over the heavens, and we saw so much farther than we had ever imagined." He writes from the transforming magic love exerts.

The historical detail makes us believe that Stollman is an antiquarian of the highest order. The devotional aspects of the Jewish Apocrypha give us a real feel of this community in Canada. Stollman is masterful in this sense.

The story somewhat falls apart for me with the ending. Trying not to give the ending away, we are asked to believe that Joseph was able to execute the story's final act without his mother intervening, Eva discovering this prior to her departure or returning to rectify it, or his brother discovering and making some intervention. Perhaps I'm a bit too logical for the conclusion of this wonderful dreamscape. Unfortunately, the ending is the only false note in an otherwise exquisite novel! Even so, there are so many strengths here, that it is a great and pleasurable reading experience, one not to be missed.

In "The Illuminated Soul" Stollman clearly illustrates how each and every thing that a person encounters changes them forever. Through the eyes, ears and voice of the protagonist the book portrays a sense of relatedness of all things and people in the world. And, yet, at the same time, portrays the difficulty of life's vicissitudes. But throughout, the book shows the reader, that each person can truly make a difference to others in this world. By starkly illustrating how one person's enlightened presence can have a profound effect on those around them, the reader soon realizes that Stollman does more than just tell a story. He scratches off the surface, and reaches deeply into the thoughts and feelings of young Joseph, as he develops an insight and depth of feeling for a person, that he has only known for a very short time. Yet this brief acquaintance changed Joseph and his character for the rest of his life.

Stylistically, Stollman presents a rather wondrous mix of temporal wanderings. The story switches from the present life, to the past life of Joseph. The alternation between the two time frames within his life, further enhances the reader's ability to draw these conclusions and to clearly envision how this brief encounter with one other person, who has a depth of feeling and understanding far surpassing the average human being, can make an indelible impression on the thought patterns of others. Using a style that is easy to read, yet highly thought provoking, Stollman achieves a synergy between the mundane day-to-day world and the ephemeral spirituality that exists within each person. Contained within this synergy is a new way of thinking, which in turn leads to a new way of life. It enhances the ability of people to perceive the inner feelings of not only oneself, but also of others. If the reader follows Stollman's portrayal of this transformative experience, one can learn and understand not only ones own inner feelings, but in addition, one can increase their sensitivity to the feelings and presence of people and things that exist all around us.

Finally, the story elucidates how just one act by a person, can change the entire direction of that person's future. This change can be both positive and negative simultaneously. Yet, through this act, an individual can redirect the entire activities of one's life with respect to the act. In Stollman's own words, "Anything you have ever seen or heard or held in your hand changes you forever. When we encounter each other, we become part of each other." Once done, this process cannot be undone. The book is highly recommended for anyone seeking further inner understanding and peace. Through the book one can learn how a soul can be truly illuminated and revealed by the manner in which one approaches life and acts. It allows the reader to truly empathize with one's inner self and thus, increase self-understanding many fold.

This new novel, much like Stollman's first novel, The Far Euphrates, tells the story of a religious Jewish family in quiet Windsor, Ontario, Canada post World Ward II, who become involved in a spiritual quest that intersects with the aftermath and implications of the Holocaust. However, The Illuminated Soul is written much more as a fable. A beautiful young woman, Eva Laquedem, a refugee from Prague, comes to live with the Ivri family under unusual circumstances. She imbues them with fanciful tales, while bearing a valuable Jewish text that belongs to her father, Enoch Laquedem, a Jewish scholar. The work is called the Augsberg Miscellany and consists of all the ancient holy books plus the commentary of its originator, one Alexander Augsberg, plus scholarly writings by Enoch. Enoch's guiding theme is that the age of the prophets is over and that prophecy will only continue now through the "illumination" of the ancient texts. His own contribution begins with a mystical interpretation of the "pillar of cloud" that descended over the Ark and the Children of Israel as they wandered in the desert.

Beyond the over arching spiritual theme are the human stories. There is Joseph, the narrator, now an old man, a famous scientist and author of a book of mysticism, looking back to his childhood, his dreams and regrets. We meet his younger self, his widowed mother, his younger brother who is slowly going blind, and see Joseph's unspoken love for Eva. Then there is Eva herself, her wandering around the globe, sort of like a metaphor of the Biblical wandering, her determination to complete her father's work, her secrets and her private torments.

Stollman is fascinated in, although he does not specifically say, in an almost Kabbalistic fashion in the hidden meanings of the Torah as well as deciphering the text and the language for the pure joy of it. However, he does not hesitate to also tie in the literature or fables of other cultures, such as Tales of the Genji and stories that Eva invents. Although I appreciate the attempt, for me the novel never succeeds in tying all the elements together and making the connections. Nevertheless, I would recommend this short novel because of the worthy subject matter and the questions it raises.

This gem-like story of a mysterious woman who comes to live with a Jewish family is written in lyrical, crystalline prose. We are treated to exquisitely drawn characters. The place and times are richly delineated and are replete with historical detail. The denouement is not fully realized, yet the pleasure I found reading this novel was real, and the flaw in plot development does not extinguish the lingering questions of spirituality raised.
In some ways it is unfortunate that "Everything is Illuminated" was published about the same time as Stollman's work of similar title. The two works are profoundly dissimiliar- and I fear that Foer's hysterically funny book overshadows this elegant piece. Ironically, I found both efforts benfit from being read back to back, as different lenses on Jewish/immigrant life experience.

In Aryeh Stollman's outstanding short novel, I found particulary revealing a scene past the mid-point of the story. The main characters, the widowed Adele Ivri, her two children, Joseph and Asa, and their mysterious houseguest Eva Higashi, are returning home from synagogue in Windsor, Canada. Adele Ivri remarks upon the beauty of an old gnarled elm tree she had not noticed before. Eva remarks that there is much to be learned from a fresh sighting of a beautiful object. And she explains that "in the end, neither knowledge nor wisdom makes a person good". (pp. 172 -- 173)

I found this passage striking in a book which describes eloquently the love of learning, both secular and religious, the attractions of beauty, and the power of the imagination. The passage also illuminates the theme of the book in which the values of learning, beauty and imagination are juxtaposed against the realities of loss, suffering and guilt.

This novel is set in Winsdor, Canada following WW II with the recently widowed Adele raising her two sons Joseph and Asa. Joseph is the narrator of the book. He is physically unattractive but possessed of great intellect and of the drive to study. The younger son, Asa, is possessed of great physical beauty and of artistic talent. Unfortunately, he is slowly but inexorably going blind.

During the summer when Joseph is 14, the Ivri family takes in a mysterious boarder, Eva Higashi (nee Laquedem), a beautfiful young woman possessed of great knowledge. Her father had been a scholar in Prague, and Eva is trying to complete his final manuscript, "Clouds of Glory". Eva brings with her a priceless illuminated manuscript, the "Augsburg Miscellany" dating from the fifteenth century. Eva soon leaves the Ivri's home as mysteriously as she arrived. Joseph's and Asa's experiences with her during these few short summer months become the formative moments of their lives.

Joseph, the narrator of the story, ultimately becomes a famous research neuroanatomist who, following his retirement, enjoys great popular acclaim upon the publication of his short philosophical and mystical meditation, "The Illuminated Soul". This short book, in turn, is based upon Joseph's recollections of his family's few summer months with Eva.

This short book is filled with discussions of Torah study, of biblical archaeology, Japanese literature, neuroanatomy, and much else. (The author is himself a neuroradiologist.) I was much taken with the discussions of birds and their intelligence, (the story features a pet parrot named Nebucadnezzer) because it reminded me of my own pet bird. There are also many beautifully allusive stories and themes of unicorns and giraffes, of early Japanese novels, and of changing and shimmering colors in the sky that deeply influence the young boys and are captured in the mysticism of Joseph's "Illuminated Soul".

Each of the characters in the story have their own secrets, their own tragedy, and their own guilt. We learn to see into them in this beautifully-paced and told book. For all its appeal to learning, imagination, and even religious faith, for me the story speaks most strongly of the inevitability of change and of the overriding importance of cultivating goodness of heart. This is a very fine book.

Robin Friedman

Into the lives of a Jewish Canadian widow (Mrs. Ivri) and her two young sons, arrives a mysterious Czechoslovakian woman. She has escaped from the Holocaust and in the process saved an old illuminated manuscript of spiritual dimensions, that had been protected by her scholarly father. This lovely novel explores the powerful impact that one individual can have upon us, even though their life may only touch ours briefly. Eva Higashi, the mysterious woman, who bears the name of her Japanese husband, now deceased, enchants the widow and her two young sons with her joie de vivre, and her colorful, insightful and unusual stories of her life and escape from the Nazis. The Hebrew word for angel also means messenger - one who is sent by God. Perhaps for the Ivris, Eva may be that messenger from God who has arrived to teach them about the imponderables of life. An unusual and esoteric story, in the end I found it difficult to connect emotionally with these characters, thus the three stars.

I loved this book. It is mysterious, sensual, full of tension and moments of beautiful release. It is the story of a long and impossible love, of a terrible betrayal and the toll it takes on the betrayer. In a time of war and death, a priceless manuscript leaves Prague for Japan. But it carries with it the lifelong duty of its care and the dangerous task of its preservation.
The Illuminated Soul is an unusual mix of the historical and the imaginary, the scientific and the fantastic.
This is a book to keep forever.

Many years ago a beautiful, exotic woman came to live with Joseph and his family. Eva Higashi has been wandering and traveling, a refugee from the Holocaust, carrying with her a precious relic, a rare book saved from destruction at terrible cost. The encounter with Eva, though brief, changes Joseph forever. Now an old man, a neuroanatomist, he lives and relives those childhood days.

The author writes in beautiful, lucid prose, moving back and forth in time, as he ties together the loose ends of memory. Memory is real, he says. People you have known become a part of you. Everything is connected in what he calls "the net of reality."

In a few delicate brush-strokes he creates a compelling portrait of his Jewish faith, for memory is at the heart of Judaism.

His characters, with all their oddities, came powerfully alive. Their meetings and their partings are heavy with beauty and sadness.

This is a most beautiful book and I recommend it highly.

Written in a poetic and dreamy style, I enjoyed the language and especially the characters of The Illuminated Soul. The story centers around a rare fifteenth century manuscript and a lovely, mysterious woman who enters the lives of two boys and their mother one summer. Joseph, the elder of the two boys, is obsessed with perfect readings of Torah, while the younger is going blind and depends on a strip of silk to filter the sun's light. A neuroradiologist, Stollman interweaves just a touch of science into a beautiful and mystic look at relationships and the power of the desire for beauty.

While I found this book interesting, I felt no sense of lose when it ended. Dr. Stollman seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in describing Eva, but I found nothing particularly illuminating about her soul or the story teller's, Joseph. So, how exactly are we drawn into the 'illuminated soul?'
During parts of the book, the author feels compelled to describe research that he is doing, something that I not only had little interest in, but found rather distracting from the main story.
In the end, when she leaves with the doctor, we are left to wonder what happened to her. Joseph hints that he now holds the great treasure that she brought with her when she ended up in Canada. Is this the ending that was suppose to be a breath catcher?