Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot [Hardcover]

Gertrude Himmelfarb (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1594032513 | ISBN-13: 978-1594032516 | Publication Date: May 11, 2009 | Edition: 1

It is one of the curiosities of English literary history that the most remarkable English novel about Jews should have been written by a non-Jew - a Victorian woman, moreover, who is generally regarded as the greatest English novelist of her time. The Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot examines why a woman who was firmly labeled an unbeliever would take up the cause of Judaism and its promise of nationhood and statehood.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In this groundbreaking study of George Eliot, Gertrude Himmelfarb offers a fascinating and deeply persuasive understanding of Eliot’s extraordinary sympathy for Jewish identity, Jewish religion, and ultimately, Jewish nationalism. A work of rare originality and insight. Simply brilliant.” Charles Krauthammer

“In this compelling and inspiring narrative, elegantly woven from strands historical, biographical, philosophical, and literary, our finest historian of Victorian England provides a brilliant interpretation of Daniel Deronda, the final novel of Victorian England’s greatest novelist, vindicating its artistic integrity and intellectual importance against its many critics. Ms. Himmelfarb also illuminates George Eliot’s remarkably prescient and still relevant perspectives on Zionism and “the Jewish Question,” concluding with her own profound reflections on the intimate connections of religion and politics to personal identity. A tour de force.” Leon R. Kass and Amy A. Kass, The University of Chicago

“In The Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot, a brave and bravura excavation of a prophetic artist’s mind, Gertrude Himmelfarb at last opens to us the George Eliot who has too long been snubbed — sometimes on aesthetic grounds, but more often with full disparaging intent. In so doing, Himmelfarb catapults George Eliot into the thick of the great central maelstrom of our own moment, when Daniel Deronda ceases to be a Victorian novel only, and boldly enters the twenty-first century. Through the lenses of history, culture, philosophy, politics, and literary art, Himmelfarb, in this innovative and dazzling study, reveals how Daniel Deronda — not unlike Uncle Tom’s Cabin — has had its role in succoring and renewing a people; and how it serves as a prescient rebuke to both Sartre and Said. Cynthia Ozick

“Gertrude Himmelfarb leads us through t...

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Gertrude Himmelfarb, a leading Victorian scholar, has undertaken to unravel the mysteries of Daniel Deronda. And the mysteries of Eliot herself; a novelist who deliberately wrote a book she knew would bewilder many of her readers, a distinguished woman who opposed the enfranchisement of women, a moralist who flouted the most venerable of marital conventions - above all, the author of a novel that is still an inspiration or provocation to readers and critics alike. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; 1 edition (May 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594032513
• ISBN-13: 978-1594032516
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great companion to Daniel Deronda and George Eliot, August 10, 2009

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Quilmiense (USA/Spain) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot (Hardcover)

If you like George Eliot's books you should read this short essay. It is one that any reader can understand and enjoy. Here are some of the highlights of her life, her strong personality and individualism against the prejudices of her day. She was an honest intellectual: a rare species at any given time in history. She (George Eliot)cared for Judaism and Jews before the Holocaust or the Dreyfus affair took place, when Jews were the usual suspects, the easy prey; she demanded a right for a national home for the Jews in Palestine when it was not yet an issue (a right that Muslims already enjoyed multiple times).

A courageous woman indeed. Daniel Deronda was her last novel, right after Middlemarch, her greatest book and one of the very best in the English language. I recommend that you read the book before you read this essay. There is also a section on how the critics of her time received the book (Daniel Deronda) -which for the most part was not positive, specifically due to the Jewish element in it, which section is probably the least interesting of this essay.

George Eliot was an intellectual giant, a size only matched by her honesty, straightforwardness independence and compassion. She was no blind follower of the crowd; a serf to nobody; a truly great writer with her heart in the right place. God bless her.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the jewish odyssey of george eliotHimmelfarb, June 13, 2009

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J. C. W. West "critic of critics" (Ambridge, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot (Hardcover)

Himmelfarb, one of the formost specialists on the Victorian period, writes engagingly about a subject she knows in depth. Her treatment of George Eliot does not disappoint. She places Eliot in the period and setting of Victorian London, and brings her to life with personal anecdotes, and has unerring aim at the Jewish milieu. It's a good read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of high recommendation for any collection on early Zionism, August 14, 2009

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot (Hardcover)

Sometimes support comes from the strangest of sources. "The Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot" tells the story of Victorian era novelist George Eliot, an agnostic writer, and her heavy involvement in early Zionism before the movement had a name. The origins of her opinions boggled her readers, and Gertrude Himmelfarb does her best to explain the enigma of Eliot. An intriguing read about an interesting figure, "The Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot" is of high recommendation for any collection on early Zionism.