Customer Reviews

Syd Arthur

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who came away from EAT PRAY LOVE with indigestion and an itch for something more substantial than a fluffernutter, I prescribe SYD ARTHUR. This too is the story of a woman who loves food, has all the accoutrements of a completely pampered American life and embarks on a quest for self-knowledge and nirvana. This story does not end with a new man in New Jersey. The protagonist, Syd Arthur's funny, touching, and completely credible quest has more chutzpah and panache and less self-importance that EPL and others of the memoir/novel/spiritual quest genre. Frankel does a great job weaving philosophy into the action of the book. One comes away feeling the story is grounded in reality. Although this reader questions the docility of the husband (I kept thinking that she was going to find out that he was off having an affair while she was off finding herself) and the somewhat shallow portrayals of the friends, but all in all this is a very satisfying read.

For Jewish, suburban moms like myself, finally a book with characters we can relate to! The friends who go from one diet to the next, sipping their diet cokes while they munch on Godiva chocolates. The Mah Jongg junkies who pass the night away eating, "craking" and gossiping. But if you scratch their surface, there's more! Watching Syd's layers get peeled away chapter by chapter, I invested in her well-being. I worried about her as though I were her mother!

If you have ever questioned your own spiritual journey in life, while yearning to still fit into your high school jeans, then Syd Arthur is a book for you! It is a fabulous summer read I enjoyed at the beach under an umbrella! I hope Ellen Frankel will revisit these characters in a sequel!

What can I say. This girl's got writing chops! Syd Arthur is a book about a woman's lifelong spiritual journey and desire to find balance in a world of material enticements. Syd was born into a Jewish upper middle class family and lived a life of comfortable trappings, even after she married. When her daughter goes away to college and she feels the sting of the empty nest she begins her quest for enlightenment with a great deal of verve and commitment against many struggles along the way. Ellen Frankel writes with humor, eloquence, poetry and exquisite visualizations. The story is absorbing and the characters are flesh and blood relatable. Ellen has the talent to take you to an ashram and have you experience every ritual as if you were sitting in a lotus position yourself and chanting OM with all the other yogis. She has a way of explaining every Buddhist practice and every Sanskrit phrase so the reader is never lost in a strange and unfamiliar situation. Neither is the reader ever lost in a Jewish holiday ritual because Ellen explains the reasons for certain traditional foods and for the holiday itself. And how many writers do you know who are fluent in Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Buddhism? Not one, I bet! That's because Ellen has a facility for living in both worlds and teaches us how to live the Middle Way with compassion and grace.

Kudos to this author for showing us that religion is only efficacious if it reminds us to live an authentic and compassionate life.

The person who reviewed this book and only gave it one star clearly did not read it all the way through, and maybe has never had any kind of moving experience in her/his life. Syd Arthur is just an everyday housewife with a husband, a daughter off to college, a dog, and a beautiful big house to rattle around in with all sorts of lovely things. She has friends, a Majong group, and a bunch of hilarious, wacky family including her in-laws...but over the course of the book she starts to discover what life is really about. I laughed, I cried, and I was very moved by this book. Syd's story is one of discovery and personal growth, and I've even had similar experiences, so even though Syd is Jewish, and I am not, I was able to relate to her experience. And because I'm not Jewish, I thought it was particularly interesting to get a glimpse of Jewish culture. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a very entertaining book. Thank you Ellen Frankel.

You'll laugh and you'll cry with Syd Arthur as she forges her own modern path to self-discovery in Ellen Frankel's insightful new novel of the same name. The combination of Frankel's witty and humorous eye for small details and her heartfelt observations about a contemporary Jewish woman's spiritual journey as she follows in the footsteps of her namesake Siddhartha make for a delectable and satisfying read. As Syd follows her heart, readers will fall in love with a quirky, loving and ultimately sentient character. Kudos to the author for so ably capturing current day sensibilities in such an original novel.

Ellen Frankel does a remarkable job transporting the reader into Syd Arthur's world. The poignant, intelligent and neurotic world of a Jewish Mother, oppressed by body-weight-hate, looking for meaning in her life that is not measured by weight or inches lost, and grappling with real loss...her child off to college. Perhaps because Syd's world is so familiar and mirrors my world so accurately I am not an "objective voice" to review this book; but as someone who found this book so accurate and realistic, perhaps I'm the perfect person to review this book.

Keep the tissues handy,there will be tears of joy and sadness... nachas and tsuris. (Nosheri optional)

When I saw the cover of this book, I expected to be entertained watching a modern, consumer-loving woman (Syd) dapple in the world of her namesake, Siddhartha of Buddhism fame. What I didn't expect was that instead of laughing at Syd's expense, I would be asked to turn the lens around and reflect on my own unconscious behavior. Hooray to this creative writer who deftly opens us to Syd's world and our own world at the same time. In the opening chapters, Syd is a character I really wanted to dislike because, well, there's so much of her to dislike. She saunters naively and self-indulgently through her days with a peer group and family that does the same. Does the author want us to see her as a comical caricature of our times or as the annoyingly real lady we've seen breeze past us at the mall? And what was it like for Ellen Frankel to hang out with Syd day-in and day-out as she wrote the novel? Therein lies the gift of Syd Arthur; through Syd's tortoise-slow movements from shopping sprees and calorie-counting to an alternative reality of wakefulness, the reader is invited to give witness to the fledgling first steps of a young seeker needing the support and compassion of a patient friend. Who am I to judge a woman nursed and raised by, and in, an unconscious world? Why did I close down to her and when did I start seeing her as more? Where else am I sleeping in my own life? Kudos to this author who was willing to stand by Syd and ask no less of the reader. In the final chapters, I was giving my friend Syd a standing ovation and the talented Ellen Frankel as well. And did I mention it was a HOOT to read?! There are many layers to this book's cover.

Ellen Frankel gets it--the funny stuff and the stuff life forces you to ponder. If you don't want to sleepwalk through your journey- or even if you are already awake, try Syd. She'll keep you laughing and deliver enlightenment. A delicious (in more ways than one) read.

I realized that my experience while reading was to get to the "good part" where Syd will experience nirvana. So I had to slow down. Then I had the realization that there was a parallel between me and her! Once I got to the middle, I began to savor. I didn't want my experience to end. I guess the "non-attachment" part did not resonate with me! I was infatuated with Syd and her journey. I often felt like my own life was leaping off the pages. This book is a gem. It's laugh out loud FUNNY and I cannot remember the last time I actually laughed loudly in public, by myself. I only wish I could convince my husband and kids to read Syd Arthur so they would finally realize I am not a kook. There are other just like me! I am grateful someone had the insight to read my mind and make me laugh at myself. Thanks for writing this book.

Ellen Frankel's, Syd Arthur, is a breath of fresh air. I laughed, I cried, I pondered, then laughed and cried some more. The story about a suburban mom who has just been empty-nested and her quest for meaning hit me in all the right places. I could relate to children leaving home, wondering why my "full-filled" life lacked something I couldn't name, dealing with family members who could not understand why you "had everything and still weren't happy", and how the search for the perfect body was so empty. I highly recommend this book to women from 30-80 years old. There is something here for everyone. Can't wait for the sequel or Ellen's next book!