Unto the Soul [Paperback]

Aharon APPELFELD (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Random House (1994)
• ASIN: B000UZJTBG
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deprivation, March 12, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Unto the Soul: A novel (Paperback)

"Unto The Soul", by Mr. Aharon Appelfeld is the most complex of his works I have read. I use the word less as an indicator of difficulty, rather to represent how much he includes in this story. It also differs from previous works in that the events take place almost exclusively in one place; there is none of the travel that is fundamental to many of his books. It also is not specifically a Holocaust themed book, and that may contribute to its area of confinement. The main characters are not dealing with a specific event, rather a single decision that creates all the conflict two people could handle.

When this brother and sister pledge to continue the guardianship of a cemetery of Jewish martyrs that their Grandfather has kept watch over for 60 years, they are placed in an unnatural condition that would require impregnable faith, belief in what they agreed to do, and living lives so limited they seem more appropriate to those who take the most extreme of religious vows of abstention, poverty, and isolation. And unlike many who choose such a life, they are completely alone, there is no structure to support them.

Their isolation on a mountaintop does offer some degree of security from the consequences of anti-Semitism, a barrier to disease, and during the winter these protections are nearly impregnable. The winters are also nearly endless, the Pilgrims do not support the caretakers as they did their Grandfather, and Gad is not his Grandfather's equal. He cannot stop those who do not respect what they seem to value and those that care for it, by refusing them entry when no donation is offered. And these contributions are the only income there are to have.

The book covers 8 years of their custodianship, their efforts to remain true to their pledge, and the results of living in isolation so nearly complete as to be unnatural. The challenges both mental and physical are not only immense they place this brother and sister in an environment when certain conduct can be devastating.

The Author puts every aspect of their lives under intense pressure and then we watch. Does their religion maintain them, do social mores and customs hold, does near isolation actually provide a degree of protection the idea suggests? Can these two people age 18 and 25 when they begin their task survive, maintain their sanity, and if so, how?

The Author also interjects facets that were certainly chosen with care, but as to their interpretation, the answers are not as apparent. Not far from where they watch their cemetery there is a Christian burial ground that features prominently in both the Grandfather's life, and those of his Grandchildren. The plots they care for are arranged precisely, the damage from weather is constant, and when the weather is not a foe, anti-Semitics provide the desecration.

A very fascinating book that would probably only get better with the level of understanding of Judaism the reader has. However this is not a prerequisite for enjoying this man's work.

4.0 out of 5 stars Read in One Sitting, July 17, 2009

By 

An admirer of Saul "Mr Wobble" (uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unto the Soul: A novel (Paperback)

Gad and his sister Amalia look after the Jewish mountain top cemetry, a duty passed onto them by their uncle. During the lonely winter they start an incestous relationship. When the pregnant Amalia contracts typhus,they are forced to seek help in the town below...
Appelfeld explores the constraints of religious order on a sinful and sinning world and the human animal, where every action destroys part of the purity of the soul.
This is a book that should be read in 1 or 2 sittings (easily done,its not long) to pick up on the full atmosphere and subtlties of Appelfelds writing that you would miss if read in drips and drabs(in which you would probably loose the thread or get bored) as the narrative is stylized-adding to atmosphere-and the dialogue almost wooden-but again adding to the whole of the tale. Read in entirity this book rewards the reader. An unusual and strangely haunting book.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Difficult Situation Which Could Not Be Avoided., November 4, 2006

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unto the Soul: A novel (Paperback)

This one is his tenth book and is the English translation of an unpublished Hebrew manuscript entitled 'Ad Nafed,' about abandoned brother and sister who live in isolation and depend entirely on each other for every need, physical and emotional. Not spiritual; that is lacking in this story. Other fiction, all about Judaism, include 'For Every Sin,' 'The Age of Wonders,' and 'The Retreat.' Everything in this book is illusion and now I can forgive my Jewish singer his lack of morals after seeing how they believe and don't follow Christ's teachings.

His use of "soul" varies. Sometimes it is "busy, body and soul like "a beast of burden," and "a kind of fear seeped into his soul." Not only humans, but some animals have souls. I know that my pet cats did and Star does. She watches over me as I sleep just as I care for her in the daytime. She is there when I need comfort to get me out of that bed when I feel I can't do anything substantial so why try to do anything at all. Cats can't speak English, but neither can A. Appelfeld, but they understand their humans; it's uncanny how they show only love but hide when things get bad. They show appreciation when you care for their hurt. The brother and sister in this story lack soul and morality as they spend that winter in an isolated environment. They are basically orphans, but grown people who should have been taught how humans conduct themselves. It is a version of V. C. Andrews' first novel (all those in the past 10-15 years are duplicious as she died long ago) when the brother and sister were kept in the attic and matured into an unhealthy relationship. They actually posed as a married couple later which is sickening. Life is unfair to some and too good for those less deserving.

A soul is not something we all have as a child. It has to be cultivated throughout the years. Through all the pain of old age, the soul is still shining through the eyes and showing that you are indeed special and one of God's chosen. We are to set the example for the younger, not quite educated, adults to not sink into the devil's lure and become what we were absolutely not meant to be. Today's society is man eat man, kill the bear if he gets too close, but by all means use self-preservation instead of the Biblical teachings (old and new testaments) as a guide.