What happens when a 19th Century rabbi, who has been preserved in ice,suddenly is defrosted and finds himselfin the 21st Century? In this madcap,extremely entertainingnovel,we not only find out the answer to that question,butwe also gain an insight into life in a Jewish "shtetl" in the 19th Century. Furthermore,we get a very realistic glimpse of the voyage of immigrants who came from Europein "steerage",and we are exposed to the difficulties of life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the turn of the 20th Century. I'm uncertain how to rate this. The first page instantly captured my attention, and the first 90 percent held me enraptured, unable to put the book down as I took in the Karp family's travails and misfortunes over the century. There's quite a bit of Yiddish in this book, but it all more or less makes sense in context and I didn't feel particularly hindered by it. The action in this book barreled forward quickly, and I honestly found the stories of each new young member of the Karp clan as fascinating as the last (though Julius was the least interesting and sympathetic of the lot). However, the book suddenly changed gears and wound down to a sort of clunky and repulsive ending. All in all, it was a wonderful bizarre novel with a grossly disappointing ending that didn't feel very connected to the rest of the book. If I could have skipped the last 10%, I would rate this 5 stars.
What do You think about Der Gefrorene Rabbi (2012)?
Written at breakneck speed. Just about every bit of it brilliant, funny, and absorbing.
—Aine
I couldn't get beyond the second chapter. Incredibly boring & ridiculous
—lorraine
