With his life long love, his wife Mabel, recently deceased
and his son, Saul, long gone Horowitz is persuaded by his granddaughter, Rhea,
and her husband, Lars, to move from New York City to Oslo, Norway.
Having visited both New York City and Oslo I know Horowitz
experienced a major culture shock. From vibrant, often abrasive, always loud
New York City he moves to a tranquil, very orderly, invariably polite Oslo.
Horowitz spends much of his time living in the world within
his mind. That world is filled with the people of his life who have died.
Sometimes they join him in his memories of past events. At other times they are
with him in the present. His family believes he is in the early stages of
dementia.
While Horowitz may struggle with aspects of reality in the
21st Century he convincingly explains he understands the modern
world but he is haunted by his past so strongly it is part of his present.
In the voices he hears I was reminded of the Ian Rutledge
series by Charles Todd in which Rutledge carries on silent dialogue with
Hamish, the corporal who died while under his command in WW I. It is no
accident that both Horowitz and Rutledge are former combat soldiers. Their
experiences of battle will never leave their minds.
Three decades after Saul’s death guilt weighs heavily upon
Horowitz:
“And then Saul – my Saul –
decided to go to Vietnam because his father had gone to Korea, and his father
went to Korea because he didn’t go to Germany. And Saul died there. It was me.
I encouraged him. I think I took the life of my boy in the name of a moral
cause. But in the end I was nothing like Abraham. Nothing like Saul. And God didn’t
stay my hand.”
Horowitz repaired watches after returning from war. His
description of working with a balance spring, the heart of a watch, left a
catch in my throat:
“I bought the watch from a
magazine. Nothing you’d have ever heard of. Fancy people don’t own them.
Working-class people do. Soldiers. And they get what they pay for. I like them.
So I bought a new one recently, and I’m taking the balance spring from Saul’s
old watch and placing the old heart in the new one. This way, when I go about
my day and check the time, when I make some decision or other, we’re
connected. It makes me feel a little closer to him.”
When the old soldier, Horowitz was a Marine in Korea, sees a
woman and child in danger he does not dither. He takes action to try to protect
them. When left with the responsibility of the young boy of 6 with whom he does
not share a language he embarks upon a valiant quest to seek sanctuary. Miller
makes credible their incredible pairing.
The book is a modern epic that happens to be a mystery.
Great themes of bravery, honour and loyalty share space with moments of
absurdity. Horowitz displays improvisational skills on his journey that left me
full of admiration.
I thought of Keith Stewart in Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute. Stewart is a middle aged
engineer who designs, makes and writes about models of machinery. The modest
Stewart equally embarks on a great mission on behalf of a child.
The evil men of Norwegian
by Night have been forged by the violence of the Balkans where historic
conflicts afflict everyone. They find themselves unable to relate to the
peaceful considerate Norwegians.
Horowitz is a character I wish I could have met in real
life. His wit and broad knowledge would make every conversation engaging.
While many have highly rated this book it took the Christmas
book recommendation of José Ignacio Escribano of the blog, The Game’s Afoot to get me to read the book. I now understand the praise it has gained around
the world.
I will long remember
Sheldon Horowitz. (Feb. 26/14)
I'm glad you have enjoyed Norwegian by Night, Bill. And I thank you very much for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteJose Ignacio: Thanks for the comment. I am glad to have had an opportunity to mention your fine blog.
DeleteI loved this book and Sheldon Horowitz. So glad you did, too. It is such an interesting combination of humor and tragedy, past sorrows and present adventure. The protagonist is filled with guilt about his son, and feels he must save this child.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason I liked it is because he humor was very much Jewish humor, a combination of tragedy and comedy, with a dose of self-deprecation. I laughed and cried while reading this book. I thought of my Jewish immigrant relatives who fled pogroms, and I reminisced about their humor.
In a 1 to 5 rating, it's a 5 in my books.
Kathy D.: Thanks for the comment.
DeleteYour description of Horowitz's Jewish humour is very well stated.
Your comment is also timely as my next post is going to partly deal with how Horowitz being Jewish influenced the book.
Bill, from your review I can see why Sheldon Horowitz would touch a chord with the reader. You feel empathy for his character. Notwithstanding his skills, wit, and knowledge, at 82, he has little more than his past and usually the past makes one more miserable than happy. The passages you reproduced indicate a fine piece of writing.
ReplyDeletePrashant: Thanks for the comment. It is a wonderful moment for a reader when they realize they have met a great new character.
DeleteBill - I"m very glad you enjoyed this book and the character of Sheldon Horowitz. There are definitely some characters like that, who haunt you long after you've finished with the book.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. Sheldon Horowitz will long be an illustration for me that a powerful character can be of any age.
DeleteWow, that's quite some praise. This book was on my radar, and you have moved it up the list with your enthusiasm...
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the comment. I expect you will enjoy it. You will find within it a couple of memorable descriptions of clothes in the costume Horowitz makes for his young companion and the ghillie suit he prepares for himself.
ReplyDelete