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Princess DaisyMae Imperial Court of New York
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That would be it, except for the bewildering irony that the Ern Malley poems aren't nearly as bad and incoherent as their authors suggested. Well, not all the time. (Heyward helpfully reprints them as an appendix so you can judge for yourself.) They oscillate in the strangest way between genius and gibberish; I have one highly-educated Aussie friend who thinks that they're the most genuinely avant-garde poetry Australia has ever produced, and Heyward is inclined to agree. The Angry Penguin crowd claimed as much, saying that the authors had surpassed themselves in their attempt to turn off conscious control over their own work. They certainly contain some haunting, extraordinary lines ("I am still / The black swan of trespass on alien waters", "I have split the infinitive. Beyond is anything.") The fact that these lines were never meant seriously by their authors raises important questions about the usefulness of discussing intention in matters of literary criticism.
Heyward's story is lucidly and wittily told. There are no clear-cut villains and heroes. Max Harris comes across as appealingly open-minded and imaginative, as well as gullible. The hoaxers weren't cynical hacks but talented and serious poets in their own right. Amongst those taken in by Ern was Australia's greatest modern painter, Sidney Nolan, who (perhaps rightly) said that it didn't matter whether the poems were "authentic" or not, so long as they worked on some level.
A remarkable book, not only in its picture of mid-century Australian cultural history but also in the tricky questions it asks about sense vs. nonsense in art and the motives behind cultural battles.
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False Papers tells the story of the Melson (Mendelsohn) family's escape from the Nazi ovens by posing as Polish royalty, a feat they are able to accomplish because Nina Melson, the author's mother, was able to buy false papers. What is unique about their life during the war was that they not only lived openly among the Gestapo, but also became quite friendly with their neighbors. The story of their deception and survival as told through the eyes of Nina, Willy (the author's father) and Bobi (the author's reflections through his own youthful memory) is compelling enough to keep the reader involved in the book. This is only one dimension of the book-an incredibly true adventure story.
Bt there is another important dimension to the book that cannot, and must not, be overlooked: the search on the part of the author-first as young Bobi and later as American Bob-for his true identity in a world that is constantly changing for him. First he knows himself as Count Boguslaw Zamojski the Catholic; after the war as Bobi Melson the Jew until he is enrolled in Le Rosey, an exclusive Swiss prep school, when he must again become Catholic; next to America where he settles in New York as a young Jewish immigrant; then against his deepest wishes he is dragged to Japan where his father has set up a sewing machine factory. Each time young Melson must learn to survive and question "Who am I this time?". Fortunately, he is clever enough to pick up environmental clues to guide his behavior and survival, but the reader feels his sense of pain as he struggles to find his true self.
What makes this a deeply probing psychological exploration of one's search for identity is Melson's ability to step back from the action to view his family dynamics-his father's struggle with his compulsive need for adoration, his mother's deepening depression and her inappropriate use of the young Bobi as her personal confidant, and the parent's obsession with appearances.
It is in the Epilogue that everything comes together. We are told about the deaths of Willy and Nina, how Bobi becomes Robert the MIT PhD, and how Robert finally realizes who he is. The reader feels at peace at the end of the journey.
Of all the writers on the holocaust, his writing style is closest to that of Primo Levi. However, there is a difference: Levi always keeps the cool distance of a scientist in his descriptions of behavior and events while Melson uses warm, personal description of the behavioral scientist that he is. It is a must reading for those who want to know more about the holocaust, family dynamics or a young man's search for self. No matter what your reason is, False Papers: Deception and Survival in the Holocaust is a book you will read, reread, and pass on to others.
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All of that being said, I found this book to be more of an introduction into the world of Creative Nonfiction than an instructional 'how to' book. I have enjoyed being introduced to such a large host of, for me, new writers and will definitely keep this text book for reference, enjoyment, and inspiration.
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Professor Joav Merrick, MD, DMSc Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail: jmerrick@aquanet.co.il