The History Book Club discussion

The book that will be the September 2016 Book of the Month is The House of Twenty Thousand Books by Sasha Abramsky.

by Sasha Abramsky

Synopsis:

Named one of Kirkus's Best Nonfiction Books of 2015

The House of Twenty Thousand Books is the story of Chimen Abramsky, an extraordinary polymath and bibliophile who amassed a vast collection of socialist literature and Jewish history. For more than 50 years, Chimen and his wife, Miriam, hosted epic gatherings in their house of books that brought together many of the age's greatest thinkers.

The atheist son of one of the century's most important rabbis, Chimen was born in 1916 near Minsk, spent his early teenage years in Moscow while his father served time in a Siberian labor camp for religious proselytizing, and then immigrated to London, where he discovered the writings of Karl Marx and became involved in left-wing politics. He briefly attended the newly established Hebrew University in Jerusalem, until World War II interrupted his studies.

Back in England, he married, and for many years he and Miriam ran a respected Jewish bookshop in London's East End. When the Nazis invaded Russia in June 1941, Chimen joined the Communist Party, becoming a leading figure in the party's National Jewish Committee. He remained a member until 1958, when, shockingly late in the day, he finally acknowledged the atrocities committed by Stalin. In middle age, Chimen reinvented himself once more, this time as a liberal thinker, humanist, professor, and manuscript expert for Sotheby's auction house.

Journalist Sasha Abramsky re-creates here a lost world, bringing to life the people, the books, and the ideas that filled his grandparents' house, from gatherings that included Eric Hobsbawm and Isaiah Berlin to books with Marx's handwritten notes, William Morris manuscripts and woodcuts, an early 16th-century Bomberg Bible, and a first edition of Descartes' Meditations. The House of Twenty Thousand Books is a wondrous journey through our times, from the vanished worlds of Eastern European Jewry to the cacophonous politics of modernity.

About the Author



Sasha Abramsky was born in England, grew up in London, and attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied politics, philosophy, and economics. Abramsky is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Nation, The American Prospect, The New Yorker online, and many other publications. His most recent book, The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives, was listed by The New York Times as among the one hundred notable books of 2013. He is a Senior Fellow at Demos think tank, and teaches writing at University of California, Davis. Abramsky lives in Sacramento, California, with his wife and their two children.

Praise and Reviews:

"This is a fierce and beautiful book. It burns with a passion for ideas, the value of history, the need for argument. As a memoir of a grandfather it is sui generis. I loved it." —Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes

"Sasha Abramsky's account of his grandfather's devotion to books and reading is a moving testimonial to the persistance of human curiosity in a world that seems to drift farther and farther from the delight of intellectual pursuits. It is a moving, instructive, astonishing account of one man's love for the printed word that all readers will appreciate. The House of Twenty Thousand Books deserves twenty hundred thousand readers. — Alberto Manguel

“The House of Twenty Thousand Books lovingly recreates an intellectual milieu that was built around old books, chess games, Russian dominoes, Eastern European food, hot tea, family and long evenings spent in spirited political debate." —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"[Sasha Abramsky] has a knack for swimming deep in the sea of ideas... [He] offers smart, concise pocket explanations of matters ranging from the effect of 18th-century French utopianism on leftist thinking to brief discourses on methodologies of Talmud study...Drawing on numerous interviews with Chimen’s contemporaries and an impressively deep dive into the archives, the book grapples sensitively and honestly with how many of the conversations at 5 Hillway were conducted...In his grandson’s loving, but intellectually responsible tribute, Chimen Abramsky has found his posterity.” —Jeremy Dauber, The Wall Street Journal

“An evocative, often affecting and remarkably candid chronicle of Chimen [Abramsky’s] life...One of the strategies I most admired about this book is that Sasha chooses to offer succinct essays about the ideas, historical events and personalities that animated his grandfather. Sasha is so vivid a writer that scenes linger in the memory...For anyone who cannot throw away a book, even if it will never be read and even if it ends up crowding a home, The House of Twenty Thousand Books is an affirmation.” —Joseph Berger, Haaretz

"Vividly written and well-researched, Abramsky’s memoir is seldom less than absorbing.” —Jacob Heilbrunn, The National Interest

"A narrative that tells the tale of the 20th century: communists, zionists, fascists, fetishists, secularists and a great scene of academic intrigue. Chimen Abramsky is a worthy subject: his unorthodox intellectual approach and his awe-inspiring collection of books are both marvels to behold. While Abramsky’s grandson writes the story of his life with subtlety and affection, he also evokes the culture of the time in all its foolishness, grandeur, earnestness and ideological disappointment." —Jeff Deutsch, Seminary Co-op Bookstore

“[A] warmhearted, frank memoir...Abramsky shares fascinating stories of British intellectual luminaries like Eric Hobsbawm and Isaiah Berlin who were regular visitors to 5 Hillway or close friends of his grandfather...as much as this book is the story of a life of the mind, it's also a tender account of the way this increasingly dilapidated, book-crammed home became for an adoring grandson, 'my school, my university, my library, my sanctuary when the going got tough at home.' Balancing that affection with a sense of awe at the story of his grandfather's fascinating life, Sasha Abramsky has produced a work that will appeal to book lovers and readers of family memoir.” —Harvey Freedenberg, Shelf Awareness

“Sasha Abramsky’s account rambles into marvelously eclectic corners, from the authentication of incunabula, to the differences between vellum and parchment, to the Rabbinic position on pigskin bindings...Certainly Chimen’s lifelong friendships with Isaiah Berlin, Piero Sraffa, and other twentieth century thinkers will interest many readers. But the most fascinating story is the evolution of Chimen himself—the son with serious rabbinic yichis who rejected religion but ran two Seders a year and never served treyf in his home; the Party member so faithful he eulogized Stalin, until he discovered the lies and turned in his membership card; the book dealer who spent decades curating an exhaustive collection of Socialist literature, only to become one of Europe’s leading collectors of Judaica. Historians of the Old and New Left movements in Britain, students of Jewish history and philosophy, and book-lovers of any stripe will find this memoir totally absorbing.” —Bettina Birch, Jewish Book World

"The sheer richness of this marvelous book— in terms of its style, think Borges, Perec—amply complements the wondrous complexity of the family—in terms of its subject matter, think the Eitingons, the Ephrussi—about which Sasha Abramsky writes so lovingly. And as a portrait of London’s left-wing Jewish intellectual life it is surely without equal." —Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Mad Man

"Transformative journeys were undertaken by more than a million Russian Jews between the 1890s and 1920s, expelled by successive waves of pogroms, revolution, civil war and persecution. Sasha Abramsky’s tender, intelligent, many-layered memoir of his grand-parents, The House of Twenty Thousand Books, is a version of this same story, at once epic and intimate, rooted in family life but encompassing the sweep of history. At its heart are loss and renewal, tradition and reinvention, schism and continuity." —Rebecca Abrams, Financial Times

"A wonderful celebration of the mind, history, and love." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"This utterly remarkable book vividly captures a lost world.” —Library Journal

"Sasha Abramsky has produced a wonderful addition to the canon of Jewish grandchild literature: one that would be well worth its place in Chimen Abramsky’s now immortal house of books." —Toby Lichtig, The Times Literary Supplement

"Sasha Abramsky has combined four kinds of history —familial, political, Jewish, and literary—into one brilliant and compelling book. With him as an erudite and sensitive guide, any reader will be grateful for the opportunity to be immersed into the house of twenty thousand books." —Samuel G. Freedman

"The book succeeds marvelously. . . . The descriptions of the atmosphere of the Abramsky house itself are ravishing, and Sasha telegraphs his childlike delight in cradling his patrimony." —Vladislav Davidzon, Tablet


"Abramsky’s tale begins after his grandfather Chimen’s death, with his family faced with the daunting task of cleaning out a London house filled to bursting with books, many of them rare, on Marxism, socialism, and Judaica. Doing so stirred the desire to make sense of this literary and familial legacy, which Abramsky chronicles in a loving but clear-eyed manner." —Publishers Weekly

“The House of Twenty Thousand Books is an entertaining and passionate mix of genealogy, bibliomania and intellectual history and is a must read for the those of us living with books.” —Michael Lieberman, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Memorialising an epoch in Jewish life, [Abramsky] mixes the visual with the instructive in a way that could inspire a television series." --The Jewish Chronicle

"I loved this touching and heartfelt celebration of a scholar, teacher and bibliophile, a man whose profound learning was fine-tempered by humane wisdom and self-knowledge. We might all of us envy Sasha Abramsky in possessing such a remarkable grandfather, heroic in his integrity and evoked for us here with real eloquence and affection." --Jonathan Keates

"...wonderfully warm and evocative" --Peter Dreier, Huffington Post

"The House of Twenty Thousand Books is a grandson's elegy for the vanished world of his grandparents’ house in London and the exuberant, passionate jostling of two traditions ¬– Jewish and Marxist – that intertwined in his growing up. It is a fascinating memoir of the fatal encounter between Russian Jewish yearning for freedom and the Stalinist creed, a grandson's unsparing, but loving reckoning with a conflicted inheritance. In the digital age, it will also make you long for the smell of old books, the dust on shelves and the collector's passions, all on display in The House of Twenty Thousand Books." —Michael Ignatieff

KIRKUS REVIEW

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

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The rules

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Chapter 1, p. 23
(view spoiler)[I know everything now about chapter one and I am going to post it here - oops I better place this in a spoiler alert so I do not ruin the book for others (hide spoiler)]

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Contents

Prologue I: Saying Goodbye 1
Prologue II: Saying Hello 23
Master Bedroom: The Citadel 45
The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal 85
The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love 127
The Front Room: The Haskalah 151
The Dining Room: Rituals and Rebels 207
Upstairs Front Room: Roots 231
Dining Room Resurgent: Rebirth 267
Front Room Revisited: Endings 303

Acknowledgements 329
Family Trees 336
Index 341

FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE A SUGGESTED WEEKLY SYLLABUS

SEPTEMBER 1ST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 4TH
Prologue I: Saying Goodbye 1
Prologue II: Saying Hello 23

SEPTEMBER 5TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 11TH
Master Bedroom: The Citadel 45
The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal 85

SEPTEMBER 12TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 18TH
The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love 127
The Front Room: The Haskalah 151

SEPTEMBER 19TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 25TH
The Dining Room: Rituals and Rebels 207
Upstairs Front Room: Roots 231

SEPTEMBER 26TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30TH
Dining Room Resurgent: Rebirth 267
Front Room Revisited: Endings 303

Acknowledgements 329
Family Trees 336
Index 341

Those of you who are going to read The House of Twenty Thousand Books use the spoiler html because this is a single thread discussion.

1. Read message 4 and that message shows you the rules for the buddy read discussion and how to do the spoiler html.

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3. Where is the Table of Contents and the reading syllabus? - Message 4 and 5.

All, we do not have to do citations regarding the book or the author being discussed during the book discussion on these discussion threads - nor do we have to cite any personage in the book being discussed while on the discussion threads related to this book.

However if we discuss folks outside the scope of the book or another book is cited which is not the book and author discussed then we do have to do that citation according to our citation rules. That makes it easier to not disrupt the discussion.

Welcome everyone to the September Book of the Month selection of The House of Twenty Thousand Books. Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what interest you have in this month's selection.

I will be posting a synopsis every week as well as some daily discussion questions to get our conversation going. You do not have to answer the questions but I would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment on any part of the week's reading or anything prior to the current week and use spoilers when discussion anything about the book.

Looking forward to a great discussion.

Chapter Overviews and Summaries
Week One

(view spoiler)[Prologue I: Saying Goodbye – 1 - 22

This chapter starts out with the death of the author’s grandfather, Chimen Abramsky. The author notes that Chimen had collected thousands of rare books throughout his lifetime. Chimen was a man with Parkinson’s, living at home alone. The author describes Chimen as a man who read to live, to know he was alive. We also get a brief description of Chimen’s wife Miri (Mimi). Chimen was an atheist and, at one time a communist, and the third son of a Rabbi, and a descendant of a long line of Rabbis. With his wife, they ran a Jewish bookstore, Shapiro, Valentine & Co. Chimen was known as an expert in Socialist history and Jewish history. In his later years he was an academic, teaching and chairing in a couple of Jewish and Hebrew programs at some colleges in the UK and US. He also became a consultant on manuscripts for Sotheby’s. We then get a look into all of Chimen’s books. The type of books he owned, the order in which he placed them around the house and his protection of them.


Chimen Abramsky looking in a mirror.Courtesy Sasha Abramsky

Prologue II: Saying Hello – 23 - 44

In the second prologue we get a further glimpse into the life of Chimen Abramsky. He was born in the autumn of 1916 in Minsk, Russia (now the Republic Belarus). He and his family were later exiled to London where Chimen began reading the works of Karl Marx. Chimen then went on to study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the mid-1930s. In 1939 Chimen travels home to London to visit during summer break as the outbreak of WWII occurs, leaving him stranded there until 1947. It was then that his application for British citizenship was approved. By then he was married and opened his Jewish bookshop Shapiro, Valentine & Co. and began to collect and deal in rare books under the tutelage of Heinrich Eisemann. At this time he also left his faith and became interested in Marxism and later joined the Communist Party. In 1956, he and his wife leave the Party. We also learn a bit about Chimen’s father the Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky.


Marc Chagall - Scene de Cirque (1958) (hide spoiler)]

Week One Discussion Questions – Kick Off and Introductions

(view spoiler)[
1. How many books do you own?
2. What do your books say about you?


What sits on your bookshelves? (hide spoiler)]

Jumping into this Book of the month as well. Looking forward to reading and discussing it!

I plan on reading this...in October so I would have Jewish books to read over the holidays. Will the threads still be up?

Hello! I'm jumping in too. The reason for reading is very simple: books!! :) I'm a collector of books and as such, I can't pass up reading about other collectors and their collections.

Just started reading last night! Looking forward to the discussions!

Hello everyone! So glad to see everyone jumping on.

Michele and Samanta - this should be an interesting follow up to last month's discussion on Islam.

Brina - Yes! We never close our discussion threads, so we can keep discussing books beyond the set group dates. We know that everyone has different schedules and reading speeds so we want to allow everyone a chance to discuss, whenever they are available.

Welcome Kaleen! I hope you'll jump right in and I look forward to your participation.

Excellent. Looking forward!! I only wanted to read Jewish books in October and so far I have 2 fiction and 2 nonfiction.

Hello. I am jumping in. I also love books and have a library filled wall to wall with books and also collect them. I have many 1st editions and autographed books. I have thousands of books and many hundreds of Jewish books. I have no idea how many I have. And now have thousands of ebooks as well. But I love to read about bibliophiles and collectors.

Helga wrote: "Hello. I am jumping in. I also love books and have a library filled wall to wall with books and also collect them. I have many 1st editions and autographed books. I have thousands of books and many..."

Welcome Helga! I thought you might join us. Glad to have you here. Sounds like this is a perfect book for you.

I have hundreds of books and it's a true mish-mash of things. I'm trying to downsize what I have and let go of the need to keep everything and only keep what I either treasure, what I will re-read or what I will use for references. My Kindle library grows constantly.

Do you allow people to look through your books or borrow them?

Wow! I'm so intrigued by this book. I picked up a copy and while I was on the amazon site by Michael Dirda came up and after looking I purchased that also.

Teri wrote: "Helga wrote: "Hello. I am jumping in. I also love books and have a library filled wall to wall with books and also collect them. I have many 1st editions and autographed books. I have thousands of ..."

I am very particular about who I loan books to. Mostly family members because I know I can get them back. I am not to particular about a paperback ( I don't get to many of them any more) but feel if I don't get them back I can replace them if I want to. I'm also getting more and more kindle books. In some cases I have the hardback but will read the ebook for ease of carrying a book around. I always have a book (or kindle) with me. I never know when I have to wait or will find the time to read.

I am finding this to be an intriguing book and will be reading this one and the long biography with the HBC as well.

I'm a bit possessive when it comes to my books. I don't borrow them easily and when I do, I tend to remind people (not so) subtly how much my books mean to me, just to give them a hint that I want them back. My friends think it's silly, but they put up with me, because they love me.

Samanta wrote: "I'm a bit possessive when it comes to my books. I don't borrow them easily and when I do, I tend to remind people (not so) subtly how much my books mean to me, just to give them a hint that I want ..."

I am the same way. I tend to remind them that they have my books and I would like them back. They are for loan only.

Jeannine wrote: "Wow! I'm so intrigued by this book. "

Welcome Jeannine! Book buying is so addictive. I can't go and just by one book, usually! Great addition you got to our current read.

BTW - you can mention the title of your book in your paragraph and then just put the citation at the bottom. Ease of reading and ease of typing. ;-) Great job on the citation.

by Michael Dirda

Helga, I do the same thing, buy a book that I know I will want to keep (hardbound usually) and buy the Kindle version as well. I try and read the hardbound during the day, but at night I'll go to my Kindle. I am particular about loaning books out, unless they are books I don't care if I get back or not. If I buy a book, like a paperback, that I don't expect to read again, I'll pass it on to someone else. Otherwise, it is rare that I'll loan something out. I'd prefer to buy a book for someone as a gift.

Week One Discussion Question - Your Books

I love this quote:


If a stranger comes to your house and looked at your books, what impression do you think they'd have of you?

I have books all over the spectrum, both fiction and non-fiction. A lot of genealogy books, cozy reads, cultural fiction and non-fiction, and of course history. I'd like to think that it shows that I am family oriented, enjoy to escape to other destinations and times, and like to learn about other people.

Just a reminder, as I know we have some members participating this month that may not have joined us in any single-threaded discussions. If you discuss anything specific to the book, its themes, etc., please use the spoiler tags. See messages 4 and 5 above on how to use the tags and practice away. The moderators are here to help you get them right. Tags are not available through the mobile Goodreads app, but you can use them through a browser on your phone or, of course on your home PC/laptop.

Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue I: Saying Goodbye – pages 1 – 22

(view spoiler)[1. What impresses you about Chimen?

2. I’ll pose the question to you that Chimen asked himself about his unfinished autobiography, “Why should a person feel the need to write about his own life?”


Marc Chagall - Scene de Cirque (1958) (hide spoiler)]

I agree with you. I have books of all kinds, fiction and non-fiction, children's and when people come to my house and see all the books, they comment on them and some people like to look at them. I think it shows my love of books and I hope that they can see the variety of them. Many of them ask my recommendations on books as well.

I feel like a proud momma when somebody looks at my library and comments on it. :D

I have a friend that is not good at returning books, so I would buy her a copy of the books I thought she would like, instead of lending them to her. When I purchased my Kindle, I bought her one too, so we could share all the books I download.

Karen wrote: "I have a friend that is not good at returning books, so I would buy her a copy of the books I thought she would like, instead of lending them to her. When I purchased my Kindle, I bought her one to..."

That is very nice of you Karen. I have loaned books from my Kindle before. It's a handy option!

Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue II: Saying Hello – pages 23 – 44

(view spoiler)[1. What do you think was most pivotal in Chimen leaving his faith and venturing into Marxism / Communism? And why did he leave the Party in 1956? Have you ever joined a group / movement / project that you later denounced or deviated from their message?

2. What do you think most inspired Chimen? What events / people had a lasting impression on him?


Yehezkel Abramsky (1886 - 1976) (hide spoiler)]

Karen wrote: "I have a friend that is not good at returning books, so I would buy her a copy of the books I thought she would like, instead of lending them to her. When I purchased my Kindle, I bought her one to..."

That was nice of you. I bought my mother one and loan her books and gift her many. It's a good option and a kindle is handy when you are away from home.

Helga wrote: "Karen wrote: "I have a friend that is not good at returning books, so I would buy her a copy of the books I thought she would like, instead of lending them to her. When I purchased my Kindle, I bou..."

Originally, when I bought my friend a Kindle, I was being a little self-centered, no more lost books, but her Kindle is in my account, so she has access to all the books, and I appreciate the fact that I can share them in this way.

(view spoiler)[I loved when the estate agent said that they "should consider selling the whole lot to one of those dealers who take stuff in, sight unseen. You never know, all that old paper might be worth a few bob, was the clear implication."

My heart just stopped at the thought of that. (hide spoiler)]

The Pfaeffle Journal wrote: "

Welcome Diane! Thanks for jumping in to the conversation.

Response to Diane - Book Selling

(view spoiler)[I snickered when I read that. I can only imagine what Chimen thought. Obviously the agent had no idea what they were looking at.

That brings up a good question for everyone:

Do you have any books that may be of some value, whether sentimental or are rare?

I know that Helga mentioned she had some rare books. I have a few that are author signed, but none that would likely be very valuable. I had once bought a signed book for my sister by Margaret Thatcher, but I think it has since been stolen or lost. (hide spoiler)]

Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue I: Saying Goodbye – pages 1 – 22

(view spoiler)[
1. What impresses you about Chimen? I am so impressed, and incredibly envious, of his ability to remember everything he reads.

2. I’ll pose the question to you that Chimen asked himself about his unfinished autobiography, “Why should a person feel the need to write about his own life?” I loved this quote. I think that like he said, everyone has a story. While we may think it is small and inconsequential, it might be amazing to someone else. There are always lessons to be learned!
(hide spoiler)]

Book Selling
(view spoiler)[
My mouth dropped open at that. But I guess what may seem like junk to someone, is treasure to another (like everyone reading this book I'm assuming.)

I have quite a few books I consider rare, although nothing like Chimen's collection. Most of the books, I have, are books I've read multiple times to myself. I converted to ebook a few years ago when I started travelling and to hide my book hoarding problem. Only recently have I started buying hard copies again.
(hide spoiler)]

Kaleen wrote: "Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue I: Saying Goodbye – pages 1 – 22"

Response to Kaleen - Prologue I - Your Biography and Book Selling

(view spoiler)[Reading about Chimen's ability to remember everything he read, made me wonder if he had Highly Superior Auto-Biographical Memory, or H-SAM. That is the condition to remember everything. Marilu Henner has it. I'm bad about forgetting details of a book over time. I love the ability to add personal reviews on books here at Goodreads, as I do go back from time to time and re-read them to remember what the book is about, especially if I am returning to a series I've not read for a while. I was envious of Chimen as well, when I read that passage.

Question for everyone:
What sub-genre would a biography of you be put under? i.e. would your story be something like an adventure, comedy, drama, romance, travel, cookbook?

I think mine would be a cross of adventure/travel, comedy, and cookbook. I'm always telling my husband "let's go on an adventure," whether it's moving to a new home (in a new town/state), a new job, an unplanned trip, etc. A comedy because my husband is funny and always makes me laugh. A cookbook because I love to cook and our time with friends and family often center around a big meal.

I kind of went kicking and screaming to an e-reader as I love my hardbound books. But I tend to travel for work a fair bit so a Kindle was better than schlepping a half dozen books in my luggage. Now I want to go through my shelves and sell anything I'm not attached too, books that I'll never read again, etc. Only keeping printed books that I love. (hide spoiler)]

Week One Discussion Questions – Reflection

(view spoiler)[1. Did you ever question your beliefs as you got older? Whether religious, political, etc.? What inspired you or caused you to reflect on different views?

2. Do you have any special memories of your grandparents? Other family members or friends when you were growing up?

(hide spoiler)]

Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue II: Saying Hello – pages 23 – 44
(view spoiler)[
1. What do you think was most pivotal in Chimen leaving his faith and venturing into Marxism / Communism? And why did he leave the Party in 1956? Have you ever joined a group / movement / project that you later denounced or deviated from their message? I can understand why he turned to Marxism. He was young and was caught up in this idea of a new society being equal. Marxism is practically a religion, so no doubt it took the place of his Judaism. I find it fascinating that he stayed with the party for so long. Maybe stubbornness and hope that it would change. I have never really experienced that sort of passion for a political or religious group.

2. What do you think most inspired Chimen? What events / people had a lasting impression on him? The constant desire for knowledge is addictive. It's why many people read so much. I also think Chimen had a bit of an ego and a need to feel smarter than everyone (which he was!). I also am sure that some people like, Eisemann, influenced him a great deal.

(hide spoiler)]

Kaleen wrote: "Week One Discussion Questions - Prologue II: Saying Hello – pages 23 – 44"

Kaleen - Prologue II - Marxism / Religion

(view spoiler)[You make a very good point that I had not really considered, comparing Marxism to a religion. It does seem like he jumped into it with the same spirit one does with religion / faith. I, too, would have thought he would have abandoned it long before he did. Do you think he continued to be somewhat "obsessed with the subject, though, to have so much material on it and Marx? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Overviews and Summaries
Week Two

(view spoiler)[Chapter 1 – Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 45 - 84

In this book, the author will discuss the various rooms of Chimen and Miri’s home. We start with the Master Bedroom, that the author calls “The Citadel.” The author recounts a night that he stayed with his grandparents in their bedroom. The shadows cast by all of the books in the room scared him to the point that his grandparents had to take him home in the wee hours of the night. We begin to learn about the books and artifacts that Chimen had in that bedroom. Many rare socialist books, including some with Marx’s handwritten notes. The author also discusses some of the books and Chimen’s lectures on Russian and French revolutionary times, as well as post-revolutionary utopian times. We also learn about Chimen’s childhood in post-World War I during a typhus and famine scare. It was during this time that his father, a Rabbi was trying to publish religious commentary, and was eventually arrested and jailed. Chimen turned to secular, revolutionary thought. The author details Chimen and Miri’s time as communists, his relationship with his father, and his friendship / professional relationship with Henry Collins.


Karl Marx

Chapter 2 – The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal – 85 - 126

This chapter begins with the author describing Chimen and Miri’s home in the Holly Lodge Estate area of London, not far from the burial site of Karl Marx. We get a glimpse of some of the people: friends, neighbors, and family that visited Hillway. It was the hallway, the entrance into the house, that these people would first glimpse the interior of the Abramsky home. Here were bookshelves with books, two deep, on subjects like Socialist encyclopedias, histories, novels, and European revolutions. We then learn about the author’s great grandparents on his grandmother’s side, the Jacob Nirenstein family. Jacob and his wife owned the Shapiro, Valentine & Co. Bookstore in London. The author then recounts Mimi’s young life, joining, the Communist party and meeting Chimen. Chimen came to work at the bookstore and he and Mimi fell in love and later married. The chapter then goes on to cover how Chimen started collecting some of his rare books and letters. He would, at times, pay large sums or sell books at large sums, and barter with others for certain works that sparked his interest. He also wrote many works himself under aliases and contributed to others’ works.


Minna Keal (hide spoiler)]

Week Two Discussion Questions – Purchasing Books

(view spoiler)[In this week reading we'll learn more about how Chimen started collecting books and also about his correspondence and the letters he purchased of some famous people like Votaire and Marx.

1. Where do you buy your books? Have you ever bought books from an auction?

2. Do you still hand write letters? Have you saved letters that you have written / received?


Writing from a letter by Francois Voltaire (hide spoiler)]

Shapiro, Valentine & Co.

(view spoiler)[This is a Google Maps picture that you'll have to click on the link to see. It is a picture of the place where Shapiro, Valentine & Co. use to be in London. This is the bookstore where Chimen went to work and was owned by Mimi's family. It is the building to the right of Zengi restaurant and is now a bricked apartment building.

Shapiro, Valentino & Co. (hide spoiler)]

Response: Purchasing Books

(view spoiler)[ 1. Where do you buy your books? Have you ever bought books from an auction?

I get my books from various places. A few are inherited. Some are collage books. Some from assorted books stores. Most come from Amazon now. I also have bought a few from the local Antique Market or second hand book stores. Never got any books from auctions though.

I do have a few gems, for me. Bought them for the beautiful printing. They were done at the Roycroft print shop, by Elbert Hubbard. Interesting fact about Hubbard? He was an anarchist and a socialist, before WWI. Hubbard and wife died aboard the RMS Lusitania when it was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915.

2. Do you still hand write letters? Have you saved letters that you have written / received?

Hand writing letters is a rare event from me these days. I mostly use word or pages to compose letters, then hand sign. No, I have not kept any letters written or received. I simply have no space to do so. (hide spoiler)]

Michele wrote: " Response: Purchasing Books "

Michele - Purchasing Books

(view spoiler)[Sounds like the books from the Roycroft are prized possessions. Don't you just love to flip through a beautiful book? I'm so intrigued with the look of books. I went into B&N this weekend to purchase a specific book that I need (as opposed to getting it on my Kindle). I forgot how much I enjoy just going in and looking at book covers. I am the type that if the book cover looks good, I'd buy the book.

I think hand writing letters are becoming a thing of the past. (hide spoiler)]

Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 45 - 65

(view spoiler)[1. On page 50, the authors talks about Chimen reading notes and bibliographies of books. “The differences between editions gave him a glimpse of the author’s evolving thoughts on a topic. The bibliographies enabled him to chart an intellectual odyssey." Do you read the notes and bibliography of a book, like Chimen did? Why / why not?

2. Did you get an impression of what Chimen’s relationship with his father must have been like?

3. How do you feel about Yehezkel and Raizl leaving behind family when they left Russia? Would you be separated from your family over your religious / political views?


Letter written by Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky (hide spoiler)]