Maniac Magee is about an orphan boy who runs away from the "home" he has with his dysfunctional aunt and uncle after the death of his parents. He finds himself in the midst of Two Mills, Pennsylvania. Two Mills is a town divided. The whites live on the West End and the blacks live on the East End. Somehow, mostly due to Maniac's skill as an athlete, Maniac is able to somehow break some of the barriers that separate the races in Two Mills.
Harry Bernstein's real life story isn't that different. Although in Harry's case, it's his own street outside of Manchester, England, around the time of the World War I. Written after the death of Harry's beloved wife, Ruby, he writes the story of his childhood in a poor mill town, living on a street that has an invisible wall right up the middle of the cobblestone. The Jews live on one side of the street and the Christians live on the other. Rarely do the two meet.
The story isn't unfamiliar to me. I lived for years with someone who said that he would sit shiva should any of his children marry someone who isn't Jewish. I can easily see how the invisible wall would continue to stand... with a slight crack in the wall during World War I... that was quickly plastered up after the end of the war. Because the story wasn't unfamiliar to me at all, I was able to appreciate the style of the writing. This memoir is written in the young Harry's voice. The story is the story. It's told without bitterness or anger. Just a little bit of confusion at times. But the confusion makes sense. Harry was young when all this was taking place.
I also paid very close attention to the nuances of the relationships within Harry's family. Harry's mother put her family first. She dreams for a better future for herself and her children. Since divorce was probably something unimaginable in that time and place, she worked hard to keep the peace in a home with an abusive, uninvolved father who always put himself - and his boozing - first. Harry is the fifth child in a family of 6. We learn that his sister Rose takes after their father in many ways. He's most connected to his sister, Lily, who is book smart, kind and ambitious... and becomes quite the rebel. His brothers, in the telling of the story, serve as a contrast to Harry. Harry is also obviously devoted to his mother.
About two thirds of the way through the book, we have gotten to know the neighbors on the street pretty well, being able to predict how they will react to any situation. This goes for the Jews as well as the Christians.
The love story referred to in the title is a forbidden love. With Harry stuck right smack in the middle. the only thing missing in this memoir are Harry's feelings about what was going on with his sister and her love for a Christian neighbor. But I was okay with that because the story is told through Harry's childhood voice and it's very likely that a child didn't think too much about how he felt about being asked to keep a secret for a much older sister.
In the current divisiveness in our society, I wonder how transferrable some of the lessons learned by Harry's family and neighbors are. I wonder what it takes for us all to get along. As a society, how far have we come? How do we remain true to our heritages while still being accepting of others?
I gave this book 4 stars on goodreads. Even with the difficult subject matter, I found it to be a "sweet read." Harry comes off as a sweet boy. He was a devoted son and a devoted brother to Lily. Would I recommend this to anyone? I would recommend it with qualifications. I consider it a heavily "Jewish" story. References are made to cheder (the equivalent to Hebrew school or religious instruction), to women wearing wigs, to rabbis without beards, and a few other references that I don't remember off the top of my head that I think might be confusing to someone unfamiliar with Orthodox Judaism.
This is my December community book club read. I still don't have a volunteer to facilitate our discussion and I wonder if I am the right person to lead this discussion.
(The only time this book took me so long to read is because I wasn't able to adjust the font size on the Overdrive app. It stayed tiny - the book on the app was only about 150 pages long. I do most of my reading at night and my eyes got tired after reading more than 10 pages. The length of time it took me to complete the book bears no relation to what I thought about the book.)
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