Leaving the past, building home

It's not one of these timeless classics destined to stay with me till the end of my days, but Natasha Solomons' Mr Rosenblum's List was a totally enjoyable read. It tells a strongly fictionalized story of one Jewish family's road to fully-fledged English citizenship after they escape Nazi Germany as refugees. The central figure and the driving force of the book is Jack Rosenblum, a middle-aged industrialist hilariously and desperately determined to melt into the English society ("the role of the Jew was not to be noticed").

Upon arrival, he receives a government leaflet that includes detailed advice on what to do and what not to do in order to become respected in his new homeland. Irrevocably uprooted from his Berlin environment and fascinated by England as a land of gentlemen, he starts to follow the rules with furious devotion. This includes adding new observations to the list as well as wiping out any traces of his family's old identity, whether it is language, religious habits or even surname. Jack views joining the golf club as the ultimate sign of his inclusion into Englishness and as a result of multiple rejections on the ground of his Jewish / German origin, he sets out to build his own. To make it happen, he moves to the countryside, neglects his carpet business and focuses all his resources on achieving this dream. After trials and tribulations that continue for months and see, among other things, his wife's near death experience, getting dangerously in debt and becoming the laughing stock of just about everyone he comes in contact with, Jack accomplishes his goal in style and just in time to throw the opening tournament as part of the celebrations accompanying the Queen Coronation.

Natasha Solomons' debut novel is about identity, especially of communities, families and individuals who are forced to go into exile. It wraps this complex and often painful topic in light, charming litarature that mixes official history, personal stories and dreamy reality filled with folklore and myth. Even though it can be bitter at times, the book is sure to end happily and exude some sort of optimism.

I enjoyed the bitter moments the most, though. Fragments when Jack tries harder than anyone to stick to the rules of being English only to find himself rejected by nearly everyone around are a great testament to how large disparity between official rules and everyday life can be. When you arrive as an outsider, the impossiblity of blending in despite your best efforts can be overwhelming. The dream of being like others is a moving target as many will do anything to underscore their distinctness and no rules or advice is enough to help you get there. You live and die in exile.

Another bitter idea that came up again and again in the book had to do with painful observation of memories and personal history disappearing. With Jack plunging headlong into the English lifestyle, it was only his wife who made an attempt to connect with their ancestors. Baking the German Baumtorte becomes a way for her to commemorate the bygone era and it seems comforting that the locals appreciate her skill and embrace it as theirs. Jack is hellbent on achieving the other effect, cutting off the ties with the past. The ultimate act that obliterates his German Jewish self is shortening his surname to an English-sounding Rose.

Some vocab and quotations to remember:
. "One had to make one's own luck",
. to kick off your shoes,
. the Royal Warrant, By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen,
. a travesty = an exaggerated imitation,
. Never thought I'd see that day,
. to apply for planning permission,
. a monstrous decision,
. a pipe dream,
. "I gambled a lot and I lost",
. to pull the bedcovers over your face,
. to cajole into = to persuade by being nice or promising something,
. a shibboleth = an old idea that is no longer applicable in modern times,
. a gangplank,
. halting English,
. bloodshot eyes,
. I've done my bit,
. enraged faces,
. a hillock - a little hill,
. to be pale-faced,
. to throw the door open with a bang,
. to be beyond one's means,
. an air rifle,
. to get one's throughts in order,
. to force a smile,
. to pass binoculars around,
. a soft-boiled egg,
. nicely groomed,
. to bow under the weight,
. to talk in hushed voices,
. in for a penny in for a pound (taking full risk),
. out of earshot,
. to spare somebody the bother of...
. "Time's ticking away",
. not give a fig,
. filmy and unseeing eyes,
. to be under orders to do something,
. a slacker = somebody who is lazy (=leń)
. a dragonfly = ważka
. a rook = gawron