Irene Nemirovsky’s David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, The Courilof Affair is an excellent four-book collection, translated by Sandra Smith. The books were written in Nemirovsky’s earlier years as a writer.

Nemirovsky doesn’t hesitate to use descriptions that are derogatory towards Jews, or use prose that demeans Jews, such as “dirty Jew” and the old standard “Jewish hooked nose”. She infuses “a dirty Jewish neighborhood” into the book David Golder. That doesn’t surprise me in the least, and I didn’t allow it to offend me, as bought, and I wanted to read the book.  Although she was born into wealthy a Jewish family (her father, Leon was a well-respected Russian banker), she did eventually convert to Catholicism. The novel David Golder, almost mirrors some of her own life events, leaving me to wonder if it is a book loosely based on her own family situation, and maybe that is the reason why she includes indifferent and money hungry men in her stories. Nemirovsky married a Jew, and her father-in-law Efime Epstien was a successful banker. According to documents, she died in Auschwitz in 1942, theoretically from Typhus, but it has since been discovered that she was indeed exterminated. Her husband, Michel, was gassed three months later. Nemirovsky died a woman without a country, as she was denied the French citizenship she so passionately sought. She never denied she was of Jewish heritage, yet seemingly never proudly proclaimed such.

What I found particularly exceptional in Nemirovsky’s writing, is that in two of the novels/novellas, she was able to write male characters from a man’s point of view ( as if she was a man, herself). David Golder and The Courilof Affair read as if they were written by a man, and the protagonist in each of the two stories exhibits extremely strong male thoughts, emotions and reflections.

We have a varied central characters, from a jealous, strong-willed and avenging teenager; to a businessman filled with greed and lust for money, who detests all those around him; to a nanny (who lives in the past) employed by a family on the brink of bankruptcy, all the stories are written with extreme depth, giving us much food for thought. There are no heroes, but there is one heroine…Nemirovsky, herself.

Nemirovsky had the insight and ability to get inside a character’s mind, and paint with words, not only their exteriors, but also their soul. The often superficial exterior of David Golder, belies the often disguised emotions festering and boiling over within him, which cause him physical grief. She describes medical and physical situations, as if she has gone through the experience herself.

The four books in the collection are steeped in character details, and her insight into human flaws, ethics and morals is apparent. Nemirovsky powerfully brings out the negative in most of the characters, and much of the book could be viewed as a depressing look at the lives of others who are filled with self-deceit, much like a Tolstoy or Proust novel. But, she stands on her own, and comparisons aren’t necessary.

Nemirovsky interjects the chaos of society itself, the frenzy and confusion of the times, in a sad light. We not only watch the protagonists and the other characters crumble, but society as a whole. Her regard and respect for the natural environment is also present within the novels/novellas. She writes masterfully about the country she lived in, the country that would deny and betray her, and send her to her to Auschwitz. Nemirovsky leaves no details unfinished. She fills all our senses to overflowing capacity. Nemirovsky’s forthrightness, harshness and honesty are testaments to her strength as a writer. That one so young could write with such clear detail amazes me.

I personally have read and own this book.

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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
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