Call It Sleep

Henry Roth wants to do two things well in this book: first, accurately describe the experience of being a child -- not a tough, bully-type child, but a shy kid with no friends. (I can relate.) Secondly, he wants to capture the language spoken by native New Yorkers and by immigrants to the city. It might be best to explain the book's trick as "inside versus outside." Most of the time, we stand in a position of semi-omniscience, much like in Crime and Punishment: while the godlike narrator in Crime and Punishment could see inside Raskolnikov's head and no one else's, we are allowed into David Schearl's mind while he wanders terrified through the world. David understands perfectly well why he's so scared, and by the end so do we -- but we also understand why he can't explain his terror to anyone else. We are trapped in the child's head with him. It's been a very long time -- probably since I was David's age -- since I've remembered those feelings. The language of New York's Jewish ghettoes in Call It Sleep also has an inside and an outside, and Roth's great trick is to pull us so deeply into that world that it's a slap on the face when we're back outside. The immigrants talk to one another in their native Yiddish, in which there's great poetry and biblical allusion (as well as more than a few "may your remaining days be dark"-type curses). We're steeped in that world. Only occasionally do the immigrants step outside and talk haltingly with, say, a local policeman. They are shy, awkward, and adrift. Roth is so ingenious in the delivery that we feel their shyness and awkwardness as though it were our own. It's rare to find a book that is so committed to its characters. Roth has no ulterior motive. He just wants to introduce us to this little community and its little people. If we happen to see larger meanings or other people in those he depicts, it's accidental. That sort of devotion to character is extremely rare. I can only imagine how absorbed in the characters Roth must have been, if he drew his reader in that completely.

This sad, wonderfully written book of tormented immigrants at he turn of the last century from the eyes of an 8 year old child, is vivid and painful. A portrayal of the growth of a youngster, and the gradual revelation of the source of his pain is not easy reading. Roth's power of description of people and scenes are like verbal photographs. This is a work of art.

My hope was to read a novel that gave an accurate and detailed account of the world my grandparents lived in and I was not disappointed. As with the best historical fiction, I was able to gain a sense of not just the environment and setting, but its effect on the main characters, especially David, the main protagonist. While the prose is often challenging and innovative, the book is a surprisingly easy and quick read that I could not put down. While I was often frustrated by David's inner dialogue, the author must be commended for attempting to convey the inner workings of a child's mind, how his thought process often chaotically bounced around from one thought to another. The author also uses language in a very unique and interesting fashion, namely the contrast between early 20th century New York slang, composed of so many different ethnic groups, to the authors "translation" of Eastern European Yiddish. For anyone currently reading the novel, who might feel frustrated at a seeming lack of direction in the plot, my advice is to keep reading, as its themes of alienation, growing self-awareness, family, sexual awakening and assimilation become more apparent as the story progresses. And for those who have yet to read the book, I strongly recommend not reading the introduction until after you've finished the book, as it pretty much gives away almost everything that happens in the story and really should have been the Afterword. Regardless, it happens to be a well-written analysis of the novel and can even help the reader in his or her own thoughts and opinions of what is most definitely a classic of 20th century literature.

This, for me, captures the pure terror that often attends childhood, and the process of dealing with things you can't understand. It's also a brilliant evocation of the alienation of the Jewish experience-- you can't really compare it, as one of my fellow reviewers did, to the experiences of other ethnic groups. The Scherls are a family profoundly alienated from everyone else-- which serves to heighten the terror. This book is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that is really brilliant in that it is completely convincing and totally natural on the part of the author-- it never seems forced-- and in that it beautifully evokes the thought process of childhood. I read this when I was very young and it has stuck with me ever since-- it helped me to understand the feelings of my own childhood.

I read this book many years ago, in college, and remember enjoying it thoroughy. I have recently heard it read (Recorded Books, Inc.) by the incomparable George Guidall, who seems to read books requiring Yiddish phrases/accents particularly well (try Stanley Elkin's "Mrs. Ted Bliss" for a hilarious and compassionate thrill).I was not disappointed this second time around, having matured myself, both as a reader and a writer. One of the most striking aspects of the novel is Roth's obvious love of women; few novels by men present women in such a truly beloved light. David's aunt - something of a shrew, a harridan, and a slob - is nevertheless incredibly good-hearted - and alive! Now I want to know more about Henry Roth. Does anyone know if there is a biography of this great writer available? Also, I noticed that there is a book of essays about "Call It Sleep." I plan to get it.