The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

Written by a two-time recipient of the Governor General's Award, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz is a searing classic novel about the hidden costs of discounting the welfare of others in pursuit of one's dreams. Desperate to escape Montreal's Jewish ghetto, Young Duddy Kravitz lives by his grandfather's maxim that "a man without land is nobody", and he lies, cheats, and steals in his voracious pursuit of property. Even though his magnetic charisma sustains his business presence, he soon learns that the realization of his dream is not all he expected it to be. Originally written in 1959, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz rings more strongly true than ever in today's materialistic and greed-fueled society. Narrated by award-winning actor Paul Hecht, this audiobook version was originally broadcast on CBC radio. 4 CDs, approximately 4.5 hours, abridged.

It was my New Years Resolution to read more "literature" especially by Canadian authors. I am ashamed to say that I have managed to get this far through life without reading anything by this someone who is widely regarded as one of Canada's greatest man of letters.This is Richler's cautionary tale about the evils of greed and unrestrained ambition. This topic has been explored by a countless other writers but seldom with as much skill as that displayed by Mr. Richler.The main character is both repugnant and fascinating to watch. I can't recommend this enough.

OK here's the deal. Duddy is not a good guy but the reader loves him because he is a human being and if he turns out sour and crazy it is only becasue those more fortunate than he have taken advantage of him. Duddy responds to the cards that society hands out by playing them as best he can. Richler is an incredible writer. His characters and dialogue have so much richness, so much reality. This is a book about Montreal and all the politics and culture-clash that occur between its upper-class Jews and Gentile and the lower class Jews and Gentiles. The old Jews and the young Jews, the college kids and the working kids. The French canadians and the anglo-phones, etc. There are very few women in this book, but Duddy has a very small field of vision when it comes to women, so the POV is true to the character. I love this book.

I chose to read this book for several reasons: least importantly, I had to choose a topic for a school project; I learned to read with the aid of Mordecai Richlers "Jacob Two-Two" books, so I had a fondness for his style of writing; I lived in Montreal for eight of my eighteen years; perhaps most importantly, I read it because I had heard it was not a book to be missed. I was not disappointed.Duddy Kravitz is ambition personified, an almost unbelievably driven young man. As all the other reviews say, he casts aside decency, friendship, and something akin to love to achieve his stated goal. The thrust of the story, however, or at least my own understanding of it, is that Duddy never realizes what he has done. Small flashes of emotion show through sometimes, but they are almost ruthlessly surpressed. It's almost as if he thinks that to be human is to be weak.Duddy succeeds, because he can do nothing else. The price extolled by his own ambition is great, though, and it hurts intensely to realize that he doesn't even recognize what he has done.Rough, well-written, and well worth reading.

This book is, in spite of the harsh language, a brilliant novel. When you turn it's pages you are transported to 1940s Montreal, and yoiu get an excellent feeling of what life was like for these unbelieveable characters. Starting of low, and ending in triumph, this book is a must read for people of all ages.