Unto the Soul

Gad and his sister Amalia look after the Jewish mountain top cemetry, a duty passed onto them by their uncle. During the lonely winter they start an incestous relationship. When the pregnant Amalia contracts typhus,they are forced to seek help in the town below... Appelfeld explores the constraints of religious order on a sinful and sinning world and the human animal, where every action destroys part of the purity of the soul. This is a book that should be read in 1 or 2 sittings (easily done,its not long) to pick up on the full atmosphere and subtlties of Appelfelds writing that you would miss if read in drips and drabs(in which you would probably loose the thread or get bored) as the narrative is stylized-adding to atmosphere-and the dialogue almost wooden-but again adding to the whole of the tale. Read in entirity this book rewards the reader. An unusual and strangely haunting book.

"Unto The Soul", by Mr. Aharon Appelfeld is the most complex of his works I have read. I use the word less as an indicator of difficulty, rather to represent how much he includes in this story. It also differs from previous works in that the events take place almost exclusively in one place; there is none of the travel that is fundamental to many of his books. It also is not specifically a Holocaust themed book, and that may contribute to its area of confinement. The main characters are not dealing with a specific event, rather a single decision that creates all the conflict two people could handle.When this brother and sister pledge to continue the guardianship of a cemetery of Jewish martyrs that their Grandfather has kept watch over for 60 years, they are placed in an unnatural condition that would require impregnable faith, belief in what they agreed to do, and living lives so limited they seem more appropriate to those who take the most extreme of religious vows of abstention, poverty, and isolation. And unlike many who choose such a life, they are completely alone, there is no structure to support them.Their isolation on a mountaintop does offer some degree of security from the consequences of anti-Semitism, a barrier to disease, and during the winter these protections are nearly impregnable. The winters are also nearly endless, the Pilgrims do not support the caretakers as they did their Grandfather, and Gad is not his Grandfather's equal. He cannot stop those who do not respect what they seem to value and those that care for it, by refusing them entry when no donation is offered. And these contributions are the only income there are to have.The book covers 8 years of their custodianship, their efforts to remain true to their pledge, and the results of living in isolation so nearly complete as to be unnatural. The challenges both mental and physical are not only immense they place this brother and sister in an environment when certain conduct can be devastating.The Author puts every aspect of their lives under intense pressure and then we watch. Does their religion maintain them, do social mores and customs hold, does near isolation actually provide a degree of protection the idea suggests? Can these two people age 18 and 25 when they begin their task survive, maintain their sanity, and if so, how?The Author also interjects facets that were certainly chosen with care, but as to their interpretation, the answers are not as apparent. Not far from where they watch their cemetery there is a Christian burial ground that features prominently in both the Grandfather's life, and those of his Grandchildren. The plots they care for are arranged precisely, the damage from weather is constant, and when the weather is not a foe, anti-Semitics provide the desecration.A very fascinating book that would probably only get better with the level of understanding of Judaism the reader has. However this is not a prerequisite for enjoying this man's work.