!H .

6 Friday, September 24, 1976

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

•

Susan Berman's Comedy Novel
on Israel is a Disappointment

By PHILLIP APPLtBAUM

In her first novel,
"Driver, Give a Soldier a
Lift" (Putnam), Susan
Berman gives us a fast-
moving, totally inane
story of one young wo-
man's attempt to land a
husband in Israel.
In a breathless narra-
tive devoid of chapters —
the novel is more like an
elongated short story —
Miss Berman gives us the
story of Ricki Ronzone
(nee Rohrman) of Ber-
keley, Calif., and her best
friend, Carol, a Jewish
Auntie Mame.
Whether it is Carol's
cliched madcap mentality
or some secret emotional
inadequacy of Ricki's
that gives this story its
plot is difficult to deter-
mine. It appears to be a
combination-of both.
Carol orders Ricki to
leave for Israel and get
herself a husband, pref-
erably rich, preferably
American. Ricki dutifully
packs up and leaves. She

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indeed finds a young man
with whom she falls
hopelessly in love upon
first sight. Israel -how-
ever, depresses Ricki and
she returns to America.
Her boyfriend, an Iraqi
Jew named Albert, fol-
lows her to Berkeley, and
upon Carol's consent and
following her plans they
arry.
Does Ricki want to get
married? We are not told.
In fact we are not given
any idea .why Ricki, an
otherwise seemingly nor-
mal young woman, un-
questioningly obeys her
friend Carol, no matter
what the latter says.
This lingering psycho-
logical issue tends
to divert one's attention
from the story and gives
the entire novel an ado-
lescent quality, the sort of
story insecure teenage
who
ho are inclined to
write, make up about
themselves and fictional
best friend.
Miss Berman's handl-
ing of Albert's dialogue
ranges from Israeli bro-
ken English to perfectly
intelligible speech. Con-
sider the metamorphosis
in English in this quote
from Albert: "All the life
it is like a dream. Things
are constantly changing.
Now we have one
another, darling." a
Practically all of the
other characters in the
book, from the nature-
worshipping, pseudo-
intellectual urban
nomads of Berkeley to the
colorfully-cliched cast in
Israel are boring and far
from original. One gets

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11

MARVIN ROSEN

the feeling that Miss
Berman has tried a bit too
hard to write the "comic
_romp" her publisher
would have us believe we
are reading.
Quite often, Mi-ss Ber-
man's descriptions of Is-
raeli life and scenes are
accurate, but this hardly
makes up for the unbeliev-
able plot and sloppy
dialogue and writing.
This could be an enter-
taining book for either
someone who has either
never visited Israel or is
still enamored with teen-
age fantasies.

President Katzir's
New Year Message

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
President Ephraim Kat-
zir, in a Rosh Hashana,
message to the Jews of
the wort 7". kaid that fol-
lowing -7a year of attacks
against as well as
such triumphs as the En-
tebbe rescue, "Israel and
Jews abroad have drawn
even closer to each 'other,
more aware of the values
we share and of the cent-
ral importance of Jewish
education. -
Katzir said despite the
pressures and strains on
Israel, "There is a new
maturity in Jewish life
throughout the world.
There is a new sobriety in
Israel's economic mea-
sures, difficult for each
citizen as they are.
"There is a new em-
phasis on measures to
close the social gap and to
blend the cultural con-
tributions of the various
elements of its popula-
tion. -
The President also
noted that the Middle
East is less tense with the
suspension of military
hOstilities between Egypt
and Israel as the result of
the Sinai agreement and
the good fence alono. Is-
rael's border with Leba-
non.

Mizrachi Women
Will Honor - Eban

NEW YORK — Abba
Eban will be awarded the
Golden Jubilee Rambam
Award of American Miz-
rachi Women, ,it was an-
nounced by Mrs. Sarah
Shane, national presi-
dent of the women's
Zionist organization.
The award will be con-
ferred Nov. 14, at a Gol-
den Jubilee Scholarship
Dinner of American Miz-
rachi Women in the
Grand Ballroom of the
New York Hilton.
The Rambam Award
has been presented an-
nually to "distinguished
teachers, writers,
educators and scholars
who have contributed
significantly to the
mainstream of Jewish
knowledge and education
in the tradition of
Maimonides."

Hebraism rules the con-
duct of three-quarters of
life.

Among the many cravings
The greatest happiness is
to he that which one is.
of man there is the craving
—Theodor Herz! after God.

::

May the coming year be filled

with health, happiness

peace & prosperity

for the entire community

and Mrs. Jerome Glassman & Family
and the entire staff of

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11

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