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`The Same Embrace'

111

is pleased to announce the

$395
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Open for Lund) ono Dinner 7- Days

4189 Ordyaro Lake 1ioa6

Orcbctro Lake

10/30
1998

248- 86,5- 0000
Sm. 248- 865 - 0020

ichael Lowenthal's first
novel, The Same
Embrace (Dutton;
$23.95), charts seven
months in the relationship of two
estranged twin brothers in their early
20s. Jacob, the protagonist, is gay, sec-
ular and works for a gay publishing
company in Boston, while Jonathan
has become Orthodox and studies in a
Jerusalem yeshiva.
Although ostensibly about the
twins, the novel — weaving back and
forth from past to present — unfolds
to reveal larger issues in the two gener-
ations living in the shadow of Papa
Isaac, the twins' Orthodox grandfa-
ther.
Cold and almost sadistic at times,
Papa Isaac forces the twins to compete
in wrestling matches, disapproves of
their secular father and appears to care
more about his cigars than his family.
Lowenthal's writing is rich in
imagery and metaphor, and the
descriptions are more than ornamen-
tal. They convey a mood. Just before
Papa Isaac violates Shabbat by slipping
out early for some cigars, the gas
burner "roared from the stove, its
dragon's breath of flame taunted by
the window's leak. The second hand of
the clock was a schoolteacher's scold-

ing finger: not, not, not."
The author is a skilled observer, as
convincing in
portraying the
nuances of yeshiva
life as he is at
describing activist
politics and the
gay club scene.
The details are on
target, and the
pacing is good as
well; the novel
Michael
never stagnates in
Lowenthal
gratuitous descrip-
tion, but is con-
stantly in motion,
the words carefully chosen.
Despite the strong writing, the
plot feels contrived at times, as if
the theme and message, rather
than characters, are driving the
book.
Jonathan sends Jacob away
from a reconciliation visit at the
yeshiva after he walks in on him-
during a sexual encounter, and
while this is dramatic and sym-
bolic, it seems a little unbeliev-
able.
The twins' long-lost Aunt

Ingrid, who tells Jacob, "Don't close
any possibilities... no one's ever going
to give you another brother," comes
across as a flat, cardboard figure. Her
goodness is nauseating; her purpose in
the book seems merely to deliver its
moral.
Lowenthal clearly enjoys exploring
the meaning of the twin relationship
and using it as a vehicle for examining
whether people are more influenced
by nurture or nature, and whether, in
loving men, Jacob is really sublimating
his love for Jonathan.
The biblical allusions, with Jacob in
some sense competing with his beard-
ed twin for Papa Isaac's birthright, are
hinted at but not developed. In some
ways I feel they're a distraction.
Lowenthal is trying to do too much in
too little space.
I also yearned for more information
about some of the supporting charac-
ters.
Nonetheless, despite its flaws, The
Same Embrace is an impressive first

novel. Its images and characters linger
in the mind long after the book is
closed. 0

— Reviewed by Julie Wiener,
Staff Writer

Michael Lowenthal will speak 3
p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Kahn
Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield, sponsored by
Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition

(MJAC) and Simcha.

MICHAEL LOWENTHAL

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