...
Show More
2.5 stars
I found this to be pretty boring. Basically, the family just lives their lives waiting for Papa to send money for them to come join him in America. The voyage at the end and their arrival in New York felt rushed and anticlimactic. If you enjoy reading about daily life in another time and place, I would still recommend this. The details of daily life for a Jewish family on a farm in a rural area of Eastern Europe (what was once Hungary, but has just become part of Czechoslovakia after World War I) and the different chores and celebrations throughout the seasons of the year were interesting. Some of the content is dated but realistic (for example, a schoolteacher taking a switch to a student), but other parts were really problematic. Notably, there's some stereotypical depictions of Romany people ("gypsies") as thieves and kidnappers and stigma surrounding mental illness (content warning for mention of a suicide attempt).
I found this to be pretty boring. Basically, the family just lives their lives waiting for Papa to send money for them to come join him in America. The voyage at the end and their arrival in New York felt rushed and anticlimactic. If you enjoy reading about daily life in another time and place, I would still recommend this. The details of daily life for a Jewish family on a farm in a rural area of Eastern Europe (what was once Hungary, but has just become part of Czechoslovakia after World War I) and the different chores and celebrations throughout the seasons of the year were interesting. Some of the content is dated but realistic (for example, a schoolteacher taking a switch to a student), but other parts were really problematic. Notably, there's some stereotypical depictions of Romany people ("gypsies") as thieves and kidnappers and stigma surrounding mental illness (content warning for mention of a suicide attempt).
