Irene Nemirovsky was one of France's most popular novelists in the 1930s, but her career was tragically cut short by World War II and her death in Auschwitz in 1942.
It has only been since the more recent discovery and worldwide publication of her unfinished masterpiece Suite Francaise in 2005 that there has been renewed interest in her earlier works.
The short novels David Golder and The Courilof Affair are two of these earlier works that literature lovers should definitely make time to read.
DAVID GOLDER Absorbing.
David Golder, published in France in 1929 was Irene Nemirovsky's break out novel.
In it she dares to explore the dirty undercurrents of greed and power in the financial markets of the day, with a depth and maturity well beyond her age of 26 years at the time she wrote it.
The lead character David Golder is a powerful and ruthless Jewish financier, who has worked his way up from meagre beginnings in poverty stricken Russia.
Readers join him at a time in his life where he is facing his mortality and reassessing his life and its meaning.
He is paralysed by his inability to control the situation and brooding over what his legacy will be.
While the lead character is not one that readers may ordinarily identify with or feel supportive of, the superficiality and greed of the other characters in Golder's life are even less worthy of respect.
Nemirovsky expertly illuminates the shades of grey in one's opinion of what is right and wrong and shows us that greed and ruthlessness can take many forms.
This story can take a reader on a powerful journey of self reflection - and in that respect this story is timeless, a mark of excellent literature.
THE COURILOF AFFAIR Powerful.
Do not let the lack of words used (only 168 pages) fool you - Nemirovsky delivers a powerful message through the telling of this story, The Courilof Affair.
In her usual beautiful prose (credit must also go to translator Sandra Smith) Nemirovsky does much more than relate historical events and experiences of our narrating character at the dusk of his life - she evokes a mood.
I should point out I am avoiding using the word protagonist because Nemirovsky presents characters that are not intended to gain the readers empathy, their actions are not to be glorified.
Nemirovsky uses this tale to shine a stark light on terrorism and its futility - no matter how just a cause's beginnings.
She explores the frailty of human society and how the roles of assailant and target can be easily interchanged.
This historical tale is one whose themes and message remain very much relevant today.
It has only been since the more recent discovery and worldwide publication of her unfinished masterpiece Suite Francaise in 2005 that there has been renewed interest in her earlier works.
The short novels David Golder and The Courilof Affair are two of these earlier works that literature lovers should definitely make time to read.
DAVID GOLDER Absorbing.
David Golder, published in France in 1929 was Irene Nemirovsky's break out novel.
In it she dares to explore the dirty undercurrents of greed and power in the financial markets of the day, with a depth and maturity well beyond her age of 26 years at the time she wrote it.
The lead character David Golder is a powerful and ruthless Jewish financier, who has worked his way up from meagre beginnings in poverty stricken Russia.
Readers join him at a time in his life where he is facing his mortality and reassessing his life and its meaning.
He is paralysed by his inability to control the situation and brooding over what his legacy will be.
While the lead character is not one that readers may ordinarily identify with or feel supportive of, the superficiality and greed of the other characters in Golder's life are even less worthy of respect.
Nemirovsky expertly illuminates the shades of grey in one's opinion of what is right and wrong and shows us that greed and ruthlessness can take many forms.
This story can take a reader on a powerful journey of self reflection - and in that respect this story is timeless, a mark of excellent literature.
THE COURILOF AFFAIR Powerful.
Do not let the lack of words used (only 168 pages) fool you - Nemirovsky delivers a powerful message through the telling of this story, The Courilof Affair.
In her usual beautiful prose (credit must also go to translator Sandra Smith) Nemirovsky does much more than relate historical events and experiences of our narrating character at the dusk of his life - she evokes a mood.
I should point out I am avoiding using the word protagonist because Nemirovsky presents characters that are not intended to gain the readers empathy, their actions are not to be glorified.
Nemirovsky uses this tale to shine a stark light on terrorism and its futility - no matter how just a cause's beginnings.
She explores the frailty of human society and how the roles of assailant and target can be easily interchanged.
This historical tale is one whose themes and message remain very much relevant today.
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