Silbermann Book

"My situation has become impossible. I leave tomorrow for America. ... Yes," he said, stifling his anger with effort, "I am leaving. ... The Frenchmen for France have won. Think of it. One less Jew among them!" This short powerhouse of a novel, set in early 20th century Paris, France, follows the friendship between two 15-year-old schoolboys: one, a gentile (the narrator), and the other, a Jew. Silbermann is the odd newcomer at school, an unattractive, curiously animated character. His classmate, the narrator, sees beyond the fleshy lips and yellowish complexion an uncommon brilliance and passion, and soon the two are inseparable. Silbermann's endless discussions of Racine, La Fontaine, Chateaubriand, and Hugo are mesmerizing. But loyalties are tested as Silbermann becomes the target of the growing anti-Semitism that is spreading throughout French society. Ironically, the narrator's father is asked to preside over a case indicting Silbermann's father. In the end, a beloved friendship and familial bonds are undermined as idealism gives way to the painful realization of the moral compromises of adulthood.~Silbermann was originally published in French in 1922. The first English translation appeared one year later. By Jacques de Lacretelle. ~Edited by Ruth Greenstein.~Introduction by Victor Brombert.~Translated by Helen Marx. Paperback, 4.25 x 6.5 in./230 pgs /Read More