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Second Hand Smoke
In the seamy atmosphere of Miami Beach's Collins Avenue, Mila Katz, a streaky card shark and confidante of mobsters, lives by the wits with which she has survived the Holocaust. Second Hand Smoke is the story of Mila's sons, Issac and Duncan, the one secretly abandoned in Poland, and the other, American-born, raised as an avenging Nazi hunter, poisoned with rage.
Told in bursts of fractured realism and dark comedy, Second Hand Smoke is a postmodern mystery of great lyrical power, deep insight, and emotional resonance.
Told in bursts of fractured realism and dark comedy, Second Hand Smoke is a postmodern mystery of great lyrical power, deep insight, and emotional resonance.
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 21, 2023
Nederlandse titel: Rook van gisteren.
Eigenlijk weet ik niet goed hoe ik dit boek moet beoordelen. Ik vond dat het voor het grootste deel nogal stroef las, maar op een bepaald moment besefte ik dat het kwam doordat de karakters van Duncan en Mila zo vol met frustratie zaten, slechte herinneringen van Mila aan het concentratiekamp die haar hard gemaakt hadden, en die gevoelens en levenswijze droeg ze over op haar zoon Duncan.
Dus vanaf het moment dat Duncan en zijn halfbroer Isaac elkaar ontmoetten, voelde ik bij mezelf de spanning wegzakken die het boek veroorzaakt had. Eigenlijk is het dus wel knap gedaan van de auteur, dat de lezer, ik in dit geval, zo meegetrokken wordt in het verhaal.
'Beklemmend en betoverend' staat er op de omslag als commentaar van Chaim Potok. En dat is inderdaad het geval.
Ik kan dus niet zeggen dat ik echt genoten heb van het boek, maar ik werd er wel door meegesleept.
Eigenlijk weet ik niet goed hoe ik dit boek moet beoordelen. Ik vond dat het voor het grootste deel nogal stroef las, maar op een bepaald moment besefte ik dat het kwam doordat de karakters van Duncan en Mila zo vol met frustratie zaten, slechte herinneringen van Mila aan het concentratiekamp die haar hard gemaakt hadden, en die gevoelens en levenswijze droeg ze over op haar zoon Duncan.
Dus vanaf het moment dat Duncan en zijn halfbroer Isaac elkaar ontmoetten, voelde ik bij mezelf de spanning wegzakken die het boek veroorzaakt had. Eigenlijk is het dus wel knap gedaan van de auteur, dat de lezer, ik in dit geval, zo meegetrokken wordt in het verhaal.
'Beklemmend en betoverend' staat er op de omslag als commentaar van Chaim Potok. En dat is inderdaad het geval.
Ik kan dus niet zeggen dat ik echt genoten heb van het boek, maar ik werd er wel door meegesleept.
April 9, 2012
Since the end of WWII, many books, movies and plays have been written about the Holocaust, the people who died and survived and what these people made of their lives after the war. But little except for Helen Epstein's book, Children of the Holocaust, addressed the effect of their parents experiences during the war and in the camps and how they related to their children.
As a Jewish woman who was brought up on the Lower East Side before it became the East Village, I clearly remember storekeepers, my paents friends, some neighbors and others who had tattooed numbers on their arms. I was told not to ask where they came from until one day my mother explained the Holocaust to me. I played with survivor's children, went to school with them and even dated a few as we got older. As I became older I began to hear from these children about their parents eccentricities which were clearly born from the Holocaust. One friends father slept with a packed suitcase under the bed in case they had to run in the middle of the night. One friends mother could never go into an elevator since she was so claustrophobic after living in theconcentration camps. Another friends mother could never drive near train tracks because she saw herself in a cramped car and observing one friends parents, a German Jewish couple who crossed the street every time a policeman appeared on the same side where they were walking. And finally there was my friend whose father seemed to come out of the Holocaust unscathed until Eichmann was tried in Israel and he suffered a nervous breakdown.
Today there are groups all over the world which are populated by children of the Holocaust and relatives. They meet t discuss their experiences with family members and the similarities and differences in their lives.
Thane Rosenbaum, the author of the book I recently finished, Second Hand Smoke, was a man whose parents survived the camps. He was raised in Miami Beach as was the main characters of his well written and poignant book.
Duncan Katz is born to a most unusual mother. Early on, after she was living in Miami she befriended a delivery man who went on to become a member of organized crime and never forgot her or her family. Mila Katz was a card shark who hardly nurtured her son. Her very decision to name a Jwish son, Duncan, was unusual for the time. And as she lay dying she revelaed that before she left Poland after the war she left her first born son there who was raised as an orphan. Twelve years after his mother's death Duncan is told by one of his mother's Mafia friendes and his protector that he has a half brother who lived out the war as a baby and now lives in Poland. It doesn't tkae Duncan too much time before he decides to travel to Poland to meet this brother. Perhaps Duncan thinks that both he and his brother and can put to rest some of the demons left by their parents from their experiences during the Holocaust. Duncan has devoted his working life to finding thos guilty of war crimes still living as free men. But he is fired after one of his quests manages to evade the arm of the law. He is also seperated from his wife and each day is a challenge for him to get through. Clearly he is obsessed by hius mother and the Holocaust and wants to right all of the wrongs which is evident when he visits Auschwitz and Birkeneau. But his brother Isaac is the antithesis of Duncan. He is a yoga instructor and the caretaker of the Jewish cemetary where their great grandfather, an esteemed Rabbi is buried. As they travel through Poland and meet up with some very aggressive Nazis, they learn that they too are survivors and that life ultimately is good.
I first bought this book when it was published on the advice of a friend but never read it then. For whatever the reason, I decided to pick it up now and I am so glad I did. I doubt that I will ever forget these characters who were so well fleshed out and the experiences both Duncan living with his mother and Isaace living without her have. And finally how they are able to put to rest their mother and the effect of the Holocaust on them. As the years have gone by there are fewer and fewer survivors left and in a few more years they may all be gone. It is important that we never forget these people many of whom incarcerated under the worst conditions managed to survive and go on to lead productive lives. This book will most likely be among my top ten books of 2012 if not number 1. I recommend that you read this book and others devoted to the Holocaust so that you too will never forget a horrific event in history when few paid attention to what was happening.
As a Jewish woman who was brought up on the Lower East Side before it became the East Village, I clearly remember storekeepers, my paents friends, some neighbors and others who had tattooed numbers on their arms. I was told not to ask where they came from until one day my mother explained the Holocaust to me. I played with survivor's children, went to school with them and even dated a few as we got older. As I became older I began to hear from these children about their parents eccentricities which were clearly born from the Holocaust. One friends father slept with a packed suitcase under the bed in case they had to run in the middle of the night. One friends mother could never go into an elevator since she was so claustrophobic after living in theconcentration camps. Another friends mother could never drive near train tracks because she saw herself in a cramped car and observing one friends parents, a German Jewish couple who crossed the street every time a policeman appeared on the same side where they were walking. And finally there was my friend whose father seemed to come out of the Holocaust unscathed until Eichmann was tried in Israel and he suffered a nervous breakdown.
Today there are groups all over the world which are populated by children of the Holocaust and relatives. They meet t discuss their experiences with family members and the similarities and differences in their lives.
Thane Rosenbaum, the author of the book I recently finished, Second Hand Smoke, was a man whose parents survived the camps. He was raised in Miami Beach as was the main characters of his well written and poignant book.
Duncan Katz is born to a most unusual mother. Early on, after she was living in Miami she befriended a delivery man who went on to become a member of organized crime and never forgot her or her family. Mila Katz was a card shark who hardly nurtured her son. Her very decision to name a Jwish son, Duncan, was unusual for the time. And as she lay dying she revelaed that before she left Poland after the war she left her first born son there who was raised as an orphan. Twelve years after his mother's death Duncan is told by one of his mother's Mafia friendes and his protector that he has a half brother who lived out the war as a baby and now lives in Poland. It doesn't tkae Duncan too much time before he decides to travel to Poland to meet this brother. Perhaps Duncan thinks that both he and his brother and can put to rest some of the demons left by their parents from their experiences during the Holocaust. Duncan has devoted his working life to finding thos guilty of war crimes still living as free men. But he is fired after one of his quests manages to evade the arm of the law. He is also seperated from his wife and each day is a challenge for him to get through. Clearly he is obsessed by hius mother and the Holocaust and wants to right all of the wrongs which is evident when he visits Auschwitz and Birkeneau. But his brother Isaac is the antithesis of Duncan. He is a yoga instructor and the caretaker of the Jewish cemetary where their great grandfather, an esteemed Rabbi is buried. As they travel through Poland and meet up with some very aggressive Nazis, they learn that they too are survivors and that life ultimately is good.
I first bought this book when it was published on the advice of a friend but never read it then. For whatever the reason, I decided to pick it up now and I am so glad I did. I doubt that I will ever forget these characters who were so well fleshed out and the experiences both Duncan living with his mother and Isaace living without her have. And finally how they are able to put to rest their mother and the effect of the Holocaust on them. As the years have gone by there are fewer and fewer survivors left and in a few more years they may all be gone. It is important that we never forget these people many of whom incarcerated under the worst conditions managed to survive and go on to lead productive lives. This book will most likely be among my top ten books of 2012 if not number 1. I recommend that you read this book and others devoted to the Holocaust so that you too will never forget a horrific event in history when few paid attention to what was happening.
February 21, 2010
This fascinating book is about Duncan Katz, the son of Holocaust survivors, and the impact of his parents horrific experiences on his own life. It especially deals with Duncan’s relationship with his mother, Mila Katz, a Miami card shark and gangster, victimized by the Nazis and guilt-ridden over the abandonment of her other son, Isaac, in Poland when he was an infant. Mila blew “second-hand smoke” into the lungs of her children, the smoke being that which came from the chimneys of Auschwitz.
Mr. Rosenbaum has a very unique writing style. Poetic, surreal and at times a bit complicated, the author creates a world where not all Jews where stereotyped as “nice Jewish boys”; where characters such as Mila, Duncan and even Isaac are larger-than-life but fascinating. A very satisfying ending!
I feel that Thane Rosenbaum’s story is very important, especially as we are losing many Holocaust survivors to old age. As those with the numbers tattooed on their arms pass on, we need someone to continually remind the world of the atrocities inflicted by Adolph Hitler and how it still effects current generations. Thane Rosenbaum has done that job in SECOND HAND SMOKE quite effectively!
Mr. Rosenbaum has a very unique writing style. Poetic, surreal and at times a bit complicated, the author creates a world where not all Jews where stereotyped as “nice Jewish boys”; where characters such as Mila, Duncan and even Isaac are larger-than-life but fascinating. A very satisfying ending!
I feel that Thane Rosenbaum’s story is very important, especially as we are losing many Holocaust survivors to old age. As those with the numbers tattooed on their arms pass on, we need someone to continually remind the world of the atrocities inflicted by Adolph Hitler and how it still effects current generations. Thane Rosenbaum has done that job in SECOND HAND SMOKE quite effectively!
March 24, 2016
I almost stopped reading this book, and so glad i didnt. The characters become people you care about and it all starts to make sense.
December 6, 2020
A darkly comic and beautifully written book about a family of Holocaust survivors living in Miami, Florida. The focus is on Mila, the tough, chain-smoking, gambling-loving mother, and her son Dylan whom she couldn’t bring herself to nurture and love. Dylan was raised to be a fighter and grows up to be a Nazi hunter for the US Government. But just as his parents were traumatized by the Holocaust, Dylan also bears deep wounds from his childhood. The book manages to be both entertaining and poignant about some very difficult subjects. There’s not much literature featuring the children of survivors as narrators, so this offers a unique perspective. Highly recommended.
May 14, 2013
This is a fascinating book. It is fiction, but there is so much truth and so much to be learned.
March 11, 2018
Duncan is the only son of two Holocaust survivors. His parents' experiences, of course, has a profound effect on Duncan. It was a bit of genre bender of historical fiction/realistic fiction/magic realism.
May 2, 2020
Insightful
This book touched my heart as someone who lost distant family at Darcy in France. It represents a touching point of view from the survivor and survivors family. Thank you
This book touched my heart as someone who lost distant family at Darcy in France. It represents a touching point of view from the survivor and survivors family. Thank you
February 18, 2023
This is such a great book.
November 5, 2023
A story of the trauma inherited by the son of two Holocaust survivors. Didn't love the ending but really enjoyed the overall read and learned a lot.
January 22, 2009
tries too hard but interesting nonetheless
May 14, 2009
This book is about second generation Holocaust survivors. The book is strangely constructed and the main character is not likeable.
October 22, 2010
Interesting, worthwhile read.
November 23, 2015
It is that I had to read it for class, or else I wouldn't have.
November 17, 2013
I really disliked this book. Author is clearly bitter and angry. Very unpleasant read!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews