Come with Me to Babylon

by Paul M. Levitt

In 1910 the Cohen family, in search of the Golden Medina, undertakes a dangerous journey from Russia to the United States, where the new world exposes family secrets, cultural conflicts, the corruption of the American Dream, and love's divides.Traveling in steerage to Ellis Island, the family endures the poverty and dirt of New York City and retreats to a farm in southern New Jersey--to find not the agricultural Eden they were promised, but Babylon. Told in several voices, this tale bears witness to a new generation learning to find hope in a land that often sacrifices human decency for profit and greed.

Genres: Historical Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2008

About the author

Paul M. Levitt is professor emeritus of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he taught modern drama, theater, history, and the gangster novel. He has written more than 20 books (six of them novels), radio plays for the BBC, books about medicine, stories for children, and numerous popular and scholarly articles. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Reviews

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book description is misleading. It says it is a story of a family who comes to America from Russia to take over and work a farm. Although the part about them coming from Russia is accurate and eventually they do get to the farm, not much else is mentioned. The story is written from the perspective of each character. So every page or 2 you are getting someone else speaking. This was confusing at first, but once I got to know the characters, it wasn't so hard to follow.
The reason I didn't like it so much was because it was just sadness after sadness. Everything went wrong. This can be FINE if I feel like the characters have grown or learned something from their hardships. A big secret of the mother (Esther) that absolutely ripped at my heart strings. What she did was terrible. Prior to the knowlegde she was destined to repeat a similar mistake. I thought for sure that once I read that part, that I would find that her character would change and develop. Nope.
It was just a sad read with no hope for anything better even after the end of the story. I guess it is a matter of taste. I do have to say that the story was interesting enough to keep me to the end, but I wound up fairly disappointed.

[Garryvivianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Russion Jewish family immigrates to the United States with a promise they would have a better life & land to farm on. The father is set against going, but makes it to the US with his wife & son & daughter. They go to find the land is not quite "ready" in New Jersey & end up living in New York, having to learn the language, the way of life in the big city & how to cope. This book is written through the different characters. They go thru learning about lies, deceit, love, agonies, crime. I enjoyed all the characters, the family was very interesting.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was amazing. I have read about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory before so I know a little about the fire and the working conditions that the employees endured. The hardships and misfortunes that emigrants had to suffer were tragic. The characters I respected and loathed at the same time.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3 star more because of the writing style. A difficult book to put down and return to and keep track of who was "speaking" as the sstory goes from one character to another. The ending was an "oh my gosh". Would this family had been better off staying in Russia? Their journey in America is heartbreaking in so many ways.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I am a fan of historical fiction and this read like a diary, from each characters perspective. It was sometimes difficult to figure out who was speaking, but like others said once you get to know the characters you can figure it out in a sentence or two.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family embarks on a trip from Russia to America in 1910. They are anxious to get to the "land of opportunity." However when they get to New York, they find many hardships.

The mother, father, daughter (Fanny) & son (Ben) have to live in a tenement building. Fanny goes to work in a factory with horrible working conditions & Ben gets caught up in the wrong crowd (the mob).

Each short chapter is in the words of one of the main characters, so we get many different viewpoints throughout the story.

Overall, it was a good read. However, it was a little boring at times.

[Bobbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about an immigrant family working its way from Russia through New York City and to a farm in New Jersey -- in an orthodoz community.

My only negative, as is typical these days it is written in multiple voices. The Chapters are designated by dates and it takes a few sentences each time to figure out who is speaking.

[Iva · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid historical novel about the Cohen family's emigration to the U.S. from Russia. They become temporary residents of Brooklyn, then to a farm in New Jersey. Told in several first person voices, the nvoel incorporates true events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. The writing is strong, but many of the character's voices sound similar.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oddly enough, I'm not sure that I actually LIKED this book, but I DID appreciate it's creativity, its storytelling, and its clever interweaving of characters. The subjects were coarse and sometimes downright vile, but it was a good read, nonetheles.

[Boulder Book Store · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, at 7:30pm at the Boulder Book Store.

[April]

Librarian-recommended.

[Shirley DeCou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immigration to the US was not always a good experience for some of the earily families. Good read

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars