I viaggi di Daniel Ascher

by Déborah Lévy-Bertherat, Margherita Botto (Translator)

Un anno veramente particolare ha inizio per Hélène quando dalla provincia si trasferisce a Parigi per studiare archeologia. La ragazza va ad abitare in una piccola camera sui tetti ospite del prozio Daniel. Lo zio Daniel è un vecchio giramondo, chiacchierone e un po' eccentrico che, usando lo pseudonimo di H.R. Sanders, scrive Il marchio nero, una serie di romanzi di avventura per ragazzi. Hélène non ha mai letto i libri dello zio e in verità non ama molto neppure lui. I due non potrebbero, infatti, essere più diversi: seria, precisa e severa lei, rumoroso, scherzoso e affabulatore lui. Ma il fidanzato della ragazza, Guillaume, un giovane brillante che riesce a rendere allegro tutto quello che tocca, è invece fin da bambino un ammiratore di H.R. Sanders e riesce a convincere Hélène a interessarsi di più a Daniel e ai suoi avventurosi viaggi in ogni angolo del pianeta. I due si mettono così sulle tracce dell'infanzia e della giovinezza di Daniel Ascher scoprendo diversi misteri della sua vita: perché lo zio compare soltanto a un certo punto nelle foto di famiglia? Perché il suo cognome non è lo stesso della nonna ed è di origine ebraica? Comincia allora una ricerca tra i quartieri parigini: da rue d'Odessa a Montparnasse, dove il padre di Daniel aveva prima della guerra uno studio fotografico, poi a Clermont-Ferrand, a Saint-Ferréol, a Moulins fino a Manhattan. Con pazienza e metodo, da vera archeologa, Hélène scopre piano piano un uomo di cui ignorava tutto. Scopre ad esempio che Daniel è l'unico sopravvissuto di una famiglia composta da padre, madre e una sorella amatissima, tutti scomparsi a Birkenau, e che i suoi viaggi giovanili negli Stati Uniti nascondono un altro mistero familiare che renderà il vecchio giramondo molto più prossimo ad Hélène e a suo fratello. Seguendo le tracce lasciate da Daniel nelle strade della sua città e fra le righe dei suoi libri si rivela piano piano il ritratto di un uomo ferito, diviso fra due identità e prigioniero di un amore impossibile ma fatale. E la scoperta di un'altra casa nel sotterraneo, in fondo a una botola, getta una nuova luce sui viaggi avventurosi dello zio. Forse l'unico vero viaggio che Daniel abbia mai fatto è sempre stato un viaggio nel passato. Déborah Lévy-Bertherat ha scritto un libro delicato, emozionante e dal ritmo avvolgente riuscendo nelle sue pagine a dar vita a personaggi vivissimi a cui è impossibile non affezionarsi.

Genres: Fiction, France, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Books About Books, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2013

About the author

Déborah Lévy-Bertherat lives in Paris, where she teaches comparative literature at the École Normale Supérieure. She has translated Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time and Gogol’s Petersburg Stories into French. The Travels of Daniel Ascher is her first novel.

(from http://www.otherpress.com/authors/deb...)

Reviews

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bittersweet, yet charming, little book that I read in one sitting. It's a bit of a mix between Indiana Jones & The Book Thief. It brought a few tears to my eyes but a few smiles too. It also reminds us of a history & humanity we should not forget.

I'm not sure if it is meant to be a light adult novel or something for the YA market. Either way, it's one I think quite a few adults & teens would enjoy & appreciate. Recommended for a wide variety of readers.

[Jonfaith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, that was not the way to wind down the year. The novel appeared interesting as I scanned the cover at the library. I brought it home and was soon disappointed, though I thought I'd push through. Well, it is apparent that YA has infiltrated the New Fiction section at the public library. Do we really need another murky whodunit concerning the Holocaust? Such subject matter should be exempt from the dime store tropes, but alas the expiation continues.

Avoid this one.

[Asunlectora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pesar de que el libro se lee muy bien y en muchas ocasiones da la impresión de ser ligero, tiene una gran carga de profundidad. Superpone los viajes reales o inventados a la búsqueda de la propia identidad cuando se han tenido dos familias, dos religiones... Y todo esto contado por otra persona que ve todo desde fuera y va descubriendo poco a poco todo aquello de lo que nunca se habla...
Muy interesante y precioso libro con múltiples lecturas y que provoca una cierta nostalgia.

[MaureenMcBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote this for the newspaper:

A family mystery unfurls as a young woman comes to Paris to stay with her strange great-uncle Daniel. Busy with her studies and a budding romance, Hélène isn’t interested in getting closer to Daniel. She knows him mostly from his unwelcome antics at holiday dinners and the series of children’s adventure books that he wrote and she largely ignored. That changes when she discovers that her college friends, and especially her boyfriend, are huge fans of Daniel’s books.
The more she gets to know him, the more she puzzles over his place in the family. The more she learns, the more she suspects that something deep in the past is affecting the present. And where exactly does Daniel go on his travels?
This is a debut novel told through our heroine with the clear voice of a young woman. Run-on sentences of dialogue put the reader smack into the conversation. The writer plants clues to mysteries that will be solved later, such as the contrast between giant atlas in Daniel’s apartment and the teeny secret in his shirt pocket. While it’s a satisfying read, the spare writing is at odds with the emotional content of the story. We don’t get to know any of the characters well. Our heroine remains distant, even in her love scenes. Perhaps that’s intentional, to convey the pains of childhood that are hidden in adulthood, but still very much alive.

[Capítulo IV]

" Los personajes y sus vivencias se meten- en su sencillez- bajo la piel en esta novela con aire a cuento de aventuras". Más en https://capitulocuarto.wordpress.com/...

[Cristina Rold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una chicca, un viaggio in quella Parigi azzurro carta da zucchero, dove ti aspetti di trovare un bambino con pantaloncini e maglietta a righe che tira un carretto rosso.

è una storia commovente, io alla fine ero molto toccata,
ma raccontata con una leggerezza eterea.

Per regalarci una serata di sogno.

[Manon Alliaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce récit était vraiment émouvant. On se prend rapidement d'affection pour Daniel, l'homme aux milles voyages. Quant à Hélène, j'aime son évolution au fil des pages et comment elle se rapproche de cet homme qu'elle se figurait comme un inconnu et que désormais devient en quelque sorte une partie d'elle même.

[Cristina Rold · Rating 4 out of 5]

un lungo racconto commovente. e che dà l'impressione che non sia stato detto davvero tutte, come quando si raccontano le storie vere.
Comunque bellissimo, una Francia eterea, una Parigi deserta.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I changed my ranking from three to four stars after re-reading Travels. It is unique, evocative and compelling, but keep track of the family relationships—literally, like a chart. Toward the end I felt lost in the family hierarchies and dynamics. Once I kept track, voilà. Worth it? If you feel drawn to read the novel, I urge you to do so.

SPOILER ALERT. I won’t tell the mystery Hélène discovers, but I will offer a hypothesis I think is correct. The Travels of Daniel Ascher – the book we read -- IS the 24th and last volume of Daniel's adventure series. It is the book Daniel has been working on throughout the novel, struggling with whether it would have a first- or third-person narrative. His editor says Daniel insists the new book “wasn’t really an adventure story, it’s too personal.” At the end, “Daniel” disappears forever, not just for another trip; the epilogue is twelve years later, and (the character) “Daniel” has not appeared. We read (p. 173) that Hélène is “no longer looking for Daniel; she’d found him. She was at 16 rue d’Odessa.” She. In the last paragraph of the book, she sits down at Daniel’s desk to “tell the story of Daniel Ascher.” And finally, read the top line of the list of Black Insignia books (after the epilogue): “Already Published in the Collection.” That wouldn’t be there unless the book in your hand is the most recent book in the series. This realization makes me want to read it again.

One thing about the family dynamics, which I didn’t realize until I made the chart: we never know Hélène’s mother or even name, and yet she appears at family gatherings (says, does nothing). Hélène never mentions her. I haven’t figured this out yet, but it’s so for a reason, perhaps related to my hypothesis.

Also, Hélène’s temperament is a puzzlement. She is almost off-putting at times, dismissive of others and assuming they feel the same about her. Not that she’s arrogant or judgmental – more that she keeps herself and her attitudes at a protective distance, perhaps.

One final comment: I don’t understand categorizing Travels as a YA novel – just because a main character writes a children’s adventure series? Maybe the element of mystery and searching through clues, the quest for identity, where one fits in a family (especially one(s) affected by war and the Holocaust). I’d like to know if this was as popular among French adolescents as it was among adults.

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this book started out a little slowly but as soon as Helen moves into a small apartment in a building that her uncle owns things start to move along. About half way through I found that it got very interesting as she finds out about her uncle's history. She actually knew very little about him. She uncovers his struggles during WWII through many sources, flashbacks, pictures and stories told by other family members. What was very interesting to me was the adventure series that Daniel writes, "The Black Insignia" which I think helps him to deal with his past and helps others understand how the Holocaust affected everyone's lives.

I found Ms. Levy-Betherat's writing to be concise, very descriptive and the plot flowed beautifully.

I ended up really enjoying this book.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERDICT: A literary novel dealing with the place and importance of fiction to help you cope with your past, it is also a unique way of reconsidering the German Occupation in Paris. Highly recommended if you enjoy discovering new promising authors.


my full review is here:
http://wordsandpeace.com/2015/06/27/b...

[Ireneherz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to written about without giving away the story.

This is a book about survival, guilt, secrets, memories and familial love. Helene learns more about her somewhat buffoons great uncle and about her family's past. A wistful and sad story.

[Aime' · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful little book.

[Lisa M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich bin mir im Nachhinein nicht sicher was ich denken soll. Vielleicht ist mein Problem, dass ich lieber Geschichten mag, die sich wie Geschichten anfühlen, die mehr sind als die Realität oder wenigstens anders. Beim Lesen hatte ich die ganze Zeit ein unbequemes Gefühl, nicht wegen des Themas, sondern wegen der Schreibweise, der banalen Schilderungen, der furchtbar langen Sätze. Gleichzeitig hat die Autorin ein Geschick dafür, Sprache zu verwenden, die sich wirklich echt anfühlt. Insbesondere bei den Großmüttern hatte ich das Gefühl ja, genau, das kenne ich, so reden Menschen wirklich!
Mit Hélène als Hauptperson konnte ich mich nicht anfreunden, ich hatte keinen Anhaltspunkt, der sie mir sympathisch gemacht hätte. Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten, sie nicht als Feindin wahrzunehmen, als Antagonistin, die ihrem Großonkel unrecht tut, der wirklich in vielerlei Hinsicht Sympathie zu erzeugen mag.
Vielleicht lohnt es sich, dieses Buch irgendwann noch ein zweites Mal zu lesen, mehr zu recherchieren, zu verstehen.
Letztlich gehe ich aus dem Buch heraus und bin vor allem etwas niedergeschlagen; wieder nicht aufgrund des Themas an sich, das Grund genug wäre (vielleicht wäre es sinnvoll, wenn zumindest in der Beschreibung darauf verwiesen würde, dass es vom Zweiten Weltkrieg handelt), sondern weil niemand mit einander redet, weil die Familie so viele Geheimnisse voreinander hat. Vor allem stößt es auch Gedanken an: Was gibt es über die eigene Familie, die man nicht weiß? Sollte man nicht auch mehr mit den eigenen Vorfahren reden, solange sie noch da sind?
Insofern ist dieses Buch für mich weniger Roman als eher fast philosophischer Natur, ein Thema, um das herum eine Geschichte geschrieben wurde.

[Gabriela Peraza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creo que me parecía confuso todo y como que pese a ser muy cortito no termino de engancharme la historia. Los personajes, la forma de escribir… muy meh. Tengo varias cosas que decir y seguramente generara bastante debate jajaja

Ahora novelon? Novelon madre mia cuanta gente!
No conecte eso si , no es lo que esperaba.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

A recent translation from the French, The Travels of Daniel Ascher reminds me a bit of I Called Him Necktie, one of my favorite books of 2014. The similarity isn’t one of theme. Rather, each of these books seems deceptively simple at the beginning, a pleasant enough read, but perhaps not much more. Then comes the moment of sudden revelation about two thirds of the way through: this isn’t just a good read; it’s a remarkable read. And from that moment on the book becomes un-put-downable. One simultaneously feels compelled to race through it and mourns the fact that its end is approaching page by page.

The Travels of Daniel Ascher focuses on Hélèn, an archaeology student, and her uncle Daniel, a writer of a well-known children’s adventure series. When Hélèn begins her studies, she moves into a small room at the top of the building in which Daniel has his apartment. She’s glad for the room, but uneasy about living this close to her uncle, who she’s always found a bit off-putting: larger than life in a rather childish way, describing his adventures in dramatic fashion as though he were the hero of his own series.

Over time Hélèn begins to realize how little of her uncle’s story she knows, and she begins to question him and other family members. The first revelation is that Daniel was a Jewish boy adopted by a French gentile family during World War II. As Hélèn continues her research, she becomes less and less certain of who her uncle is, as he seems to have two very different life stories.

This is the sort of book one can give one’s self as a gift when a day or a weekend opens up and the lure of “a book and a quiet nook” is irresistible. It can easily be read in a day—or in two evenings—but it will stick with the reader much longer. The Travels of Daniel Ascher balances its mix of family secrets, 20th Century European history, and bibliophilia nicely. The reader wonders; the reader mourns; the reader also enjoys. Keep your eye out for this title and don’t hesitate to pick it up when you cross its path. You’ll be surprised by the richness packed into its 160 pages.

[Ellen Klock · Rating 3 out of 5]

And here we are on a hypothetical archeological dig! On the outside, the world seems normal with a happy family enjoying life and tolerating the eccentric Uncle Daniel. The Travels of Daniel Ascher by French author Deborah Levy-Bertherat is told by Helene who is attending a college in Paris to become an archeologist. Who knew that her major project would be unearthing the family secrets kept so hidden that not even the participants knew all the details. As Helene peels back each layer of her Great Uncle's story, she realizes there is more to discover. The key is Daniel Roche, a famous author of a popular children's book series, The Black Insignia, who has provided the apartment where she lives. He is an uncle who she never quite understood, but now, after his return home from his world travels, she gets to know him better as he slowly discloses his secret personality and mysteriously reveals himself, giving clues to his past life when he was known as Daniel Ascher. Finally she can appreciate his work as author H. R. Sanders, and perhaps use the written word to better understand the man. The sharing of stories and photographs at family gatherings round out her investigation.

An interesting premise whose mystery is slowly revealed as if the reader were picking the petals off a flower to reach the center bud. There were a lot of nice little touches, and the background of the holocaust gives the reader a better understanding of Daniel Asher's motivations. The majority of the novel takes place in Paris from 1999 to 2000, an exotic setting which adds to the mystique. I appreciated that Levy-Bertherat kept the book (novella or novelette?) short and to the point instead of dragging out the plot with unnecessary details or repetitions resulting in boredom instead of anticipation. I also enjoyed the ending which was slightly open-ended, yet provided closure. The translation from the original French by Adriana Hunter was problematic at spots, but I was still kept engaged with the text. An interesting read. Three and a half stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Other Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Amanda Kaufer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting tale as Helene unearths her great-uncle's past. The formatting is a bit confusing and sometimes it's hard to track the conversations imbedded in the prose, which may be a side-effect of the translation. It may not appeal to kids used to faster paced adventure stories.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful little book! An intensely packed story, charming line drawings, bibliography of the "Black Insignia" book series all in one novella. We meet young Helene as she starts her studies at the Institute of Archaeology in Paris. Luckily, her Great Uncle Daniel has supplied her with a bedroom/apartment in the building he owns. He's seldom in town as he travels the world gaining inspiration for his wildly popular children's adventure book series, "The Black Insignia." Helene strikes me as snobby, stand-offish. Uncle Daniel embarrasses her with his wild stories at family gatherings, where he relates much better with the children than the adults. She couldn't make it through the first book in his series as a child, and now as a young adult she tries to avoid Daniel when he is back in town. But as a reader, I felt very sympathetic to Daniel, and when Helene's new boyfriend is exuberantly enthusiastic to learn the author H.R. Sanders is really Daniel Roche, her uncle, Helene slowly begins to open her eyes as she is exposed to Daniel's wide friendships and contacts in the city. She begins a special kind of "archaeology." As the story progresses, the children's adventures seem to have more and more serious plots. Could any of them really be based on reality? Helene learns from elder family the background of Daniel's story, from when he was a child and taken in by them in 1942. Of course, Helene had known he had been adopted and his last name had been Ascher, but she has so much to learn, so much to discover about him, with settings and characters right out of one of his mysterious adventure tales. Once again, a new and wonderful take on the theme of The Power of Story in our lives.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deborah Levy- Bertherat has written this short but fascinating story. It has been translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. What a wonderful story of a great uncle who travels around the world and writes adventure stories for children. Great-uncle Daniel is the life of the kids table at family holiday meals. All the children in the family are reading his books and following the heroic journeys of Peter Ashley-Mill, in the Black Insignia series. All the children except Helene. She never liked the books as a child. She also was very critical of her uncle, who wrote under the pen name H.R. Sanders. Now she is living in the upstairs apartment owned by Great- uncle Daniel Roche or is it Daniel Ascher?

When a postcard he sends her from one of his trips turns out to be false, she starts to search for her uncle and uncover his past. This book takes a very subtle approach to the Holocaust and the Jews escape or capture from Germany. Without too much detail of the atrocities of war this beautiful story makes clear what happened to Jewish families and how some people were able to escape while others were not. The book also shows how their war experience can affect them for the rest of their life.

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this is a book whose merit has been lost in translation.

It started strong and clear. The odd rhythms and punctuation swept me up into the atmosphere of rural France and the time of the telling. At first I was patient and interested as I flipped back to corroborate some detail, but gradually I began to be annoyed. Even with chapter headings and delightful illustrations, there is little for the reader to flag attention to details that may or may not be crucial. In fact, it began to seem that many of the crucial details are not there, as if they have left out or the entire thing was poorly abridged. On the other hand, in such a short work, there are parts that take up quite a bit of detail that has absolutely nothing to add.

Perhaps this story ultimately makes sense in the original. As I neared the end though, I did not have the heart (or motivation) to try to figure out what was hinted at because it never came together for me. It is always disappointing when a book that originally charmed loses its focus. Or was it me that lost my focus here when it seemed to go from clear to arbitrary?

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly meaty book for being so short. Despite its length, Lévy-Bertherat conveyed a lot with her concise yet descriptive writing. Archaeologist Hélène moves to an apartment in Paris above that of her great-uncle, Daniel Roche (aka H.R. Sanders, author of a popular adventure series). What follows is a rediscovery of childhood (both her own and those of her acquaintances that read her uncle's books), an unearthing of family history (and what our roots say about us), an examination of whether reality or our own version defines our lives, and an inquiry into the origin of stories. And yet it could also be read simply as an entertaining story of family mystery if one doesn't want to think deeply. Of course, you'll have to do some thinking, because the author is very subtle and leaves the reader to connect many dots. So I'll summarize this highly gratifying book as I started: a very big book for being so small!

The fine print: received ARC from NetGalley.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story within a story with an author as mysterious as the identity of Lemony Snicket. At first, this could seem like a ditty about a writer and his antics, but as the reader dives deeper they become aware of the multiple dimensions to Daniel (Roche) Ascher. The popularity and adult fandom of The Black Insignia series reminded me of grown-up Harry Potter fans (such as myself) who grew up adoring the series staying just as enthralled as adults. For me, the comparison was amusing.

The novel kept my interest with an Audrey Tautou, Amelie type character as the narrator. Hélène leads us on a scavenger hunt with clues leading to a well-crafted conclusion. The secret behind The Black Insignia is heartfelt cast behind the horrid backdrop of the Holocaust. The plot moved along at its own pace, allowing the reader to grasp the gravity of the situation and consequences that occurred. The Travels of Daniel Ascher was an excellent translation to a wonderful journey of a novel.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. This was fairly disappointing. First off, I'm sure there were many things that were lost in translation. However, there is very little depth to the characters which makes remembering them difficult when the author brings them up later. I found myself re-reading many sections, trying to figure out how everything was playing out. It wasn't a terribly difficult book to follow, it was just a sign of how I was not at all into the book. My mind drifted when I read quite a bit. The structure of the dialogue was terrible. Instead of quotes or using "he said/she said" to mark dialogue, it was just one long string of dialogue, broken up by commas, which made it very difficult to follow.

As a whole, this book felt like a draft of what could have been a really good book. Instead, it wound up being very average and completely forgettable.

[Mainlinebooker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim novella is really a gem of a book but I didn't really appreciate it until 1/3rd of the way through. Simplistically, this is the story of a great great niece whose Jewish uncle was a famous author of swashbuckling adventure stories. He was adopted by the family during wartime when his own family was taken from him. As an older adult she attempts to unravel her uncle's complicated history and finds a treasure trove of meaning in his books, his life, and his family. The real issues are identity and race,a discourse on memory and the ability of the written word to change how we feel about ourselves..A smash hit in France, it will profoundly affect you after the last page has been devoured.

[Andrew Porteus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Travels of Daniel Ascher is a beautifully written short book detailing the journey of discovery undertaken by Hélène, a student who came to Paris to study archaeology and stays in an apartment building owned by her Uncle Daniel. Daniel is the author, under the nom de plume H. R. Sanders, of a series of adventure much beloved by, amongst a great many others, Guillaume, Hélène's boyfriend. As she reads the series for the first time she comes to realize how these adventures relate to her remembrances of Daniel. Hélène starts investigating Daniel's and her family's past, unearthing family secrets dating back to traumatic events in World War II.
A fascinating read, enhanced by line drawings of scenes in the book, as little by little the story is unfolded.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching, creative, lovely novel. It tells the story of a child of the Holocaust in a unique manner. There’s a story within a story. French author Deborah Levy-Bertherat provides splendid descriptions of present day Paris as well as Paris during the Nazi occupation. It’s a wonderful translation by Adriana Hunter. The Travels of Daniel Ascher proves to be mysterious, adventurous and moving.

full review at Entertainment Realm: http://entertainmentrealm.com/2015/05...

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was short & quick - I read it in 3 days - but I think I would have to read it again more closely (not in the carpool line at Camp Apachi!) to understand it better. The back cover describes it as a "story about literary deceptions, family secrets, and a thrilling quest for the truth" and "a real thriller." It was interesting and I was compelled to finish it but I didn't find it all that "thrilling." The pencil illustrations are charming and the physical book looks like a middle grade novel so I couldn't figure out who the intended audience is - children, YA, or adults.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

My library labeled it a mystery. Not in the traditional sense. A blurb on the book called it "YA" and promised it would soon be a sensation. The simple language and hand drawings do not make it a Young Adult novel--it is just a novel. I can understand why the label makers are confused, though--it is an odd duck, combining an unadorned narrative style and quiet protagonist with the elements of family history, historical tragedy, and the mystery of figuring out who people really are (including oneself).

Recommended.

[Estelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helene, a student of archaeology, gradually uncovers the story of her Uncle Daniel, whose history Helene knows only sketchily. He has always been a favorite of the family, a writer of adventure tales about a hero who travels the world. This sad but sweet story unfolds slowly, as Helene discovers a family secret. Stylistically, there are long phrases strung together by commas, where I would prefer separate sentences. Nevertheless, a tale to be savored.