The Sacrifice

by Adele Wiseman

The Sacrifice is a haunting depiction of one family and its often tragic attempts to come to terms with a new life in a new country. It is a moving, almost biblical story of a father possessed by his hope for his only son; of a son who rebels against his father’s ideals, yet sacrifices himself to preserve what his father most prizes; and of a grandson who must reconcile the flaws in his inheritance.

Genres: Canada, Historical, Fiction, Literary Fiction, School

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Adele Wiseman was a Canadian author. Her parents were Russian-Jews who emigrated from the Ukraine to Canada, in part, to escape the pogroms that accompanied the Russian Civil War.

In 1956, Wiseman published her first novel, The Sacrifice, which won the Governor General's Award. Her only other novel, Crackpot, was published in 1974. Wiseman also published plays, children's stories, essays, and other non-fiction.

Reviews

[Anne Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read that beautiful novel in one sitting...that's how much I liked it. Wiseman's words are eloquently chosen, her ideas beautifully put, and her fiction is just plain entrancing. A new favorite.

[Suzănica Tănase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cartea asta susură, șopotește pagină cu pagină. O experiență minunată, cum foarte rar mi s-a întâmplat, am pătruns în lumea ei alunecând gentil, iubind fiecare personaj, fiecare membru al familiei, oameni relativ anonimi dar care trasează condiții simbolice. Nu știu dacă romanul este tradus la noi, nici nu știu cât de cunoscută este scriitoarea Canadiană Adele Wiseman, care prin acest roman de debut câștiga în 1956 premiul Governor General's Literary Prize, însă, fără nici un dubiu, se află în rândul cărților speciale, acelea care te mișcă, te salvează, îți demonstrează o dată și încă o dată de ce “a common sense judgment” rămâne starea de evoluție a unui om.
Cu câțiva ani înainte, în 1947, o altă scriitoare tare dragă mie, Gabrielle Roy, câștiga același premiu, tot cu cartea ei de debut: Bonheur d'occasion (The Tin Flute).
Am spus de multe ori că nu mă identific cu cultura canadiană, deși sunt momente, ca în cazul de față, când mă surprind cât de mult mă mint. Și atunci îmi abandonez lupta interioară și mă plec în fața frumuseții, acolo unde se găsește ea.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1956 as a first novel for Adele Wiseman who has since died, in 1992. Anne Michaels, in her Afterword for the book's 2001 publishing, has described Adele as writing as though she knows her characters intimately, and describes them as "full-bodied, human, as large and as small as life." I found that this is indeed what makes the book such a good read. In the tradition of her Jewish heritage, she 'recreates, through the lives of Jewish immigrants in a Central Canadian city, the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac'. The characters even have the same names. As Adele says, she wanted to 'explore the absolutely best reason for doing the worst thing'. Consequently the family goes through tragic events before and after arriving in their new country. Something Abraham, the grandfather in the story says, that sums up how this plays out is in his line, "A man sinks under the weight of his life finally." It is insights like this one into the human condition that make the book so readable. Another character says, "A good-natured ruffian is better than an ill-tempered gentleman." Anyone who wants an 'inside look' into the nature of a Jewish family should find this book enlightening.

[BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a review in Dutch, see message 26 of the Autumn challenge of the Netherlands & Flanders group.

This book is definitely worth a read! The further I read this book, the higher my rating became: I went from three stars to four and by the time I'd finished it had become five stars. I'm not going to comment on the story itself other than to say that it describes the hardships of a Jewish emigrant family in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century. I had been wondering how the author would end her story and the ending, although fully convincing, took me by surprise.

The book is incredibly well-written, historically interesting and it reminded me of some other books I'd read in the past; about the jews in Ukraine and the pogroms, of Chaim Potok's work, and at some point also of Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. I read this book in three days time because I had a hard time putting it away, as The Sacrifice makes an extremely interesting read right from the very start.

It took me a while to figure out when exactly the story was set, even though I'd gathered that the begining of the story, when Abraham and his family came to Canada, had to be sometime shortly after WWI. But there were a few hints in the book that helped me out in this respect. I liked the biblical references in the book, starting of course with the title of the book and the names of the characters, and found them to be very fitting. Being Dutch, I don't know enough about Canada to guess at the location of the story, but judging from other comments I gather it is set in (a fictional) Winnipeg.

Although the story is set during the first half of the 20th century, it is certainly not outdated. A lot of things described in the book, such as the reason for the family’s flight from Ukraine, the long time it took them to get to Canada, the language problems they were having, and so on and so forth, can still be seen today when one looks at present day refugees...

[1.1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly written – characters, setting, plot are all fantastic. Every event, statement, and conflict is nuanced. I was impressed by the characters: not one was flatly drawn and most were interesting. It may be the finest 'immigrant narrative' novels I've ever read. This is easily on par with Mordecai Richler's best and best-known works, but this has a far, far more subdued tone. This fine novel was not particularly cynical, grand, or hilarious – just unnervingly realistic, and I have no criticisms about it at all. It took me a while to get into it, but half-way in I was fully engaged because all the elements are present and masterfully executed.

There are many beautiful angles to this book: plenty of brutally apparent allusions to be found (unless you've forgotten your roots or are drunk on postmodernism), a lively bittersweet plot (unless you like a more digestible or agreeable offering), characters written with astounding insight (unless you like your characters action packed, sexed up, and impossible)... I'll not get carried away. This book offers much to anyone with the patience and will to read it carefully. I think it's a stupid expression in the context of literature, but I savored this read. I could've easily read on beyond where it ended.

To think I might have missed out on this one if a certain bookseller hadn't recommended it. Crazy, and a sin it gathered as much dust as it did before I gave it an honest go.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving story of Jewish immigrant life in early 20th-century Canada. This narrative of a family struggling to adapt to life in a strange country moves through generations toward its violent and tragic conclusion. The Sacrifice is a mesmerizing novel. Winner of the Governor General's Award in 1956.

[Mark Edlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction - my 1950's fiction choice. Abraham and Sarah flee an unnamed Eastern European country in the late 1920's after two of their sons are killed in a pogrom. They land in Canada and try to build another life for themselves and their remaining son, Isaac. An interesting story of faith, trauma and misunderstandings weave the well drawn characters together. The ending was quite a surprise.
No pharmacy references.
Canadian references - although a city is never named it is set in Canada.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1956 Wiseman would have been 28 years old. If you read this through the lens of Canadian life in 1956, it is brilliant. One of the first novels about Jewish life in Canada described by the Jewish Women’s Archive as "writing in the shadow of the Holocaust.”

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wiseman's characters are so very vivid. Love her narrative style.

[Theresa Kulenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets bogged down in dialogue near the end. Given the nature of the story, that is where it should have picked up pace. All in all an impressive read.

[Michelle Robert]

DNF p.199 read for class

[junosdaughter · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the debut novel of a 25 year old… insane! exquisite prose, smooth storytelling, intricate character work, it’s just a really good book! 4.5 stars.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't get it. Maybe I'm not meant to get it. This is supposed to be a classic, but honestly, it's not there for me. It's slow, devoid of any compelling action, and depressing. It is worthy of noting that the characters are very intimately described, and I consider this the one positive aspect of the novel. There's a great deal of detail as far as character building and development is concerned. The plot, however, is excruciatingly slow. The ending is also anticlimactic. One could consider the actions of Abraham in the end should have been the climax of the novel, but really, the whole thing was rather flat.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disjointed read. I couldn't even finish reading this book, which I felt bad about because it was a selection for my book club. I was actually quited interested in reading it initially as I live in Winnipeg and thought the topic was relevant and would bring some insight around the lives of Jewish immigrants in north end Winnipeg. I think if the novel had been written like a story instead of jumping all over the place, it would have been enjoyable and held the reader's attention.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some adult content. I never really connected with this one. A novel that is set in a kind of quasi-Winnipeg. The main character is about as likeable as Alex in Under the Ribs of Death, which is to say, not very likeable.

[Sharon Plett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took me forever to finish. I really liked Wiseman's writing style, but I was not motivated to move forward in the novel to find out what would become of Abram and Isaac. I really wanted to like the novel, but it just didn't ever really happen.

[Jennice Yang]

The summary of the book is wrong. It's nothing similar to the story. people who rated should have noticed it too. The story is about a Jewish immigrant.

[Jen Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't expect that twist.