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The Guest List or Chatting with Saul: Jewish family: Modern political, philosophical fiction novel
THE GUEST LIST OR CHATTING WITH SAUL The families of two Jewish brothers, immigrants from Ukraine with opposite political views, are dealing with various family issues on the background of the 2020 US presidential election and the January 6 insurrection.
The daughter of one of the brothers is about to get married to a Christian FBI agent, while the other brother's daughter is dating an African American man. To make matters even more complicated, her younger brother is arguing with his father about his future plans and, he has some other surprises in store.
This genre-defying and thought-provoking novel raises many uncomfortable questions about politics, race relations, human nature, and the systems controlling our lives. It takes a critical look at socialism, capitalism, good and evil, and what makes us tick.
The daughter of one of the brothers is about to get married to a Christian FBI agent, while the other brother's daughter is dating an African American man. To make matters even more complicated, her younger brother is arguing with his father about his future plans and, he has some other surprises in store.
This genre-defying and thought-provoking novel raises many uncomfortable questions about politics, race relations, human nature, and the systems controlling our lives. It takes a critical look at socialism, capitalism, good and evil, and what makes us tick.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2021
7 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 26, 2022
I enjoyed the author’s perceptive details about domestic life and his description of dinnertime spats, all familiar territory to anyone who has survived a family gathering where political opinion becomes part of the menu.
This is a sometimes tender and heartfelt portrayal of contemporary living set in Brooklyn against the hotheaded backdrop of the 2020 U.S. election. As an immediate introduction to the author’s unusual, dialogue-driven style, Chapter One begins with a stern wifey warning for one of the book’s main characters: “I don’t want to hear another word about politics today!”
What you get, of course, is plenty of politics –– barrels of almost non-stop dinner table and living room discourse during an ongoing verbal tennis match between two Jewish Ukrainian immigrant brothers, Saul and Mark, who chat and grouse about everything from the former Soviet Union to interracial marriage, religious intolerance and our current Great American Pastime: the contest between progressive and conservative politics.
If you lean right, meet Mark, the BLM-slamming Republican. If you’re a bright blue lefty, then say hi to Saul, who thinks Republicans are demon seeds. Nevertheless, these two opinionated men, between bites of beef Stroganoff, do indeed care for one another, each wishing the other might one day see the light. Both argumentative characters, loving brothers at their core, feel their sibling is worth saving.
There’s not much traditional physical action or heroics in this novel, but its direct honesty and willingness to talk about uncomfortable and confrontational subjects like interfaith and interracial marriage makes it well-worth reading. Indeed, the central theme of this non-genre effort might be Saul’s opinion that we all waste our precious time on earth when we split into “teams” based on race, language and politics.
“The Guest List” is at once confrontational and celebratory, filled with sometimes amusing metaphoric bickering that eventually moves toward a hopeful conclusion.
This is a sometimes tender and heartfelt portrayal of contemporary living set in Brooklyn against the hotheaded backdrop of the 2020 U.S. election. As an immediate introduction to the author’s unusual, dialogue-driven style, Chapter One begins with a stern wifey warning for one of the book’s main characters: “I don’t want to hear another word about politics today!”
What you get, of course, is plenty of politics –– barrels of almost non-stop dinner table and living room discourse during an ongoing verbal tennis match between two Jewish Ukrainian immigrant brothers, Saul and Mark, who chat and grouse about everything from the former Soviet Union to interracial marriage, religious intolerance and our current Great American Pastime: the contest between progressive and conservative politics.
If you lean right, meet Mark, the BLM-slamming Republican. If you’re a bright blue lefty, then say hi to Saul, who thinks Republicans are demon seeds. Nevertheless, these two opinionated men, between bites of beef Stroganoff, do indeed care for one another, each wishing the other might one day see the light. Both argumentative characters, loving brothers at their core, feel their sibling is worth saving.
There’s not much traditional physical action or heroics in this novel, but its direct honesty and willingness to talk about uncomfortable and confrontational subjects like interfaith and interracial marriage makes it well-worth reading. Indeed, the central theme of this non-genre effort might be Saul’s opinion that we all waste our precious time on earth when we split into “teams” based on race, language and politics.
“The Guest List” is at once confrontational and celebratory, filled with sometimes amusing metaphoric bickering that eventually moves toward a hopeful conclusion.
November 11, 2021
A novel that takes a strong look at family relations, political issues, and racism in the U.S.
Two Jewish brothers who hail from Kiev but resettled in the US are the central characters in this novel, with one being right wing and the other left. Because they are of the same blood one thinks of the two winged bird that must have both to fly. The opposing views of these men are brought forth in their attitudes about whom their children marry and the difficulty of one to accept his children's choices. Like the struggle between Jacob and Esau in the womb, Saul and Mark are at odds much of the time, but know they have a bond created from within.
Politics hold both men tightly in opposing views, but they both come to realize that nothing is worth losing the true importance of life. All this shall pass away, but family, both of blood and of humanity will remain the most necessary dynamic in a happy and rewarding existence.
Read this book. It will make you think.
Two Jewish brothers who hail from Kiev but resettled in the US are the central characters in this novel, with one being right wing and the other left. Because they are of the same blood one thinks of the two winged bird that must have both to fly. The opposing views of these men are brought forth in their attitudes about whom their children marry and the difficulty of one to accept his children's choices. Like the struggle between Jacob and Esau in the womb, Saul and Mark are at odds much of the time, but know they have a bond created from within.
Politics hold both men tightly in opposing views, but they both come to realize that nothing is worth losing the true importance of life. All this shall pass away, but family, both of blood and of humanity will remain the most necessary dynamic in a happy and rewarding existence.
Read this book. It will make you think.
November 11, 2021
Briefly, a story of a wedding amidst a family of two Jewish brothers who have gone different political directions in the New World. They cannot resist digging at each other and are therefore a metaphor for a deeply divided political landscape. The story is wonderful and it's very interesting to get right in the middle of this family. I recommend it!
February 10, 2023
Free-Thinking and Free-Falling with Saul
Saul (the liberal) and Mark (the conservative), two Jewish brothers who have immigrated to the United States from Ukraine, spend all their time together arguing their philosophies on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Saul’s insistence that “Free will is an illusion” doesn’t sit well with his brother, but he remains unfazed and is determined to make his case in a series of family get-togethers. It’s an interesting premise, and Michael Veletsky’s skill at plotting makes this an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. If Saul is right, it means that these brothers were destined to have at it since the Big Bang.
The “free will is an illusion” hypothesis has been around for a while. In earlier iterations it’s been called determinism and predestination – the latter coming to us via the Protestants – John Calvin, in particular. Their spin was that from the beginning of time, God had decided the whole meshugenah – to use a Yiddish phrase. He knew how the whole game of life would play out and left it to us to follow the script.
Regardless of your own take on the subject, it makes for interesting reading. Are we ever really responsible for our actions, then, is the ultimate question, if it’s already been decided and we’re just following some innate programming. Saul and Mark battle on, as they dissect family issues – marrying outside your faith and race, as well as every aspect of modern day history through this lens. If you’ve got an opinion on any issue, you’ll enjoy reading what Saul and Mark have to say about it.
Provocative stuff. Recommended.
Saul (the liberal) and Mark (the conservative), two Jewish brothers who have immigrated to the United States from Ukraine, spend all their time together arguing their philosophies on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Saul’s insistence that “Free will is an illusion” doesn’t sit well with his brother, but he remains unfazed and is determined to make his case in a series of family get-togethers. It’s an interesting premise, and Michael Veletsky’s skill at plotting makes this an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. If Saul is right, it means that these brothers were destined to have at it since the Big Bang.
The “free will is an illusion” hypothesis has been around for a while. In earlier iterations it’s been called determinism and predestination – the latter coming to us via the Protestants – John Calvin, in particular. Their spin was that from the beginning of time, God had decided the whole meshugenah – to use a Yiddish phrase. He knew how the whole game of life would play out and left it to us to follow the script.
Regardless of your own take on the subject, it makes for interesting reading. Are we ever really responsible for our actions, then, is the ultimate question, if it’s already been decided and we’re just following some innate programming. Saul and Mark battle on, as they dissect family issues – marrying outside your faith and race, as well as every aspect of modern day history through this lens. If you’ve got an opinion on any issue, you’ll enjoy reading what Saul and Mark have to say about it.
Provocative stuff. Recommended.
February 18, 2023
The Guest List, Michael Veletsky’s second novel after Conversations With Saul, continues with the same Russian-speaking Ukrainian immigrants, the brothers Saul and Mark, their wives and adult children, as well as their American-born foil, David, the agreeable fiancee of Saul’s daughter. Similarly, the sequel continues the method of delivering a series of lively spoken opinions, especially Saul’s, to forward the plot. Veletsky succeeds in conveying the feel of East-European Jewish socializing among people who love each other, but for whom debate is as natural as food and drink.
All of the liberal and conservative wrangling culminates when the two opposing brothers watch the events of January 6th, 2021 unfold on television, each interpreting the event through his own lens. Is this an example of free will, as the brother Mark believes, or determinism, as Saul thinks? Saul inadvertently makes a good case for his own belief by contrasting the Soviet and American educational systems. Neither system is without flaws. A minor character, Richard, tries to imagine a planned society in which the flaws would be eliminated. But it takes a wedding celebration to invoke a true (but time limited) utopia.
All of the liberal and conservative wrangling culminates when the two opposing brothers watch the events of January 6th, 2021 unfold on television, each interpreting the event through his own lens. Is this an example of free will, as the brother Mark believes, or determinism, as Saul thinks? Saul inadvertently makes a good case for his own belief by contrasting the Soviet and American educational systems. Neither system is without flaws. A minor character, Richard, tries to imagine a planned society in which the flaws would be eliminated. But it takes a wedding celebration to invoke a true (but time limited) utopia.
February 10, 2023
In “The Guest List,” Michael Veletsky spins a laugh-out-loud tale of family relationships.
Saul, a yakking Ukrainian Jewish refugee living in Brooklyn, sees the world as his soapbox and his calling to convince, convert, or coerce everyone who crosses his path into his own political and metaphysical belief system. Unable to take the advice of his long-suffering wife who warns him that people don’t want him to open their eyes, but would rather he close his mouth, Saul has managed to alienate many of their friends and acquaintances. He is at war with his only brother, whose politics are at odds with his own, and every conversation between the two brothers quicky turns into a take-no-prisoners skirmish.
But now Saul’s daughter is getting married. With Saul being on the outs with so many of the people they know, where will they find enough guests to invite to the wedding?
A most enjoyable read!
Saul, a yakking Ukrainian Jewish refugee living in Brooklyn, sees the world as his soapbox and his calling to convince, convert, or coerce everyone who crosses his path into his own political and metaphysical belief system. Unable to take the advice of his long-suffering wife who warns him that people don’t want him to open their eyes, but would rather he close his mouth, Saul has managed to alienate many of their friends and acquaintances. He is at war with his only brother, whose politics are at odds with his own, and every conversation between the two brothers quicky turns into a take-no-prisoners skirmish.
But now Saul’s daughter is getting married. With Saul being on the outs with so many of the people they know, where will they find enough guests to invite to the wedding?
A most enjoyable read!
April 23, 2022
A disappointment!
This novel turned out to be a political diatribe with very little family personalities emerging other than the two Jewish brothers, Mark and Saul.
This novel turned out to be a political diatribe with very little family personalities emerging other than the two Jewish brothers, Mark and Saul.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews