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Escape from Mount Moriah: Memoirs of a Refugee Child's Triumph
The adventures of 'Tom Sawyer' with an ironic, Yiddish twist."
WINNER -- 2001 MPA -- "Excellence In Independent Publishing" Award.
OFFICIAL Selection CANNES Film Festival 2011 for this memoir's first short story, My Father, Joe...filmed by Nikila Cole.
The adventurous, humorous, sometimes wonderfully strange exploits of a youth during his family's adjustment to a new world, these compelling boyhood memories are of an almost Tom Sawyer character, albeit with ironic Yiddish twist.
"All the short stories within this memoir illuminate and pack a wallop. They sparkle and shine in Engelhard’s unique minimalist style…prose that is lean, reserved and economical…if there is one word to describe Engelhard’s writing, I’d choose CHARM. What a gift to those of us who understand the trials and triumphs of growing up. Escape From Mount Moriah…the finest, perhaps the greatest memoir I have ever read." Reviewer S. Dite
WINNER -- 2001 MPA -- "Excellence In Independent Publishing" Award.
OFFICIAL Selection CANNES Film Festival 2011 for this memoir's first short story, My Father, Joe...filmed by Nikila Cole.
The adventurous, humorous, sometimes wonderfully strange exploits of a youth during his family's adjustment to a new world, these compelling boyhood memories are of an almost Tom Sawyer character, albeit with ironic Yiddish twist.
"All the short stories within this memoir illuminate and pack a wallop. They sparkle and shine in Engelhard’s unique minimalist style…prose that is lean, reserved and economical…if there is one word to describe Engelhard’s writing, I’d choose CHARM. What a gift to those of us who understand the trials and triumphs of growing up. Escape From Mount Moriah…the finest, perhaps the greatest memoir I have ever read." Reviewer S. Dite
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2000
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219 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 30, 2018
I enjoyed reading this little book about a family survival during the Holocaust. There were some sad little stories but they made sense and it was not all about how Hitler did this and that.. it was more of the memories of a young child watching his parents survive and show strength and live with hope of a better world. His dad was an amazing man. I think we should all see our parents and learn from them. How they lived and made a better world for us. I will recommend this book to anyone wanting to know the insides of a great family life. This too shall pass.
August 23, 2022
It just didn't capture my attention enough.
December 7, 2012
How this book ever received such accolades as "Like Tom Sawyer but with an ironic Yiddish twist" or akin to the likes of Earnest Hemingway, I will never know. But I can say, Tom Sawyer and Earnest Hemingway it is most assuredly is not!
The only way I can describe it is as if you were reading really bad British humor. Eighteen promising story's, but with a buildup the size of a molehill instead of a mountain and a let down deeper than the Grand Canyon, disappointment is all these stories will bring you. Not to mention the lack of explanation with the hundreds of Yiddish terms used, make understanding it nearly impossible ad well. And this is coming from someone who actually lived in Israel for almost two years and speaks a bit of Hebrew and Yiddish herself.
I still do not see how it was written by the same author as Indecent Proposal. As a free book it is worth drawing your own conclusion on. But I would not pay for it. And likewise, if after the first three chapters/stories you are like me and do not see the point of the book, stop reading right then and there. I stuck it out to the end of this short book hoping it would get better but it never did; its only redemptive quality is the authors closing statements of what might or might not be left for this current generation.
The only way I can describe it is as if you were reading really bad British humor. Eighteen promising story's, but with a buildup the size of a molehill instead of a mountain and a let down deeper than the Grand Canyon, disappointment is all these stories will bring you. Not to mention the lack of explanation with the hundreds of Yiddish terms used, make understanding it nearly impossible ad well. And this is coming from someone who actually lived in Israel for almost two years and speaks a bit of Hebrew and Yiddish herself.
I still do not see how it was written by the same author as Indecent Proposal. As a free book it is worth drawing your own conclusion on. But I would not pay for it. And likewise, if after the first three chapters/stories you are like me and do not see the point of the book, stop reading right then and there. I stuck it out to the end of this short book hoping it would get better but it never did; its only redemptive quality is the authors closing statements of what might or might not be left for this current generation.
February 10, 2016
"The adventures of 'Tom Sawyer' with an ironic, Yiddish twist." WINNER -- 2001 MPA -- "Excellence In Independent Publishing" Award The adventurous, humorous, sometimes wonderfully strange exploits of a youth during his family's adjustment to a new world, these compelling boyhood memories are of an almost Tom Swayer character, albeit with ironic Yiddish twists. Fleeing from the Nazi invasion of France, the Engelhards, a proud and wealthy family, are forced to adjust to life as common refugees in Canada. Highlighted by a youth's adventures as his eyes open up to his new world, the eighteen compelling short stories combine both the urgency of the family's circumstances with the ironic side of trying to fit into a new culture. With themes of humiliation, intimidation, and alienation, this powerful bo
ok illustrates how the Holocaust did not end in 1945, but continued to reverberate through successive decades, even until the present day.
ok illustrates how the Holocaust did not end in 1945, but continued to reverberate through successive decades, even until the present day.
February 28, 2015
I wish history would be taught with books like Escape from Mount Moriah. In times like these when so many focus only on Klout scores, numbers, and data, Jack shows us the value of keeping history alive. He does it with ease. Escape from Mount Moriah is a riveting read; I read it cover to cover, not even interrupting for a second cup of coffee.
Jack has mastered the art of expressing what others have said with many words. In his chapter NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING he has his father ask the question:
"Do you want order?" "Or truth?" Usually, they wanted order.
George Orwell would have been impressed.
My favorite story is I RESIGN. It is about the choice between two words: resign vs. quit. And with it Jack says it all: It is our state of mind and our deliberate choice of words that make us who we are.
Thank you, Jack, for this masterpiece.
Jack has mastered the art of expressing what others have said with many words. In his chapter NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING he has his father ask the question:
"Do you want order?" "Or truth?" Usually, they wanted order.
George Orwell would have been impressed.
My favorite story is I RESIGN. It is about the choice between two words: resign vs. quit. And with it Jack says it all: It is our state of mind and our deliberate choice of words that make us who we are.
Thank you, Jack, for this masterpiece.
February 28, 2015
I wish history would be taught with books like Escape from Mount Moriah. In times like these when so many focus only on Klout scores, numbers, and data, Jack shows us the value of keeping history alive. He does it with ease. Escape from Mount Moriah is a riveting read; I read it cover to cover, not even interrupting for a second cup of coffee.
Jack has mastered the art of expressing what others have said with many words. In his chapter NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING he has his father ask the question:
"Do you want order?" "Or truth?" Usually, they wanted order.
George Orwell would have been impressed.
My favorite story is I RESIGN. It is about the choice between two words: resign vs. quit. And with it Jack says it all: It is our state of mind and our deliberate choice of words that make us who we are.
Thank you, Jack, for this masterpiece.
Jack has mastered the art of expressing what others have said with many words. In his chapter NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING he has his father ask the question:
"Do you want order?" "Or truth?" Usually, they wanted order.
George Orwell would have been impressed.
My favorite story is I RESIGN. It is about the choice between two words: resign vs. quit. And with it Jack says it all: It is our state of mind and our deliberate choice of words that make us who we are.
Thank you, Jack, for this masterpiece.
October 8, 2014
Perfect, lucid, heartbreaking little memoir composed of vignettes where the narrator is a young boy learning about life as an expatriate Jew in Montreal, Canada. As if that premise weren't enough, the language is clean, crisp, and precise, without sacrificing any of its beauty.
The stories are short and a world unto themselves and, among other things, show the unfortunate pettiness of WWII survivors who have been marked by their experiences and grab at any opportunity to get some revenge.
This book is dripping with nostalgia, grace and charm. The only bad thing about it is that it isn't longer.
Shocking fact: Engelhard also wrote "Indecent Proposal" (yes, the one that made it to the movies with Demi Moore and Robert Redford).
The stories are short and a world unto themselves and, among other things, show the unfortunate pettiness of WWII survivors who have been marked by their experiences and grab at any opportunity to get some revenge.
This book is dripping with nostalgia, grace and charm. The only bad thing about it is that it isn't longer.
Shocking fact: Engelhard also wrote "Indecent Proposal" (yes, the one that made it to the movies with Demi Moore and Robert Redford).
March 7, 2013
This is a series of mostly unconnected anecdotes. There aren't enough of them to really form a full story of his life, and few of them were even particularly important events. Just silly things that happened to him.
They were written simply and straightforwardly, which made them fun and quick to read. So, taken as silly little stories, the collection was good. Taken as anything more, it was lacking.
They were written simply and straightforwardly, which made them fun and quick to read. So, taken as silly little stories, the collection was good. Taken as anything more, it was lacking.
July 30, 2012
This was a VERY quick but wonderful read on the trials and tribulations of Jewishness in a new world both during and immediately following the second World War. My only qualm was that I wish this was longer - I would have loved to see more of Engelhard's parents, who reminded me so much of my own, and made me wonder if every Jewish child doesn't come from the same mother and father.
April 28, 2012
This is a book consisting of 18 short glimpses into the life of this young boy. I wasn't sure from the information that I looked at whether they were true or fictional. Either way they were very good. It was worth the read.
May 22, 2012
Quick read, but strangely written. Not the best book.
February 24, 2013
Quick read. Enjoyable. Series of vignettes. Kindle edition numerous typos in last couple stories.
February 9, 2014
Getting to know Jack Engelhard
after reading some of his books with more waiting to be read, I enjoyed reading his recollections of his childhood as an immigrant Jew in Montreal.
after reading some of his books with more waiting to be read, I enjoyed reading his recollections of his childhood as an immigrant Jew in Montreal.
Want to read
April 25, 2012$0.0
September 22, 2012
What a way to tell a story. It is told in only 18th stories but portrays such a lifetime.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews