Burnt Books

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav and Franz Kafka

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Inspiration & Meditation, Mysticism, Judaism, Spirituality
Cover of the book Burnt Books by Rodger Kamenetz, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rodger Kamenetz ISBN: 9780307379337
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Publication: October 19, 2010
Imprint: Schocken Language: English
Author: Rodger Kamenetz
ISBN: 9780307379337
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: October 19, 2010
Imprint: Schocken
Language: English

Part of the Jewish Encounter series

Rodger Kamenetz, acclaimed author of The Jew in the Lotus, has long been fascinated by the mystical tales of the Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. And for many years he has taught a course in Prague on Franz Kafka. The more he thought about their lives and writings, the more aware he became of unexpected connections between them. Kafka was a secular artist fascinated by Jewish mysticism, and Rabbi Nachman was a religious mystic who used storytelling to reach out to secular Jews. Both men died close to age forty of tuberculosis. Both invented new forms of storytelling that explore the search for meaning in an illogical, unjust world. Both gained prominence with the posthumous publication of their writing. And both left strict instructions at the end of their lives that their unpublished books be burnt.
 
Kamenetz takes his ideas on the road, traveling to Kafka’s birthplace in Prague and participating in the pilgrimage to Uman, the burial site of Rabbi Nachman visited by thousands of Jews every Jewish new year. He discusses the hallucinatory intensity of their visions and offers a rich analysis of Nachman’s and Kafka’s major works, revealing uncanny similarities in the inner lives of these two troubled and beloved figures, whose creative and religious struggles have much to teach us about the significant role played by the imagination in the Jewish spiritual experience.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Part of the Jewish Encounter series

Rodger Kamenetz, acclaimed author of The Jew in the Lotus, has long been fascinated by the mystical tales of the Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. And for many years he has taught a course in Prague on Franz Kafka. The more he thought about their lives and writings, the more aware he became of unexpected connections between them. Kafka was a secular artist fascinated by Jewish mysticism, and Rabbi Nachman was a religious mystic who used storytelling to reach out to secular Jews. Both men died close to age forty of tuberculosis. Both invented new forms of storytelling that explore the search for meaning in an illogical, unjust world. Both gained prominence with the posthumous publication of their writing. And both left strict instructions at the end of their lives that their unpublished books be burnt.
 
Kamenetz takes his ideas on the road, traveling to Kafka’s birthplace in Prague and participating in the pilgrimage to Uman, the burial site of Rabbi Nachman visited by thousands of Jews every Jewish new year. He discusses the hallucinatory intensity of their visions and offers a rich analysis of Nachman’s and Kafka’s major works, revealing uncanny similarities in the inner lives of these two troubled and beloved figures, whose creative and religious struggles have much to teach us about the significant role played by the imagination in the Jewish spiritual experience.

More books from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Cover of the book Literature and the Gods by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Descent by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Wedding Song by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book The Madonna on the Moon by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Black and White and Dead All Over by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Fraud by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Selected Poems by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book The Beauty of the Husband by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Inheritance by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Women Lawyers by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Nowhere Man by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book Hot Property by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book The Commoner by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book I Wish I'd Been There (R) by Rodger Kamenetz
Cover of the book One Day When I Was Lost by Rodger Kamenetz
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy