The Outside World

Rating:
Summary: A World Without Hope
Review: Along with many others, I eagerly anticipated the author's second book, as her first, "The Ladies Auxiliary" was a real jewel.

Despite many positive reviews here and in the mainstream press, "The Outside World" disappoints. Sure, Mirvis gets all the facts and details right,and even chronicles the latest fad in Orthodoxy today -- kids becoming more religious than their parents. But to what end?

Mirvis spends much of the book telling us about her characters, rather than letting them speak for themselves. We never get to see what, exactly, makes Brian eschew his former Modern Orthodox life. We never meet an inspiring Jew or a spiritual personality that embodies even a tiny sliver of joy. For a book about the Orthodox Jewish community, this is strange. In Mirvis's world, everyone is confused, angry, just going through the motions, and worried about what the neighbors will think.

Finally -- Mirvis is bold enough to name some of the communities she takes aim at -- Riverdale, New Rochelle and Flatbush, but for some reason hides behind the fictional Laurelwood, when it is clear she has based her book largely on the New Jersey community of Teaneck. Why she decided to give this community a fictional name is inconsistent and would seem dishonest.

While Mirvis attempts an accurate characterization of the tensions at play in the Orthodox Jewish world, it is at best selective. In Mirvis's world, the trees are forsaken; only the shadows remain.

Rating:
Summary: Bugs in the Broccoli
Review: Anyone who is Orthodox, has become Orthodox, or has a family member who is Orthodox will recognize the externals of the life Tova Mirvis describes, in minute and often charming detail. Unfortunately, her colorful characters are missing the psychological element I find in almost all "frum" (or ultra-Orthodox) people -- a genuine interest in people other than themselves. The people in this book are essentially absorbed in their own feelings, and in their immediate families. They are lacking any feeling for other people, who are bit players in their self revolving lives. Where are the many frum people who care about their larger community, who run charities and volunteer projects, and who take a caring interest in newcomers to their community and welcome them to their homes and Shabbos tables? The bride's mother in this book, Shayna, is a baalas teshuvah who is obsessed with wedding planning. While there are many people in the Orthodox world with secular values, it is unrealistic for a woman described as a baalas teshuva, who chooses to be religious, to be so superficial. Similarly, Tzippy, the bride, is extremely self absorbed and without a real interest in people around her. This is also not true of most frum people I know, who are very interested in helping and doing for others. I'm afraid the characters in this book are imbued with self satisfaction, and like most self satisfied people, they too soon become tiresome company.

Rating:
Summary: The Outside World
Review: Based on favorable reviews, I picked up The Outside World at La Guardia Airport and finished reading it that evening. Recently, I read the book for the second time. I have two criticisms of it. First, on a "stand alone" basis, I felt that the issues (religion vs. modernity, role of religious Jewish women, family relationships) raised in the book were addressed superficially, often with a heavy hand and without any real resolution. Also, while the author clearly attempted to develop real characters, they were "types" rather than people, perhaps with the exception of Tzippy.

Second, I could not help but feel that both plot elements and writing style were similar to Allegra Goodman's "Kaaterskill Falls" and "Paradise Park": Naomi's "vision" in Shul was reminiscent of Sharon's "visions" in "Paradise Park" (also the New Age groups in which Naomi participated were similar to Sharon's and I could imagine Sharon having a seder similar to Naomi's) and the inspiration for Tzippy's decision to pursue a college education was reminiscent of Elizabeth's decision to open a grocery business in "Kaaterskill Falls" (albeit Degas rather than Thomas Cole). But this book was not as nuanced or as layered with meaning as "Kaaterskill Falls" nor did Mirvis have the kind of good-humored affection for her characters that Goodman has for hers.

Rating:
Summary: Orthodox Judaism and the modern world.
Review: Fans of Tova Mirvis's debut novel, "The Ladies Auxiliary," have waited impatiently for "The Outside World," a book about Jewish families in transition. Tzippy Goldman is a woman in her early twenties whose mother pressures her constantly to find a husband and settle down. After suffering through over forty failed dates, Tzippy goes to Israel where, ironically, she meets and falls in love with a man whom she admired as a teenager. The boy whom Tzippy once knew as Bryan Miller has been changed forever by his years of study in Israel. Bryan now wants to be called by his Hebrew name, Baruch, and he is no longer content to be "Modern Orthodox," like his family. He is now a "black hat Jew," following all of the commandments of the Torah to the letter, with no room for compromise. Baruch's parents and sister are uncomfortable with his transformation. They regard him as a self-righteous and condescending young man who no longer even pretends to fit in with their lifestyle.

Mirvis starts off her novel promisingly. She ably describes the many differences among Orthodox Jews that often lead to conflict instead of cooperation and understanding. She also nails the tremendous upheaval that making a lavish wedding causes in a family that cannot afford to pay for such an overdone affair. In addition, Mirvis astutely portrays the friction between parents and children, who often hurt one another without realizing how much pain they are causing.

However, as the book progresses, Mirvis goes off in too many directions. She flits from one troubled character to the next and from one plot line to another, but the various elements do not always mesh. We learn about Baruch's attempt to make it in the business world while retaining his religious fervor, Tzippy's decision to go to college, Tzippy's mother's depression, and her mother-in-law's search for spirituality and meaning in her life. As the narrative becomes more scattered, it becomes less compelling. If Tova Mirvis has written "The Outside World" with a tighter focus, it could have been a richer commentary on the challenges of being an Orthodox Jew in the twenty-first century.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, Not Authentic
Review: I am Orthodox and I just do not find Tova's books to be authentic, though I can see why secular people love her books. Everyone is a cartoon character, and you never find anything resembling a spiritual journey. Not very well-written either in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely novel
Review: I haven't read Tova's first book, but I plan to after just finishing THE OUTSIDE WORLD, one of the warmest and most insightful novels I've read this year. To call her book merely a "Jewish novel" -- though Jewish it certainly is -- doesn't do this story about love, family, tradition and the conflict between the sacred and modern, justice. Tzippy and Baruch's courtship are the foundation upholding a fine cast of characters, each as wonderfully flawed as they are compelling. Mirvis brings a fascinating world to light in these pages; and her description of the Talmud as houses, or Tzippy and Baruch's anxious through-the-glove touching, are as universal as they are eloquent. THE OUTSIDE WORLD is a wonderful novel that should inspire a great deal of discussion about the nature of family and love.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely novel
Review: I haven't read Tova's first book, but I plan to after just finishing THE OUTSIDE WORLD, one of the warmest and most insightful novels I've read this year. To call her book merely a "Jewish novel" -- though Jewish it certainly is -- doesn't do this story about love, family, tradition and the conflict between the sacred and modern, justice. Tzippy and Baruch's courtship are the foundation upholding a fine cast of characters, each as wonderfully flawed as they are compelling. Mirvis brings a fascinating world to light in these pages; and her description of the Talmud as houses, or Tzippy and Baruch's anxious through-the-glove touching, are as universal as they are eloquent. THE OUTSIDE WORLD is a wonderful novel that should inspire a great deal of discussion about the nature of family and love.

Rating:
Summary: Insider's View
Review: I loved this book simply because it captured feelings that I have felt, as an Orthodox Jewish girl in general, and more specifically as one who grew up in a modern Orthodox community like Laurelwood and married someone with a more "ultra-Orthodox" background. Through this book I was able to relive parts of our courtship, engagement, and the early years of our marriage, especially the parts photographs can't capture.

The characters in the book are people that I know. The feelings they feel are real. This is not a book that creates conflict and strife as a literary device as some have hinted, they reflect what those struggling to live Orthodox lives in the modern world actually feel. Each of these characters, though different, experienced feelings that me and others that I know have felt- the desire to fit in in a world where minute distinctions between people are magnified, a yearning for a greater level of spirituality, the desire to fit in with society at large, and the questioning of whether or not God actually cares. Most thinking Orthodox Jews experience this at one point or another.

Tova Mirvis has done a beautiful job of putting my world on paper. If anyone wants insight into the real world of Orthodoxy, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Laugh-Out-Loud-Funny
Review: I loved Tova Mirvis' widely anticipated second novel, The Outside World. With great wit, deep insight, and gentle humor, Mirvis has created a living and breathing cast of characters who invite the reader to share in their touching and often laugh-out-loud funny journeys toward self-realization. The book brilliantly captures the dynamic of parents and children as children mature and begin to establish their own identities.

Quite subtly, and in ways that only good fiction can, the novel presents a commentary on the sexism that often masquerades as religion. Bryan's interactions with his sister Ilana and his mother Naomi offer some of the book's more humorous moments, while highlighting the insidious and varied ways in which men quash women's voices in the name of religion. The novel also grapples with the sexism buried deep within the myth of the nuclear family. Naomi and Shayna, two mothers marrying off their children, are complex characters whose identity crises are brought about by a combination of inner religious conflict, frustrated housewifery and the end of child-rearing. Shayna defers her dreams to her children through whom she lives vicariously. As her daughter Tzippy leaves the home and slowly severs the close connection with her mother, Shayna is thrust into a depression from which only Tzippy can rouse her. Naomi is no less affected by her children's rebellion. Their rejection of her well-researched and carefully planned mothering strategies causes Naomi to question her own identity-an identity circumscribed by her role as their mother.

In short, this is a terrific, funny and insightful book, and a great read.

Rating:
Summary: A Satire of Religious Jewish Life
Review: I read this book as a satire of Orthodox Jewish Life in America. Everything she writes about it is true, but so exagerated! The author knocks both the Boro Park types and the Modern Orthodox equally. I grew up in a Modern Orthodox world and now live in the "black hat" world, and her descriptions are accurate down the last detail, but highlight the most negative aspects of both communities. The majority of people from both communities are committed to Judaism and to their fellow human, not people merely observing the laws from rote with no feeling or spirit.
There are no "heroes" in this novel. Unlike The Ladies Auxillary, where Batsheva was good and everyone else in Memphis portrayed as bad, in this book, each character epitomizes the worst characteristics of the typical stereotypes: Baruch, the insensitive "nouveau frum" son; Joel, who wants to blend in the outside world; Naomi, the spineless peacemaker; Shayna, who cares only about being accepted; Ilana, the rebel; Tzippy, who has no concept about why we are religious; and of course, Hershel, the typical dreamer on the verge of making it big! Of course I know people like these characters, but Tovah Mirvis has drawn a caricature of them, exagerated to bring out the worst. Just as her religious characters in The Ladies Auxillary are missing the spirit, the passion and the dedication to their religion, with the exception of Naomi and Baruch, these characters live it without any idealism or involvement.
The two communities have different values and priorities, but the differences are exagerated as well. They both keep the same Sabbath and holidays, the same laws between fellow human beings, the same basic Kosher laws, the same marriage laws, etc.
The book is extremely well written, and I have a hard time putting it down. Enjoy the book, just remember not to take seriously this portrayal of Orthodox life!