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A Favorite Son (2012)

by Uvi Poznansky(Favorite Author)

4.14 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Picture Books

publisher

Uvi Poznansky

review 1: 3 1/2 starsUvi Poznansky retells the short story of Jacob and Esau, twins at odds from birth. Each a favorite of one parent. One vying for the birthright of the other. It is told by an older Jacob reflecting on his life.The story is short and the writing at times seems lyrical. It gives conversations behind the famous story with more than what we find in the Bible. The characters, however, to me, take on different personalities, but the writer gives no reason for the change. If Poznansky wanted to tell a different story, or even more detailed story, it would have been nice to have "more" detail. I saw no point to the story as it gave no insight. I was always at odds with the time period of the story, high heels with tent dwelling camel riders seemed anachronistic, as did o... morether words and situations given by the Poznansky. The goat coat, a pivotal item in the story, seemed to have two different origins. Rebekah was devious and her character contradictory. Did she care for her husband or not? And why was she portrayed as such?This could have been a better story if it had added something new to a story we all know. Best course of action, if you want to know Jacob and Esau's story, turn to Genesis 25-27.
review 2: One of the most unforgettable images in "A Favorite Son" is the long-sleeved goatskin coat of the narrator's mother. At the beginning, the coat is described as "kept safely in her chest, hidden from the eyes of the world." As the story unfolds, in an effort to protect, conceal, and betray, this treasured coat is ripped to shreds, becoming a vivid symbol of the power struggle tearing this family apart.In "A Favorite Son," Uvi Poznansky engages the readers with the eternal themes that have occupied people's minds since times immemorial. It is a story of complicated family relationships, love, death, vengeance, and betrayal.The first person narrator of the story mesmerizes the readers with his authentic, sincere, and honest voice. Honest despite the ultimate act of deceit he is about to commit. In his own words, "I am bold, fierce, adventurous. I am my father's favorite son." And that is indeed, true, just not in the way it seems on the surface.The narrator's relationships with his blind father, with his twin brother, and with the mother are all complicated in different ways. His love and admiration for the mother is evident at many points in the story, but especially when he describes the mother's treacherous journey from her homeland to the place where they live now, "their wasteland." As the story unfolds, the flawed nature of the first-person narrator becomes more and more evident to the readers. Even his love for his mother acquires new and frightening dimensions."My path was slippery, for a torrent of rain poured down mercilessly upon the earth," says the narrator at one point, and he is not only referring to the physical terrain, but to the state of his mind and his soul. This book encourages the reader to "look directly at yourself facing the pain and the ugly imperfections within." Highly recommended. less

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