The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was probably my third time through this novel, although I didn’t read it in high school like so many other Canadian kids. I was prompted for this reread by the Books on Film presentation of the digitally-remastered copy of the film that was recently completed.

I love everything of Richler’s that I’ve read, probably most of his canon. In this case, he writes what he knows: Jewish life in the St. Urbain neighbourhood in Montreal. He portrays a young man seeking, ultimately, the approval of his grandfather, whose advice is that “a man without land is nothing”.

Highly recommended.

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