Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah (or however you spell it) started at sundown on Sunday, so it overlaps Christmas this year. Winter officially begins on the East Coast shortly before five p.m.  I talked about Hanukkah in the past.  Still haven't found a good adult book covering all the bases.

It has various meanings (saw a good PBS documentary about it once), including as a cultural event in a Christian nation. One Jewish trans woman (with Orthodox origins) noted it is an LGBTQ-type holiday, about honoring who you are, including against attack.  The origins (Macabbees and all that) have a bit of extremism mixed in with the defense of Jewish traditions.  

Some might think it is overdone as a "Jewish Christmas," but there is a mixture of things there depending on the person and family involved.  That discussion referenced a recent Hallmark film that received some good reviews (Hannukah On Rye), Hallmark (and others I suppose) mixing in a few Hannukah films this time of year.  Many of those films are not great; so maybe, give a bit of a forgiving eye to the much smaller sample size.   

A bit on the "eight days of Hanukkah" film cited.  I checked it out a second time and again did not really get into the story, finding the guy, in particular, a bit annoying.  But, the "Hanukkah presents" bit?  Why not?  The scene had repeated Jewish references, so it had that covered (family celebration).  People say "Christmas presents" too, right?  And, the person who said that was a girl who before was talking to a non-Jew about certain Hanukkah facts.  So "Hanukkah" was sort of on the girl's mind.  

The side panel has a little bio of Hannah Arendt, who in part is famous for her account of the Eichmann Trial.  I could not get into the actual book though the introduction to my copy was interesting.  It was from a Jewish writer and was somewhat critical.  

Deborah Lipstadt's interesting account of the trial includes a more critical account (the introduction argued the most open to criticism alleged "self-loathing Jew" material was only a small part of the book; she suggests it is a bit more than that) near the end.  She does provide a balanced take, noting various good aspects of the book.  I liked the first two-thirds of Lipstadt's book -- the part focused on Eichmann and the trial -- better, at any rate.  

I also saw an amusing children's book in the library, The Eight Knights of Hanukkah.  (Prime "get it?!" material.)  

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I also found a good young adult book, The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls.  The book is set in 1919 Britain, a nineteen-year-old returning to her family for the holidays.  She needs to address the fact that the supposed missing (dead?) father of her baby is back.  

The father was missing in action when she (unmarried) found out she was pregnant and the baby was "adopted" (though that didn't exist in the U.K. until the 1920s) by her own mother, whose youngest child died a few days after childbirth.  This collection of reviews is interesting.  

The book, like many YA volumes, is well-written and not only for teens.  I had a bit of "okay, you are just delaying the reveal" at some point. Nonetheless, I had a good feel of the era, including through the eyes of her brother, who has not been able to move on from the war.  

The book is in the voice of one character ("the pretty one" in a family of plain girls) but through her, we get a decent understanding of various other characters.  This helps to add interest.  I understand one critic that notes the plot is a bit standard on some level (no great surprises) but overall think it was a good portrayal.