The Gates of November

The Gates of November
by Chaim Potok, Leonid Slepak, Vladimir Slepak, Alexander Slepak, Maria Slepak

The Gates of November
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Book Summary Information

Author: Alexander Slepak, Chaim Potok, Leonid Slepak, Maria Slepak, Vladimir Slepak
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-09-08
ISBN: 044991240X
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Ballantine Books

Book Reviews of The Gates of November

Book Review: FROM BOLSHEVIK TO "REFUSEDNIK" IN TWO GENERATIONS
Summary: 5 Stars

The paterfamilias of the Slepak family is "The Old Bolshevik," Solomon. He comes on the scene in the very early years of the Russian Revolution as an avid revolutionary. Even though he is Jewish, and Jews are looked on as part of the "internationalist" enemies, he rises high in the Communist hierarchy and somehow manages to survive all of the Stalinist purges. No one knows quite why, but he is, arguably, the highest ranking of the original revolutionaries except, of course, Stalin, himself, to do so. No matter what horrors are the responsibility of Stalin or his successors, Solomon always believes that they are necessary aspects of "The Revolution." Even when he and his family suffer from these excesses, he retains his faith in his leaders and their actions. In fact, when Stalin is denounced after his death, Solomon's attitude is that Stalin did what was necesary during his time, and the later leaders are now doing what must be done now. Like so many zealots, even those of the present time, he believes that whatever is done in the name of the cause is right.

For purposes of this family history, this belief comes to a head when he, for all purposes, disowns his son, Volodya, for wanting to emigrate out of the U.S.S.R. to Israel.

The government, using as an excuse that Volodya has worked in a field where he "knows secrets," refuses him permission to leave. Volodya and his wife, Masha, become activists, working on behalf of those Jews refused permission to emigrate. Because of these activities, Volodya loses one job after another, is exiled to an unliveable part of Siberia for five years, and is frequently imprisoned. All of this does serious damage to his health, but he perseveres. By these actions, he gains international fame and is partially responsible for thousands of other Jews being allowed to exit, even though he is still denied an exit visa.

Potok's book vividly describes the horrors of these years, and serves as both a family chronicle and a history of the Jewish people in Russia, ranging from the horrors suffered under the Tsars, to the further horrors suffered under the followers of Lenin.

In many ways this book is a history of the abuses that accompany absolute power and those that go along with rule by zealots of any persuasion.

As an aside, _THE GATES OF NOVEMBER_ does end on a high note. Volodya and Masha are finally allowed to leave, and do live out their lives in freedom.

Summary of The Gates of November

"REMARKABLE . . . A WONDERFUL STORY."
--The Boston Globe

The father is a high-ranking Communist officer, a Jew who survived Stalin's purges. The son is a "refusenik," who risked his life and happiness to protest everything his father held dear. Now, Chaim Potok, beloved author of the award-winning novels The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev, unfolds the gripping true story of a father, a son, and a conflict that spans Soviet history. Drawing on taped interviews and his harrowing visits to Russia, Potok traces the public and privates lives of the Slepak family: Their passions and ideologies, their struggles to reconcile their identities as Russians and as Jews, their willingness to fight--and die--for diametrically opposed political beliefs.

"[A] vivid account . . . [Potok] brings a novelist's passion and eye for detail to a gripping story that possesses many of the elements of fiction--except that it's all too true."
--San Francisco Chronicle
Potok, well known for his novels of Jewish family life such as The Chosen, turns to nonfiction in The Gates of November, a wrenching family chronicle with a riveting historical undercurrent. The story of the family patriarch, Solomon Slepak, spans most of the book: ignoring his mother's wish that he become a rabbi, Slepak emigrated at 13 to America, became a Marxist in New York, returned to fight in the Russian Revolution, and rose to prominence within the Communist Party. But while Solomon remained a convinced Bolshevik, his son Volodya rejected socialism when anti-Semitism emerged during Stalin's era. Disowned by his father, Volodya was later exiled to Siberia as a dissident. The story of the Slepaks is simultaneously the story of Soviet Jewry and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.

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