Surprising, well-written story well-described by the other reviews.

The narrator's father, a pulpit rabbi, has spent much of his life working on his magnum opus, inspired by his grandfather's journal of a trip to Mesopotamia. This book is one of three stories I've recently come across in which someone devotes much of his life to an old manuscript. [The others are A.N.Wilson's Wise Virgin (1982) and the movie, Footnote (2011).]

Some quotes that I especially liked said by the narrator's father to the narrator:
"This seeking after patterns is nothing more than man's natural yearning to know God. It underlies every pursuit of knowledge." [p. 43]

"Our forefathers, strangely enough---and this I believe is the real root of mankind's problem---originally came not from Kana'an, not from an earthly Jerusalem, but from the far Euphrates with its source in Eden, from an impossibly remote and primordial home. We cannot forget it, or even find it again. I believe this fact has afflicted us to the present day." [p. 163]

After telling the Midrash that explains why the moon is smaller than the sun: "God regretted that He punished the moon and so He set the stars in attendance to appease her." [p. 164] ( )

Stollman's soft musical voice belies the monstrous, inhuman truth lying below the surface. The novel describes the lives of 2 Jewish families in post-WWII Canada; the rabbi of the local congregation, his wife and son, Alexander, and the other, the cantor and his wife. The cantor and his wife are like a second set of parents to Alexander. How do people live normally with a horrendous truth? How far can one go to protect a child from the truth? Is it better for the truth to be released?

Stollman handles language magically to create a word melody filled with the love, agony, psychology and spiritualism inherent in Jewish life.

Excellent and amazing! ( )

this book started out rather slow, but i am glad i continued with it. You want to get into the mind of Alexander and he comes into himself. The references to the Holocaust and its effects on beliefs. Stollman tells a great story with a message that will linger and really make you think. ( )

I initially picked up this book (at the Salvation Army used books section) because on the back cover it had the following evaluation by Rebecca Goldstein (one of my favorite American authors): "The Far Euphrates is a beautiful book. Its radiance is not of the sun but of the moon:delicate, mournful, mysterious". And after having read the book in one sitting, I vehemently agree! I very much enjoyed it, and I felt a somewhat sweet and "fragile" connection to the characters. The main character, Alexander - or Aryeh, is the only son of a Rabbi (educated as a physicist) and a worried and embittered wife. The rest of the world is mainly composed of the Cantor and his wife Berniece, as well as the colorful and tragic figure of Hannalore - the cantor's twin ("sister"). There is also Marla, a very freaky yet strong and captivating presence in Alexander's life. We follow Alexander's narrative as he balances between sanity and mental turmoil, which is described so gently, yet vividly. I really like this "Jewish" book. I had never read much Jewish litterature before; however, after my discovery of Rebecca Goldstein and now Aryeh Lev Stollman, I find myself being drawn towards these unique writings... ( )