The Conversion Book

At the start of Aharon Appelfeld's 12th novel, The Conversion, Karl Hüber has just converted to Christianity. Now in his 30s and never happily identified as a Jew, Karl isn't exactly a true believer in the Christian Trinity either. He has converted only in order to strengthen his chances for promotion within the civil service. The place is Austria, the time pre-World War II. Most of Karl's high-school friends converted long ago; and all through her final illness his mother urged him, "If your career requires you to convert, do it. I won't be angry with you. A person has to advance. Without advancement, there is no purpose or meaning to life." In due course he gets his desired position. But when a proposal to demolish the Jewish shops in the city center comes before the city government, Karl finds himself cast as Defender of the Jews. In fighting for fair compensation for the shopkeepers, he finds himself valuing his people and heritage as he never did before. Profoundly intertwined with these dramas is the story of his blossoming love for Gloria, an older, Christian-born woman who has lived with his family since he was a boy and she a teenager. Her unofficial but deeply felt conversion to Judaism is to tragically mirror Karl's own hollow abandonment of his faith. In Karl and Gloria's world, as everywhere in Appelfeld's dark fables, the move away from tradition, community, and belief is the first step on a path that will inexorably lead to violence and death. --Daniel HintzscheRead More