Posted on September 10, 2007 by Steve Pollak
Peter Charles Melman was born in New York, raised in Louisiana and now lives in Brooklyn. That pedigree should qualify him as an expert in Jewish street toughs and political corruption.
His debut novel, “Landsman
,” mixes elements of both to produce a yarn that is commendable for a first-time author.
Set during the Civil War, this work of historical fiction follows the travails of a young Confederate soldier, Elias Abrams. Abrams, a good Jewish boy gone bad, enlisted in the Southern cause shortly after participating in the murder and robbery of his father, a wealthy Louisiana man who knew little of his son. Elias, who spent his formative years in an orphanage learning the skills needed for a life of crime and card-playing, had helped plan the gangland attack on his old man.
In war, Elias witnesses death and cruelty like he never saw on the streets of New Orleans. He also experiences hunger, freezing cold and a humiliating torture at the hands of a Union sergeant.
The one bright spot in Elias’ life is his love for Nora Bloom, a young Jewish woman in New Orleans who blindly sends a letter to the Confederate soldier at the behest of her rabbi. Elias hopes to marry her one day if only he can straighten out all the unfinished business he has with the New Orleans police, the Confederate army and his fellow gang members.
The book felt like it could have been about 100 pages shorter. Some of that may be due to Melman’s florid writing style. The plot finally thickens in the second half of the novel but the book suffers from a long set-up in the beginning.
Also, much of Melman’s dialogue is Southern cliché. Consider this passage from a scene where a preacher speaks to a group of young Confederate soldiers shortly after a battle:
“Y’all know,” intones the preacher, his hair and beard as long and white as an egret’s plume, “that the Lord Jesus Christ died for y’all’s sins. Corinthians 15:3 tells y’all so, and y’all, as men of God, have little trouble acceptin’ this as truth. Y’all see His beauty in the smiles of y’all’s children, in the light of their eyes, y’all hear it in their laughter. Y’all see and feel this, and y’all know there is a God. Y’all see this, and y’all know His only son paid for our transgressions.”
I guess Melman wrote this bit for comic effect but it falls flat. I’ve lived in the South for almost a decade and I’ve never heard anyone say “y’all” so many times in one breath.
Peter Charles Melman’s “Landsman: A Novel,” is published by Counterpoint Press ($24.95, 320 pages).