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Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Mordecai



There is a (slightly tenuous) book-ish link here, in that Mordecai is the name of the consumptive Jewish ascetic in George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, who the eponymous hero meets on the way to discovering his true Jewish identity and converting to Judaism. Infact, that's the only other time I've come across the name.

Both Mordec(h)ais share an extraordinary and self-negating commitment to a higher purpose (although the "real" Mordechai actually converted from Judaism to Christianity). Eliot's Mordecai despises worldly things so much he wastes away entirely, and as for the "real" Mordechai, well, 18 years in prison - 9 of them in solitary confinement - is a pretty high price to pay for your anti-nuclear beliefs.

There you are, that's broken my blog duck at least - thanks Nick for honorary membership of the BCB !

Posted by Laurence @ 14:54 GMT
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Boris Vian, L’Écome des Jours, 1947, Translated by Stanley Chapman as 'Froth on the Daydream'1967, 1970, 1988

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Previous Book Club Books

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