David Herman

David Herman is the JC’s chief fiction reviewer

Latest from David Herman

books

Do opportunities knock twice in life? Two men who might just know

In which I admire a literary critic and psychoanalyst’s work

2 min read

Do opportunities knock twice in life? Two men who might just know

‘Kafka was deeply interested in many aspects of his Jewishness, including the then new Zionist movement’

4 min read

Book review: Reassessing Kafka 100 years on

4 min read

Literary sorcerer focused on the instability of life

1 min read

Knife by Salman Rushdie, review: What about the other victims of the new fundamentalism?

This book is a deeply moving account of a devastating attack and its consequences, but it is also guilty of sins of omission

2 min read

April 26, 2024 15:33

Knife by Salman Rushdie, review: What about the other victims of the new fundamentalism?

My father risked his life making fun of Hitler

The defiance of a Jewish artist and poet in hiding in wartime Holland is explored in a deeply moving new exhibition in the German capital

5 min read

April 4, 2024 17:36

My father risked his life making fun of Hitler

How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

This is an extraordinary collection of essays about some extraordinary emigré artists and writers

2 min read

March 12, 2024 19:15

How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

These books about hate are already out of date

David Herman finds much of interest in two timely essay collections about antisemitism — but why is there so little emphasis on Iran or immigration?

4 min read

February 8, 2024 16:20

Protesters hold placards during a demonstration to protest against antisemitism, in central London on November 26, 2023 (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

What Will Survive of Us by Howard Jacobson review: How smart word play can conceal an inner emptiness

David Herman relishes the comic energy of Jacobson’s new novel

2 min read

February 1, 2024 17:05

Man Booker Prize-winning novelist and journalist Howard Jacobson. Photo: John Nguyen/JNVisual

The details of concentration camp life are brought to terrifying life

David Herman pays homage to an unforgettable Holocaust memoir

2 min read

January 19, 2024 11:47

The details of concentration camp life are brought to terrifying life

Amos Oz: Writer, Activist, Icon review: Getting personal with a literary giant

David Herman applauds a memoir that examines the life of Amos Oz

2 min read

December 14, 2023 18:21

Arad, ISRAEL: (FILES)-Israeli writer and peace activist Amos Oz posses 26 February 2007 at his home in Arad in southern Israel. Israeli writer Amos Oz has been awarded Spain's high-prestige Prince of Asturias award for literature, organisers said 27 June 2007. Oz was born in 1939 in Jerusalem. AFP PHOTO/RELI AVRAHAMI-ISRAEL OUT (Photo credit should read RELI AVRAHAMI/AFP via Getty Images)

Obituary: Tobias Hill

British poet and novelist inspired by London’s immigrant life

2 min read

November 16, 2023 14:30

The Book of Paradise review: Moonlit nights, pious Jews and demons

Poet Itzik Manger creates in prose a biblical fantasia, full of references to King David, Solomon and the Psalms

1 min read

September 22, 2023 12:04

The Book of Paradise review: Moonlit nights, pious Jews and demons

The House of Love and Prayer and Other Stories review - Dark tales of Orthodox life with a feminist twist

Powerfully told dark stories should help author break through to a new British audience

2 min read

July 27, 2023 15:12

The House of Love and Prayer and Other Stories review - Dark tales of Orthodox life with a feminist twist

Isaiah Berlin: A Life review - A fine account intellectual's Jewishness and Englishness

This is a fine account of one of Britain’s greatest Jewish intellectuals of the 20th century

1 min read

July 21, 2023 08:44

Philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909 - 1997, standing) chairing a 'musical discussion' at the Bath International Music Festival, 4th June 1959. On the panel are (left to right) violinist, Yehudi Menuhin (1916 - 1999), composer and writer, Nicolas Nabokov (1903 - 1978), Berlin, and music critic and BBC Controller of Music, William Glock (1908 - 2000). The event was organised by Menuhin in his first year as the festival's director. (Photo by Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Cameraman review: Suspense in short supply in evocation of the Thirties

The English Passengers novelist returns with a disappointingly flat story about a cinematographer on a tour of fascist Europe

1 min read

June 15, 2023 16:29

The Cameraman review: Suspense in short supply in evocation of the Thirties

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David Herman

Latest from David Herman

Do opportunities knock twice in life? Two men who might just know

‘Kafka was deeply interested in many aspects of his Jewishness, including the then new Zionist movement’

Book review: Reassessing Kafka 100 years on

Literary sorcerer focused on the instability of life

More from David Herman

Knife by Salman Rushdie, review: What about the other victims of the new fundamentalism?

My father risked his life making fun of Hitler

How Jewish refugees changed British childhood

These books about hate are already out of date

What Will Survive of Us by Howard Jacobson review: How smart word play can conceal an inner emptiness

The details of concentration camp life are brought to terrifying life

Amos Oz: Writer, Activist, Icon review: Getting personal with a literary giant

Obituary: Tobias Hill

The Book of Paradise review: Moonlit nights, pious Jews and demons

The House of Love and Prayer and Other Stories review - Dark tales of Orthodox life with a feminist twist

Isaiah Berlin: A Life review - A fine account intellectual's Jewishness and Englishness

The Cameraman review: Suspense in short supply in evocation of the Thirties