My Jerusalem: Secular Adven-
tures in the Holy City, by
Bronwyn Drainie, Doubleday
Canada Ltd., 287 pp., hardcover

PAY CLOSE attention to
the twe words in the title —
“My” and “secular.” —
Bronwyn Drainie’s book on
‘her two-year stay in
Jerusalem is first and fore-
‘most & personal perspective.

‘Although it often provides cul-
“tural and political analysis of that
hotbed of religion and politics —
the. Middle East —- My Jerusalem
“: is really in the league’ of a light-
hearted, travelogue.
When her husband is trans- -
ferred to the Globe and Mail's
Middle East bureau in mid-1991,
Drainie moves with her family to
holiest ‘of cities: Here amidst
poing’ strife she volleys
between:th mle and i oeiee

Soap wet ean in an*
rban‘alchemical stew that'some.

ind adigestible but for others j isa ‘

serious addiction.” . :
‘Drainie is fascinated by the:

fierce duality of the city.— its rau~

-cousness.combined with an ever-":
. present (multiple) spirituality. |
in her first few weeks she is’
jolted‘awake by the early cry of
* the. Moslem muezzin calling the -
“faithful to prayer. Soon after, the |
“morning ‘crackles with ‘the “infer-
‘nal clanging" of Christian’ church .
‘bells. She concludes wryly, “In.
“the religious decibel war, the Tews,
the clear losérs‘in Jerusalein.”

zainie tackles the ‘ ‘archeolog-' ;

’ ical morass” of the holy sites, Pro-
viding historical background ‘and.
the occasional inderhanded :
reniark, She delights in the, strange .
‘juxtaposition of the world’s three
top religions —‘Islam, Judaism
‘and Christianity . -— as they joust
for space in.a patch of holy land.
the size of one city block. ‘

‘With the’ objective eye of the

foreign, agnostic observer-she sees -

the Holy Sepulchre as a “confus-
‘ing and ugly agglomeration of.

-kitschy chapels, statues, stairwells ©

and scaffolding, domes and hang- |
‘ing oil-lamps.”.

_, She admires the world’s pil- -
-grims who care not about the evi-
‘ dence for historical authenticity. .

” They come to reaffirm their faith
and, having fulfilled that mission,
get back on the-bus. - -
Drainie states that she revisits .
these sites throughout her sojourn,
"seeing thern in different “moods
*and manifestations.” And yet, the
. predominant “mood the reader gets
is one of stark and unspiritual
-“geality. Is she unable to listen to
te heartbeat of the faithful?
~The same happens with her
_ treatment of the Arabs and Jews.

« There is plenty of anecdote,
“tossed with bits of history, but in
| the end, the heart is missing. We
are not sure we have been given
the whole picture. Perhaps only
the secular channel was tuned in.
~: Nonetheless, Drainie excels in
her. witty assessments (often
unfair) of Arabs and Jews, includ-
ing their driving habits. .

‘It was always hard enough to
understand who the Palestinians
were, now Drainie informs us that
‘within the Jews themselves there
are numerous subgroups, all

. jostling in this tiny state and often

’ Barbara Black

BOOK REVIEW

clashing at the dinner table. There
are Sephardic (African) Jews, the
Zionists, the God-fearing
Orthodox /taredim, and the
Messianic Jews. Apparently none
of them excel in cuisine for North
American non-Jewish taste buds.
I sincerely enjoyed the first

two-thirds of Jerusalem.

Drainie comes head to head

There is a A strange | tie, an..
ambrosia-tree; known as a
“bookstore” that blooms Books

as flowers and bears Books as.
‘fruits. The taste of the fruit is
Entertainment, the meat of the
fruit is Knowledge, and the juice

of the fruit is Wisdom. One of
- these ambrosia-trees - {tall with

-a strong trunk and the thick:
foliage of a young tree) has been
newly planted-in our North

ie ‘Shore garden lately.

We would sincerely hope
’ that this piece of news could be
‘added to your Christrnas Tree as
a shining ornament: “Readers

; Retreat Bookstore”, which had

been located in Lynn Valley
Centre, for some reason, as you
" nay tecall, closed down in the |
winter of 1992. It has now
‘returned from its retreat, and is
re-opening (its bud: The root of
“chat ambrosia-tres has trans-
ferred to a new fertile place)
with a new name: “Northshore

) Books”.

It is with our determination

“we afe not going to “retreat”

_ anymore. For that reason we
even renamed our bookstore
“Northshore Books”.
Furthermore, this time, with rhe
support of the readers of the
North Shore, we would like to

s make this one the bookstore of
the North Shore area (and

with her own cultural conditioning
in israeli supermarkets and video

-stores,

Her ability to cross between
both cultures allowed her many
opportunities to hear both sides of
the story from a vaciety of people
directly affected by Israeli occu-
pation.

But by the last third of the
book I was hoping for a final,
deeper look behind the various
facades of Jerusalem.

1 was waiting for Drainie to let
down her guard. ~

Does the holiest of cities have
no soul? And in her enthusiasm
she seems to forget the admoni-
tion of her Jewish neighbor:
“Jerusalem is not Israel. Don't
ever forget it, and don’t draw con-
clusions about Israelis from your
lives here in this city.”

beyond). In fact, to have a fine
beokstore in one’s neighbour-
hood is not a matter of choice,
but possibly a matter of chance
'(?) or-luck (2); Whether it is by
‘choice’, ‘chance’, or ‘luck’, now
that we have it, then, let it grow
with care by watering, raking,
‘tending, and etc. '

It is a widely known fact
that the North Shore needs a
good bookstore so that North
Shore residents do not need to
seek out bookstores elsewhere
and borrow the wisdom-
resources of other cities.

As good readers, you may

remember “Readers Retreat
Bookstore” was small in size,
but big in recognition; it was a
high quality bookstore with ~
great selection, and specialized -
in Special Orders. Like its wor-

thy predecessor, this new book- -

store will be of rhat character,
but even better:

This time we have a far
wider space for a wider variety
and wider selection, in a more
central location on the North
Shore, where we can all gather
and share in the mutuai feel-
ings that only Readers have —a
kind of supramundane friend-
ship. You would soon agree
that for a bookstore, this is an
ideal location, quiet and bright
with pleasant surroundings to

Re-Opening: December Ist, 1994,

Police

Station

Lonsdale Ave

“Wednesday, November 23, 1994 -- North Shore News ~ 28

With Riviera” Towels

Our BEST VALUE 100% cotton towel offers strength,
brilliance and softness. Select from 14 decorator colcurs.

be sure. /

Also, as mentioned above,
Books deal with Wisdom,
Knowledge, and

Entertainment; therefore, we |”
believe that Books are more. *:

than just merchandise, in fact,
they may even be “holy mat-.
ter”. Any bookstore that "
upholds this kind of attitude
must be more than just.a mer-"
chandise-selling place: it must

even be like a sanctisary, where ©

Readers and Authors are
respected. We specialize in’
every possible genre, from —

Children’s books to philosophy, :

from Kitchen (Cookbooks,

etc.) to Field (Gardening and —

Nature books), from Romance

(Fiction, Literature} to Ritual

(Religion, Mysticism), from
Ancient Times (Classics, °
History) to the Future
(Science, Science Fiction/
Fantasy), and yes, we will
cover from “A” (Adam) to
“Z" (Zoroaster).

When looking for that spe- ,

cial book, there is no need now
to seek elsewhere: we do

‘indeed specialize in “Special

Orders”.
Finally, being that we are
all too aware of living in a mar-

it oriented world, our policy
6 #! aE ” “ie

(mall, thin), “ a ”, (profit),

Sincerely, .

(formerly known as

RIGHMOND
7800 ALDERBRIDGE WAY
270-3318
BBY/COQ
600-329 NOATH ROAD
936-2722
NORTH VAN.

. 801 MARINE DRIVE
CAPILANO VILLAGE
996-5203
SURREY.
15355 FRASER HIGHWAY
§83-5220:
VANCOUVER
3301 WEST BROADWAY
731-2700

WHITE ROCK .

620 PEMINSULA VILLAGE
SHOPPING CENTRE -

541-2783

By Dundee

at $5.50

“3, (more, much) “gn
(seli}. We would like to exam .
an entrepreneurial effort fora.

certain period of time,to see.
: whether or not it ‘would work:
“We have fixed o our price at’ an

“everyday ‘sale price”. with’ the.
entire stock at 15% off.:, and:
we.carry.newly publish
books 8 only ‘Newly. published:

sh fo thee bookstore \.
like this must be fine. Yes, it will :

' be one. of the finest i in the area,.
‘even a jewel in the: ‘country!

However, whether or not there

‘exists ati ideal bookstore doesn’t t

matter; what ‘ultimately matters ~

_is whether you would like to’

have a good bookstore in your
area, and furthermore, whether °
you would like to have books
around you in your everyday life:: |
that matters. If that is the case," j
then what harm is there in visit-. |
ing “Northshore Books”; ' :
browse about and lend encour- -
agement. We can say with confi-
dence that if you pay usa visit .
once, you won't be able to resist:
a second visit, third, fourth... :
and forth... We would love to.
see our old friends again and
make new ones.

One good. old bookstore i is
reopening after its rejuvenation _
in a much finer form.

Readers Retreat Bookstore) .

PS. There will be no “tea and crumpets” for the opening, but there will be a warm feeling like that of

being around the hearth with friends on a deep winter evening, As everyone would know, any fine
thing does not come without effort and takes time to grow. For this reason, we will not have a so-

called “grand opening”, but a kind of “premiere coming-out” for the newly blossomed this season. of
winter. Shantih (peace) Shantih Shantih! |

140 East 14th Street,

N.Van (1 Block east of Lonsdale).
Tel: 983-9855 Fax: 983-9855