I don't know why I waited so long to read Mordecai Richler's The
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. This is a work of genius.
From a literary perspective, Richler's style is relentless,
employing very little environmental description, choosing instead
dialogue that scintillates. He cements plot with sharp, keen
characters, an elegantly simplistic language. There isn't a scene,
a phrase, a word out of place here.
From an entertainment perspective this a rocketing good read, with
a beginning that seems slow to start and then suddenly launches off
into the nervous, fidgeting, finagling world of huckster-Duddy. You
detest his crass and insouciant behaviour. You weep for him when
his tender underbelly is revealed. You are right there in the seedy
world of 1950s Montreal.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz will now have a place in our
permanent library here at The Old Stone House.