Julia Ain-Krupa's Books

The Upright Heart

A Novel

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

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Stylistic virtuosity, penetrating emotional power, and a post-apocalyptic vision . . . a brilliant literary achievement. . . . Julia Ain-Krupa gives us something luminous." — Philip K. Jason, Jewish Book Council The Upright Heart chronicles the return from Brooklyn of a Jewish man, Wolf, to his native Poland soon after World War II. He is haunted by the memory of his Catholic lover, Olga, whom he abandoned to marry a woman of his own faith and start a new life in America, and who perished sheltering the parents and younger sister he left behind. Harassed on the streets of postwar Poland, Wolf is watched over by the spirits of those who died during and after the war but have yet to let go. His story is woven together with those of others, living and dead, Catholic and Jew, including the deceased students of a school for girls, a battalion of fallen German soldiers, and an orphan boy who wanders the streets of Krakow, believing in a magic pill he has conjured up as a way to survive. Set amid the ruins of the Holocaust and the Nazis' total war, this haunting novel is at once a page-turning drama and a meditation on what it means to be human, part of a community, alive. The Upright Heart's dreamlike qualities and fluent lyricism draw the reader toward a consecrated realm, while its narrative force guides the story into the present, where survivors and their children, beset by the devastations of the past, struggle alongside the dead to perceive and appreciate the beauty of that which remains and that which might yet be. From the Trade Paperback edition.

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177

Publisher

New Europe Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0990004392

ISBN 13

9780990004394

Roman Polanski

A Life in Exile

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

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Roman Polanski

A Life in Exile

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

This book offers an examination of the films of Roman Polanski, focusing on the impact that his life as an exile has had upon his work. Roman Polanski: A Life in Exile is a revealing look at this acclaimed filmmaker whose life in exile seems to have made his films all the more personal and powerful. Written by a film critic, this insightful book follows Polanski's story from his childhood in a World War II Jewish ghetto to his early films in Poland; from his American breakout, Rosemary's Baby, to his wife's murder by the Manson family; from the spectacular return of Chinatown, to his exile as a convicted sex criminal, to the monumental career peak, The Pianist. The Holocaust, the oppression of communism, the shattering of the swinging 60s, the decadence of Hollywood, the life of a fugitive—Polanski experienced all of these firsthand, and understanding those experiences provides a fascinating pathway through his work.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0313377812

ISBN 13

9780313377815

The Upright Heart

A Novel

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Upright Heart

A Novel

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

The Upright Heart chronicles the return from Brooklyn of a Jewish man, Wolf, to his native Poland soon after World War II. He is haunted by the memory of his Catholic lover, Olga, whom he abandoned to marry a woman of his own faith and start a new life in America, and who perished sheltering the parents and younger sister he left behind. Harassed on the streets of postwar Poland, Wolf is watched over by the spirits of those who died during and after the war but have yet to let go. His story is woven together with those of others, living and dead, Catholic and Jew, including the deceased students of a school for girls, a battalion of fallen German soldiers, and an orphan boy who wanders the streets of Krakow, believing in a magic pill he has conjured up as a way to survive. Set amid the ruins of the Holocaust and the Nazis' total war, this haunting novel is at once a page-turning drama and a meditation on what it means to be human, part of a community, alive. The Upright Heart's dreamlike qualities and fluent lyricism draw the reader toward a consecrated realm, while its narrative force guides the story into the present, where survivors and their children, beset by the devastations of the past, struggle alongside the dead to perceive and appreciate the beauty of that which remains and that which might yet be. Julia Ain-Krupa is the author of Roman Polanski: A Life in Exile (Praeger, 2010). She was born and raised in New York City, and spent her early years in Krakow, Poland. In 2012, she received a creative writing Fulbright scholarship to Poland, where this novel was conceived. She lives in Tel Aviv and New York City. "Stylistic virtuosity, penetrating emotional power, and a post-apocalyptic vision ... a brilliant literary achievement... . Julia Ain-Krupa gives us something luminous." --Philip K. Jason, Jewish Book Council "The Upright Heart is unlike anything I have ever read. It is hard for me to put into words how it is remarkable because, in surprising ways, this book exists in a place beyond words. It takes place in Poland. It is a family saga, a ghost story, and a perfect love story. World War II is the sinkhole around which the characters and events revolve, faster and faster-a feeling familiar to those of us who still have nightmares about the Holocaust. At the end of the tunnel are light, and stars, and understanding. I cried constantly while reading it, and remembered again, fleetingly, that life is impossibly precious, that reading is religion; it is one of the best things I've read." --Liana Finck, author of A Bintel Brief: Love and Longing in Old New York "The Upright Heart is a poetic, beautifully written novel that presents, in a moving way, the fates and memories of both Catholics and Jews creating their new reality in post -World War II Poland. The gifted young author shows here an unusually well-tuned sensibility." ⎯Irena Grudzinska Gross, Princeton University

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Page Count

177

Publisher

New and Young Europe Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0990004384

ISBN 13

9780990004387

Roman Polanski

A Life in Exile

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

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Roman Polanski

A Life in Exile

By: Julia Ain-Krupa

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Page Count

297

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 13

9798216140559

Book's by Julia Ain-Krupa

The Upright Heart

The Upright Heart

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

The Upright Heart

The Upright Heart

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

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