the apprenticeship of duddy kravitz by mordecai richler

I think Richler created a fascinating (realistic, albeit despicable) character here in Duddy. Duddy’s particular obsession is, as Lale mentioned, this phrase that “a man without land is nobody”.

This is a story about ambition run amok! A precocious upstart trying to satiate his obsessive perception of “success”. He is one of the most clearly developed characters I’ve ever read about, and his ruthlessness reminds me of Steerpike in Mervyn Peake’s trilogy entitled Ghormenghast (a totally different genre). I am still fascinated by Duddy’s “apprenticeship”. I also tended to read this book at breakneck speed… it seemed that once I started it I found it difficult to put aside for too long. Yes, anatomy is definitely the big killer! We eat bread and it comes out toasted! How he cuddled up to Lenny during the night they spent in Toronto. How he kept on asking about his mother, “did she like me?”. How he longed for love of the members of his family. There were times when you *had* to sympathize with Duddy. Nobody was one hundred percent dirty either. There were moments of truly hilarious moments, for sure, such as the excerpts from the magazine, The Crusader.

However, I am surprised that some of the critics have used the word “funny” for this book. We hope you enjoy these older deliberations. The following is a compilation of discussions and reviews from the previous version of our website. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Mordecai Richler – 1959

The apprenticeship of duddy kravitz by mordecai richler