The Old Notebook

José Chudnovsky

1964

The filthy train lurched along the tracks, jolting my spine through the slats of the wooden seat.

I was thoughtful, my happiness mixed with vague regrets. Happiness? No, a deserter’s sense of hard-won freedom. The countryside and the scant month shared with those close to me unfolded like a fan before my eyes. [ . . . ]

Laziness or remorse. I put…

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Creator Bio

José Chudnovsky

1915–1966

José Chudnovsky was born in a Jewish Colonization Association farming colony in Colón, Entre Ríos, Argentina, to Ukrainian immigrants. His two novels, Dios era verde and Pueblo pan, were based on his own life. Dios era verde is set in the province of Chaco, where Chudnovsky’s family ended up, and it recounts the conflict between a traditionally Jewish father and his son, who is self-conscious about his Jewish heritage and the size of his nose. Nobel laureate Miguel Ángel Asturias wrote the prologue for the novel, which won the Argentine Authors Society’s Sash of Honor. In addition to being a writer and teacher, José Chudnovsky was a practicing dentist.

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