THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin - Jewish Siblings and Religious Quibbling

THE IMMORTALISTS is a novel about 4 Jewish siblings born in NYC born to 1st generation parents.  The plot subdivides into 4 whirling orbits and the center of gravity spins around the youngsters in co-hoots in a visit to a fortune teller who predicts their fated demise.  Author Chloe Benjamin (b Amer) is able to conjure some mystifying plots and the vectors on which their lives spread out has some entertaining attractions.  But the epiphanies of religion, superstition assimilation and prophecies are not clever as they're intended to be. "They wanted to measure time, to plot and control it.  In their pursuit of the future, though, they only drew closer to the fortune teller's prophecies."   In the summer of 1969, when the children are still each other's keepers, the story holds its charm.  The 4 are connected in a way they never will be again.  As each sibling goes off on their own paths, their shifting away from each other makes the plot muddled, untethered and disorienting.  As Gertie, the overbearing matriarch who holds onto Jewish tradition with a taut grip says, "I don't care about relevance I care about family."  After the family's dissociations the novel's theological & astrological communique are too contrived.  As the magical chemistry holding the family together disappears the novel's interest transforms into a vacuum.  "As long as you can transform, my friends, you cannot die."  Life's too short to spend turning the pages on THE IMMORTALISTS.