The Family Carnovsky
by . Vanguard, $6.95.
The Carnovskys, Polish Jews, migrate to Berlin around 1890, flourish for forty years, and end up as bewildered refugees in New York. The meaning of this briskly moving novel is entirely in what happens, and no time is wasted on psychological dissection or lectures to the reader. The characters are simplified, easily recognizable types, who nevertheless serve well for Mr. Singer’s purpose, which is to show how Polish Jews betrayed their heritage and were in turn betrayed by the German society to which they transferred their loyalty.