Impersonal or Merely Practical?

Thus far, I must say the Walter Bernstein’s Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist has struck me as rather impersonal, especially for a memoir. Perhaps it is merely his style, but I find Bernstein’s style rather dry and non-descriptive, especially given the media outlets he was paid to write for. Yes, Bernstein does tell us what he thinks or feels on occasion, but it is always in a very succinct, withdrawn manner. Throughout the first two hundred pages, I have yet to read any instance of seriously introspection and/or reflection in Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist.

Some may say my argument is unwarranted, that Bernstein is focused on the narrative of his memoir and introspection/reflection are non-essentials, but given the work’s subject matter, I would like to some of Bernstein’s reasoning. Earlier in the memoir, Bernstein suggests that his Communist views are merely rooted in his time spent in France. During this time he became a Communist because, well, his friends were. However, political and religious views, both of which Bernstein discusses, eventually require deep introspection to be reinforced/denied. Bernstein has obviously grappled with reasoning through his beliefs, as he is very aware of his Jewish heritage but lack of spirituality, and further the economic consequences he suffered from being a Communist party member, but never seems to move close enough to the reader to discuss his thoughts. Personally, I would much rather here Bernstein address these issues than provide anecdotal using a carousal of minor characters.

In closing, I hope for Bernstein to move for a closer connection with the reader in the last portion of this text. While I have enjoyed, and his accounts go on long way in conveying what it was like during the blacklist (which is the point, after all), I have yet to read anything of the inner turmoil that he must have experienced during this time. How does Bernstein reconcile the anti-Semitism of the Soviet Union while being so aware of his Jewish identity? How has the economic impact of being blacklisted effected his political beliefs? Has he seriously reflected on his political views and chosen to stand by them, or has he blindly followed Communism simply because his friends did for all these years? Yes, Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist fully serves its narrative purpose, but I still hope Bernstein provides some answers to the before mentioned questions.