In the Storm

by Sholom Aleichem, Aliza Shevrin (Translator)

Into the Storm is a moving take of three Jewish families, of differing beliefs and economic means, caught in the savage pogroms and revolutionary ferment of 1905. Sholom Aleichem builds his story around two generations of these families: the fathers, Jews who have turned their backs on the secular world, and their children, who are deeply committed to the socialist movement. These characters embody the contraries of resignation and protest...the conflicts between parents and children...government's oppressive regime and an individual's dream of freedom. This long-neglected masterpiece shows Sholom Aleichem's genius not only as a folksy Yiddish storyteller, but as a great writer at the height of his powers.

Genres: Fiction, Jewish

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Russian-born American humorist Sholem Aleichem or Sholom Aleichem, originally Solomon Rabinowitz, in Yiddish originally wrote stories and plays, the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof .

He wrote under the pen name, Hebrew for "peace be upon you."

From 1883, he produced more than forty volumes as a central figure in literature before 1890.

His notable narratives accurately described shtetl life with the naturalness of speech of his characters. Early critics focused on the cheerfulness of the characters, interpreted as a way of coping with adversity. Later critics saw a tragic side. Because of the similar style of the author with the pen name of Mark Twain, people often referred to Aleichem as the Jewish version of Twain. Both authors wrote for adults and children and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States.

Reviews

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

You think of Sholom Aleichem as a funny writer - and so he is, in that particular idiom that "translated from the Yiddish" way. This, however, is a book about real events - the Russian pogroms of 1905, and Black Sunday. The characters represent real people in that terrible time, and demonstrate once again that it doesn't take much to turn neighbours into killers. Once the dogs of tribalism and demogoguery have been unleashed, in Sarajevo, Rwanda, or Russia, suddenly people you have been living beside for years are less than human.

The initial descriptions of the characters are warm and funny, and so it's a bit of a shock when you realize that this is not the story of a happy schlemiel or a misguided schlimazl, and that nobody is safe in such dangerous times. A short book, a quick read, but a story that will stay with you.

[Bas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een historische roman, een komisch maar gaandeweg ook diep tragisch boek; speelt zich af in Kiev (en Petersburg) tegen de achtergrond van gebeurtenissen in 1905. We volgen een aantal Joodse Russen, van de bourgeoisie en van het proletariaat; socialisten, revolutionairen, zionisten, nationalisten. Opvallend dat vrouwen hier een sterke en positieve rol spelen (meer dan de mannelijke personages).
Gelezen in de Engelse vertaling (voorzover ik weet is er geen Nederlandse vertaling) van Aliza Shevrin, die ook een zeer informatief voorwoord schreef.

[Eli Mandel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible journey.
In the space of 220 pages Sholem Aleichem takes us from humorous introductions of the characters through their teenage years and educations to the brutal suppression of the uprisings of 1905 to the issuance of the constitution, the wild exultation that brought, to the quick reversal and the pogroms that followed to the final scene of Jews in the train station torn between America and Palestine.
This is the world my great grandmother escaped at the age of four with her older sisters. It's incredible to read this, essentially, firsthand account.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sholom Aleichem is known for his humorous tales about the life of (usually) hapless Jews in shtetls in the Pale of Settlement. This book is very different. Still humorous (sidesplitting at times), still about Jews (some hapless), but it focuses on the 1905 uprising against the Czar in St. Petersburg. Three Jewish families -- a well-to-do and well-connected trader, a pharmacist, and a wood-hauler -- all have children that become involved in the movement. Their lives intersect, sometimes tragically, as Jews try to determine their role in the revolution. I cried as much as I laughed.

[Deborah Adelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this novel the first time I read it, and I loved it even more the second time. Funny and sad. The novel is sweeping, epic and omniscient, but not all that long, and even so, the reader feels the characters' emotions -- the grief of a parent who has lost a child, the passionate but unrequited love of one character for another. As with other Sholem Aleichem work (I recommend reading the Tevye Stories -- so much better than Fiddler on the Roof! -- the depiction of change from one generation to the next, the bewilderment of parents as their children take on causes and beliefs of their own, is moving and inspiring. And of course for me, the youthful generation of the novel are my grandparents! It amazes me to think of that, and what I might have inherited from them. And also what I might have inherited from people who were really terrorized by violence directed against them. I especially appreciate the debates between internationalism and nationalism -- Tamara the Socialist and Sasha the Zionist, both trying to figure out what is the right path for the future. That split happened in my family. Here are the beginnings of that split....

[Oriyah N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful translation of what must be a linguistically enjoyable book. From a historic standpoint it seems Sholom Aleichem stuck to what he knew. This being my first direct exposure to his work (of course I'm familiar with Fiddler on the Roof, perhaps overly so) it's hard to make that judgement but there seems to be such great overlap between the two (this work and the story of Fiddler on the Roof) that I can only imagine he was writing directly out of his own contextual experiences.

My one great irritation here is that one of the least sympathetic characters is, of course, the religious one, which always leaves me feeling strongly annoyed, and rightfully so (I HATE when authors bring their biases to their work to the point where they try to infect the reader with them) but the characters overall were interesting and vibrant, as was the story, though the richest and most enjoyable aspect was definitely the language.

A sort-of-but-not-really spoiler. I felt as if the ending was sort of anti-climactic and entirely unremarkable to the point where it just kind of stopped. Perhaps this was the authors way of setting things up for a sequel. I wasn't exactly hungry for more, but...what next?

[Bari Lynn Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as research for my work of historical fiction. Perhaps the most impactful sentence for me (given the current political climate) was this one, describing the exodus of Jews from Eastern Europe: "The word America was heard more often than any other."

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some predictable passages. However Sholom Aleichem remains on my list of favourite authors. His wonderful sense of humour comes through even in a story about the Russian pogroms at the turn of the century. Sounds discordant, but it works.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This well written novel, translated from Yiddish, follows the intertwined lives of several Jewish families in early 20th-Century Russia, and the events culminating in Bloody Sunday.