Idiots First

by Bernard Malamud

A collection of twelve stories which defend the human condition from a variety of cultural and social perspectives

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature, The United States Of America, Jewish, American, Classics

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Bernard Malamud was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford. His 1966 novel The Fixer (also filmed), about antisemitism in the Russian Empire, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primeiro os Idiotas
Um pai com encontro marcado com a morte; um filho dependente que é necessário proteger.

Negro é a Minha Cor Preferida
Quando preto e branco pode ser vermelho...

Natureza Morta
Só um pintor inspirado tem arte para "pregar uma mulher numa cruz"...

A Minha Morte
Para lutas sem tréguas, uma solução radical.

A Escolha de uma Profissão
Com muito estudo tudo se consegue.

A Vida é Melhor do que a Morte
Há que aproveitar enquanto se respira; depois logo se vê...

O Pássaro-Judeu
Só as crianças e as mães confiam em pássaros palradores.

O Nu Revelado
Nem sempre uma obra-prima é mais desejada que a sua imitação. É tudo uma questão de amor...

O Custo de Vida
Quando há dois negócios similares na mesma rua, algum acaba por falir...

Os Sapatos da Criada
Se uma mulher só tem uns sapatos rotos, não desperdiça a oportunidade de ter dois pares novos.

Imagine-se um Casamento
Se o pai quer casar a filha com um homem e a mãe quer casá-la com um outro, a boda pode acabar em tragédia, ou em comédia...

O Refugiado Alemão
"Oh capitão! Meu capitão! terminou a nossa terrível viagem,
O navio resistiu a todas as tormentas, o prémio que buscávamos está ganho,
O porto está próximo, oiço os sinos, toda a gente está exultante,
Enquanto seguem com os olhos a firme quilha, o ameaçador e temerário navio:
Mas oh coração! coração! coração!
Oh as gotas vermelhas e sangrentas,
Onde no convés o meu capitão jaz,
Tombado, frio e morto.
(...)"
Walt Whitman

[LW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idiots First

Che cosa straordinaria, il presente, pensò.
Nel presente , una persona è ciò che sta diventando, non ciò che è stata .

Non tutti i racconti presenti nella raccolta sono allo stesso livello ,ma ci sono delle chicche
come Il nero è il mio colore preferito
e L'uccello ebreo ,il più ironico e originale , in cui c'è un presuntuoso volatile

«Gevalt (“Accidenti”, in yiddish), un pogrom!»
«Un uccello che parla!», esclamò Edie, sbalordita.
«In yiddish», rincarò Maurie. […]
«Per quale motivo sei venuto a questo indirizzo?» «La finestra era aperta», sospirò l’uccello. E dopo un attimo soggiunse: «Sto scappando. Volo, ma me la do anche a gambe».
«Da chi scappi?», domandò Edie, con interesse.
«Dagli antisemiti».
«Antisemiti», fecero eco gli altri.
«Proprio così».
«Ma quali antisemiti vanno a dar noia a un uccello?», volle sapere Edie.
«Tutti, praticamente».

[Xenja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Per quanto mi riguarda, esistono due Malamud: il prima maniera, molto ebraico, molto europeo, molto fiabesco, dove vivono tanti piccoli Giobbe - bottegai, rabbini, operai, profughi - alle prese con un Dio severo e un fato implacabile: è quello dell'Uomo di Kiev e del Commesso, i suoi capolavori. Poi c'è il Malamud seconda maniera, spesso autobiografico, professore, letterato, studioso, a Roma o in America, erotomane: quello di Le vite di Dubin. In questa raccolta ci sono racconti della prima e della seconda maniera. Il Malamud della seconda maniera non solo non mi piace, ma mi turba, mi respinge. I protagonisti di queste storie vivono in maniera sordida, umiliante, a volte indegna, a volte grottesca, in preda a un assurdo furore erotico. Oppure cercano invano di non lasciarsi coinvolgere dalle sordide storie degli altri. “Natura morta”, “Nudo svestito”, “La scelta di una professione”, “Le scarpe della domestica”: non capisco il senso di questi racconti, non capisco se c'è un'intenzione umoristica, o surreale, che mi sfugge. Sì, qualcosa mi sfugge.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb short stories, funny, heartbreaking, deep. One short play. Yes, stories about Jewish things, I guess, but in Malamud's hands, that is realistic and transcendent. On the other hand, what he writes about is complete and enough in itself.

[wutheringhheights_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bei racconti che parlano della miseria umana. Mi ha stupito che l'ambientazione variasse dalla New York con i suoi protagonisti ebrei, poveri e irrequieti, all'Italia. Viene data una rappresentazione cupa e realistica di una Italia un po' oscura, piena di personaggi artisti misteriosi. Il mio preferito rimane infatti quello che narra dello studente d'arte Arthur Fidelman e della sua ossessione per la pittrice Annamaria. Bernard Malamud è interessante anche come autore di racconti. Dopo Il commesso, che mi è piaciuto moltissimo, anche Prima gli idioti è stato una bella lettura.

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A writer writes tragedy so people don’t forget that they are human. He shows us the conditions that exist. He organizes for us the meaning of our lives so it is clear to our eyes.”

So is the theme of these stories, masterfully written by Malamud, and each with a touch of irony and tragedy.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided not to finish. He writes some great stories, and I really liked The Magic Barrel, but this had more sexual content than I am willing to read through.

[Vel Veeter]

I keep finding myself incredibly engaged and impressed by Bernard Malamud’s short stories. He works in some fascinating ways, almost creating cycles of stories the revisit and replay and rework ideas from other stories, and chapters from novels. So in this second collection (after his National Book Award winner The Magic Barrel) we get further stories about Fidelman, the young hapless art student living and working in Italy. These stories do actually become a story cycle as a kind of novel in stories called Pictures of Fidelman later on. There was something in water in the 60s and 70s about making not only a kind of stand-in for the author (Zuckerman and Kepesh by Philip Roth; Henry Bech by John Updike) but also publishing them in a novel form.

Anyway, the stories here run from the early 1950s through the early 1960s. These are mostly short short stories (10-20 pages max) with no longer stories. In addition, we get a range of kinds of stories. With the Fidelman stories we get a series of contemporary stories that confront the realities of post-war America (or at least post-war Americans). With stories like “The Jewbird” we get another of Malamud’s penchants, classic Jewish fables (remixed in a post-modern flair) ala Isaac Singer or Sholem Aleicham. Throughout the collection there’s a tension that punctuates a lot of mid-century American writing between the pre-war and post-war periods, and in the tradition of Jewish American fiction between the Old World and the New World implied by these differences.

[Haliagrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the title story and several others in the collection. The style is wonderful: written in immigrant broken English with such compelling turns of phrase, placing the reader alongside the characters. Content is sad and grim, writing is damn good.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorites: Still Life, The Jew-bird, and The German Refugee.

[Pino Sabatelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tre stelle e mezza
Troppo calcato su un registro surreale e grottesco, che non amo.

[Ben L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather than a collection of stories this feels like a collection of scenes. Each snapshot offers a different palette of emotions framed primarily by the great depression and the life of a Jew.

While all offer interesting insight some of these shorts feel like the start of a process. For example, you can feel Morris Bober finding himself in 'The Cost of Living.'

The German Refugee is as poignant as you might expect.

Overall it's very much just condensed Malamud and any Malamud is very good.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estórias de pessoas comuns.
Todas as estórias são válidas assim como todos os indivíduos de uma sociedade. Estórias aleatórias, que são lugar comum. Idiotas só quem as marginaliza.
Esta obra que data dos finais dos anos 50, do século XX, está mais do que atual. Viva a multiculturalidade. Não podemos ser ilhas.

[Maurizio Manco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La lingua del cuore è una lingua morta, oppure, quando la parli, nessuno capisce il tuo accento." (p. 48)

[Roberto Fruchtengarten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contos que retratam personagens desafortunados, em diversas conjunturas. Muito agradável a leitura

[Livia · Rating 5 out of 5]

semplice ma spettacolare

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer the novels.
Now for a great group of short stories on Jewish themes read Isaac Singer.

[Ísak Regal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Nokkrar mjög góðar sögur og engar lélegar þannig séð en ég er orðinn dálítið þreyttur á Art Fidelman sögunum.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great collection of heartbreaking/funny/mundane stories, most of them taking place either in New York or Rome. some great depictions of the intersection of class/race

[Gary Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag with more losers than winners. The stories span twelve years--1950 to 1963--and originally appeared in such diverse periodicals as The Partisan Review, Playboy, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Among the winners were "The Jewbird," which if I didn't know the author I would have credited to Bruce Jay Friedman. It was a refreshingly lighthearted story in a collection of tragic stories or at best stories of people living lives of quiet desperation. The two Arthur Fidelman stories were standouts, with "Naked Nude" my favorite story in the book (and with that title, it comes as no surprise it originally appeared in Playboy). "Naked Nude" was a testimony to artistic integrity and captured well an artist's pride in his work. It was also punctuated with some lighthearted moments and with an ending that left me smiling. "Still Life" was also good, but decidedly unpleasant, and ended on a gratuitously irreverent note that Malamud likely intended to be funny.

"A Choice of Profession" and "Life is Better than Death" were both originally published in 1963 and appear back-to-back in the book, which only drew attention to their similar themes of seemingly kind, caring, and attentive men who turn out to be insensitive creeps who will abandon a woman at her most fragile moment. "The Maid's Shoes" was treading similar territory but ended up flipping the narrative, at least kind of, as that story's ending was a confusing mess.

And that was Malamud's greatest shortcoming--his inability to end a story well. Often there will be fascinating characters, settings, and events, then in the last paragraph Malamud makes a left turn and tacks on an unsatisfying ending. And many endings feel tacked on, as if Malamud wrote himself into a corner and then hurriedly scribbled a conclusion. "The German Refugee" is an example of just such a story that was so engaging until the last page when narrator Martin Goldberg visits Oskar's apartment and together with the reader discovers Malamud took off down the fire escape instead of resolving the story satisfactorily. "The German Refugee" is a lengthier story that closes out the collection and by the time I reached that last page I had a lot invested in the young, idealistic English tutor and his complex intellectual German student, so felt robbed when Malamud dealt me a card from the bottom of the deck (and a clichéd one, to boot).

Recurring elements in the stories are Judaism, Rome, teachers, and women who get lulled into bad situations (and also a few men who are likewise lulled). A surprising number of the stories were set in Rome, which Malamud captured well without ever having to go overboard by making his descriptions a travelogue of famous sites. Malamud captures both characters and settings well. That was the vexing thing--I really liked most of these stories up until the endings went horribly awry.

This was my first exposure to Malamud, but even though disappointing I won't make it my last. The two standout Fidelman stories have inspired me to read Pictures of Fidelman, and I also have on the docket A New Life, which chronicles the exploits of a young English professor. But nonetheless it seems the literary powers that be have already relegated Bernard Malamud to the back bench of Jewish-American authors, destined to sit behind Saul Bellow and Philip Roth. But if Malamud is sharing that back bench with Bruce Jay Friedman, Max Shulman, and Chaim Potok, he's in distinguished company.

[Matthew Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, Malamud is a master story-teller. But like all masters, not all of his stories are great. Some are merely very good. There is exceptional craft involved in the creation of each and every one, but my favourites are "The Jew Bird" and "The Death of Me." Like Somerset-Maugham, his best efforts end with a surprise. I should have seen the ending of "The Death of Me" coming, but I didn't.

There is an inherent sadness to each of the tales, but that is the true reflection of the nature of life, which is inherently sad. All human stories ultimately end with death, a fact which most people in western culture attempt to ignore.

I cannot recommend the work of this writer enough to either students of writing, or to anyone who just wishes to enjoy the exceptional use of language. And yes, there is a strong cultural Jewish perspective, which adds immeasurably to the depth of these works.

[wally · Rating 5 out of 5]

5-stars. thought i had a review...not...could be that disease that makes you forget, anderson's...could be that is coming on, making me forget things. 5-stars though...i did do that back in may when i read these. jewbird...not all of them make a big impression. one thing, with anderson's disease...you can go back and reread and it's like the very first time...cue the soundtrack. it feels! like the very first time!

[Kerry Booth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beware those appellations of "short story master." I am not saying Malamud is or isn't. That isn't something I have the breadth of experience reading a variety of authors to discuss intelligently. I will however say that many of the stories were beyond my experience enough that enjoyment of the tale eluded me. That is not to say I didn't enjoy many. "Naked Nude" and "The German Refugee" were immensely good.

[Kin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ด้วยความที่ภาคภาษาไทยตัดตอนมาแปล เราเลยได้อ่านเรื่องของมาลามัดอยู่ห้าหกเรื่อง ถึงอย่างนั้นก็ดี เรารู้สึกว่าแต่ละเรื่องช่างมีเสน่ห์เสียเหลือเกิน เกือบทั้งหมดเล่าเรื่องผ่านชีวิตทั่วไป แสนเรียบง่าย แต่มีมุกหยอกล้อเสียดสีได้เจ็บแสบเป็นบ้า เซ็งที่พิสูจน์อักษรผิดพลาดที่คำง่ายๆ ซ้ำไปซ้ำมาอยู่สองสามรอบ กระนั้นก็ให้อภัยแล้วกันนะ, :)

[Howard Shrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book of stories by a master. About half are set in the art world of Rome, while the others are mostly in the world of poor Jewish merchants in New York. Malamud is best known for his novels The Natural, The Assistant, The Go-Between and The Fixer, but I remain fond of the stories in this collection and The Magic Barrel.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
Ci sono rimasta male...
Forse è il mio concetto di racconto breve che è un po' distorto, ma secondo me, se scrivi poche pagine, dovresti arrivare ad un finale scoppiettante.
Così non è per Malamud.
Piacevole da leggere, certo, ma niente di che (Rispetto alle critiche da WOW WOW WOW che ho letto in giro)

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the situations of these short stories are from the mid-1900s, but the emotions and motivations of the characters are painfully contemporary. Malamud appears dispassionate in his rendering, yet his characters become intimate as they reveal individual complexes of guilt, confusion, selfishness, frustration, and weariness made human by flashes of virtue and compassion, but never joy.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first exposed to Malamud by his being in some of the better science fiction/fantasy anthologies, then, being impressed, started picking up his own books. Like the rest, this collection of his short stories is well worth reading.

[Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the difficulties of the Jewish diaspora in the US to fully integrate in a new country. Sense of loss of the Jewish community but that, rather implicitely, reflects the sense of loss that some Americans experienced in the second half of the 20th century.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bernard Malamud's stories and books. I learn about Jews when I read him; not the rich ones, but the ones who have suffered for their faith and poverty. They come to life in Malamud's stories.