Inventions

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Short story published in The New Yorker. Written by Isaac Bashevis Singer in the 1960s, and published in Yiddish in October 1965, and translated into English by Aliza Shevrin around the same time. It was never published in English until this New Yorker publication.

Genres: Short Stories

Unknown Binding

First published January 19, 2015

About the author

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish American author of Jewish descent, noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
His memoir, "A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw", won the U.S. National Book Award in Children's Literature in 1970, while his collection "A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories" won the U.S. National Book Award in Fiction in 1974.

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of Singer's work does not deal specifically with the Soviet Communist world. This story, unpublished in English until 2015 in The New Yorker, does deal with that subject. I recommend reading the accompanying article "This Week in Fiction: Isaac Bashevis Singer", which is an email exchange between journalist Deborah Treisman and Singer scholar David Stromberg, for more background on this story and Singer himself. I was happy to read that Singer's papers are located at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin at the University of Texas, as that center is one of my favorite places.

But onto the story. Its subject differs from the typical Singer story, and so does its approach. But although the exact circumstances may vary, I think most of us can relate to the theme of having to rationalize an experience that seems completely unreal. Read it, and see what you think, and be sure to read a lot more of Singer's works.

[Sara]

The trouser hid there.cos we dont know about history of ditale of soviet then we cant understand who fight whom.but thes write gd to read to see what there to feel the air and cold wether beuty one.i wish that i read more from that.not just war or mafia one .i want all.