The Wise Men of Chelm

by Samuel Tenenbaum

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up at a library book sale for a buck and thought I couldn't go wrong because the Chelm stories are wonderfully funny. Didn't realize this was a collection by a writer who thought he could "improve" on them. The stories are disappointing with several non-Chelm stories shoehorned in. He even messes up one of the most famous Chelm tales where they capture the moon in a barrel. The Chelm stories are wonderful. This book is not.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE WISE MEN OF CHELM takes place in Russia near Lublin. There is a city called Chelm where all the wise souls in the world reside. This book is about these wise men and the foolish predicaments that they must get themselves out of. Like getting lost on their way to attack a city and having to fight a different one. There are no main characters so to speak in this book except for the city itself. The Chelmites’ main internal and external conflicts are trying to survive in this foolish, foolish world.

It is very difficult to make a connection between this book and anything else. However The Chelmites do have a tendency to think that they are always right. I made a text to world connection with this book. There are people in this world (like Bush) who think that they are always right rather like the Chelmites.

I would rate this book a five. The ideas are ingenious and well put together. The Chelmites are ever surprising and funny. There ideas are so great I don’t know anyone who has such an imagination.