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Passions
"Passions" tells of the ability of a simple man to overcome the impossible with the proper amount of focussed passion.
287 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
11 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Bashevis Singer
554 books1,101 followersIsaac 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 10, 2023
some stories are misogynistic, some are really twisted and concerning, some are really good 👍
December 30, 2015
I bought a second-hand copy of this a few days ago.
"Perhaps there is someone I can give this to and cause another addiction??!!" I pondered.
You see, I have already a copy and already voraciously devoured.
AND NOW ME!!,THE ADDICT, IS READING IT.AGAIN!
And I had a hard time giving it shelves.
MAGIC/SURREAL was one perhaps I should add...?!
These tales (for to me they are Adult Fairy TALES, reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm magic with some of the gloom of Hans Christian Andersen) are rich and generous in content, packed with characters, events and numerous climaxes; they are set in pre-holocaust Poland and post-holocaust New York. The Polish ones could be mediaeval so full are they of Yiddish culture, magic and surreal events.The American ones can be equally extravagant with their outrageously strong Jewish characters
who sweep you along and away in their maelstrom, a total hurricane and confusion of events. Expect the unexpected. Attempt a prediction and you'll happily fail. Other stories pale. But not fail.
I continue to read and am happy with my addiction.
"Perhaps there is someone I can give this to and cause another addiction??!!" I pondered.
You see, I have already a copy and already voraciously devoured.
AND NOW ME!!,THE ADDICT, IS READING IT.AGAIN!
And I had a hard time giving it shelves.
MAGIC/SURREAL was one perhaps I should add...?!
These tales (for to me they are Adult Fairy TALES, reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm magic with some of the gloom of Hans Christian Andersen) are rich and generous in content, packed with characters, events and numerous climaxes; they are set in pre-holocaust Poland and post-holocaust New York. The Polish ones could be mediaeval so full are they of Yiddish culture, magic and surreal events.The American ones can be equally extravagant with their outrageously strong Jewish characters
who sweep you along and away in their maelstrom, a total hurricane and confusion of events. Expect the unexpected. Attempt a prediction and you'll happily fail. Other stories pale. But not fail.
I continue to read and am happy with my addiction.
May 2, 2013
This short story collection by Isaac Bashevis Singer is different from the other short story collections I've read by him (Crown of Feathers, Spinoza of Market Street, Short Friday) in that most of the stories seem autobiographical. It's interesting that Singer never differentiates between fiction and nonfiction. The stories in these books are just stories to him but clearly in this collection he is the narrator and the story is about him. How does one know? Well, for example, there is a story about a Yiddish writer who is invited to go on a book tour in Portugal and has a fateful meeting with someone his literary agent recommended he contact. Then one notices that when the stories involve extremely personal matters (such as the wife of the owner of the printing press that publishes his magazine wanting to sleep with him) he invents a false name for the character but the story is still about a character just like him. I personally find Singer a fascinating guy, and therefore this is my favorite story collection. Yes, Crown of Feathers is better stylistically and perhaps is more profound in certain ways, more Art with a capital A. But this collection gave me the most pleasure and made me feel the most connected to Singer. I'm going to put it on the memoir shelf, because I think that that is what most of these stories are.
December 23, 2020
3.5
short stories, some of them even anecdotes, about jewish people living and struggling in the mid XXth century. the stories might feel repetitive, the author elaborating over the same ideas over and over again, but the stories are so readable, the characters so sincere, that I really didn't care.
Isaac can't write women characters though.
short stories, some of them even anecdotes, about jewish people living and struggling in the mid XXth century. the stories might feel repetitive, the author elaborating over the same ideas over and over again, but the stories are so readable, the characters so sincere, that I really didn't care.
Isaac can't write women characters though.
June 16, 2023
This is an old book that was in my husband's family. It was interesting to read these old short stories.
June 21, 2022
The Passions Of I.B. Singer
The mysteries of religion and faith and of human sexuality are universal. Isaac Bashevis Singer explores these passions in his own unique voice in this 1975 collection of stories. Singer (1902 -- 1991) grew up in Poland the son of a deeply Orthodox and learned Rabbi in an Orthodox Jewish home. He emigrated to the United States in 1935. He wrote in Yiddish but in his later years helped supervise the translation of his works into English, which he regarded as his second original language. A highly successful writer in America, Singer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.
The twenty stories in "Passions" originally were published in magazines. They are set primarily both in pre-WW II Poland and in the United States, largely in New York City, but some stories are set elsewhere. In a brief Author's Note, Singer offers insight into the themes and passions of the collection. He wrote: "I deal with unique characters in unique circumstances, a group of people who are still a riddle to the world and often to themselves -- the Jews of Eastern Europe, specifically the Yiddish-speaking Jews who perished in Poland and those who emigrated to the U.S.A." The more he thought about this group, the more he was "baffled by the richness of their individuality" and, including himself in the group, "by my own whims and passions". Singer concluded with a strongly religious statement: "While I hope and pray for the redemption and the resurrection, I dare to say that, for me, these people are all living right now. In literature, as in our dreams, death does not exist."
Many of the stories in "Passions" have a strongly autobiographical cast and often involve a Singer-like character interaction with others and sharing their stories. Some of the stories in this collection are extended while others, less effectively, are in the nature of brief vignettes. The force of religion seems to me to become stronger in Singer's later works. He was deeply influenced by the God and religious beliefs of his youth although he was not a practicing or believing Jew. The title story of this collection, tells three inter-related tales of Polish Jews each of whom goes to extraordinary lengths in the pursuit of religious faith. The story ends with the teller of the tale realizing: "Everything can become a passion, even serving God." Another story with a strongly religious tone, "The Tutor in the Village" explores the tension between faith and modernity and concludes with the suggestion: "The gates of repentance are always open".
Most of the stories combine the search for meaning and for a religious life with Singer's equally strong passion for sexuality. The struggle for sexuality is part of the struggle for God and in Singer's stories it takes place in both the Old World and the New. Sex and religion also are combined with supernaturalism, the world of dybuuks, imps, witches, and spirits. Several of the stories explore love and sexuality at an advancing age, almost always with a religious overtone. These stories include "Hanka", "Old Love", "Sam Palka and David Vishkover" and "The New Year Party", among others. Stories including "The Witch" and "A Tale of Two Sisters" offer mystical explorations of the search for love and passion. The stories in the collection share a commonality of themes through their varied settings. They are thoughtful and enjoyable to read and the religious sense becomes stronger while there is also a falling off in energy and variety from some of Singer's earlier stories.
I have been moved reading Singer again, after an absence of many years. This collection of "Passions" is available in the second volume of Singer's stories, "Collected Stories: A Friend of Kafka to Passions", published by the Library of America.
Robin Friedman
The mysteries of religion and faith and of human sexuality are universal. Isaac Bashevis Singer explores these passions in his own unique voice in this 1975 collection of stories. Singer (1902 -- 1991) grew up in Poland the son of a deeply Orthodox and learned Rabbi in an Orthodox Jewish home. He emigrated to the United States in 1935. He wrote in Yiddish but in his later years helped supervise the translation of his works into English, which he regarded as his second original language. A highly successful writer in America, Singer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.
The twenty stories in "Passions" originally were published in magazines. They are set primarily both in pre-WW II Poland and in the United States, largely in New York City, but some stories are set elsewhere. In a brief Author's Note, Singer offers insight into the themes and passions of the collection. He wrote: "I deal with unique characters in unique circumstances, a group of people who are still a riddle to the world and often to themselves -- the Jews of Eastern Europe, specifically the Yiddish-speaking Jews who perished in Poland and those who emigrated to the U.S.A." The more he thought about this group, the more he was "baffled by the richness of their individuality" and, including himself in the group, "by my own whims and passions". Singer concluded with a strongly religious statement: "While I hope and pray for the redemption and the resurrection, I dare to say that, for me, these people are all living right now. In literature, as in our dreams, death does not exist."
Many of the stories in "Passions" have a strongly autobiographical cast and often involve a Singer-like character interaction with others and sharing their stories. Some of the stories in this collection are extended while others, less effectively, are in the nature of brief vignettes. The force of religion seems to me to become stronger in Singer's later works. He was deeply influenced by the God and religious beliefs of his youth although he was not a practicing or believing Jew. The title story of this collection, tells three inter-related tales of Polish Jews each of whom goes to extraordinary lengths in the pursuit of religious faith. The story ends with the teller of the tale realizing: "Everything can become a passion, even serving God." Another story with a strongly religious tone, "The Tutor in the Village" explores the tension between faith and modernity and concludes with the suggestion: "The gates of repentance are always open".
Most of the stories combine the search for meaning and for a religious life with Singer's equally strong passion for sexuality. The struggle for sexuality is part of the struggle for God and in Singer's stories it takes place in both the Old World and the New. Sex and religion also are combined with supernaturalism, the world of dybuuks, imps, witches, and spirits. Several of the stories explore love and sexuality at an advancing age, almost always with a religious overtone. These stories include "Hanka", "Old Love", "Sam Palka and David Vishkover" and "The New Year Party", among others. Stories including "The Witch" and "A Tale of Two Sisters" offer mystical explorations of the search for love and passion. The stories in the collection share a commonality of themes through their varied settings. They are thoughtful and enjoyable to read and the religious sense becomes stronger while there is also a falling off in energy and variety from some of Singer's earlier stories.
I have been moved reading Singer again, after an absence of many years. This collection of "Passions" is available in the second volume of Singer's stories, "Collected Stories: A Friend of Kafka to Passions", published by the Library of America.
Robin Friedman
August 20, 2023
This is an excellent collection, with stories that range both between each other and in themselves from the sublime to the mundane to the grotesquely comical. There is a certain stereotype of Yiddish culture that juxtaposes the mystical with the comedic, but there is truth to that, and perhaps Singer did his part to promote that image.
Singer's position is as someone who grew up attempting to be more secular but finding himself deeply rooted in the irrational magnetism of the culture he grew up in, and struggling with his identity as an immigrant and quasi exile, and I highly identified with that. I happen to be of Yiddish descent, but I feel people from other backgrounds will recognize and identify with the same conflict.
It also appears that Singer made a conscious attempt to bring sexuality into the conscious life of the Hasidic community, which I think was important and reflects a valuable effort to evolve that culture's sense of self.
Finally, I love a convention Singer seems to have used well: rooting many of his stories in a quasi-autobiographical setting. I.e., a lot of these fictional stories are from the perspective of a Yiddish writer with roughly the same career and biography as Singer himself, perhaps named Isaac. This is genius and offers a lot more flexibility that I would have expected.
Singer's position is as someone who grew up attempting to be more secular but finding himself deeply rooted in the irrational magnetism of the culture he grew up in, and struggling with his identity as an immigrant and quasi exile, and I highly identified with that. I happen to be of Yiddish descent, but I feel people from other backgrounds will recognize and identify with the same conflict.
It also appears that Singer made a conscious attempt to bring sexuality into the conscious life of the Hasidic community, which I think was important and reflects a valuable effort to evolve that culture's sense of self.
Finally, I love a convention Singer seems to have used well: rooting many of his stories in a quasi-autobiographical setting. I.e., a lot of these fictional stories are from the perspective of a Yiddish writer with roughly the same career and biography as Singer himself, perhaps named Isaac. This is genius and offers a lot more flexibility that I would have expected.
November 2, 2019
If you have read other Singer short stories you will know what to expect.
Mostly set in Poland prior to WWII. Vivid and detailed tales of mostly ordinary people coping with their poverty, rituals, and Jewishness.
Singer's favorite POV in these stories is first person narrative.
The usual mixture of humor, implied supernatural elements, religious fanaticism.
Easy and entertaining to read.
Mostly set in Poland prior to WWII. Vivid and detailed tales of mostly ordinary people coping with their poverty, rituals, and Jewishness.
Singer's favorite POV in these stories is first person narrative.
The usual mixture of humor, implied supernatural elements, religious fanaticism.
Easy and entertaining to read.
October 5, 2020
Sad, touching and melancholic, but overall haven't left any deep impression.
March 5, 2023
neponovljiva atmosfera i likovi!
January 19, 2020
Innan jag går in på Antologin Passioner efter Isaac Bashevis Singer, då känns det rätt att nämna orsaken till att en älskare av Sci-Fi och Fantasy litteratur läser en så pass annorlunda bok. För det första, då är jag inte svensk, men jag bodde i Sverige under elva år sammanlagt under mina tonår och tjugoårsåldern. Under den tiden köpte mina föräldrar några dussin böcker på svenska och när de bestämde sig för att flytta ur sin villa i en trerummare, då började de sortera ut det som de behövde och vi syskonen fick ta det vi ville och resten skänktes bort. Jag tog de böcker de ville göra sig av med. De har suttit i min bokhylla de senaste tre åren utan att jag har så mycket som bläddrat igenom en bok. Men jag tyckte det var dags att börja läsa mig igenom de. Passioner är den första i det ambitiösa projektet.
Isaac Bashevis Singer är född 1902 i Polen, emigrerade till USA 1935 och bodde där tills sin död 1991. Hann fick Nobelpriset i Litteratur året 1978 med motiveringen (engelska) "for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life."
Passioner är en Antologi med 20 korta berättelser som alla har en stor förankring i Östeuropas Asketiska Judendom. Jag måste erkänna att jag höll på att lägga boken åt sidan och döma den ”omöjlig för min smak”… men jag kämpade på och efter varje kort berättelse började jag uppskatta den mer och mer. Författarens förmåga att bygga upp en hel saga med fullformade personer och miljö på enbart tio till femton sidor är otrolig och ett flertal gånger skrattade jag rakt ut åt den skarpa sarkastiska humorn. Bokens titel ger man en ledtråd till vilket tema novellerna har, Passioner. Må det vara för kvinnor, religion, pengar, makt eller vad annat en människa kan längta efter. Passion är deras gemensamma drivkraft.
I början, då tyckte jag denna bok vara bara ett stort slöseri med tid, men efter att ha läst den då tycker jag att den förtjänar fyra starka stjärnor.
Isaac Bashevis Singer är född 1902 i Polen, emigrerade till USA 1935 och bodde där tills sin död 1991. Hann fick Nobelpriset i Litteratur året 1978 med motiveringen (engelska) "for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life."
Passioner är en Antologi med 20 korta berättelser som alla har en stor förankring i Östeuropas Asketiska Judendom. Jag måste erkänna att jag höll på att lägga boken åt sidan och döma den ”omöjlig för min smak”… men jag kämpade på och efter varje kort berättelse började jag uppskatta den mer och mer. Författarens förmåga att bygga upp en hel saga med fullformade personer och miljö på enbart tio till femton sidor är otrolig och ett flertal gånger skrattade jag rakt ut åt den skarpa sarkastiska humorn. Bokens titel ger man en ledtråd till vilket tema novellerna har, Passioner. Må det vara för kvinnor, religion, pengar, makt eller vad annat en människa kan längta efter. Passion är deras gemensamma drivkraft.
I början, då tyckte jag denna bok vara bara ett stort slöseri med tid, men efter att ha läst den då tycker jag att den förtjänar fyra starka stjärnor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews