The Journal I Did Not Keep: New and Selected Writing

by Lore Segal

"For almost six decades Segal has quietly produced some of the best fiction and essays in American literature, as this generous sampler attests."— The New York Times

"Segal is a monumental writer, one of the finest of her generation; this lovely collection is a fine introduction to her work." —Kirkus Reviews

"There are many standouts in the collection, but its single greatest strength is the consistency of Segal’s voice, apparent from the very first paragraph of the opening piece..."— The Paris Review

A DEFINITIVE COLLECTION FROM ONE OF AMERICA'S FINEST WRITERS—INCLUDING NEW AND NEVER-BEFORE-COLLECTED WORK

From the award-winning New Yorker writer comes this essential volume spanning almost six decades. Admired for “a voice unlike any other” (Cynthia Ozick) and a style both “wry and poignant” ( The New Yorker ), Lore Segal is a master literary stylist.

This volume collects some of her finest work—including new and uncollected writing—and selections from her novels, stories, and essays.

From her very first story—which appeared in The New Yorker in 1961—to today, Segal’s voice has been unique in contemporary American Hilarious and urbane, heartbreaking and profound, keen and utterly unsentimental.

Segal has often used her own biography as both subject and At age ten she was sent on the Kindertransport from Vienna to England to escape the Nazi invasion of Austria; grew up among English foster families; and eventually made her way to the United States. This experience was the impetus for her first novel, Other People’s Houses , and one that she has revisited throughout her career.
From that beginning, Segal’s writing has ranged widely across form as well as subject matter. Her flawless prose and light touch belie the rigor and intelligence she brings to her art—qualities that were not missed by the New York Times reviewer who pointedly observed, “though it was not written by a man . . . Segal may have come closer than anyone to writing The Great American Novel.”


With this volume comes a long-awaited career retrospective of an important American Writer.

Genres: Essays, Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

Published June 25, 2019

About the author

Lore Vailer Segal was an Austrian-American novelist, translator, teacher, short story writer, and author of children's books. Her novel Shakespeare's Kitchen was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last Christmas my husband gifted me a book of short stories by Lore Segal after he heard her interviewed on public radio. I enjoyed Ladies Lunch and was eager to read more of Segal’s work.

Segal’s writing is a delight. I love her humor and unique perspective, her quotable writing. “What has changed my living room into this New Yorker cartoon fully of chinless showoffs standing in groups or pairs?” “She aligned the napkin with the spiritual precision of a Mondrian.”

Segal was ten years old when she was sent to England through the Kindertransport program during the rise of Nazi Germany. The stories in Part I in this volume, The Journal I Did Not Keep, are about the experience from the child’s viewpoint. I found this section to be memorable, affecting, and real. “They were making plans for a tomorrow in which I would have no part. Already they seemed to be getting on very well without me and I was angry.”

Part II is new and uncollected fiction and selected fiction from her books, including Ladies Lunch. I loved the Ilka stories. Newly arrived in America, discovering her way, meeting her ‘first Americans,’ and later losing her husband.

Part III is Memoir writing, essays, and miscellaneous writing.

I had to read the essay Jane Austen on Our Unwillingness to be Parted From our Money. Segal considers Sense and Sensibility and John Dashwood’s frugality in helping his family financially. She and concludes, “This truism–that human being will not pay anything they can get out of–sheds light on some ancient and modern truths: that wealth fails to trickle down…”

The volume attests to Segal’s gift.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley

[Carolyn Crocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essence of Lore Segal (except for the beloved children's book) culled from her 90+ years. Her inimitable voice.

"Fiction does what theater does, except that it does it in the privacy of your mind. Whereas the essay sets out to discuss its idea with you, fiction wants to stage the idea in your imagination. Essay wants to explain its thought; action wants the thought to happen to you-- to happen in your experience--and experience may not be able to reach a conclusion." p. 343

[Susan Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unusual collection--fiction and nonfiction, short stories, novel excerpts, midrash--all gathered together in one volume from this extraordinarily original author. Pleasures and treasures on every page.

[Yarub Khayat · Rating 5 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب من تأليف الروائية الأمريكية/ لور سيغال،
"Lore Segal",
المولودة لأبوين يهوديين في مدينة فينا بالنمسا، بتاريخ 9 مارس 1928 (بلغ عمرها وقت كتابة هذه المراجعة: 94 عاما)، وهي مترجمة ومعلمة وكاتبة قصة قصيرة ومؤلفة كتب أطفال .. وصلت روايتها/ مطبخ شكسبير، إلى نهائيات جائزة بوليتسر في عام 2008، وحيث يفتقد هذا الموقع للتعريف بهذا الكتاب، ولأن هذه المؤلفة صاحبة إنتاج متميز، ففيما يلي تعريف مختصر جدا بكتابها هذا، وكذلك عن ملامح إنتاجها الأدبي، وهو مستند أساسا للمنشور عن هذا الكتاب في موقع كتب أمازون، وذلك مع رابط فيديو لأحد لقاءاتها:-

من الكاتبة النيويوركية، الحائزة على عدة جوائز مرموقة، يأتي هذا الكتاب المتنوع لها، الذي يمتد على مدى ستة عقود تقريباً محتويا بعضاً من أفضل أعمالها، وكذلك على مختارات من رواياتها وقصصها ومقالاتها، فضلا عن كتابات جديدة لها.

"لما يقرب من ستة عقود، أنتجت/ سيغال، بهدوء، بعضاً من أفضل القصص الخيالية والمقالات في الأدب الأمريكي، كما تشهد هذه "العينة السخية: - أي هذا الكتاب".
نيويورك تايمز

"سيغال، كاتبة عظيمة، واحدة من أرقى جيلها؛ هذه المجموعة الجميلة هي عرض رائع لعملها".
تقييمات كيركوس

هذا وقد نُشر عن هذه المؤلفة، بأنها تحظى بإعجاب "بشكل لا مثيل له"، وأن لها أسلوبٌ "ساخر ومؤثر"، وأنها مصممة أدبية بارعة.

وقد تواتر وانتشر عنها بأنها، منذ روايتها الأولى - التي ظهرت في عام 1961، في
The New Yorker,
وحتى يومنا هذا، كان صوت سيغال فريداً في الأدب الأمريكي المعاصر: مرح ومهذب ، مفجع وعميق ، متحمس وغير عاطفي تماماُ.

غالباً ما استخدمت سيغال سيرتها الذاتية كموضوع وإلهام في أدبها: عندما كانت في سن العاشرة تم إرسالها ضمن رحلات دعم وإنقاذ الأطفال اليهود/
"Kindertransport",
وكان ذلك بنقلها وغيرها من فيينا إلى إنجلترا لحمايتهم من الغزو النازي للنمسا إبان الحرب العالميةالثانية؛ وقد نشأت هناك بين الأسر الحاضنة الإنجليزية، ثم انتقلت إلى جمهورية الدومينكان، ولتستقر أخيرا في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية. كانت هذه التجربة والانتقال عبر البلدان المختلفة - هي الدافع والإلهام خلف روايتها الأولى/ منازل الناس الأخرين، والتي عاودت المؤلفة زيارتها (أي تلك المنازل)، طوال حياتها المهنية.

منذ تلك البداية، تنوعت كتابات سيغال على نطاق واسع عبر الشكل والموضوع، ويوصف نثرها بأنه خالٍ من العيوب، وأن لها في التأليف لمسة رقيقة، ويشير بعض النقاد بأن هتين الصفتين لا تناقضان مع الصرامة والذكاء اللذين تضفيهما على إنتاجها الأدبي - الصفات التي علقت عليها صفحة مراجعات الكتب في صحيفة نيويورك تايمز، بالجملة التالية: "ربما اقتربت سيغال من كتابة الرواية الأمريكية العظيمة أكثر من أي شخص آخر".

بالرابط أدناه فيديو قصير جدا وقديم نسبيا (عندما ناهزت الثمانينات في العمر، توضح فيه هذه الكاتبة الموهوبة تجربتها ومشاعرها وقت وصولها إلى مدينة نيويورك، خاصة عند مشيها بجانب النهر هناك لأول مرة.

https://youtu.be/1myJF0OLM6E

[Amy Kargauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.
I actually returned this to the library when I reached a little better than halfway through.
I did read Other People’s Houses in its entirety and I liked it a lot. It’s excerpted within The Journal..., so I skipped that part. And then there are snippets of fiction that I presume Segal considered expanding at some point, either into a book of short stories or each story into a chapter of another book.
After a while, I felt it became repetitive and decided I had no obligation to finish the book.

[Morgan Given · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am gonna say it- Lore Segal is my favorite author. This is a fine mix of her semi-autobiographical fiction of escaping Europe in WWII, which I adore, and various essays and short stories.

I laughed out loud at the story of the Austrian and Jewish cultural bridge building club and then was gutted at the end. Reminded me of Amy Hempel.

I also loved the essays on translation and literary critique of Grimm’s fairytales and the Bible.

I feel such a kinship with the way Lore thinks and her observations feel ever fresh and right.

There must be other Lore Segal super fans out here?

[Janet Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars for the writing, 2 stars for the format. Lore Segal is an iconic writer and her contribution to literature is clear. I struggled to get through this because of the structure of the book which was scattered and sometimes confusing. The collection included excerpts from previous works, short stories, musings on being a writer and other disconnected themes. I loved the excerpt from "Other Peoples' Houses" and her childhood reminiscences but the lack of flow kept me from really enjoying the material as a whole.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

So hard to rate something like this.

I loved the non-fiction sections more than the fiction sections, but the excerpt "The Summer" from Her First American was a particularly good story. Non-fiction favorites, "Jane Austen on Our Unwillingness to be Parted from Our Money" and "My Grandfather's Walking Stick, or the Pink Lie."

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read this. It is a collection of fiction and non-fiction pieces. I liked the non fiction pieces better…but her insight and her great writing make it all good. A lot of reflections based on her having escaped Nazi Austria and ending up after several years in the US.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great read. It was like being a kid again , getting a surprise bag not knowing what you were going to find until you opened it up. A book worthy of a 5 star rating

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the nonfiction and memoir sections much more than the fiction; perhaps this just isn’t a good format for her novel extracts.