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Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor's Son
Tevye is the compassionate, lovable, Bible-quoting dairyman from Anatevka, and Tevye the Dairyman is a heartwarming and poignant account of life in turn-of-the-century Russia. Through the workaday world of a rural dairyman, his grit, wit, and heart, his daughters' courtships and marriages, and the eventual menace of the pogroms, Sholem Aleichem reveals the fabric of a now-vanished world.
Motl is the clear-eyed, spirited, mischievous boy who narrates Motl the Cantor's Son, a comic novel about his emigration with his family from Russia to America. It is a journey that mirrors a larger exodus, telling the story of the disintegration of traditional Jewish life and the beginning of a new chapter of Jewish history in America.
Motl is the clear-eyed, spirited, mischievous boy who narrates Motl the Cantor's Son, a comic novel about his emigration with his family from Russia to America. It is a journey that mirrors a larger exodus, telling the story of the disintegration of traditional Jewish life and the beginning of a new chapter of Jewish history in America.
376 pages, Paperback
Published January 27, 2009
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May 8, 2017
Introduction & Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Translations
--Tevye the Dairyman
--Motl the Cantor's Son: Writings of an Orphan Boy
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Translations
--Tevye the Dairyman
--Motl the Cantor's Son: Writings of an Orphan Boy
Glossary
December 23, 2015
Most people think they know Tevye the Dairyman from Sholem Aleichem’s stories. But they probably don’t. What most of us remember is the character Tevye from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and we probably remember either Zero Mostel of Chaim Topol in the starring role. But this is not actually the Tevye of Aleichem’s stories.
In the musical, and in the movie, we get to know a pleasant, if worn down fellow, one who’s trying to make a living, to support his wife and five daughters. He’s warm and friendly, and generous and kind. However, the character we see on stage is actually an amalgam of Tevye’s better points. A softening and an improving of the character that Sholom Aleichem actually wrote about.
I highly recommend a good translation of the collected stories about Tevye the Dairyman, from whithersoever you can obtain one. I recommend the volume Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son, translated by Aliza Shevrin and published by Penguin.
Tevye, as written by his author, is not the same pleasant person we know from popular culture. While he does embody the same mixture of comedy and tragedy, he is far less friendly, and far more self-important. Tevye thinks very highly of his own scholarship, which, one sees over time, is the kind of intellectual pride that a child, or a fool who has learnt a few things and now thinks of himself as a Great Thinker. Whenever someone tries to engage Tevye in conversation, he responds with partial quotes from the Torah and the commentaries, as he thinks apropos to the situation. He evades queries with queries of his own, and often tries to build himself up in the eyes of his interlocutors, that they, too, might come to see how clever and learned Tevye is. This attitude just as often frustrates and angers those trying to talk to him. Even a simple “Hello!” can be an occasion for Tevye to show off his “scholarship.”
He is almost misogynistic, and he is also inordinately proud of his seven daughters, taking opportunity to boast of their beauty, their intelligence, and their boldness of spirit. Yet because of his own intellectual vanity, he seems unable to really connect intimately with his family as he might like. It’s as if he is so busy pretending to be what he is not, that he never understands how to simply be who he is. He has an unshakable confidence in himself, and although he is hard working, he does not believe that he can ever really improve his lot in life. For Tevye, success is not influenced by one’s own efforts, but all is left in the hands of HaShem.
In the books, Tevye has seven daughters, as opposed to the five mentioned in the play. And their stories, though similar, are not nearly so happy. While Tzeitl does get to marry Motl Kamzoyl, and has several children with him, he dies of tuberculosis, leaving Tzeitl a widow who returns to live with Tevye. Hodl does run off with Fefferl—Perchik—but the books do not fully tell what Perchik has been up to. While the movie, especially, portrays Perchik as a communist revolutionary who wants to improve life for all men, the books only allow us to see through Tevye’s eyes, and with his understanding. Or lack of it. And Tevye’s shtetl mindset cannot conceive of the wider world as his children see it. Yet, he likes Perchik because he can have arguments with him, and as in the play, Tevye sees Hodl off when she goes to him in Siberia.
Chava does fall in love with a gentile and marries him. But it Tevye finds out from the priest himself, without Golde’s intermediating. We see that the priest and Tevye have a longstanding relationship in which they discuss theology, and the priest regularly tries to convert Tevye, being somewhat fond of him (even if he is a Jew). When Tevye is informed of Chava’s fate, it seems as if she had been taken away by the gentiles of the village. And later, when Tevye, on his way home from making his dairy run to the neighboring town of Yehuppetz, sees Chava on the road, trying to explain to him, he stops his ears and runs, believing that the Devil was whispering in his ear, trying to play on his natural affection for his daughter.
Shprintze becomes enamored of a local fellow, a wealthy young wastrel, and he falls in love with her. Later on, Tevye is summoned by the boy’s uncle, who tries to buy him off. As it turns out, the boy’s family didn’t want their heir to marry, or be associated with, the daughter of a lowly dairyman. Shprintze drowns herself. And there is even some question, given the situation, as to whether or not she might have been pregnant.
Beilke allows herself to be married off to a wealthy boor, because she wants to be able to help her father and sisters as the wife of a rich man. Eventually, however, the money runs out, and Beilke and her husband flee to America to make a living.
In the end, the pogroms come to Tevye’s village, and he must leave. His wife Golde has already died, and he goes with Tzeitl and her children, and (although it is left unclear) Chava, who returns, because she would share her people’s fate.
The stories are memorable, and charming, and wonderful, as only Sholem Aleichem can write. But the character Tevye is certainly not who we think of nowadays.
I strongly urge you to read the stories and tales of Tevye the Dairyman.
In the musical, and in the movie, we get to know a pleasant, if worn down fellow, one who’s trying to make a living, to support his wife and five daughters. He’s warm and friendly, and generous and kind. However, the character we see on stage is actually an amalgam of Tevye’s better points. A softening and an improving of the character that Sholom Aleichem actually wrote about.
I highly recommend a good translation of the collected stories about Tevye the Dairyman, from whithersoever you can obtain one. I recommend the volume Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son, translated by Aliza Shevrin and published by Penguin.
Tevye, as written by his author, is not the same pleasant person we know from popular culture. While he does embody the same mixture of comedy and tragedy, he is far less friendly, and far more self-important. Tevye thinks very highly of his own scholarship, which, one sees over time, is the kind of intellectual pride that a child, or a fool who has learnt a few things and now thinks of himself as a Great Thinker. Whenever someone tries to engage Tevye in conversation, he responds with partial quotes from the Torah and the commentaries, as he thinks apropos to the situation. He evades queries with queries of his own, and often tries to build himself up in the eyes of his interlocutors, that they, too, might come to see how clever and learned Tevye is. This attitude just as often frustrates and angers those trying to talk to him. Even a simple “Hello!” can be an occasion for Tevye to show off his “scholarship.”
He is almost misogynistic, and he is also inordinately proud of his seven daughters, taking opportunity to boast of their beauty, their intelligence, and their boldness of spirit. Yet because of his own intellectual vanity, he seems unable to really connect intimately with his family as he might like. It’s as if he is so busy pretending to be what he is not, that he never understands how to simply be who he is. He has an unshakable confidence in himself, and although he is hard working, he does not believe that he can ever really improve his lot in life. For Tevye, success is not influenced by one’s own efforts, but all is left in the hands of HaShem.
In the books, Tevye has seven daughters, as opposed to the five mentioned in the play. And their stories, though similar, are not nearly so happy. While Tzeitl does get to marry Motl Kamzoyl, and has several children with him, he dies of tuberculosis, leaving Tzeitl a widow who returns to live with Tevye. Hodl does run off with Fefferl—Perchik—but the books do not fully tell what Perchik has been up to. While the movie, especially, portrays Perchik as a communist revolutionary who wants to improve life for all men, the books only allow us to see through Tevye’s eyes, and with his understanding. Or lack of it. And Tevye’s shtetl mindset cannot conceive of the wider world as his children see it. Yet, he likes Perchik because he can have arguments with him, and as in the play, Tevye sees Hodl off when she goes to him in Siberia.
Chava does fall in love with a gentile and marries him. But it Tevye finds out from the priest himself, without Golde’s intermediating. We see that the priest and Tevye have a longstanding relationship in which they discuss theology, and the priest regularly tries to convert Tevye, being somewhat fond of him (even if he is a Jew). When Tevye is informed of Chava’s fate, it seems as if she had been taken away by the gentiles of the village. And later, when Tevye, on his way home from making his dairy run to the neighboring town of Yehuppetz, sees Chava on the road, trying to explain to him, he stops his ears and runs, believing that the Devil was whispering in his ear, trying to play on his natural affection for his daughter.
Shprintze becomes enamored of a local fellow, a wealthy young wastrel, and he falls in love with her. Later on, Tevye is summoned by the boy’s uncle, who tries to buy him off. As it turns out, the boy’s family didn’t want their heir to marry, or be associated with, the daughter of a lowly dairyman. Shprintze drowns herself. And there is even some question, given the situation, as to whether or not she might have been pregnant.
Beilke allows herself to be married off to a wealthy boor, because she wants to be able to help her father and sisters as the wife of a rich man. Eventually, however, the money runs out, and Beilke and her husband flee to America to make a living.
In the end, the pogroms come to Tevye’s village, and he must leave. His wife Golde has already died, and he goes with Tzeitl and her children, and (although it is left unclear) Chava, who returns, because she would share her people’s fate.
The stories are memorable, and charming, and wonderful, as only Sholem Aleichem can write. But the character Tevye is certainly not who we think of nowadays.
I strongly urge you to read the stories and tales of Tevye the Dairyman.
Read
February 6, 2016Penguin Classics edition, translated by Aliza Shevrin
This edition's annotation system is uniquely irritating among Penguin Classics, making the text of the Tevye stories a trial to read. I read the later and inferior unfinished novel, Motl the Cantor's Son first, to put off dealing with it. Tevye narrates in first person (when Fiddler on the Roof follows him around the village as he talks, it reflects this) – and his speech is peppered with his own free and easy interpretations of the scriptures. Both Tevye's interpretations and the original quotes have been incorporated into the body of the text. They're not footnoted. They aren't even in brackets, for goodness' sake. They're part of the same sentence as what he's saying. There are usually italics, but their use always doesn't make clear what's the actual quote and what Tevye sees it as, and even then, there aren't always two versions of the same idea, so you don't know what is and is not glossed. And italics are sometimes used for other things as well. I can't imagine how this presentation is useful; surely the only people who might not struggle with it are those who know their Torah inside out, but then they could spot his misinterpretations by themselves. I wondered if the system originates in a Jewish textual tradition. Anyone? If so, it may not be the best choice for a general imprint like Penguin as it's inaccessible and unintuitive for readers who have never been observant Jews. Likewise the glossary of Yiddish, Russian and Jewish terms could have been better: some are very well known, info on others is skimpy, and it doesn't mention more obscure words that are in the text. [A lot of us think the notes in classics were better when we were younger. Is that an abstruse symptom of ageing?] Anyway, I tried to get as much as I could out of the book despite struggling with the unusual annotation.
In some other posts, I've mentioned that whilst I was growing up, I got so tired of hearing about things related to the Second World War that then, for about 15 years, I read and watched practically nothing related to it. And because of that break, there are aspects of it which were then unfamiliar, which now seem almost new and strangely emotive. Once I'd seen too many pictures of heaps of dead people's glasses and shoes and they ceased to have an impact. But late last year I read a bit about the destruction of shtetl culture and the decline of the Yiddish language, and can't think of these things without sadness about what, and who, was lost. I find endangered languages very sad anyway, but this is a sadder story than most because of the scale of deliberate human destruction: before the war there were 11-13 million Yiddish speakers; about 5 million were killed in the Holocaust, and most of those who weren't migrated to countries where they needed to speak other languages to get by; most contemporary estimates of Yiddish speaker numbers are more than 15 years old and included a lot of elderly people.
Reading a book like this one is partly about seeing that shtetl culture from the inside, whilst it still existed. Aleichem wasn't entirely positive about it, however – he could see it stifling some people, some aspects of progress. (It needed peaceful change, not the one it was subjected to.) The book isn't, however, as emphatic as Fiddler on the Roof, where the whole plot is a retort to Tevye's opening song about Tradition: that structure surely a reflection of the time of the musical's and film's production - the Wetern 1960s and another dismantling of traditions.
Motl the Cantor's Son
I'd have probably enjoyed this at age 10-11, when I read a lot of Victorian & Edwardian children's classics. Sholem Aleichem is frequently compared to Mark Twain; it's a long time since I've read Twain, but the boy narrator, simple style, and adventures, some of which don't seem all that big to an adult, produce echoes. Nine-year-old Motl's narration doesn't always sound like a boy - often it has the confident voice of an adult author - yet the child's limited perspective on people and events is retained. There was frustratingly little insight into the grownups, who end up defined by a handful of habits: Motl's mother's frequent crying, or his elder brother Elyahu who continually wallops him and sets up various small business ventures. Another of the less pleasant, yet historically interesting, notable features of Motl was child characters learning sexism from adults via cumulative remarks. I'd guess that the extended-family group must be held together by some degree of warmth and communality, but a lot of what ends up on the page is bickering. This is the kind of thing a young reader would be less likely to notice: for them it's fair enough if adults are background noise; what they care about are the other children.
Earlier in this two-part unfinished novel, the stories were too short to hold my interest; they became involving when they later extended over several chapters: especially Elyahu's (and the whole family's) madcap business enterprises based on advice in an early self-help manual; the emigration journey across Europe; and more jobs and business ideas when they finally reach New York. It was great to hear about all the places in Europe they passed through, what they were like at the time, and how the family was treated by different countries' charitable bodies who aided refugees. (Even more interesting if your forebears followed similar routes.) This family's stops include Vienna and Antwerp - and a while in Whitechapel. If you've been to that area of London, this chapter is great for seeing a historical side of it less familiar than the usual Ripper and Krays material.
Ellis Island is one of those terms that, to non-Americans who feel bombarded by American culture, can seem hackneyed despite not knowing the full background. Motl tells the early 1900s immigrant's experience of it in excruciating detail, the hanging about, the dehumanising procedures, the anxiety over sponsors and separation from people.
As Motl himself gets used to life in America, he can't be bothered hearing about pogroms. It was strikingly similar to Philip Roth's Portnoy not wanting to know about the war and the Holocaust – both want to forget historic fears and get on with their lives as Americans: Motl and his friends looking set to become lower middle class businessmen, and Portnoy from the following generation, increasingly integrated as part of an intelligentsia.
Tevye the Dairyman
I didn't find Tevye quite as blameworthy a character as intro suggests (esp re his daughter Shprintze, who is, incidentally, absent from the film), yet he is hardly as straightforwardly "warm and wise" as the blurb says either; the film even makes him a more complex and contradictory personality than that - good for a chat around the village, but clearly less fun at home.
Curiously, the introduction describes Fiddler on the Roof as one of the schmaltziest musicals. Was the writer enjoying a pun for its own sake? Despite my love of many things camp, I don't generally get on with musicals and I think I know a schmaltzy one when I see it. The IMDb reviews, too, are full of people saying, 'I don't like musicals but...' Fiddler seems to me a very New Hollywood variant: it addresses more difficult and delicate subjects than old-style productions did, even making a Russian Communist a minor hero; it's more gritty than pretty (and don't the people look remarkably ordinary compared with contemporary film stars?); and circumstances are such that everything can't quite be alright in the end, even if it looks as if it will be for some characters. [Tevye may be off to New York, but Chava's half-Jewish kids in Cracow - what fate awaits them in 40 or 50 years?]
I'm writing this paragraph in June, expanded from notes made in January; the following now gives me deja-vu, after saying similar about one other book I finished this year. Tevye is an outstanding example of an unreliable narrator: the narrative has an openness that allows the reader to see what other characters are really like rather than guess about distortion through Tevye's view. (His wife Golde, who has more personality in the book than on screen, comes across as an intelligent and capable woman who probably would have been very successful in an age where she'd have been able to work for herself after divorcing this fool of a husband who doesn't respect her better judgement.) Tevye's exuberant garrulousness carries the story along; what would make him irritating as a real person makes him fun to read. 'Only a writer would value him,' quotes the introduction; but the reader is able to press pause on his chat any time by putting the book down, and you can't do that with acquaintances, much as some people would like to. Still, it's unusual, and a considerable skill, to make a narrative style so outright enjoyable where the narrator would grate in reality. There's quite some skill in recreating that for translation too, although quotes in intro indicate that, unfortunately, a lot of wordplay has been lost in translation. Film-Tevye isn't quite such a chatterbox, or as much of a Walter Mitty or a crawler to authority - toning this down makes him more watchable for the audience he is more literally talking to. His silliness comes across on the screen in other ways - he tries to assert his dictatorial authority to little effect, and on one occasion looks like a toddler having a tantrum instead. He looks more of an old fashioned dad character than the holy fool he sometimes seems in the book (it's a Christian trope, but also a Russian one, so maybe...) He's not the outright creepy sort of unreliable narrator: he simply lacks self-awareness, and has traits which are variously old-fashioned, and/or a nuisance to his family in other ways.
Are the Tevye stories sadder and more moving for the post-WWII reader? Tevye and others still have implicit hope things will be okay more or less where they are, in Ukraine. (He doesn't emigrate to the USA in the book, although Sholem Aleichem did.) We know that, whilst he's less likely to live to see the war, his children and their children may well. I, like many, am tired of the excess of modern novels about the war, yet I felt such dread and sadness for these characters and their inevitable obliviousness to the short time they and their world had remaining. The film foregrounds the dread by making threats of violence against Jews, encouraged by the Tzar's officials, a part of the film almost from the start - whereas on paper Tevye and his fellow villagers' existence have long phases of not thinking about this danger; after all, things have been tolerable where they are for a long time. They are rudely interrupted, it seems, rather than having it hanging over them continually.
I usually look at multiple translations before deciding on one, but in this case it was impossible as Sholem Aleichem books aren't widely available in the UK. Ignoring the annotation issue (not easy) this one at least flows well, and has a strong personality. There may be room for improvement, if someone can translate the wordplay more effectively - dimensions of these stories appear to be absent in English. The Tevye the Dairyman stories are pretty enjoyable for themselves as well as being historically interesting. Motlthe Cantor's Son had its moments, even a couple of laugh-out-loud ones, but it was one of those classics that interested me more as a historical document than for outright entertainment value.
This edition's annotation system is uniquely irritating among Penguin Classics, making the text of the Tevye stories a trial to read. I read the later and inferior unfinished novel, Motl the Cantor's Son first, to put off dealing with it. Tevye narrates in first person (when Fiddler on the Roof follows him around the village as he talks, it reflects this) – and his speech is peppered with his own free and easy interpretations of the scriptures. Both Tevye's interpretations and the original quotes have been incorporated into the body of the text. They're not footnoted. They aren't even in brackets, for goodness' sake. They're part of the same sentence as what he's saying. There are usually italics, but their use always doesn't make clear what's the actual quote and what Tevye sees it as, and even then, there aren't always two versions of the same idea, so you don't know what is and is not glossed. And italics are sometimes used for other things as well. I can't imagine how this presentation is useful; surely the only people who might not struggle with it are those who know their Torah inside out, but then they could spot his misinterpretations by themselves. I wondered if the system originates in a Jewish textual tradition. Anyone? If so, it may not be the best choice for a general imprint like Penguin as it's inaccessible and unintuitive for readers who have never been observant Jews. Likewise the glossary of Yiddish, Russian and Jewish terms could have been better: some are very well known, info on others is skimpy, and it doesn't mention more obscure words that are in the text. [A lot of us think the notes in classics were better when we were younger. Is that an abstruse symptom of ageing?] Anyway, I tried to get as much as I could out of the book despite struggling with the unusual annotation.
In some other posts, I've mentioned that whilst I was growing up, I got so tired of hearing about things related to the Second World War that then, for about 15 years, I read and watched practically nothing related to it. And because of that break, there are aspects of it which were then unfamiliar, which now seem almost new and strangely emotive. Once I'd seen too many pictures of heaps of dead people's glasses and shoes and they ceased to have an impact. But late last year I read a bit about the destruction of shtetl culture and the decline of the Yiddish language, and can't think of these things without sadness about what, and who, was lost. I find endangered languages very sad anyway, but this is a sadder story than most because of the scale of deliberate human destruction: before the war there were 11-13 million Yiddish speakers; about 5 million were killed in the Holocaust, and most of those who weren't migrated to countries where they needed to speak other languages to get by; most contemporary estimates of Yiddish speaker numbers are more than 15 years old and included a lot of elderly people.
Reading a book like this one is partly about seeing that shtetl culture from the inside, whilst it still existed. Aleichem wasn't entirely positive about it, however – he could see it stifling some people, some aspects of progress. (It needed peaceful change, not the one it was subjected to.) The book isn't, however, as emphatic as Fiddler on the Roof, where the whole plot is a retort to Tevye's opening song about Tradition: that structure surely a reflection of the time of the musical's and film's production - the Wetern 1960s and another dismantling of traditions.
Motl the Cantor's Son
I'd have probably enjoyed this at age 10-11, when I read a lot of Victorian & Edwardian children's classics. Sholem Aleichem is frequently compared to Mark Twain; it's a long time since I've read Twain, but the boy narrator, simple style, and adventures, some of which don't seem all that big to an adult, produce echoes. Nine-year-old Motl's narration doesn't always sound like a boy - often it has the confident voice of an adult author - yet the child's limited perspective on people and events is retained. There was frustratingly little insight into the grownups, who end up defined by a handful of habits: Motl's mother's frequent crying, or his elder brother Elyahu who continually wallops him and sets up various small business ventures. Another of the less pleasant, yet historically interesting, notable features of Motl was child characters learning sexism from adults via cumulative remarks. I'd guess that the extended-family group must be held together by some degree of warmth and communality, but a lot of what ends up on the page is bickering. This is the kind of thing a young reader would be less likely to notice: for them it's fair enough if adults are background noise; what they care about are the other children.
Earlier in this two-part unfinished novel, the stories were too short to hold my interest; they became involving when they later extended over several chapters: especially Elyahu's (and the whole family's) madcap business enterprises based on advice in an early self-help manual; the emigration journey across Europe; and more jobs and business ideas when they finally reach New York. It was great to hear about all the places in Europe they passed through, what they were like at the time, and how the family was treated by different countries' charitable bodies who aided refugees. (Even more interesting if your forebears followed similar routes.) This family's stops include Vienna and Antwerp - and a while in Whitechapel. If you've been to that area of London, this chapter is great for seeing a historical side of it less familiar than the usual Ripper and Krays material.
Ellis Island is one of those terms that, to non-Americans who feel bombarded by American culture, can seem hackneyed despite not knowing the full background. Motl tells the early 1900s immigrant's experience of it in excruciating detail, the hanging about, the dehumanising procedures, the anxiety over sponsors and separation from people.
As Motl himself gets used to life in America, he can't be bothered hearing about pogroms. It was strikingly similar to Philip Roth's Portnoy not wanting to know about the war and the Holocaust – both want to forget historic fears and get on with their lives as Americans: Motl and his friends looking set to become lower middle class businessmen, and Portnoy from the following generation, increasingly integrated as part of an intelligentsia.
Tevye the Dairyman
I didn't find Tevye quite as blameworthy a character as intro suggests (esp re his daughter Shprintze, who is, incidentally, absent from the film), yet he is hardly as straightforwardly "warm and wise" as the blurb says either; the film even makes him a more complex and contradictory personality than that - good for a chat around the village, but clearly less fun at home.
Curiously, the introduction describes Fiddler on the Roof as one of the schmaltziest musicals. Was the writer enjoying a pun for its own sake? Despite my love of many things camp, I don't generally get on with musicals and I think I know a schmaltzy one when I see it. The IMDb reviews, too, are full of people saying, 'I don't like musicals but...' Fiddler seems to me a very New Hollywood variant: it addresses more difficult and delicate subjects than old-style productions did, even making a Russian Communist a minor hero; it's more gritty than pretty (and don't the people look remarkably ordinary compared with contemporary film stars?); and circumstances are such that everything can't quite be alright in the end, even if it looks as if it will be for some characters. [Tevye may be off to New York, but Chava's half-Jewish kids in Cracow - what fate awaits them in 40 or 50 years?]
I'm writing this paragraph in June, expanded from notes made in January; the following now gives me deja-vu, after saying similar about one other book I finished this year. Tevye is an outstanding example of an unreliable narrator: the narrative has an openness that allows the reader to see what other characters are really like rather than guess about distortion through Tevye's view. (His wife Golde, who has more personality in the book than on screen, comes across as an intelligent and capable woman who probably would have been very successful in an age where she'd have been able to work for herself after divorcing this fool of a husband who doesn't respect her better judgement.) Tevye's exuberant garrulousness carries the story along; what would make him irritating as a real person makes him fun to read. 'Only a writer would value him,' quotes the introduction; but the reader is able to press pause on his chat any time by putting the book down, and you can't do that with acquaintances, much as some people would like to. Still, it's unusual, and a considerable skill, to make a narrative style so outright enjoyable where the narrator would grate in reality. There's quite some skill in recreating that for translation too, although quotes in intro indicate that, unfortunately, a lot of wordplay has been lost in translation. Film-Tevye isn't quite such a chatterbox, or as much of a Walter Mitty or a crawler to authority - toning this down makes him more watchable for the audience he is more literally talking to. His silliness comes across on the screen in other ways - he tries to assert his dictatorial authority to little effect, and on one occasion looks like a toddler having a tantrum instead. He looks more of an old fashioned dad character than the holy fool he sometimes seems in the book (it's a Christian trope, but also a Russian one, so maybe...) He's not the outright creepy sort of unreliable narrator: he simply lacks self-awareness, and has traits which are variously old-fashioned, and/or a nuisance to his family in other ways.
Are the Tevye stories sadder and more moving for the post-WWII reader? Tevye and others still have implicit hope things will be okay more or less where they are, in Ukraine. (He doesn't emigrate to the USA in the book, although Sholem Aleichem did.) We know that, whilst he's less likely to live to see the war, his children and their children may well. I, like many, am tired of the excess of modern novels about the war, yet I felt such dread and sadness for these characters and their inevitable obliviousness to the short time they and their world had remaining. The film foregrounds the dread by making threats of violence against Jews, encouraged by the Tzar's officials, a part of the film almost from the start - whereas on paper Tevye and his fellow villagers' existence have long phases of not thinking about this danger; after all, things have been tolerable where they are for a long time. They are rudely interrupted, it seems, rather than having it hanging over them continually.
I usually look at multiple translations before deciding on one, but in this case it was impossible as Sholem Aleichem books aren't widely available in the UK. Ignoring the annotation issue (not easy) this one at least flows well, and has a strong personality. There may be room for improvement, if someone can translate the wordplay more effectively - dimensions of these stories appear to be absent in English. The Tevye the Dairyman stories are pretty enjoyable for themselves as well as being historically interesting. Motlthe Cantor's Son had its moments, even a couple of laugh-out-loud ones, but it was one of those classics that interested me more as a historical document than for outright entertainment value.
August 15, 2017
La comédie musicale "Le Violon sur le toit" est basée sur l'antholgie de contes de Shalom Aliechem, "Tévié le laitier". Laquelle est la meilleure? Évidemment c'est la comédie musicale. De la même manière, on peut dire que "La Traviata" de Verdi est meilleure que "La Dame aux Caméias" de Dumas. Cependant, la pièce de Dumas est aussi excellente et mérite d'être lue. Alors je recommende fortement "Tévié le laitier" qui est excellent et qui aborde bien des sujets qui sont absents du "Violon sur le toit."
"Motl", la deuxième oeuvre dans ce volume est un très long fragment d'un roman inachevée qui décrit le parcours d'un communauté de juifs qui quittent l'empire Tsarist avant la première grande mondiale pour s'installer à New York. "Motl" a un certain intérêt pour des gens qui veulent comprendre l'expérience d'immigré juif au debut du vingtième mais sa qualité littéraire est minime. On n'a pas besoin de lire. Avec "Tévier le laitier" on en a pour son argent.
"Motl", la deuxième oeuvre dans ce volume est un très long fragment d'un roman inachevée qui décrit le parcours d'un communauté de juifs qui quittent l'empire Tsarist avant la première grande mondiale pour s'installer à New York. "Motl" a un certain intérêt pour des gens qui veulent comprendre l'expérience d'immigré juif au debut du vingtième mais sa qualité littéraire est minime. On n'a pas besoin de lire. Avec "Tévier le laitier" on en a pour son argent.
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December 22, 2021- Bu dəfə öz tərtib etdiyim, "Libra Kitab"da nəşr edilən "Balaca Motl"u oxudum... Bu ilin son kitabı olacağını düşündüm... amma sona qədər hələ var... İki kitaba daha başladım... Biri "Dartanyanlar"ın yanvar kitabıdır... 100-ə çatdım...
- Uşaq ədəbiyyatından gen gəzirəm... Amma dostlar oxumağımı, çox bəyənəcəyimi dedilər... Həqiqətən qəşəng əsər imiş... Onlar oxuyanda çox gülürdülər... Mən isə gülə bilmədim... Səbəbini isə onda görürəm ki, arxa fonda yaşanan dramı uşağın - Motlun gözü ilə görə bilmədim... Dayanmadan göz yaşı axıdan ana... işində daim uduzan qardaş... qonşu bağdaki meyvələrə həsrətlə baxan Motl... bunlar mənə gülməyə imkan vermirdi...
- Bir az qabaq birinə dedim: Kaş həyata uşaqların gözü ilə baxa biləydik... Nəticə etibarilə, dünya oyundan ibarətdir... Ən azı mən bunu belə dərk edirəm... Uşaqlar həyatı olduğum kimi görürlər... oyun kimi... ananın göz yaşlarını belə... əlbəttə bunun bütün uşaqlara şamil etmək olmur... razıyam... Motl belə görür...
- Hər nə qədər özümüzdən uzaqlaşdırmağa çalışsaq da, hər şey bitir... Mirkelamın bir sözü var: "Her güzel şey gibi, işte bu da bitdi"... Hə bütün yuxular oyanmaqla sona çatır... Məsələ insanın yuxunu yuxu kimi, həyatı da həyat kimi qəbul etməsidir...
- Balaca əsər idi, amma düşündürdü... Yazıçısı bildiyim qədər rusiya həyudilərindəndir... adını bilmirəm, amma təxəllüsü "Salam Əleyküm"dür... amma ivrit dilində... Oxuyun oxutdurun... Bu dəcəli tanıyın... bəlkə bir neçə anlıq da olsun, hislərdən arınıb dünyaya oyun gözü ilə baxa bildiniz...
- Uşaq ədəbiyyatından gen gəzirəm... Amma dostlar oxumağımı, çox bəyənəcəyimi dedilər... Həqiqətən qəşəng əsər imiş... Onlar oxuyanda çox gülürdülər... Mən isə gülə bilmədim... Səbəbini isə onda görürəm ki, arxa fonda yaşanan dramı uşağın - Motlun gözü ilə görə bilmədim... Dayanmadan göz yaşı axıdan ana... işində daim uduzan qardaş... qonşu bağdaki meyvələrə həsrətlə baxan Motl... bunlar mənə gülməyə imkan vermirdi...
- Bir az qabaq birinə dedim: Kaş həyata uşaqların gözü ilə baxa biləydik... Nəticə etibarilə, dünya oyundan ibarətdir... Ən azı mən bunu belə dərk edirəm... Uşaqlar həyatı olduğum kimi görürlər... oyun kimi... ananın göz yaşlarını belə... əlbəttə bunun bütün uşaqlara şamil etmək olmur... razıyam... Motl belə görür...
- Hər nə qədər özümüzdən uzaqlaşdırmağa çalışsaq da, hər şey bitir... Mirkelamın bir sözü var: "Her güzel şey gibi, işte bu da bitdi"... Hə bütün yuxular oyanmaqla sona çatır... Məsələ insanın yuxunu yuxu kimi, həyatı da həyat kimi qəbul etməsidir...
- Balaca əsər idi, amma düşündürdü... Yazıçısı bildiyim qədər rusiya həyudilərindəndir... adını bilmirəm, amma təxəllüsü "Salam Əleyküm"dür... amma ivrit dilində... Oxuyun oxutdurun... Bu dəcəli tanıyın... bəlkə bir neçə anlıq da olsun, hislərdən arınıb dünyaya oyun gözü ilə baxa bildiniz...
March 6, 2021
The book Fiddler on the Roof is based on. I’m a big fan of the film so wasn’t sure if this would be like Mary Poppins and Wicked where I prefer the musical version to the book it’s based on. However, while this is definitely darker and more melancholy than the musical (as would be expected), it’s a brilliant piece of work.
The film kept the feel of the book and the interpretation of Tevye is fairly accurate though I feel he is a bit more three dimensional here. While there are five daughters in the musical, here there are seven and so more stories ensue.
The book is written conversationally, a clever approach, that feels like it follows traditional oral story telling where family and place histories would be passed down from generation to generation. There is plenty of Russian history here and what life was like for peasants. There are topics of tradition vs modernity, the emergence of communist and socialist ideas becoming more mainstream, the pogroms, gender inequalities, society divides, education...
I will be reading more of Sholem Aleichem’s work as this was wonderful.
The film kept the feel of the book and the interpretation of Tevye is fairly accurate though I feel he is a bit more three dimensional here. While there are five daughters in the musical, here there are seven and so more stories ensue.
The book is written conversationally, a clever approach, that feels like it follows traditional oral story telling where family and place histories would be passed down from generation to generation. There is plenty of Russian history here and what life was like for peasants. There are topics of tradition vs modernity, the emergence of communist and socialist ideas becoming more mainstream, the pogroms, gender inequalities, society divides, education...
I will be reading more of Sholem Aleichem’s work as this was wonderful.
March 1, 2015
This is the classic Yiddish tale by Ukrainian Aleichem (1859-1916) written between 1894 and 1910. I wasn’t aware that this is the story from which the famous ‘Fiddler of the Roof’ (and my favourite musical) came from.
Teyve is a poor Jewish dairy farmer who tells Sholem, himself, his family tale in simple yet poignant language. He has 6 or 7 daughters by Golde and needs to marry them off – you probably know that in descending age they choose less and less acceptable partners rendering Teyve seemingly powerless to events and certainly as a pogrom approaches. The sad tale unfolds with the Jewish faith and Teyve’s view on life and God taking centre stage. The tale is remarkably similar to the musical but significantly explains how he got his cows/farm and more importantly has a fourth daughter after Chava. The differences and similarities make this a really good read, but it is still excellent as a novel on its own merits for the stylish feeling of empathy you get for Tevye’s lot.
Quotes
“So I went out and greeted them with a hearty sholem Aleichem. “Welcome”, I said “What are you doing here, my dear neighbours? What good news do you bring?. The mayor, Ivan Poperilo, stepped forward and said without any preliminaries, “We have come here, Tevye, to beat you up”
“There is a God above. I am not saying my God or your God, I am speaking of the God of all of us, who sits above and sees all the wickedness that goes on down below”
I loved the musical and love the book in equal measure.
The book also includes the unfinished novel “Motl the Cantor’s son”. This was also written by Aleichem. It is actually the larger proportion of the book. It too is told in first person by Molt, a young boy of about 8. He loses his father early on and he takes us on his journey, with his ever tear full mother and married brother, to America.
I don’t think it particularly matters that the story does literally end mid chapter since there has been an awful lot of story before hand. The tale depicts the emigration of the poor Jewish family and their subsequent efforts to make a living.
Teyve is a poor Jewish dairy farmer who tells Sholem, himself, his family tale in simple yet poignant language. He has 6 or 7 daughters by Golde and needs to marry them off – you probably know that in descending age they choose less and less acceptable partners rendering Teyve seemingly powerless to events and certainly as a pogrom approaches. The sad tale unfolds with the Jewish faith and Teyve’s view on life and God taking centre stage. The tale is remarkably similar to the musical but significantly explains how he got his cows/farm and more importantly has a fourth daughter after Chava. The differences and similarities make this a really good read, but it is still excellent as a novel on its own merits for the stylish feeling of empathy you get for Tevye’s lot.
Quotes
“So I went out and greeted them with a hearty sholem Aleichem. “Welcome”, I said “What are you doing here, my dear neighbours? What good news do you bring?. The mayor, Ivan Poperilo, stepped forward and said without any preliminaries, “We have come here, Tevye, to beat you up”
“There is a God above. I am not saying my God or your God, I am speaking of the God of all of us, who sits above and sees all the wickedness that goes on down below”
I loved the musical and love the book in equal measure.
The book also includes the unfinished novel “Motl the Cantor’s son”. This was also written by Aleichem. It is actually the larger proportion of the book. It too is told in first person by Molt, a young boy of about 8. He loses his father early on and he takes us on his journey, with his ever tear full mother and married brother, to America.
I don’t think it particularly matters that the story does literally end mid chapter since there has been an awful lot of story before hand. The tale depicts the emigration of the poor Jewish family and their subsequent efforts to make a living.
June 10, 2020
was really surprised how *good* an adaption fiddler on the roof is from tevye. just super enjoyable to read overall.
June 7, 2011
I was fortunate enough to run into into this book thanks to another book blogger. This is delightful, well written, funny, and witty.
The first story will be very familiar to you if you have watched Fiddler on the Roof, though you will never find in the whole story the word TRADITION!! LOL!
The second story is told from the mouth of a kid, who has great eyes, and comments on everything and everyone. It is every interesting to see how the author manages to mix the tragic and the humorous, while recounting the exodus from Russia to an American ghetto, never without respect, never mocking. When humor never becomes irony, I say: great job! I was only disappointed to get to the end without end: the author died at the beginning of a new section, without having time to finish his book.
original post:
http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/20...
Emma @ Words And Peace
The first story will be very familiar to you if you have watched Fiddler on the Roof, though you will never find in the whole story the word TRADITION!! LOL!
The second story is told from the mouth of a kid, who has great eyes, and comments on everything and everyone. It is every interesting to see how the author manages to mix the tragic and the humorous, while recounting the exodus from Russia to an American ghetto, never without respect, never mocking. When humor never becomes irony, I say: great job! I was only disappointed to get to the end without end: the author died at the beginning of a new section, without having time to finish his book.
original post:
http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/20...
Emma @ Words And Peace
October 28, 2014
I'm giving 5 stars solely because of Tevye the Dairyman, which I adored. Tevye--inherently likable and inherently untrustworthy--grants us a view of his world, including the lies he tells himself. It is in the half-truths and omissions, often hidden by gut-busting humor, that the story gains its incredible vitality and bite. Through his telling, we begin to see Tevye in his entirety, flaws and all, and like with a friend, we feel what he feels. By causing us to be so dependent on Tevye, Aleichem creates a work that is both rooted in cultural and temporal specificity and universally human.
Motl the Cantor's Son is not as noteworthy. It's important to note that it's unfinished, so who knows what it would have looked like had Aleichem lived to complete it. As is, it has some brilliantly funny moments, but grows stale in the second half.
Motl the Cantor's Son is not as noteworthy. It's important to note that it's unfinished, so who knows what it would have looked like had Aleichem lived to complete it. As is, it has some brilliantly funny moments, but grows stale in the second half.
April 29, 2024
Note: This is just a review and rating of this translation of Tevye the Dairyman; I did not read Motl the Cantor's Son.
Tevye the Dairyman is a set of ten stories (including what seem to be a prologue and epilogue) written by Sholem Aleichem between 1895 and 1916, a time of unrest in Russia that culminated in the expulsion of much of its Jewish population, including Aleichem himself. Several of these stories were most famously adapted into the popular musical Fiddler on the Roof, which focuses on Tevye’s struggles between tradition and modernity in regard to the marriages of his three eldest daughters. Read in their entirety, though, these stories have much less to do with this tension and more to do with the ongoing struggles of the rural Jewish poor. Like the biblical Job, Tevye endures setback after setback, a victim of Fortune’s Wheel. Though some of these disappointments are directly Tevye’s fault, such as his investments with a spurious relative, there also does not seem to be much Tevye can do to improve his lot in life. When he follows his daughters’ wishes, all suffer; when he remains obstinate, the same. Despite generally getting along with gentiles, he eventually loses everything at the hands of the antisemitic authorities, as do many of the wealthy Jews Tevye spends much of the book envying. In his piety, Tevye constantly raises the question, why has God allowed, or even deigned, his people to suffer? What ultimate good does it do? All he can really do is shrug it off, keep going, and tell his story.
Tevye the Dairyman is a set of ten stories (including what seem to be a prologue and epilogue) written by Sholem Aleichem between 1895 and 1916, a time of unrest in Russia that culminated in the expulsion of much of its Jewish population, including Aleichem himself. Several of these stories were most famously adapted into the popular musical Fiddler on the Roof, which focuses on Tevye’s struggles between tradition and modernity in regard to the marriages of his three eldest daughters. Read in their entirety, though, these stories have much less to do with this tension and more to do with the ongoing struggles of the rural Jewish poor. Like the biblical Job, Tevye endures setback after setback, a victim of Fortune’s Wheel. Though some of these disappointments are directly Tevye’s fault, such as his investments with a spurious relative, there also does not seem to be much Tevye can do to improve his lot in life. When he follows his daughters’ wishes, all suffer; when he remains obstinate, the same. Despite generally getting along with gentiles, he eventually loses everything at the hands of the antisemitic authorities, as do many of the wealthy Jews Tevye spends much of the book envying. In his piety, Tevye constantly raises the question, why has God allowed, or even deigned, his people to suffer? What ultimate good does it do? All he can really do is shrug it off, keep going, and tell his story.
July 11, 2022
Tevye is the principal character for “Fiddler on the Roof”. This book contains the full story about Tevye the milkman who goes around the Russian/Ukrainian countryside delivering milk and cheese. As he meets people, he dispenses quotes from the Talmud and wisdom about life. We experience life in the schetl and are introduced to his 7 daughters in an endearing way. We see a Tevye with a heart who has many struggles but never gives up.
The introduction to this book probes into Tevye’s psychology and milieu. It is well worth the read to get this background information. Sholem Aleichem in Yiddish means “how do you do”? Tevye narrates his story to Sholem, the interlocutor that he wishes to impress. Personae were popular in Yiddish writing. There are many Yiddish quotes in the book spoken poignantly by Tevye. He is not a rich man but with his wife Golde, he needs to marry off his 7 daughters. But instead of a suitable match by a matchmaker, they choose their own partners.
This is not the film script but more real and worth the read. The poverty and hard lives of many Jews is expressed well and Tevye’s optimism and wisdom make him the beloved character in the book and movie that we love.
The introduction to this book probes into Tevye’s psychology and milieu. It is well worth the read to get this background information. Sholem Aleichem in Yiddish means “how do you do”? Tevye narrates his story to Sholem, the interlocutor that he wishes to impress. Personae were popular in Yiddish writing. There are many Yiddish quotes in the book spoken poignantly by Tevye. He is not a rich man but with his wife Golde, he needs to marry off his 7 daughters. But instead of a suitable match by a matchmaker, they choose their own partners.
This is not the film script but more real and worth the read. The poverty and hard lives of many Jews is expressed well and Tevye’s optimism and wisdom make him the beloved character in the book and movie that we love.
August 31, 2022
Firstly, I only read the Tevye portion—it was for a class, and this was the edition the school bookstore website said to get. Unfortunately, it turns out there's a different translation that comes bundled with the Railroad Stories instead that's much better. By the time I found that out, though, I was pretty much done with this version.
Setting aside the inferior translation, this was quite an interesting read. I'd been led to believe this was humorous, and at points it was, but the latter stories begin to get pretty dark and tackle serious subjects. Chronologically, the stories progress from focusing on life within the shtetl to dealing additionally persecution Jews faced. "Shprintze" finds a thematic balance, before things really culminate in "Get Thee Gone" (aka "Lekh-Lekho").
It's worth noting that if you don't know the historical background, these stories might be very confusing. If you're goyische or not educated in Jewish culture and history, you might need Google at your side to get what's happening, and I suspect the stories might generally be less interesting to you, at least on first reading. That said, for those who understand the context, these are a great exploration of turn-of-the-century Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
Setting aside the inferior translation, this was quite an interesting read. I'd been led to believe this was humorous, and at points it was, but the latter stories begin to get pretty dark and tackle serious subjects. Chronologically, the stories progress from focusing on life within the shtetl to dealing additionally persecution Jews faced. "Shprintze" finds a thematic balance, before things really culminate in "Get Thee Gone" (aka "Lekh-Lekho").
It's worth noting that if you don't know the historical background, these stories might be very confusing. If you're goyische or not educated in Jewish culture and history, you might need Google at your side to get what's happening, and I suspect the stories might generally be less interesting to you, at least on first reading. That said, for those who understand the context, these are a great exploration of turn-of-the-century Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
April 22, 2024
I was really nervous this book would be another in the list of dense and dated books I've read for my Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award challenge that would just leave me slowly plodding through a muddled plot with erudite language and dense symbolism. However I found this book to be very readable and not at all difficult.
I think this is in part due to the fact that the narrative is framed as a conversation between two people meeting for a friendly chat. I instantly found Reb Tevye to be amicable and enjoyable to listen to, and while I have read other reviews mention some character flaws that he has much more pronounced than the movie version of the story, I have to say I found both characters to be very similar myself. In fact I found this book the perfect level of distinctiveness from the movie (or vice-versa) while similarly feeling like the movie did a good enough job adapting the book into film that you would benefit from reading the book and watching the movie as their own separate things.
I really ended up enjoying this book and in some ways I find it superior to the movie, though the move also does a great job of distilling the story down and presenting it in a very powerful way as well with wonderful musical accompaniment.
I think this is in part due to the fact that the narrative is framed as a conversation between two people meeting for a friendly chat. I instantly found Reb Tevye to be amicable and enjoyable to listen to, and while I have read other reviews mention some character flaws that he has much more pronounced than the movie version of the story, I have to say I found both characters to be very similar myself. In fact I found this book the perfect level of distinctiveness from the movie (or vice-versa) while similarly feeling like the movie did a good enough job adapting the book into film that you would benefit from reading the book and watching the movie as their own separate things.
I really ended up enjoying this book and in some ways I find it superior to the movie, though the move also does a great job of distilling the story down and presenting it in a very powerful way as well with wonderful musical accompaniment.
February 17, 2020
I read only "Motl the Cantor's Son".
It was good! Better than I would have expected - Aliza Shevrin has given us a good translation, and a great love and understanding of the subject... The Yiddish humor takes a bit of getting used to - it is much more back and fourth of dialogue between characters. Shalom Alecheim - was great - the narrator is a nine year old boy - his view of the end of the world as he knows it - becomes an immigrant throughout Europe and finally America. It is a wonderful journey.
I very much disliked the introduction by Dan Miron - I am not sure if he and I coexist on the same planet -
It is worth noting that this is unfinished as Shalom Alecheim dies while writing "Motl"... The reader is left to imagine how outcomes and characters continue.
It was good! Better than I would have expected - Aliza Shevrin has given us a good translation, and a great love and understanding of the subject... The Yiddish humor takes a bit of getting used to - it is much more back and fourth of dialogue between characters. Shalom Alecheim - was great - the narrator is a nine year old boy - his view of the end of the world as he knows it - becomes an immigrant throughout Europe and finally America. It is a wonderful journey.
I very much disliked the introduction by Dan Miron - I am not sure if he and I coexist on the same planet -
It is worth noting that this is unfinished as Shalom Alecheim dies while writing "Motl"... The reader is left to imagine how outcomes and characters continue.
January 2, 2020
My library received a grant from the Yiddish Book Center to hold a series, Coming to America. Motl the Cantor's Son is one of three titles featured. Translated from Yiddish, it's the story of a Jewish family's experiences in leaving the Czar's Russia and coming to America. Aleichem died before finishing the book, so it's incomplete. We see everything from the viewpoint of Motl, a twelve year old boy. I had a difficult time reading it, and it might be the translation. I stopped and then re-started several time. I'm glad I read it, but I didn't like it as much as Tevye the Dairyman who is nothing like the character of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof.
February 18, 2020
As a Fiddler on the Roof fan, I was very excited to read this book! However, I found the first half (Tevye the Dairyman) very difficult to read. Some of Tevye’s monologues were hard to follow. I enjoyed seeing familiar Jewish liturgy in the text, but I wasn’t hooked until reading about Shprintze - the first story in the book that wasn’t included in the musical. That being said, I loved the second half of the book about Motl the cantor’s son. The writing was rich and I felt liked I was transported to the shtetl. I was a little disappointed that there was no proper ending to the book, but I can’t blame the author for dying. As Tevye says “man does not take his fate into his own hands.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2018
Advertised as the Jewish Mark Twain and the basis for Fiddler on the Roof I was eagerly curious to get ahold of a copy.
After reading the Tevye sections I still didn't know what to think. The tone was wry, the culture obvious (I think I missed a lot), the eliminated stories were so heart-rending, and the ending so typically Tevye that I felt like I was living through the confusing 2016 election again. ;)
Highly recommended. Still in awe that somehow this classic turned into yet another classic. Neither better than the other in my opinion.
After reading the Tevye sections I still didn't know what to think. The tone was wry, the culture obvious (I think I missed a lot), the eliminated stories were so heart-rending, and the ending so typically Tevye that I felt like I was living through the confusing 2016 election again. ;)
Highly recommended. Still in awe that somehow this classic turned into yet another classic. Neither better than the other in my opinion.
December 5, 2023
Tevye the Dairyman is shared in a series of monologues written by the author over a decade. Each one features a different daughter. The original stories include interesting details of the life of this beloved character from Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye's personality and humor is ever present throughout. There are also poignant and bittersweet moments in the parts of Tevye's life and the lives of other members of the family that are not included in the play. I enjoyed reading this classic. I can see why Sholom Aleichem was known as the Jewish Mark Twain.
April 4, 2024
From the not-so-very-peaceful Eastern European shtetl experience to the search for the American Dream in crowded factories, Sholem Aleichem asserts himself as a master of storytelling and, if I may be so bold, as the spokesman of Jewish experience in different kinds of exile. Reading his stories gave me an opportunity to catch precious glimpses of those who came before me and who were responsible for, somehow, shaping my own Jewish identity as well as the person I am today. For that, Pani Sholem Aleichem, I will always be grateful.
June 13, 2021
It took me a long time to read this because it's not what you'd call a page turner, but that doesn't mean it's not good. The Tevye stories are short and often sad but you can hear Tevye's voice and he's a great character. Motl is more a novella but it's told in short snippets with Motl relating to the writer the story of his and his family's life. It starts with life in a Russian shtetl and follows them as they move to America, Motl finds friendship and humor even in difficult times.
March 19, 2024
Tevye the Dairyman: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Motl the Cantor's Son: ⭐⭐⭐
Tevye was SO fun. It was great reading the story of Fiddler on the Roof (plus quite a bit more after the musical ends!) all in the voice of Reb Tevye. He is delightful.
Motl failed to charm me in the same way. In time, his story started to grow on me, but I was very surprised by the ending. The author died while writing Motl, so instead of having any kind of conclusion, it just abruptly
Motl the Cantor's Son: ⭐⭐⭐
Tevye was SO fun. It was great reading the story of Fiddler on the Roof (plus quite a bit more after the musical ends!) all in the voice of Reb Tevye. He is delightful.
Motl failed to charm me in the same way. In time, his story started to grow on me, but I was very surprised by the ending. The author died while writing Motl, so instead of having any kind of conclusion, it just abruptly
January 26, 2024
Magnificent. Tevye is maybe my favourite ever literary character after reading this.
I love the musical adaptation 'Fiddler on the Roof' which is why I read this, and it's just wonderful. Heartbreaking and heartening in equal measure. It made me laugh throughout and yet I couldve cried so many times too.
I love the musical adaptation 'Fiddler on the Roof' which is why I read this, and it's just wonderful. Heartbreaking and heartening in equal measure. It made me laugh throughout and yet I couldve cried so many times too.
November 19, 2024
star rating is for tevye which sits up there with jane eyre as one of the greatest character studies i've ever read. folksy and sweet as fiddler, but with a depth and harshness that the film lacks. tevye here is hilarious, insufferable, and distinctively, delightfully jewish. curb your enthusiasm would be nothing without sholem aleichem.
will return if/when i read motl...
will return if/when i read motl...
July 25, 2017
I love this because it gives insight into many things: life in that Jewish part of Russia at the time, life in general, the Jewish view of the world and living life, and of course this is the book that inspired the musical, "Fiddler on the Roof".
September 18, 2017
If you've seen Fiddler on the Roof, then reading this book is a must! It's short vignettes told by Tevye telling his friend about his life, his family, his loves, faith, and frustrations. A good, touching book.
May 29, 2020
fiddler on the roof is one of my favorite musicals - so i was excited to read the book it was based on - but kinda like Anna and the king of siam - the musical definately captured the best parts of the story
January 19, 2021
It was a great read. I especially appreciated the comments by a discussant at our book club. Little did I know that Sholom Aleichem's writing served as the basis of the musical, Fiddler on the Roof. It is a story that transcends all cultures.
April 13, 2020
Description de la vie du shtel en Ukraine racontée par un petit garçon.
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