The Manor

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

This novel portrays the difficulties encountered by traditionalist Jews coming to terms with the social changes that rocked Poland in the late 19th century. The central figure of the novel is Calman Jacoby, who stands between the old and the new, unable to embrace either whole-heartedly.

Genres: Fiction, Jewish, Historical Fiction, Classics, Poland, Historical, 20th Century

442 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

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

Reviews

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

È la storia di due famiglie, una di gentili e l’altra di ebrei cassidim. Due mondi incompatibili che coesistono senza riuscire a integrarsi. Un racconto che parte dalla Polonia del 1863, in cui i fermenti del cambiamento sono contrastati da una certa resistenza, soprattutto da parte degli ebrei, combattuti tra istanze di rinnovamento e tradizione.

“Gli ebrei sono strana gente […] il tempo passa senza toccarli. L’umanità progredisce, ma loro rimangono fermi come i cinesi dietro la grande muraglia”.

L’atmosfera sta cambiando, l’antisemitismo avanza e la situazione per i cassidim diventa difficile.
Le vicende dei personaggi di questo romanzo continuano in La proprietà, che leggerò al più presto.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good historical Polish saga set in the late 1800s, about a shrewd Jew, Calman Jacoby, a trader in wheat who becomes manager of an estate, ‘the manor’, when a former Polish count’s estate was confiscated by the czar after the unsuccessful Polish rebellion of 1863. Calman Jacoby goes about modernizing the manor, introducing new business. His wife Zelda wants to maintain a social standing, focussing on the marriage of each of their four daughters.

The daughters marriages are not straightforward. The novel follows the stories of each of the daughters and Calman’s life after his wife dies. Calman is a man who wants to continue being a Jew, even though those around him have other goals.

A very satisfying reading experience with interesting characters and good plot momentum.

This book was first published in 1967.

[Barbikat60 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sordid and all at once riveting account of life in Jewish Poland before the turn of the century. I learned a lot about Hasidic life and how the fall of feudalism sorted itself out in Eastern Europe. A highly moral tale of spiritual conviction and losing one's soul to tempation.

[Samir Rawas Sarayji · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what it is, but Singer has a way of capturing an epic in simple, beautiful prose spanning about 400 pages only. His writing style is quickly becoming one of my favourites. And I really enjoy being immersed into the Jewish culture (Polish Jewish) which I know little of, and getting to experience it through the characters. It's never overdone or in-your-face, just an essential part of the narrative. And although the story has been told before, it doesn't change the fact that it's an engaging read because of all the nuances Singer gives his readers: fully-rounded characters, objective morality, cultural exposition, familial relationships with their quirks... An enjoyable book and Calman was by far my favourite character.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Singer writes in his Preface, that this was originally written in 1953-1955 as one book, though, for technical reasons, published in English in 1967 and 1969 as this title, The Manor, and The Estate. I have an edition that includes both titles and hope to get to the second before too much time passes. The cover of my edition describes it as "saga of a family and an epoch".

The epoch is that of Poland following a failed uprising in 1863. This is an event about which I am still completely clueless, not even knowing it happened. The Count Janpolski and his sons had participated and had to flee their Estate. Calman Jacoby, a wealthy Jew of Jampol, offered the Russians to purchase a leasehold of The Manor, which he was granted. Jacoby had four daughters, the eldest already of marriageable age. The story follows Jacoby and his daughters and their husbands.

Calman Jacoby practiced Hasidism, a strict form of Judaism and there is much about this form in the book. The times, however, were trending toward a less strict form of the religion. Also, they lived among non-Jews. Anti-semitism was rife. It was interesting to me that those who practiced this strict form of religion could keep with it despite so many obstacles. I wouldn't normally quote from an ending, but I think it gives little away. They made him a kind of partner in sharing the Torah's treasures. Among these shelves of sacred books, Calman felt protected.

There was another quote much earlier that I found so relevant to not just today, but certainly also the last several decades. The government is definitely sick, but terrorism can't make it well. I was struck by this sentence, written 70 years ago. Singer's writing style is easy to read, and perhaps that makes it easy to think of him lightly. There is more here than one might think, but it doesn't feel like heavy reading either.

I have to admit there were sections when I wish he'd either tell us more or just skip it all together. As I say above, I'll be happy to get to the second part, but that doesn't mean this is ravingly good. I think it climbs into the 4-star group, but just barely, and I might even be exaggerating a tad.

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel with many characters who have a lot interactions, it reminded me of George Eliot's Middlemarch in this way. It's steeped in the culture of Poland of 1900 especially of the Jewish Poles. It can definitely take you to a different time and place though the feelings of the characters are not much different than of people everywhere today.
I would like to read Singer's The Magician of Lublin in the future.

[Bob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jews Are Bustin' Out All Over

Why should the Jews live in a narrow, religious world bound by myriad restrictions when all Europe is moving towards an industrial, modern future ? On the other hand, isn't leaving the guidance of one's own tradition, and walking on thin ice towards material and emotional satisfactions frought with dangers and fears ? As usual, Singer asks big questions in his novel and answers ambiguously. Readers have to look within themselves to divine the answers to such questions. Materialism and individual freedom offer rewards, but then so do spirituality and family ties.
Calman Jacoby takes over the management of a Polish manor after the failed revolt of 1863. He rapidly makes a success of it, becomes a capitalist, and willy-nilly moves away from maintaining the minute observations of Jewish tradition. Yet, he regrets this, he struggles to remain honest. When his wife dies, he marries an independent woman of dubious morals with an eye for the main chance. His eldest daughter marries the ambitious-but-traditional son of a local rabbi. Amother marries a no-count nobleman---son of the original manor owner---and lives a miserable life as an apostate to Judaism. Another marries a holy rebbe, leader of a Hasidic sect. The fourth weds a man who chooses rationalism and science over the mysticism and superstition of the village Jewish community. She cannot keep up with him. How can Jacoby deal with the stress of such transformations in traditional Jewish life ? While some men strive in the world of old, Talmudic scholarship, serving as guides to the gullible poor, speak only Yiddish, and shun contact with outsiders, others begin to shave, wear European clothing, eat non-kosher food, and associate with women outside the family. New political ideas appear and shake old certainties. Singer traces the tensions and upheavals in families who live in times of rapid transition from one kind of society to another.
Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" and other novels can be related to THE MANOR, but a lot of African and Asian literature deals with the same theme, as does the literature of Native Americans. Singer's version is rich, rewarding, and full of poetic description. Perhaps, with so many characters, THE MANOR is more diffuse than some of his other novels, but most of them are vivid and well-developed. As always, he brings the lost world of the Eastern European Jews alive. It will live forever in these pages, as long as people read books or want to know what people once lived and struggled in Poland.

Singer wrote many novels set in different times---from "Satan in Goray" (1600s) to "The Slave" and "The Magician of Lublin" and "The Family Moskat"---as well as "Enemies, a Love Story" set in post-war New York, after the Jewish world was destroyed. THE MANOR is yet another jewel set in the necklace of his work.

[SirJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro del Nobel Isaac Singer, non del fratello più talentuoso Israel, che, come "la famiglia Moskat" e "Sosha", indaga ed esplora la comunità ebraica polacca; comunità a cui apparteneva il romanziere.
I temi narrati, la vita e le tradizioni ebraiche, sono quelli cari all'autore, e pure al fratello più talentuoso, ma a differenza degli altri suoi libri qui ci "si distacca da tutte le altre saghe in quanto non è la storia di una famiglia, ma quella dei conflitti delle idee che fanno nascere una nuova era".
Qui a differenza dei due libri citati si narra di fatti non solo varsaviani, ma che capitano nella intera Polonia della seconda metà dell'800. Quando il paese finalmente esce dal medioevo in cui si trovava ed entra nella modernità; passaggio epocale che squassa fortemente la comunità ebraica polacca, specialmente, ovviamente, la comunità cassidica.
Come può quindi la religione e la religiosità farti affrontare la vita e le sue insidie senza minare le proprie certezze, tradizioni, affetti e sicurezze?
A leggere il romanzo si direbbe che non c'è una risposta, chi rimane ancorato alle tradizioni è sconfitto dalla storia, mentre chi asseconda il rinnovamento perde se stesso e la sua identità fondante.
A mio umile parere la questione è un'altra.
La religione praticata ideologicamente, come i più fanatici cassidim, ti porta fuori dal mondo, dalla realtà, ti isola dal contesto umano tanto che non puoi più gestire la tua vita nel mondo reale.
La religione qui è come un ricovero, in cui si rifugerà il protagonista, o come la preservazione della identità, a scapito della vita personale che corre non più parallela ma sempre più distante dalla realtà.
In questo romanzo, a differenza degli altri suoi, ho notato quanto riscontrato nei libri del fratello talentuoso, cioè che riesce, con enorme affetto, ad essere corrosivo verso gli ebrei più di tanti antisemiti.
Il libro ad ogni modo è davvero molto bello, le parole scorrono, fluiscono, avvincono, ti avvinghiano. La storia incanta, ti prende, ti incolla alle sue parole.
Cosa ha di tanto potente questo scrittore da compiere tutto ciò?
Racconta la vita!

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non avevo ancora letto nulla di Isaac Singer nonostante nella mia libreria ci siano diversi suoi romanzi e raccolte di racconti: avevo sempre pensato che avrei approcciato a lui con il famoso romanzo "La famiglia Moskat" e invece eccomi qui a recensire "La fortezza" che ho appena finito di leggere: il romanzo di una famiglia, quella del mercante ebreo Jacob Calman che, grazie alla sua abilità commerciale, diventa ricchissimo ma la fortuna che lo accompagna negli affari non gli è altrettanto propizia negli affetti privati. Il romanzo è molto bello e scorre limpido e piacevole fino all'ultima pagina

[Fiorella Sarria · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ambientada en Polonia, describe la vida de una familia de judía a mediados del siglo XIX.

Desarrolla con mucha precisión las creencias, costumbres, fiestas y tradiciones de la época y de la comunidad. También predenta las tensiones entre la firme devoción religiosa y los cuestionamientos de algunos personajes sobre su fe.

Es una historia muy amena y bien descrita; sin embargo, el final se siente un poco precipitado para la cantidad de personajes y el detalle que ha tenido a lo largo de todo el libro.

[Robert Tomasz Tomasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Przepiękna! Singer słowem maluje niczym Chagall!
Magia!

[Owen Goldin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary Kirkus reviews thought it depicted "the backwardness of Polish life at that time" but as one who follows the "orthodox" lifestyle of Carmel, I see it very differently. Singer clearly identifies himself with the former yeshiva student drifting towards secularity -- and away from his marriage -- but his respect and love is for Carmel and the old ways he sustains. With the resurgence of orthodoxy, the conflicts and tensions Singer so poignantly describes are with us still.

It is a bit of sprawling work -- a family saga, without a direct story line, but that is ok. The characterization is convincing and the drama draws you in.

I'm in, for reading the next one, The Estate.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of an Orthodox Jewish family in 19th century Poland, a time of political and social change and upheaval. Calman Jacoby is the central character who is struggling to deal with these changes while retaining his Jewish identity, and seeing his daughters and their husbands choose different ways to navigate modern society. When he takes over the manor, former home of a Polish aristocrat, he finds wealth but begins to lose his connection to his community.

I loved the way this was written with such a great sense of time and place, with lots of details about Jewish life and traditions that are fully integrated into the narrative. The characters represent tradition or modernity, but they are also realistic personalities who make mistakes, live virtuous or irresponsible lives, have happy or miserable marriages etc. I thought it was a wonderful book that should be more widely known. 4.5*

[pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

bardzo podobne do ,,Lalki", właściwie nawet lepsze niż powieść Prusa

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 5 out of 5]

exceptionnelle pièce de grande littérature de la même trempe qu'un "Anna Karénine". Pas étonnant qu'il soit prix Nobel de littérature. A lire absolument surtout lorsque l'on est de descendance juive polonaise.

[Yenta Knows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Singer was wonderful writer in so many ways. He could do character, dialogue, interior dialogue, setting. Only plot eluded him. Or maybe eluded is the wrong word: his stories begin at a random point in time, continue, then stop. This could be intentional: Singer’s way of saying that life is just one damn thing after another, and that the storyteller’s trick of imposing a beginning, middle, and end, is just that: a trick that imposes an artificial order on life’s random chaos.

This book had a few too many characters for my management abilities: I forgot some characters and, particularly, their relationships. A list would have been helpful.

But you have to give Singer a lot of credit. He wrote this book in New York (and possibly Miami) 30 years after leaving Poland. And yet he describes that destroyed world with such evocative detail that you see the streets and buildings and faces. You hear the blunt words and impatient voices. You feel the subtext of desperation: if the winter is bad, we might starve or freeze, if the spring is bad we might be slaughtered in a pogrom.

I get that the characters don’t have the luxury of nuance: You’re a Jew who doesn’t trim his beard or you’re not a Jew at all. You take care of the children and the house and let your husband study or you’re an utter failure who should be divorced. I get that my 21st century judgments (maybe SHE should be the scholar) would seem like nonsense.

In the end, this world (the world inhabited by my great grandparents) is utterly strange, utterly alien. I don’t understand these people.

But they didn’t deserve to be murdered by invading Germans or traitorous neighbors.

A last observation: Singer was vegetarian; I am vegan. So I notice when he slides in a few words that remind his readers of animal suffering. Here’s an example,from page 25: “...he had begun ... to ask questions that reeked of heresy. Does a live carp suffer agonies when it is scaled and cut to pieces for the sabbath meal?”

Ezriel (one if the few characters I liked) poses these questions. Good questions, Ezriel. Keep asking.

Jochanan (the humble rabbi’s son) is similarly distressed at the animal sacrifice that precedes Rosh Hashanah. From page 349: “The men held the roosters by the feet and swung them overhead; the woman did the same with the hens. This sacrifice ... always caused Jochanan anguish ... Who could say that he, Jochanan, was more worthy to live than the creature sacrificed for him?”

Indeed, Jochanan, indeed.

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I and Isaac Bashevis Singer get on so well! I have now read two of his novels including this one. His books are worthwhile if not enjoyable reads and need more exposure through new reprints. Here, the author reminisces abut the old days while trying to reconcile it with the changing times.

Something unusual was taking place in Poland between the 'old' generation and the 'new' generation of Polish Jews. The latter were transporting themselves into new spheres and situations. They were abandoning themselves to new ideas and fresh desires. They were learning Marxism, Bolsheivism, Leninism, Stalinism, and socialism. The new generation did not follow in their father's footsteps. They rejected their religion and practices. Instead, they sough to keep abreast with the new thinking: In economics and politics, in law and sociology, in ecology, in psychiatry. They followed philosophical and scientific developments which were taking place in Europe. They read Laplace, Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer, Thomas Mann, and Otto Weininger.

As for the old people, they were forced to fall back on the homely, well worn, but sage precepts which they had tried to instill into the minds of their children for a future life of honor and rectitude. These sharp contrasts at times led to conflicts between the two generations. Nevertheless, they got on very well. This book is very entertaining. I enjoyed the tete-a-tete between the characters. I enjoyed the eloquence with which the rabbis employed when telling their stories or arguing their points.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the same time frame (more or less) as Israel Joshua Singer's Brothers Ashkenazi, and written 16 years later (1953 vs 1937). What a difference! The Manor has all of the emotion and connection to characters that I found lacking in Brothers Ashkenazi. Both novels are full of details of Jewish life in Poland, and the relations of Jews to Poles, that are so valuable to me as I do research for my next novel.

[Red · Rating 3 out of 5]

in amsterdam jews came from portugal and spain they were rich and from poland they were poor.
this book is about the 'poor' jews and the country they lived in once.
how the small community works could be an example for people in the western world.

[Kristel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason read: botm Septemer 2024, Reading 1001. The story is set in Poland during the late 19th century and is the story of Calman Jacoby, a pious Jew, his daughter's and their husbands. During this time period, the Jewish large family is breaking up and Jewish people are becoming modernized. I think it is an important book but I did not like most of the female characters. Apparently the author is showing us the limitations of women during this time. I did not like most of these women, I did not like Claire because she was a spendthrift with lose morals, I did not like Zelda and Shaindel, etc as they manipulated their husbands with wretched moods. During this time, Russia has taken over and Calman was able to take over managing the Manor which led to his becoming wealthy and all the troubles that come with wealth. It also shows how commerce has ebbs and flows suh as railroads need to be built but then they no longer do. Calman was a respected man until he gained wealth. He was regarded because of his wealth but lost some of the favorable respect he had enjoyed. Isaac Bashevis Singer won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.

"One's own children were born of pain, but grandchildren were sheer profit."

"...various materialistic theories, and Darwinism in particular, had put almost all values in jeopardy: the soul, ethics, the family."

[Ryszard Gawroński · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie spodziewałem się, że odbiór książek tak bardzo może zależeć od bajzlu w głowie. Jak był on większy, to „Dwór” Singera w żaden sposób mnie nie wciągał – czułem, że czytam jakieś piękne sceny, ale były one totalnie niestymulującymi sytuacjami. Przy mniejszym bajzlu książka totalnie wciąga swoją dostojnie niespieszną akcją. Na początku robi wrażenie zgrabnie ciągłe wprowadzanie nowych postaci (zwłaszcza jak w głowie ma się trollowanie Marqueza w „Stu latach samotności”) i uczucie, jakby grało się w Age of Empires i rozwijało swoją wioskę od zera. Potem górę bierze historia. Wg czytelników lubimyczytac.pl „Dwór” jest super, bo przedstawia obyczaje Żydów i to ma być wyjątkowe. To zdanie było na tyle okładki mojego wydania książki i fajnie byłoby, jakby ludzie zobaczyli coś więcej – ja nie poczułem żadnej rewolucji w mojej wiedzy o tej kulturze, ale wiem trochę bardziej, co się dzieje w szabas. Przede wszystkim dla mnie to było piękne starcie tradycji z nowoczesnością. Wiele bohaterów musi się z tym mierzyć ze swoich perspektyw i właśnie ich ciągłe starcia z tematem najbardziej wciągały. Jeżeli nie macie bajzlu w głowie, lubicie pozytywistyczne tomiszcza (bo to troszeczkę powieść z tego świata), to przeczytajcie!

[Niklas Angmyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

En mycket intressant bok om judar i Polen, och Europas idéströmningar, under slutet av 1800-talet. Romanen ger inblickar i judarnas introverta seder men också krafter bland judarna att bryta loss och bli mer deltagande i det omgivande icke-judiska samhället. Med krafter menas idéer som socialism, nationalism, sionism, mysticism etc. Judarna påverkades och hela polska samhället som under rysk välde sneglade framförallt på utvecklingen i Frankrike och England. Samtidigt är judarna till del illa sedda och förföljda av sin omgivning. Frågan som löper genom boken är hur de, genom sina olika karaktärer, ska förhålla sig till särställning. Känslan av upplösning kommer över mig vid läsning. Ser framemot att läsa del två, Godset.

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Het Landgoed schrijft Singer over de verschillende moeilijkheden die de Joodse personages in zijn boek tegenkomen als de wereld 'moderner' wordt, oftewel maatschappelijke veranderd. Voor de een is het dat vrouwen meer rechten willen krijgen, voor de ander is het studeren (kan dat wel naast het geloof) en voor Calman zijn dat onder andere de ongelovigen. Het Landgoed bestaat uit meerdere gezinnen, samenstellingen en daarmee uit verschillende verhalen. Allemaal kabbelen ze rustig voort. soms raken ze verwikkeld met elkaar en vooral lijken de verschillende verhalen erg op elkaar. Eigenlijk gebeurt er niet veel, maar Singer heeft een fijne schrijfstijl waardoor ik toch bleef lezen. Er is weinig blijven hangen, behalve de strijd die mensen leven als de wereld ze lijkt in te halen.

[AGinNoCal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immersed in the world of my grandfathers' grandfathers. Chaotic, transforming, religious, ignorant, superstitious, impoverished, loving, enlightened, hopeful, disillusioned, dangerous: this was about life. So many characters (too many for me) peopled this book, all of them well-formed and realistic enough to be enjoyable or, more often than not, frustrating and annoying, but all fascinatingly real. I can't explain why this book, written by an author who was a giant in my childhood, beloved by my grandfather and by me (something we shared), which is chaotic and meandering and sometimes hard to follow, also was entrancing and beautiful despite how often ugliness reared its head. JBS was a master storyteller and you cannot help but to fall into the world he creates.

[Rebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, but believe I would have been invested more in the characters if they were fewer in number and the main characters developed early in the story remained more prominently featured in the story over the duration of the novel. Instead, newer younger generation characters were developed, but at the expense of a deeper character study of the earlier introduced characters. As it was, there were a few “side” characters introduced later with tangential story lines that I did not care about.

Overall, Singer did a masterful job of capturing the essence of time, place and the myriad micro-cultures existing in Poland in late 19th century, but I would have liked it better if it ended about 100 pages earlier.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family saga of Polish Jews in the mid-nineteenth century. Calman Jacoby tries to reconcile his capitalist present and future with the traditional religious observances. There are some interesting moments, but too much seems to happen according to tv-mini-series-by-numbers as Jacoby marries off his daughters to various standard archtypes: one to an other-worldly rabbi, one to a dissolute noble, one to an unbelieving scientist etc. Aside from centring on an underacknowledged community, I didn't get much to elevate this above a commonplace saga. And I could have forgiven the cliches if this had been written fifty or sixty years before it actually was.

[Laura Alderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long, engaging, meandering and enjoyable family saga in the style of the Russian masters who were apparently some of Singer's influences. Calman is the patriarch of a traditional Jewish family in Russian controlled Poland in the 1860s. He follows all the strict Jewish laws while many around him are debating whether to become more European, speak Polish for example or wear modern dress. I loved the descriptions of family and Eastern European life. I really needed a family tree though as I got so confused by the myriad of characters. And while I found some of the descriptions of the religion interesting, there was too much of it for me. I'll definitely read the sequel though.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My edition is hardback, same publisher and date of publication and includes "The Estate"a companion novel.

Tedious at times with all the detail about Jewish tradition and the family habits and fortunes.
This is a family epic following the stories of multiple characters in the later half of the 19th century.
The last perhaps third of the second novel is really depressing with major characters suffering and dying.
Don't expect a light read here! I much prefer Singer's short stories to his novels. You receive the same flavor but with more humor and fewer characters!

[Andrii · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells a story of one piestit Jew. His private life mirrors the live of Jews in the end of 19th century. The book is very entertaining as Singer always leads the reader along different people and their ambiguous life situations.The topics which are brought to life in this book could be a part of separate books, but Isaac Bashevis Singer managed to unite it in one piece. Also the book is full of descriptions of Jew lifestyle, especially hasidists. Strongly recommend to read!

[Mª Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnífico escritor que me ha sorprendido por su maravillosa y fluida prosa, por sus interesantes historias sobre la comunidad judía en Europa y por la descripción de las costumbres y contexto histórico. Sin duda estoy deseosa de conocer algunas más de sus obras. Leyendo a este genial premio Nobel la lectura se convierte en un verdadero placer.