La famiglia Moskat

by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Bruno Fonzi (Translator)

Le vicende di una famiglia patriarcale a Varsavia dall'inizio del secolo alla seconda guerra mondiale. L'affresco di un mondo inghiottito dall'Olocausto, la storia di una famiglia che assiste al crollo delle proprie tradizioni.
_________________
Alla mia destra è Michele. Alla mia sinistra è Raffaele. Davanti a me è Uriel. Dietro di me è Gabriele. E sul mio capo la divina presenza di Dio.» Così accompagnata, la famiglia del vecchio patriarca Meshulam Moskat attraversa gli anni che dall’inizio del Novecento scendono fino alla seconda guerra mondiale e alla «soluzione finale» messa in atto dal regime nazista. Ma il vero protagonista di questo possente romanzo è l’Ostjudentum, la società ebraico-orientale – e in particolare quella di Varsavia – con la sua complessa e densa cultura. Nel racconto di Singer la ricchezza immensa di quella civiltà rivive, con minuzia realistica e visionaria, col respiro delle vicende private e il soffio della storia. Magistrale affresco di un periodo cruciale della storia europea, La famiglia Moskat è una delle più alte testimonianze di quel mondo che scomparve tra gli orrori dell’Olocausto. (dalla 4ª di copertina)

Genres: Fiction, Jewish, Classics, Historical Fiction, Nobel Prize, Poland, Novels

583 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

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

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 5 out of 5]

خانواده موسکات رمان عظیمی هست که در اواخر قرن نوزده و اوایل قرن بیست نزدیک یه سی سال زندگی یهودیان ساکن گتوی ورشو و تقریبا سه نسل از آنان را در بر می گیرد .
شخصیت های داستان در زمانی زندگی می کنند که به نظر خیلی سخت می رسد ، کشوری که تعلقی به آن ندارند ، تقریبا همه مردم اروپا ازآنها متنفر هستند والبته خود آنها هم یه کم عجیب غریب به نظر می رسند .
از طرفی درگیر جنگی با روسیه و احساسات به شدت ضد یهودی آنها هستند و از جانب دیگر خود لهستانی ها هم علاقه ای به یهودی ها ندارند واز همه مهمترهیچ خبر ندارند که در سالهای آینده هیتلر وآن نسل کشی عظیم در راه است .
اما میان این همه مصیبت ، افراد خانواده موسکات به تجارت و زندگی معمولی خودشون مشغولند ، فارغ از دنیا .
بیشتر افراد که اصلا کاری انجام نمی دهند و سرگرم دعا و نیایش و خواندن تلمود هستند . با دقت عجیبی رسم و رسوم چند هزار ساله یهود رو پیروی می کنند و همون جوری زندگی را می گذرانند که پیش از آنها اجدادشان گذرانده اند .
نویسنده که خود یهودی و زاده ورشو هست با دقت و وسواس تمام جزییات غذا خوردن ، اصلاحه موی سر و صورت ، گذاشتن پایوت (ریشهای بافته شده ) و انبوهی دیگر از جزییات یک تمدن کهن را بازگو می کند . تمدنی که متوجه خطری که میاد نیست
نویسنده کتاب جناب بشویتس سینگر( متاسفانه کتابهای زیادی از او به فارسی ترجمه نشده ) با لحنی خودمانی و صمیمی و طنز آمیز به شخصیتهای پر شمار داستان نزدیک می شود ، مثلا آن جایی که موسکات بزرگ می فهمد که عروس و همسر تازه او چندان جالب وجذاب هم نیست ، توضیحات و توصیفات نویسنده واقعا خواندنی ایست .
قهرمان داستان آسا هشل واقعا معما و چهره منحصر به فرد و فراموش نشدنی ایست ، در حقیقت هیچ نویسنده ای به مانند جناب سینگر شاید نتوانسته باشد چنین چهره ی بی کاره ولی دانشمند یا عالم بی عملی را خلق کند .
آبرام شاپیرو هم فراموش نشدنی ایست ، او هم علافی ایست که روزانه زندگی را می گذراند اما شاید از او سرخوشتر در ورشو وجود نداشته باشد.
به هر صورت ، با هجوم نازیها به لهستان داستان کتاب به پایان می رسد و دیگر خبری از خانواده موسکات و یهودیان ورشو در دست نیست اما اولین تصویری که بعد از اشغال لهستان از یهودیان به ذهن خواننده می آید ابتدای فیلم فهرست شیندلر است ، روی سکوی قطار ، جایی که یهودیان از جمله شاید افراد خانواده موسکات خود را به ماموران آلمانی معرفی می کنند ، جایی که ابتدای راهی ایست که انتهای آن به خاکسترهای پخش شده آنان در آشویتس یا بوخن والد می انجامد ....

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

original review which GR obliterated and which I plucked off Amazon

“DEATH IS THE MESSIAH”

🕎 At one time I was going to say, oh, it's like Dickens because it's so long, and there are so many characters, and so many subplots. But it's not Dickens. It's too visceral for Dickens. And there are no villains. Not really. Just regular people, family and friends, who sometimes get along, but a great deal of the time do not.

We follow them from teens and twenty somethings into their fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Some die young just as some of our friends and family do.

They bicker and fight nonstop. Divorces and affairs and broken relationships without stop. Arguments and mean spiritedness.

Religious people who are intolerant and cruel and judgmental, whose rituals matter more to them than human life. Religious people who are merciful. People without religion who are kind. People without religion who are cruel. So much antisemitism it makes a reader sick. Christians beating on Jews. Pogroms. Injustice. In the end, you just want some forgiveness, some love, some marriages to work, some peace. But you rarely get it.

Yet I wound up caring about everyone, yes, some more than others, but each death was a loss. When the person from whose point of view we were following the narrative suddenly dies of a heart attack, we are shocked - who will tell the story now? Another person takes over. But soon enough they too die. The story becomes about morgues, and funerals and headstones. We thought they'd live forever. Just like many people on earth think they'll live forever. Even the characters in this long novel I detested wound up troubling me with their deaths.

Then the Nazis invade Poland and by this time you're practically a member of the family and running running running with them from the planes and bombs. You want to survive. You want them all to survive. And then a bomb explodes and kills one of the women you liked the most. And this is the lot of all who flee from war or natural disasters. Yet for the family Moskat there is nowhere to flee. After the invasion come the death camps.

Beautifully written. Painfully written.

To sum up: the family is always feuding, relationships are always breaking, and then the Nazis and their death camps come to Poland. An old man says: “Death is the Messiah.”

🕎 Singer is a great storyteller even when darkness and suffering and broken lives dominate the storyline.

[William2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. B. Singer's first novel. It was first serialized in the Jewish Daily Forward in the late 1940s. This English translation appeared in 1950. Singer's style is reminiscent of Tolstoy, but not in slavish imitation. He's unique.

Heading an enormous cast is the old man Meshulam Moskat. Richer than Croesus and in his 80s, he has just returned from taking the waters at Carlsbad with a 3rd wife. It's some years before World War 1. Moskat has put his children in charge of collecting his rents — and he hates them for being dependent upon him. He is a horrible, bitter, egomaniacal old fuck. And yet he's the head of this huge clan who gather around him thinking about their inheritance. But the joke is on them because he dies without a will. The greedy scramble afterward is not pretty.

A theme in The Family Moskat is the split between religious (Hassidim) and secular (assimilated) Jews. Asa Heshel, grandson of a prominent rural rabbi, reads Spinoza and comes to Warsaw for further study. A daughter being pressured into an arranged marriage, Hadassah, runs away from the family home with Heshel. Their flight to Switzerland fails. Hadassah is returned to her scandalized family by the police after several days in prison. Heschel, stuck in Switzerland, marries the wrong woman.

An extraordinarily strong sense of community arises from persecution. When Marilynn Robinson writes about Christian folks, or when Naguib Mahfouz writes his Muslim characters, there is no similar sense of danger because they are writing about largely unmixed societies.

One of my favorite things about Singer's novels is his deep knowledge about the rituals and traditions of Judaism. Not surprising, I suppose, when you learn he came from a family of rabbis. You get both the cultural richness and the petty vindictiveness and everything between. Here we are in a Polish prayerhouse before World War I:

"They came to the antechamber, stopping to wash their hands at the copper urn, and went into the prayerhouse. A candle flickered in the Menorah. The pillars that enclosed the reader's stand threw elongated shadows. The shelves around the walls were packed with books. Some of the students were still bent over the tables, reading in the dim light. Worshippers paced back and forth, softly chanting. A youth swayed fervently in a corner. Near the Ark was a framed inscription in red: 'God is always before me.' On the cornice of the Ark two carved gilded lions held up the Tablets of the Law. There was a heavy odor that seemed to Asa Heshel to be compounded of candle wax, dust, fast days, and eternity. He stood silent." (p. 237)

I love it when the characters are walking around pre-war Warsaw, and the reader gets all this description of a city that for the most part no longer exists: the neighborhoods, streets, buildings, public parks and street life. The following is from the scene in which Hadassah runs away from her family and her arranged marriage to be with her true love, Asa Heshel.

"The evening was coming on when they left the coffee house. They passed the prison at the corner of Nalevki and Dluga and went along Rymarska Street and the Platz Bankovy. On the Iron Gate Square the street lamps were already burning. A cold wind came from the direction of the Saxon Gardens. Tramcars rolled along. Crowds of people thronged the market stalls. Hadassah held Asa Heshel's arm tightly as though afraid she might lose him. Farther along, at the bazaars, stall-keepers presided over mounds of butter, huge Swiss cheeses, bundles of mushrooms, troughs of oysters and fish. The torchlights were already ablaze. They passed a slaughterhouse. Floodlights blazed in the building. Porters with hoses were swishing water on the stone floor. Slaughterers stood near blood-filled granite vats, slitting the necks of ducks, geese, and hens. Fowl cackled deafeningly. The wings of a rooster, its throat just slit, fluttered violently. Hadassah pulled at Asa Heshel's sleeve, her face deathly white. A little farther on, in the fish market, stood tubs, barrels, and troughs. In the stale-smelling water, carp, pike, and tench swam about. Beggars sang in quavering voices, cripples stretched out stumps of arms. Away from the glare of the lights inside, the darkness of the court was intensified." (p. 158)

I know of no other novel that shows us so plainly what we have lost. The rabbis and elders fear the Jewish way of life will soon be destroyed. They are correct, but their downfall will not be effected by the Most High as a punishment for secularization, rather it will be carried out by Nazis about to enter the scene.

The characters are so vibrantly realized. There are scenes of great religiosity in which the core of the characters never wanes. One Sabbath scene is pure ecstatic joy. This scene marks the return of Asa Heshel to Warsaw after five years of war. He was in the Czar's army and lived through the Bolshevik Revolution. Asa travels from house to house and is greeted with a Sabbath celebration in each. I wish I could better describe the sheer scope of the book, both its big-heartedness and its moments of gravity, but that's beyond me. That said, this excellent novel is not Singer's best. It has a tendency toward melodrama, sometimes very amusing melodrama — Singer had a gift for humor — but grave moments of doubt and personal danger too.

My favorite Singer works include Shadows on the Hudson, Enemies: A Love Story, The Slave, The Magician of Lublin and the stories.

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

🕎 a masterwork

At one time I was going to say, oh, it’s like Dickens because it’s so long, and there are so many characters, and so many subplots. But it’s not Dickens. It’s too visceral for Dickens. Too dystopian. And there are no villains. Not really. Just regular people, family and friends, who sometimes get along, but a great deal of the time do not.

We follow them from teens and twenty somethings into their fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Some die young and some die old and some don’t die. They bicker and fight nonstop. Divorces and affairs and broken relationships nonstop. Arguments and spite and mean-spiritedness.

Religious people who are intolerant and cruel and judgmental, whose rituals matter more to them than human life. Religious people who are merciful. People without religion who are kind. People without religion who are cruel. So much antisemitism it makes a reader sick. Christians beating on Jews. Pogroms. Injustice. In the end, you just want some forgiveness, some love, some relationships to work, some peace. But you rarely get it.

Yet I wound up caring about everyone, yes, some more than others, but each death was a loss. When the person whose point of view we’ve been following suddenly dies of a heart attack, we are shocked - who will tell the story now? Another person takes over. But soon enough they too die. The story briefly becomes morgues, funerals and headstones. We thought they’d live forever. Even the characters I detested wound up troubling me with their deaths.

Then the Nazis invade Poland and by this time you’re practically a member of the family and running running running with them from the planes and bombs. You want to survive. You want them all to survive. And then a bomb explodes and kills one of the women you like the most. This is the lot of all who flee from wars. Yet for the family Moskat there is nowhere to flee. After the invasion come the gas chambers and ovens of Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka.

“Death is the Messiah,” an elderly Jewish man says at the end.

🔯Beautifully written. Painfully written. And utterly compelling.

~ in all his books I’ve read thus far, Singer has his characters engage philosophically (especially re: Spinoza’s thought), question the existence and goodness of God, and wrestle with the problem of human suffering and a divine being’s plans or non plans (theodicy) ~ it’s no different in this novel

~ at the point of death, whether victim or survivor, Singer has his characters express regret that relationships were not all they should have been and that now it’s too late to fix them

~ the human tendency to suspend belief in the face of possible disaster ~ oh that won’t happen anytime soon ~ Hitler is bluffing ~ the French and British will stop him cold ~ there’s nothing to worry about ~ (in 1939) everything’s fine, we can extend our visit with our family in Poland well into October

[سـارا · Rating 5 out of 5]

یه داستان منسجم با کلی شخصیت که در مواجه با اتفاقای مختلف واکنشای متفاوتی دارن. شخصیت‌پردازی اینقدر خوبه که میشه تک تک این آدما رو درک کرد و باهاشون همسو شد.
داستان درباره زندگی یک خانواده یهودی لهستانی تو ۴ دهه اول قرن بیستمه. فک‌ نکنم هیچ کتابی در قالب داستان بلند به این جامعی و کاملی از زندگی و اعتقادات مردم یهود گفته باشه. یه جور یهودشناسی دست اول که از بوجود اومدن صهیونیست و مهاجرت یهودیا به فلسطین تا مخالفت روشنفکرا و کمونیست‌های یهودی با این تصمیم جامعه و حتی کمرنگ شدن سنت‌ها و اعتقادات مذهبی نسل جدید حرف میزنه. اینقدر سیر روایتا باورپذیر و درست پیش میره که حجم بالای کتاب هم خسته‌کننده نیست. اعضای این خونواده در اوج اتفاقات بزرگ و کوچیک جنگ جهانی اول، حضور روس‌ها و آلمان‌ها در لهستان، یهودستیزی اکثر اقوام دور و برشون راحت زندگی میکنند، عاشق میشن، ازدواج میکنن، خیانت میکنند، پولدار میشن و تجارت میکنند و قرار هم نیست اتفاق عجیب غریبی دربارشون بیفته، قراره یه داستان واقعی از زندگی آدم‌های اون سال‌ها بخونیم. شاید تنها شخصیت عجیب و متفاوت قصه، آسا هشل بود که تا آخرین لحظه نه دوسش داشتم نه حتی درکش میکردم.
بنظرم علت باورپذیری عمیق فضای کتاب اینه که داستان دقیقا در همون سال‌ها نوشته شده و در سال ۱۹۴۵ بعد از پایان جنگ برای اولین بار به صورت پاورقی چاپ میشه.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب یک شاهکار هست و خیلی خوشحالم خوندمش
یادم نیست به پیشنهاد کی خوندم اما واقعا خوشحالم که در خریدش شک نکردم و خوندم.
تا جایی که یادمه کتابی درباره‌ی یهودیان و عقایدشون بطور کامل نخونده بودم‌.
اما این کتاب درباره‌ی یک خانواده‌ی یهودی ودر شهر ورشو زندگی می‌کنند، وتمام عقاید و آداب و رسوم یهودی هارو به تصویر کشیده شده .باآمدن یک غریبه در خانواده‌ی موسکات داستان شروع میشه.
داستانی درباره‌ی عشق،خیانت، ازدواج وخانواده هست.
بطوريکه موقعی خوندنش احساس می‌کنید شماهم یکی از اعضای خانواده هستین.
بشدت دوسش داشتم.

[Saman · Rating 4 out of 5]

«چند خطی در مورد خانواده موسکات»
در این کتاب بزرگ و پر شخصیت با اسامی بعضا سخت و ناآشنای یهودی،ما در یک بازه حدودا سی ساله با زندگی خاندان موسکات همراه میشیم.نویسنده لهستانی کتاب،داستانی در جغرافیای کشورش با افراد اکثرا یهودی روایت میکنه با جزئیات منحصر به فرد.جزئیات منحصر به فرد آداب و رسوم و مراسمات و اعیاد مخصوص یهودیت است که در فصول مختلف کتاب بهش اشاره میشه.البته تیپ شخصیتها و لباس هایی هم که میپوشند در روایت جناب سینگر جایگاه مخصوص خودش رو داره.با شخصیتهای متعددی مواجه میشیم که در اون جغرافیا و اون بازه زمانی خاص در حال زندگی کردن هستند.عاشق میشند،خیانت میکنند،تجارت میکنند و البته مراسمات مذهبی و دینی خودشون رو با دقت انجام میدند.شخصیت اصلی کتاب آسا هشلی است که از ابتدای داستان وارد ماجرا میشه و از معدود شخصیتهایی است که نمیمیره و تا صفحه اخر کتاب همراه مخاطب میمونه.شخصیتی که ندانم کاری ها و گیجی ها و تصمیمات عجیبی که در مورد زندگیش میگیره در طول سالهای روایت داستان پابرجا میمونه.کسی که یک جورایی نماد یک شخصیت روشنفکری است که متفاوت با بقیه فکر میکنه و البته من مخاطب از کارهایی که انجام میداد خیلی جاها حرص میخوردم.علاوه بر روزمرگی و کارهای عادی که ما از شخصیت های داستان میبینیم،بحث های مختلفی هم بینشون شکل میگیره.بحث مهاجرت به فلسطین،پیش بینی شخصیتها از سرانجام جنگ،مباحث دینی که با هم بحث میکنند از موضوعاتی است که در کتاب بهش اشاره شده.در خلال زمانی روایت داستان،دو اتفاق مهم رخ میده،یکی جنگ جهانی اول و دیگری جنگ جهانی دوم.اینکه تو شهر و خانه و کاشانه خودت در حال زندگی هستی و یک دفعه سایه شوم جنگ بر زندگی ات فرود میاد،زندگی و تصمیمات و میشه گفت همه چی تو رو تغییر میده و این تغییر حالات به خوبی توسط نویسنده بهش اشاره شده.اثرات مخرب و خرابی جنگ،از دست دادن عزیزان،کمبودها و بیماری ها،مهاجرت های اجباری ،همه و همه از موضوعاتی است که در موردشون صحبت میشه.حین خواندن این بخش های کتاب یاد اثر به یادماندنی زنده یاد احمد محمود،یعنی "زمین سوخته" افتادم که چقدر خوب و واقعی از تاثیرات مخرب جنگ بر زندگی افراد ساکن شهر میگفت.برگردیم به خاندان موسکات،جایی که کتاب تموم میشه ابتدای جنگ جهانی دوم و حمله نازی ها به لهستان است،دوباره بعد از سالها سایه شوم جنگ بر شخصیتهای باقی مانده میفته و کتاب به تکان دهنده ترین و موجزترین حالت خودش نسبت به وضع موجود مردم لهستان با جمله ای به غایت تاثیرگذار تمام میشه،آنجایی که

"هرتز یانووار" میگه: "منجی موعود به زودی می‌آید"
آسا هشل حیرت زده به او نگاه کرد."منظورت چیه؟"
" مرگ منجی موعوده.حقیقت همینه"

مطمئنم سالها بعد،هر چیزی از این کتاب رو فراموش کنم،این طرز تمام شدنش رو فراموش نخواهم کرد.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaac Bashevis Singer's "The Family Moskat" provides an extremely sophisticated portrait of Poland's Jews during the first four decades of the twentieth century. It presents however two serious problems. Asa Heshel the protagonist is a rather vile individual who perversely misreads Spinoza and has dreadful personal morals. A more serious problem however is that Singer makes no effort to help the reader unfamiliar with the cultural context. An American author assumes that his reader knows who Brigham Young was and what the points of contention were in the Nullification crisis. Singers assumes that his readers knew who Stefan Zeromsky was and what the Frankists believed in . If you do, "The Family Moskat" is fascinating. If you do not, it is impenetrable.
Asa Heshel the hero leads a frustrating existence. The son of a rabbi, he abandons his studies to be a Rabbi because his reading of Spinoza has destroyed has faith in Judaism. Ultimately, his idiosyncratic reading of Spinoza will lead him to believe that God was to blame for the Nazis and the Endlosung:
"According to Spinoza, Hitler was part of the Godhead, a mode of the Eternal Substance. Every act of his had been determined by the eternal laws. ... Every murderous act of Hitler's was a functional part of the cosmos. If one was logically consistent, then one had to concede that God was evil, or else that suffering and death were good." p. 596
Distressingly, Singer appears to agree with his hero. The last line of the novel is: "Death is the Messiah. That's the real truth." (p. 611)
While many readers while be troubled by Asa Heshel's rejection of Judaism an equally large number will be repelled by has aversion to fatherhood. He explains to a friend that his system is built of both Spinoza and Malthus. What the world needs then is "more sex and fewer children". (p 497). What this means is that Asa rejects marital fidelity and does not want children. He forces his first wife to have an abortion on two occasions. He never establishes a close relation with the child that is born when she decides to bring a third pregnancy to term. Asa is ultimately a protagonist who is very difficult to like which adds to the difficulty of reading the novel.
While the hero is rather unpleasant, the novel does contain a fascinating description of the lives of the Polish Jews of the era. Singer's characters are all living in the extreme Western Part of the Tsarist empire where the Polish language is dominant. They all know Yiddish but some speak Polish as well. Others know Russian. While Jews in the German Empire have started to embrace Reform Judaism which is trying to modernize the religion, in Russia's Polish territories the Hassidic movement which is endeavouring to pull Judaism further back into the middle ages dominates the Jewish communities. Unlike in Western Germany, the Jews have not been emancipated. They do not attend state schools or universities and essentially have no civil rights.
The characters in the novel for the most part not upset by their status in the Russian empire. They seem to feel it allows them to live according to their traditional ways. The married women wear wigs. They eat only kosher food and take their mikvehs as required. They disapprove of Zionism and socialism. Asa Heshel 's first wife is one of the few dissidents. She approves of Switzerland where women can study and become Doctors.
Singer is extremely insightful. The problem is that most readers will often miss the point that Singer is making. At one juncture, Singer announces that Asa Heshel's second wife Hadassah is reading Stefan Żeromski's "Syzyfowe prace" without explaining that the book is about young Poles attending Russian language secondary schools as there is no public education in Polish in the Russian empire past the primary level. The implication is that is Hadassah is a progressive-minded individual who has sympathy for the Poles who are being treated unjustly. Few readers, however, will be able to understand this point.
World War One changes everything. The Tsarist regime falls and a Polish state is reformed after being partitioned between Russia, Austria and Prussia since the 18th Century. The military officers who have created the new Poland intend to make Jews full members of their new nation. "[They] "swore that Poland would be a paradise for the tormented Jewish people, even as the poets Mickiewicz, Norvid and Wyspiański had foretold." (p. 423)
Asa Heshel is sceptical. The poets and artists want one thing, but anti-Semitism does not disappear in Poland. Asa Heshel , however, wants it to work. He has no desire to emigrate to either Palestine or America. In the summer of 1939 with the German invasion imminent, he goes to Krakow to visit the café frequented by Stanislaw Wyspiański the great dramatist who had pleaded so passionately for the full inclusion of Jews in Polish society. Singer appears to be sad not just for the lives that were lost during the Holocaust but also for the failure of the dream behind the rebirth of the Polish nation.

[Sergio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopo aver letto ed apprezzato recentemente “I Fratelli Askenazi” e “La Famiglia Karnowski”, due romanzi di Israel Joshua Singer, fratello del Premio Nobel della letteratura Isaac Bashevis Singer, mi ero convinto che nonostante tutto lo scrittore più dotato della famiglia fosse proprio Israel, il fratello maggiore morto prematuramente d’infarto nel 1944; è su questa premessa che mi sono dunque accinto a intraprendere la lettura di “La Famiglia Moskat” che Isaac diede alle stampe nel 1950 e a fine lettura di questo poderoso romanzo devo ammettere che Isaac Bashevis ha capovolto le mie opinioni perché il romanzo che ho appena finito di leggere è davvero un capolavoro di inventiva, di svolgimento, di approfondimento dei caratteri e di scrittura che non ha eguali.

Ambientato a Varsavia tra i primi anni del ‘900 e i primi giorni della II Guerra Mondiale, è la storia corale di una grande famiglia di ebrei di Varsavia che, nel corso degli anni, con la vecchiezza prima e la morte poi del patriarca Reb Meshulam Moskat che l’aveva resa grande e rispettata, va lentamente ma inesorabilmente disfacendosi moralmente tra discordie intestine, invidie meschine, litigi, tradimenti, separazioni e divorzi, perdendo il rispetto di sé e quello della comunità ebraica, preparandosi inconsciamente e inconsapevolmente a partecipare alla distruzione personale, familiare e generale di un popolo che con l’avvento del Nazismo e dell’invasione europea delle truppe hitleriane conoscerà l’orrore dell’olocausto.

“La famiglia Moskat” è un romanzo che ti prende da subito, ti coinvolge e ti avvolge nelle vicende narrate, nei personaggi abilmente tratteggiati nelle loro virtù (poche) e nei loro difetti (tanti) e in quel loro incedere lento, da gregge, nonostante l’evidente pericolo alle porte, verso la fine tragica che nessuno di loro, pur intravedendola, riesce ad anticipare o a scantonare. Tra i tanti personaggi maschili mi hanno colpito la personalità prorompente, irresistibile, umanissima di Abram Shapiro, uno dei generi di Reb Meshullam, donnaiolo e sperperatore e quella di Asa Heshel dal carattere indeciso e irresoluto che passa da un amore all’altro senza riuscire a trovare mai stabilità affettiva e interiore. Tra i personaggi femminili spiccano le figure di Adele, la prima moglie di Asa Heshel e Hadassah la sua seconda moglie, che nonostante la loro intelligenza e tenerezza avranno una vita complicata e piena di amarezze e avvilimenti.

[Dolceluna ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac Bashevis Singer, premio Nobel per la letteratura nel 1978.
Non fatico a capirne il perché.
“La famiglia Moskat” è un autentico capolavoro, ha il sapore dei gioielli del Naturalismo Francese e dei grandi romanzi della letteratura russa, ma anche quell’umanità, “dolceamara” che caratterizza le grandi storie di tutte le epoche, facendoci riflettere, appassionare ed emozionare così tanto.
Confesso che, all’inizio, complice la mole e la grande quantità di nomi e personaggi, il timore di trovarsi di fronte al classico vecchio polpettone, non manca. Ma, man mano che si entra nel vivo della storia, e che ci si affeziona ai personaggi, sorridendo amaramente delle loro disavventure, beh, il romanzo svela tutta la sua grandiosità.
“La famiglia Moskat” è la saga di una famiglia di origine ebraica, ambientata in Polonia negli anni che vanno da fine Ottocento allo scoppio della seconda guerra mondiale. Il capostipite è il vecchio Meshulam Moskat, geniale e intelligente, capace di plasmare una famiglia potente e numerosa come un re saprebbe plasmare un impero ricco e forte. Tuttavia, alla sua morte, le fila che tengono legati i rapporti fra i membri della famiglia, figli e figlie, generi e nuore, suoceri e suocere e nipoti, comincia a disgregarsi, tra tradimenti, malaffari, divorzi e partenze, e sullo sfondo di quello che è un malessere generale e diffuso, tipico del periodo pre-bellico di inizio secolo ma anche di quella stirpe, inquieta e infelice, alla quale i Moskat sembrano appartenere. “Gli Ebrei sono un popolo che non riesce a dormire e non fa dormire gli altri”: in questa frase, pronunciata da uno dei personaggi, è racchiuso tutto il senso di questo malessere. Tutti i personaggi del romanzo sembrano infatti votati a un fallimento personale tale e quale quello dei personaggi del ciclo dei “Rougon-Macquart” di Zola: hanno aspirazioni che non riescono a realizzare, falliscono miseramente nella loro ricerca di un amore vero, sono infelici e rendono infelici gli altri, sono irrequieti, pentiti, insoddisfatti. Gli unici che paiono salvarsi sono quelli che riescono a partire per la Palestina nella speranza di trovare una loro terra, una loro collocazione nel mondo, un senso alla loro esistenza. Tutti gli altri, compresi quelli che, allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale, emigrano in America, continuano ad essere accompagnati da questo senso generale di inadeguatezza e disagio, nonostante i loro propositi inziali e le loro azioni talvolta coraggiose e ammirevoli.
Attenzione: non parliamo di Olocausto. I primi effetti dell’Olocausto li leggiamo nelle ultime venti pagine, a seconda guerra mondiale iniziata. L’Antisemitismo è comunque onnipresente quale letimotiv che attraversa tutto il romanzo, certo. Ma è questo malessere che pare intrinseco nelle vene dei Moskat ad emergere sempre in primo piano. Non è la prima saga familiare ebraica che leggo: di Israel Singer (il fratello di Isaac) avevo letto lo splendido “La famiglia Karnowski”, nel quale, tuttavia, avevo tratto un’atmosfera diversa, meno cupa, meno sfinita. Qui il ritratto sembra più predestinato e drammatico e diversi sono gli aspetti che mi hanno sopresa, a partire da quel senso di sottimissione della figure femminili a quelle maschili che, parlando della saga di una famiglia ebraica (seppur di decenni fa), non avrei immaginato.
Ad ogni modo, Singer ci ha lasciato il ritratto possente e ammirevole di un mondo vivace, colorito e complesso che oggi non c’è più. Grandiosi sono i ritratti dei personaggi, meravigliosa è la scrittura in pieno bilancio fra il dramma delle vicende personali e il travaglio della storia.
Non ho dubbi: io lo metterei nell’Olimpo dei grandi, insieme a Zola, Verga e Dostoevskij.

[fคrຊคຖ.tຖ · Rating 5 out of 5]

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un romanzo tragicamente bello. E’ l’affresco colorito e vivace, ma sempre con uno sfondo di profonda tristezza postuma, delle tradizioni, usi e costumi del popolo ebraico polacco all’inizio del Novecento, una comunità le cui sorti sono emblematicamente raffigurate da quelle della famiglia Moskat: dopo un inizio in cui prevalgono il benessere e una certa spensieratezza, nel quale si susseguono feste, innamoramenti, matrimoni, tradimenti, invidie e gelosie, con la morte del patriarca della famiglia comincia la decadenza: l’avvento di una crisi patrimoniale, il crollo dei valori e della propria identità portano i Moskat a disperdersi e la famiglia si disgrega, inerme di fronte agli eventi storici drammatici degli anni che precedono lo scoppio della seconda guerra mondiale, fino all’epilogo finale in cui le truppe tedesche invadono la Polonia e la storia sappiamo come farà il suo corso.
“Gli Ebrei sono un popolo che non riesce a dormire e non fa dormire gli altri”: si potrebbero riassumere con questa espressione tutte le storie narrate e le vite dei personaggi –tanti- che animano le pagine del romanzo, dilaniati da un’attesa che consuma le forze e le menti, perennemente in bilico tra cielo e terra, tra un innato desiderio di felicità e l’umana voluttà degli istinti: un dilemma che li spinge a dare sfogo alla lussuria in un turbinio di relazioni fragili e inconsistenti, unico rifugio dalla paura e dall’ansia della veglia.
In fondo non è questo il destino dell’uomo, dibattersi dentro l’eterno conflitto tra il bene e il male?

[piperitapitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nulla è per sempre.

Ci sono quadri che si compongono un po' alla volta, aggiungendo come nei mosaici una tessera dopo l'altra.
La Famiglia Moskat è stato sicuramente il tassello più grande da aggiungere alla mia conoscenza della storia degli ebrei dell'Europa orientale, perché di per sé è già un quadro, un gigantesco affresco che, attraverso le vicende (e le vicissitudini) di una famiglia benestante di Varsavia, ricostruisce usanze e costumi della storia di un popolo che affonda le proprie radici nella storia dell'umanità intera e che si ricongiunge, nel mio quadro, a tasselli ugualmente preziosissimi come Ritorno in Lettonia di Marina Jarre che ricostruisce i drammatici anni del nazismo per gli ebrei delle repubbliche baltiche, o Maus ancora riguardo gli ebrei polacchi durante la seconda guerra mondiale, o Badenheim 1939 di Aharon Appelfeld che immagina gli ultimi giorni di un gruppo di ebrei austriaci prima della deportazione a Varsavia.
E tanti altri, tasselli, tessere, pennellate, un immenso quadro che prende forma, finché, con La Famiglia Moskat, il quadro, oltre che forma, prende anche vita.

La storia dei Moskat, che ha inizio con il ritorno a Varsavia del dispotico e ricchissimo capostipite Meshulam e della sua terza moglie alla fine del diciannovesimo secolo, affonda in realtà le proprie radici in un passato molto più lontano che trascina con sé riti, profumi, colori, in una storia che sembra essere sempre la stessa sin dai tempi del passaggio del Mar Rosso, ma che pur restando ancorata alle proprie usanze, muta lentamente, come uno stormo in volo, con il mutare del paesaggio che la circonda.
Sembra quasi di aprire una scatola cinese, di osservare un mondo inglobato in un altro mondo, al tempo stesso alla ricerca della preservazione della propria storia e dell'integrazione nella società che lo ha accolto e che contemporaneamente lo isola, lo contrasta, lo respinge.
Tutto questo in un romanzo epico, avvincente, ricco di personaggi memorabili - per orientarsi tra i quali i tre alberi genealogici, vista la nutrita schiera dei discendenti del prolifico Meshulam, posti all'inizio del romanzo sono i n d i s p e n s a b i l i ! - controversi, romantici, inquieti, intriganti, avidi, passionali (potrei continuare all'infinito!) tra i quali ciascun lettore potrà trovare quello più affine al proprio modo di essere e di sentire la vita.
La Famiglia Moskat è un romanzo in cui le passioni muovono tutto: che l'oggetto della passione sia una donna, o un uomo, che siano i soldi, la bramosia di potere, il desiderio di affermazione o di riscatto poco importa: tutto può succedere, tutto può cambiare.
Ho letto da qualche parte nel web che quello che lascia interdetti, e probabilmente storditi, noi gentili è scoprire, attraverso la saga dei Moskat, che questi ebrei, a quelli "tradizionali" si accostano quelli chassidim e iniziano ad apparire anche i primi sionisti, sono proprio come noi, diversi nei costumi, nei vestiti, nei cibi, nelle festività, ma che poi, proprio come noi, amano, tradiscono, bevono, si ubriacano, soffrono.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, con questo suo grandioso affresco - scritto in yiddish nel 1950 e pubblicato negli Stati Uniti d'America, dove era emigrato nel 1935 per sfuggire all'antisemitismo, in lingua inglese - restituisce al mondo intero un popolo, e con esso un mondo, annientato dalla follia nazista, ma che era già vittima dell'intolleranza di quella stessa gente al fianco della quale viveva da intere generazioni; un popolo che generazione dopo generazione non si era mai sentito a casa propria e che sognava al tempo stesso l'integrazione in Polonia, la fuga in America, il ritorno in Palestina.
Singer si ferma un momento prima dell'Olocausto, non ci narra di quell'orrore che fu il Ghetto di Varsavia, gli è sufficiente solo accennare all'invasione tedesca in Polonia per evocare il dramma che verrà.
Forse il suo è un gesto pietoso, l'illusorio gioco di prestigio di un grande narratore che riuscirà così, nella mente dei suoi lettori, a far salvi i suoi personaggi: non tutti - la morte, le malattie colpiranno con mano impietosa anche i Moskat - molti sì però.
Ho davanti a me l'immagine dell'orchestra del Titanic, quella raccontata e vista nei film, quella che continuava a suonare anche mentre il transatlantico affondava: ecco, me li immagino così i Moskat, ancora affaccendati in mille faccende, intenti a correre, trafficare, pregare, suonare, cantare, amare e odiare, tutto questo mentre l'Europa affonda.
Forse così, Singer ha regalato loro l'immortalità e a noi la speranza che anche il popolo ebraico, da qualche parte, in Europa orientale, abbia la sua Atlantide.


«In che consiste il vostro ebraismo? Che cosa sono gli ebrei in sostanza?»
«Un popolo che non può dormire e non lascia dormire nessun altro.»

[MAhdis · Rating 5 out of 5]

تا حالا به قوم یهود فکر کردیم؟ این که چی میخوان، حرف حسابشون چیه؟ چه عقاید و آداب و رسومی دارن؟ و چرا دنبال پس گرفتن فلسطین هستن؟ می‌دونید که صهیونیست با یهود فرق داره و صهیونیست‌ها همون ناسیونالیست‌های یهودی‌ان که دنبال یک سرزمین مستقل برای خودشون می‌گردن؟ اصلا سرزمین یهودیان کجاست؟ کدوم کشور؟
در واقع، این کتاب مردم‌شناسی یهودیه و به بسیاری از سوالات شما درباره یهودیان پاسخ میده. یعنی به احتمال زیاد بعد از خوندن این کتاب، ضمن این‌که از یه داستان جذاب لذت بردید، با عقاید، رسوم، فرهنگ و بنیان‌ فکری یهودیان آشنا میشید و درک می‌کنید که این قوم در سال‌های قبل و حوالی جنگ جهانی اول و دوم با چه وضعیتی رو‌به‌رو بودن؛ وضعیتی که تهش به هولوکاست و اردوگاه‌های کار اجباری می‌رسه.
خانواده موسکات داستان تعداد زیادی از اعضای یک خانواده یهودیه، شرح حال زندگی خانوادگی، شکست‌ها، ازدواج‌ها، فقر، ثروت، جنگ، و مرگ. تعداد شخصیت‌های کتاب زیاده، ولی این تغییر روایت یا تعدد شخصیت‌ها جوری نیست که شما رو سردرگم کنه یا باعث بشه از سیر داستان خسته بشید؛ برعکس، داستان جذابیت زیادی داره و شما را نهصد صفحه به دنبال خودش می‌کشونه.
به نظرم هر کتابی جز این، چه تاریخی و چه سیاسی،میتونه بخشی از سوگیری نویسنده درباره یهودیان رو داشته باشه ولی این کتاب، همون اثری هست که با یک داستان جذاب و عمیق، شما را با مردم یهود آشنا می‌کنه و حتی ممکنه تهش شما رو به این نتیجه برسونه که این قوم هم، از اول تاریخ قوم بیچاره‌ای بوده و به قول خود کتاب "از زمان بنی‌اسرائیل تا هیتلر و همین الان هم، دائما سرکوب و کشته شدن وگرنه جمعیت‌شون بیشتر از صد میلیون نفر بود" اما‌ چرا؟ چرا یهودیان همیشه منفور بودن؟ این کتاب می‌تونه در کنار کمی از جست‌وجوهای تاریخی خودتون، به سوالتون پاسخ بده.
پس پیشنهاد می‌کنم این داستان جذاب رو از د��ت ندید و خیالتون هم راحت باشه که کتاب قصد نداره این قوم رو تطهیر کنه، بلکه یک داستان از یک خاندان بزرگ یهودی رو روایت می‌کنه.

[Mandana · Rating 4 out of 5]

روایتی دست اول از زندگی‌ها. رمان پر از شخصیت است، شخصیت‌هایی در رنگ‌ها و طرح‌هایی مختلف. طیف شخصیت‌پردازی آیزاک باشویس سینگر عالی بود و گسترده. تقریباً همه جور آدمی دیده می‌شد.
�� برای آشنایی با سبک و سیاق زندگی یهودیان از هر کتاب جامعه‌شناسی‌ای بهتر است.
داستان که زندگی تقریباً یک نسل را در برمی‌گیرد، از پیش از جنگ جهانی اول شروع می‌شود تا روزهای پرآشوب حمله آلمان نازی به لهستان.
تحول شخصیت‌ها هم خیلی جالب بود. اینکه جوان‌ها چطور پوست می‌اندازند، و به خصوص دختران چگونه عرض اندام می‌کند، مقاومت می‌کنند و دنبال زندگی خود می‌روند و به اعتباری هم تاوان خلاف جریان آب شنا کردن را می‌دهند. اما سینگر همه جورش را پیش چشم خواننده می‌گذارد: آنکه تن به سنت می‌دهد، آنکه زیر همه چیز می‌زند، آنکه راهی میانه را در پیش می‌گیرد، آنکه گاهی تمکین می‌کند و گاه تمرد.
و ترجمه کتاب چقدر خوب است. سپاس از خانم ارجمند که هم اثری عالی انتخاب کردند و هم عالی آن را به فارسی برگرداندند. کتاب پر است از مناسک و نکات و ظرافت‌های فرهنگ یهودی که خانم ارجمند همه را با دقت برگردانده‌اند. می‌شود گفت که کتاب تا حدی آشنایی با فرهنگ یهودیت هم هست.
واقعاً جای رمان‌های این چنینی به فارسی هنوز هم خیلی خالی است. به خصوص، به خصوص با ترجمه‌های درست و خوب.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE 4/16/15 ... reading again

***




"The Family Moskat" has several slow spots, there are a confusing number of characters introduced but never really developed, and the story didn't really have much punch.

Having said that, "Moskat" is an exquisite presentation of a wide range of Polish Jews in a variety of economic, social, sexual and religious circumstances. There was never a doubt in my mind that Singer, who lived there, had got it right. And the last 100 pages or so achieved an emotion not previously present.

The book is copyright 1950, so presumably Singer knew that virtually all of the Polish Jews had ended up in German ovens. That knowledge invests many of the last scenes with a special poignancy, particularly the Seder (set in 1939) when the family assembles from America and Israel as well as Poland. Did they know it was to be their last Seder? Singer doesn't tell us, but the characters all believe the Germans will soon be in Warsaw.

There are several family trees in the front of the edition I read, and they are an absolute necessity. I would have appreciated a more careful effort to let the reader know the relevant history and the dates of each section, particularly when there were significant time gaps. A map would also have been helpful.

Overall, however, my criticisms pale before the resonating portrait Singer has presented of a multi-generational Jewish family in serious travail shortly before most of them were murdered.

[Evi * · Rating 4 out of 5]

A PROPOSITO DI NOBEL
Un telescopio su uno spaccato di una prolifica famiglia ebraica in un contesto storico preciso dagli anni trenta fino all’avvento di Hitler, tra le strade dei quartieri di Varsavia nella contesa Polonia.
Movimentato, colorito, tragico e lieve, a un tempo ortodosso ma anche dissacrante nei confronti della propria religione, e soprattutto stupefacente come, da parte della comunità ebraica di Varsavia, ci fosse una tale scarsa consapevolezza dell’avanzare inesorabile della tragedia che di lì a poco avrebbe colpito il popolo d’aria, sempre in cammino.

Romanzo decisamente troppo lungo, a mio parere, e con una prosa un po’ come dire… datata molto alla russa, ma nondimeno veramente interessante.

Sono felice ho letto un Nobel, non un Moccia qualsiasi.

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

سینگر با خانواده موسکات ما رو به زمان و مکان شگفت انگیزی در ورشو سال‌ها قبل از جنگ جهانی اول منتقل میکنه. تمرکز کتاب به قبل از ورود نازی‌هاست. از طریق خانواده موسکات ما با طیف گسترده‌ای از یهودیان مواجه میشیم برخی مذهبی‌اند و به روش‌های سنتی چنگ می‌زنند برخی غرب گرا و مرتدن در کل سیستم‌های اجتماعی و سیاسی زیادی در کتاب وجود داره که سرنوشت افراد رو شکل میده. امید‌ها و رویاهای میلیون‌ها انسانی که با ورود نازی‌ها به یه تراژدی تبدیل شد.

[Dimitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sì, una qualche forza misteriosa lo spingeva verso gli ebrei. Sembrava che qualcosa attirasse i suoi passi verso le vie e i vicoli dei quartieri ebraici, dove dinanzi ai suoi occhi si agitava un mare di strane forme, strani personaggi, scene insolite. Qui, in questi quartieri, c’era sempre qualcuno impegnato in un acceso discorso sulla religione. Talmudisti dai lunghi riccioli passavano le notti a studiare il Sacro Libro. I chassidim discutevano animatamente i loro rabbini e le loro capacità di scacciare i dybbuk. Sant’uomini dalla barba bianca passavano la vita a meditare sui misteri della Cabbala. Giovani sognatori abbandonavano la famiglia per andarsene in Palestina a lavorare alla bonifica di paludi e deserti abbandonati da secoli. Giovani ragazze lavoravano nelle soffitte a fabbricare bombe da gettare ai dignitari zaristi. Ai matrimoni questa gente piangeva come a un funerale. I loro libri si leggevano da destra verso sinistra. La loro parte di Varsavia sembrava un pezzo di Baghdad trapiantato nel mondo occidentale.

Così Singer descrive a un certo punto del romanzo i pensieri di un ragazzo cristiano innamorato di una ragazza ebrea, appartenente alla enorme famiglia Moskat. Se penso a tutti gli scrittori e personaggi ebrei che ho incontrato finora nella mia vita di lettore, anch’io sento questa forza misteriosa.

“Ho l’impressione che tutta l’umanità sia presa in una trappola. Non si va né avanti né indietro. E noi ebrei saremo le prime vittime.”
“La fine del mondo, eh? Sei proprio come papà, tale e quale! In che cosa consiste il vostro ebraismo? Che cosa sono gli ebrei, in sostanza?”
“Un popolo che non può dormire e non lascia dormire nessun altro.”

[Behzad · Rating 5 out of 5]

خانوادۀ موسکات ما رو راه میده به جهانی که امروز دیگه نیست؛ انگار در زمان سفر کرده باشی و بری به لهستان دهه های 1900 تا 1940؛ توی خیابون های ورشو راه بری، بوها رو استشمام کنی، صداها رو بشنوی، منظره ها و رنگ ها رو ببینی و بشی جزئی از اون جهان.
کتاب تاریخ فَکت ها رو به ما میگه؛ و تاریخ مردمی فَکت های زندگی مردم رو بهمون میده. اما رمان، و «خانوادۀ موسکات»، ما رو میبره در قلب زندگی های مردمان یهودی، و بهمون اجازه میده که فَکت ها رو ذره و ذره و قدم به قدم همراه اون مردم زندگی کنیم و ببینیم که یهودی بودن در اون زمان چه معنایی
داشت.
یکی از جالب ترین نکته های این رمان اینه که مدام و در حین پیش رفتن روایت، میدونی که قراره هیتلر ظهور کنه؛ قراره که خاک اروپا به توبره کشیده بشه و تمام زندگی هایی که داری ازشون میخونی به بی رحمانه ترین شکل ممکن پایمال بشن؛ و خب این معنای تمام اتفاقات رو عوض میکنه.
قوی ترین بخش رمان به نظرم حدود 50 صفحۀ انتهایی بود، هرچند که در واقع خط به خط رمان از نظر من شاهکار و خواندنی بود.

شاید بشه گفت که رمانها دو دسته هستند.
اونهایی که به دنبال ایجاد یه امپرسیون در خواننده اند، و آنهایی که در صدد خلق دوبارۀ جهان یا خلق جهانی دیگر در قالب روایت هستند. و رمان «خانوادۀ موسکات» یه جهان وسیع خلق میکنه؛ درست یه چیزی مثل سفر در زمان و تجربۀ زندگی ای یکسر متفاوت با امروز و اکنون، و در عین حال بی نهایت انسانی و آشنا.

ترجمۀ کتاب هم خوب و روان، و قطع و جنس کاغذش هم عالی بود که خواندن رو ساده میکرد.


«-اگر آدم ندونه دور و برش چه خبره زندگی سخت میشه.
- و خیال میکنی دونستن آسون ترش میکنه؟»

«اگر آدم از نظر منطقی نامتناقض بود، باید می پذیرفت که خدا خبیث بود، یا اینکه رنج و مرگ خوب بودند.»

[Puya · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابش که عالی بود ولی دوست داشتم بیشتر روی شخصیت هاش مانور بده مخصوصا شخصیت هایی که میمیرن

[Lorenzo Berardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chronicles from a vanished world.

No one like Isaac Bashevis Singer is able to zoom on daily tiny details without losing focus on the whole plot and keeping your attention awake for more than 600 pages with no single moment of boredom or prolixity.

So far, I have never found a wide bunch of so realistic fictional characters: each of them is beyond evil or good simply behaving just like each of us do, sometimes in a selfish way, sometimes being selfless. Potential villains may show humanity and tenderness. Potential matinee idols may disappoint taking the wrong decision.
The author never judges the people he created, but he actually became them from time to time, from page to page.
And counting only the main characters this book shows at least two dozens of personalities and a thick and richful net of interactions among them.

What Singer did in this book is absolutely amazing.
This is not only masterful literature. This is a lively fresco of a whole society and lifestyle portrayed in the years before they perished.
There is humour and there is sorrow, there is romanticism and there is disillusion. What else can I say? Overall, a masterpiece.

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nella vita, le cose che desideriamo hanno la specialità di arrivare troppo tardi.”

Il romanzo abbraccia un periodo storico che va dall’inizio del Novecento al termine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. La storia inizia con il rientro a Varsavia del ricco capostipite Meshulam Moskat già vecchio, che ha appena deciso di sposarsi per la terza volta.

Meshulam ci introduce lentamente nella comunità ebraica di Varsavia, nei vicoli densamente abitati, pieni di vita e di commerci, dove gli uomini hanno i riccioli ai lati del volto e le donne indossano una parrucca. Iniziamo così a conoscere gli usi e costumi ebraici, entrando nelle case sia fastose che povere, ci sediamo alle tavole su cui ci sono cibi kasher, vediamo menorah e lampade hanukka, preghiamo nelle sinagoghe, partecipiamo a riti funebri recitando kaddish, conosciamo lo chassidismo, vediamo i libri letti e ascoltiamo la lingua yiddish.

Fin quando Meshulam Moskat è vivo, è il punto di riferimento per tutti, prende le decisioni e risolve tutti i guai di famiglia. I figli, che lui considera incapaci dal primo all’ultimo, non aspettano altro che dividersi le ricchezze accumulate dal genitore in una vita dedita ai commerci. Ma quando muore, le cose si fanno più difficili. I membri della famiglia cominciano a separarsi e a litigare per la divisione del patrimonio del vecchio e, mentre scoppiano le due guerre mondiali e inizia a sentirsi l’antisemitismo, sembrano anche allontanarsi dalla loro religione.

Ed alla fine la guerra arriva e travolge ogni cosa, compresa la famiglia Moskat, che in fondo simboleggia la società ebraico-orientale, in piena decadenza morale e religiosa, travolta dai suoi vizi.

"La morte è il vero Messia, questa è la verità".

Durante lo svolgimento della vicenda Singer ci propone un grandissimo numero di personaggi, tutti diversi, pieni di carattere e personalità; stranamente quasi nessuno ci risulta “simpatico”. La visione dell’autore sembra quindi cupa, sconsolata e senza speranza. L’unico personaggio simpatico è lo zio Abram Shapiro, parente acquisito dei Moskat: un uomo che vive sulle spalle degli altri, un po’ grossolano, indolente e gaudente, eppure apparentemente orgoglioso del suo ebraismo.

Molto bello e interessante questo romanzo. Molto ben caratterizzati i personaggi, l’epoca, le vicende; ogni risvolto psicologico della condizione umana viene preso in considerazione.

[Hedieh Madani · Rating 5 out of 5]

ضرباهنگ بسیار بالا، کتاب فوق العاده

[Kansas · Rating 3 out of 5]

"He recibido una carta de mi prometido. La carta estaba en una mezcla de  tres lenguas: yiddish, polaco y ruso. Está totalmente claro que la ha copiado de uno de esos libros que contienen cartas modelo de todos los tipos."

Al final esta novela me ha resultado una tremenda decepción, sobre todo a partir de la segunda mitad. Es verdad que en una novela de 800 páginas es difícil mantener un ritmo regular medio decente a menos que el autor sea muy bueno, pero viniendo como vengo de leer "Los hermanos Ashkenazi", del hermano mayor, Israel Y., y siendo Isaac B premio Nobel, no me esperaba que se me hiciera tan cuesta arriba. Isaac Singer cuenta la evolución  de una familia judía en Varsovia entre principios del siglo XX, hasta justo cuando Hitler invade Polonia en 1939. 



Contrariamente, a la decepción general,  el final me ha parecido soberbio:  el final contenido en la última media página y por cómo se atreve a acabarla, abruptamente. Sin embargo, a partir de la mitad cuando la cosa parece ir encarrilada  y ya nos hemos hecho con los tropecientos personajes de la familia Moskat, el resto de las 400 páginas no deja de ser es un cúmulo de gente en amoríos, trayendo hijos al mundo, divorciándose una y otra vez, y llegado un punto todos parecían estar divorciándose de todos, volviéndose a casar, y volviéndose a separar, una especie de culebrón en pleno periodo de entreguerras. Es un mundo cambiante sobre todo en un momento en que los judíos se debatían en un eterno conflicto entre modernidad y tradición pero aquí Isaac casi pasa de puntillas por el contexto histórico y social, salvo algún momento aislado, y coloca a sus personajes en un ecosistema  aislado donde no parecía estar ocurriendo nada fuera de los problemas domésticos de la familia Moskat, y esto hubiera estado bien en una novela más corta, pero a la larga, se convierte en un chicle eternamente estirado donde es imposible que lleguen a interesarnos miembros de la familia Moskat que solo pasaban por allí: sin historias personales, solo a base de infidelidades y amoríos varios, la cosa acaba saturando.


La historia que  trata (o lo intenta) de los destinos de toda una cultura y una lengua, el yiddish, a través de la familia Moskat, en medio de la ola de antisemitismo que se extiende desde la Alemania nazi a la URSS de Stalin y que sobre todo afecta a Polonia, donde se asentó una de las comunidades de judíos más extensas de Europa, tengo la sensación que  aquí todo esto  es bastante obviado por Singer que sobre todo se centra en el devenir sentimental de los miembros de la familia. Hay momentos estupendos sí, pero para mí no ha sido suficiente. Ésta fue la segunda novela de Isaac Bashevis (1950) y quiero creer que a partir de aquí fue a mejor, pero el último tercio me ha resultado bastante insoportable: hijos, sobrinos, nietos convertidos   en un eterno recuento que le sirvió a Isaac B.  para aumentar el árbol genealógico de la familia Moskat. Los mejores momentos: las cartas de Hassadah, Asa Hershel en un breve interludio en la guerra, y el final anticlimático.


Asa Heshel se tumbó en el sofá, que había sido agujereado con bayonetas y cerró los ojos. (Cuando cerraba los ojos, dejaba de ser soldado).
[...]
Desapareció todo miedo, toda preocupación por el futuro.Solo quedaba una cosa, un tremendo asombro: ¿Soy yo éste? ¿Es éste Asa Hershel? ¿Tengo realmente fortaleza para sobrevivir a todo esto? ¿Es mi cuerpo realmente tan fuerte?"

[FerroN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Splendore, declino e dissoluzione di una famiglia ebrea di Polonia nella prima metà del Novecento; storie personali dei numerosi appartenenti al “clan” Moskat – tre generazioni in continuo movimento e divenire, tra i primi anni del secolo e l’inizio della seconda guerra mondiale – che tuttavia costituiscono soltanto la trama della grande saga. Una lunga serie di episodi di ordinaria quotidianità (vite permeate di tradizioni, cultura, riti e fede religiosa) si dipana infatti sull’onda di passioni profonde o travolgenti, discussioni politiche e filosofiche, nell’ambito del conflitto fra ortodossia, “modernità” e laicismo. Tradimenti, matrimoni, furti, liti, bombardamenti; ossessioni e miseria, prigionia e lusso, nascite e funerali: quasi ogni aspetto dell’esistenza umana coinvolge la variegata umanità che affolla il romanzo.

La presenza di numerosi spunti di riflessione e personaggi di ogni tipo (realistici e in gran parte afflitti dalle umane debolezze) tiene sempre vivo l’interesse; ma non è facile appassionarsi a questa storia, perché intolleranza, odio e ostilità dominano dall’inizio alla fine. Etnie e nazioni insultate e paragonate ad animali (cani, scimmie, topi); gruppi o persone aderenti ad altre fedi religiose catalogati come “infedeli” o “impuri”; termini non offensivi (“goy”, “shiksa”) utilizzati sempre in senso dispregiativo. È un’eco cupa e continua, prima fastidiosa, poi asfissiante: è l’eterna storia di discriminazione, denigrazione e annientamento del “diverso”, l’intramontabile pretesto per soddisfare la smania umana di sopraffare e farsi spazio a scapito della minoranza e del più debole. Qualche decennio prima dell’arrivo delle armate di Hitler, mentre i Moskat sono impegnati a fare progetti, trafficare e inseguire sogni, le basi su cui edificare lo stermino sono già solide.

Nella Varsavia dove le famiglie dei Moskat vivono, rientrano da vacanze o ritornano in visita da lontane residenze, si sente sempre un freddo gelido o un caldo soffocante o manca l’aria. C’è chi sembra scorgere ciò che si sta addensando ma preferisce non pensarci; qualcuno invece ha capito, ed è convinto che non vi potrà essere alcuna salvezza. Nello smarrimento di un’attesa sempre più disperata, con un futuro ogni giorno più sbiadito, per sfuggire un solo istante al pensiero delle miserie o delle tragedie imminenti non resta loro che levare lo sguardo al cielo azzurro sopra la città, o chiudere gli occhi al ricordo di primavere ormai lontane.

“Hadassah giaceva immobile, in ascolto. La primavera era venuta più presto, quest’anno. La neve aveva cominciato a sciogliersi alla metà di febbraio. Nelle foreste gli alberi gocciolavano, rigagnoli d’acqua serpeggiavano fra gli alberi per gettarsi nello Shviderek e quindi nella Vistola. Uccelli invernali gorgheggiavano con voci umane. Caldi vapori s’innalzavano dal suolo fradicio d’acqua. Negli orti gli alberi da frutto avevano un aspetto nudo e nerastro, come sempre nell’imminenza di emettere le gemme. [...] Anche gli insetti risorgevano alla vita, ronzando contro i vetri delle finestre...”

[Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

E' la Storia con la S maiuscola, quella tragica e dolorosa dell'intera comunità ebraica di Varsavia e dintorni, tra le cui strade ci aggiriamo seguendo le vertiginose vicende del clan dei Moskat; sì, perché più che una famiglia è un vero clan: mariti, mogli, figli, figliastri, nipoti, patrigni, zii, amici, amanti, seconde e terze mogli...ho reso l'idea?

Lettura assolutamente imprescindibile insieme a "La famiglia Karnowski", che continua ad occupare un posto speciale nel mio cuore.

Terribile invece l'edizione della TEA, piena zeppa di refusi e con una traduzione spesso arcaica e un po' macchinosa.

[Osama Siddique · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely overwhelming and deeply moving and yet highly underrated novel this is. Spanning a period starting before World War I and leading up to World War 2 and set in Poland, Isaac Bashevis Singer tome brings to life the vast family of the patriarch Meshulam Moskat and through him the vibrant, complex, intertwined, often insular, and highly tradition-bound lives of an long-persecuted community that was discovering that its days in its latest haven were also numbered. Conveyed ever so subtly through everyday events and interactions, one observes with horror how the Polish Jews are Othered, misrepresented, harassed, discriminated against and persecuted.

Originally written in Yiddish and Singer's first novel to be published in English, Singer's strength is the immediacy, spontaneity, and naturalness of his dialogues, interspersed as they are with religious references, sharp wit, yiddish terms, and playfulness. At the same time, against the larger canvass of a Europe descending into fascism he creates some truly memorable characters, who despite all their foibles and limitations, are deeply endearing. This 750 page novel flows fluently despite the mundane, everyday nature of many events, simply because they are so compellingly realistic. The novel transports one to the Warsaw of early twentieth century, and helps understand, relate to and empathize with the ways, aspirations and apprehensions of a very different community to the ones one is familiar with. It is the ability to create this human bond across time and space which I regard as the triumph of great literature.

Singer's characters are flawed people, often conflicted, uncertain, sinful, unhappy, and yet also joyful, frequently generous, and capable of loving. He has been critiqued for portraying jewish stereotypes and highlighting failings. I found his depictions sensitive, nuanced and balanced, and hence all the more human and capable of appearing credible and attracting sympathy. The initially largely homogenous community he paints changes with the times as younger generations drift further away from hidebound tradition and orthodox religiosity - attracted to or seeking refuge in zionism, capitalism, communism or other possibilities, as old explanations don't quite fit harsh contemporary realities. At personal levels, many are unhappy in their marriages, commit adultery, or otherwise abandon their responsibilities - but such is Singer's masterful narrative voice that he neither vilifies nor valorizes them; he simply humanizes them.

For me the most memorable and lovable characters is one of Meshulam Moskat's estranged sons in law Abram Shapiro - warm-hearted, garrulous, boisterous, generous, an incurable romantic, an incurable philanderer, unconventional and incredibly witty. His joy for life imbues the otherwise melancholic chronicle with hope and perseverance. In young Asa Heshel Bannet we have a committed philosopher and religious scholar who is one of the book's main characters - a Spinoza reading, moody and deeply thoughtful man whose failures in love and life epitomize the discontent of his entire generation that is torn between two different worlds. Singer deeply explores the ritualistic and religious life of the jews in all its richness, with its various factions and callings, the rigor and exactitude of its traditions, and the consequent distinctive culture of a nation that has lived mostly in exile. He does this once again with as dispassionate a voice as a narrator can adopt. Indeed his ability to give voice to multiple perspectives within the book is what makes it multifarious and profound with its many shades of gray. You find him reverential towards an ancient piety practiced by the rabbis but also quizzical about their ability to comprehend and be adaptable and resourceful to tackle the dire contemporary predicaments faced by their flocks.

The strictly orthodox Chassidim in particular figure prominently, assiduously hanging onto to their particular brand of faith, mystical and seemingly oblivious to the world around them. I found multiple similarities between traditional and ritual bound Muslim communities and the Jewish communities that Singer describes, especially when it comes to encountering modernity, worldliness, gender roles, family values and connections with the past and the present. There are passages that beautifully convey the calm and peace of lives truly being led as lives of devotion; disconnected from external events; always keeping faith and awaiting a miracle. At the same time, Singer also explores how the insularity of certain groups prevented them from vital reaction and necessary self-preservation steps as Hitler's dark shadow loomed large over Europe.

Women - especially confidant young women, figure strongly in the novel - additionally burdened by childbirth, unhappy marriages, economic constraints and social taboos, all combined preventing their freedoms of movement and self-actualization. The willful and beautiful Hadassah, the stoic Adele, and the ideologically driven Barbara Fishelsohn being primary examples. The inner class system within the community is captured by the rise of Kopek Berman - a one time bailiff to Meshulam Moskat, who later marries - or as he himself says inches dotage, steals, - his married daughter Leah as well as a lot of his money, and the resentment extended to him by the Moskat family. Other than the family Moskat, the Koppel, Bannet and Katzenellenbogen families provide additional characters to constitute a rich overall cast.

Like all great novels, The Family Moskat provides granular details of individual and community lives as well as the much bigger canvass of war and its tragedies, the contrast between rural and small town life such as in Terespol Minor (the small place Asa Heshel hails from) and sprawling Warsaw with its various neighborhoods, droshkys and streetcars, palatial parks, palaces and ghettoes. The Family Moskat is a story of decline - of the Moskat family in terms of its internal disintegration as well as the aging and economic hardship of individual family members and also the dispersal of the Jewish community with many heading towards Palestine with dreams of a Zionist state, or to America, Australia, Argentina and other parts of the world. An old way of life is dismantled as with geographical distance also comes distancing from older beliefs and normative systems, even though every emigrant community also holds onto its own ways as much as it can. Singer neither seems to lament nor appears utterly aloof as he creates characters as they exist and justify themselves, erring, repenting, at times unsuspecting victims, and at times plotting their own fall. But a deep sadness does appear to imbue the narrative, and especially harrowing is the degeneration of a relatively accepting Polish society into a bigoted and intolerant one. The more subtle racism and anti-Semitism gradually worsens into blatant forms and outright violence. How many times in human history have certain communities been so badly discriminated by others and how frequently and ironically do they turn themselves into racist and discriminatory communities themselves - like in the Zionist state whose emergence we are provide remote glimpses of in this novel.

While other prominent writers like Nobel laureate Gore Vidal who have written about Jewish community life in America have received far more acclaim I find Singer much the better and more moving writer. Vidal has claims to greater literary prowess and mastery over language. Singer wrote in Yiddish and is less florid and flamboyant in his prose style and use of language - though there are descriptive passages of elegance ad beauty - and far less pretentious as well. But much the better story teller in my opinion and with a larger and richer canvass as well as more compelling characters.

In summation, Issac Bashevis Singer's fabulous magnum opus The Family Moskat is highly relevant today as we witness intolerance, bigotry & hate pushing many in the world towards fascism and violence. Spanning the early 20th century, set in Poland, and focusing on the Jewish community, it could be about any traditional community confronting a rapidly changing, turbulent and increasingly discriminatory world.

The protagonist Asa Heshel epitomizes the deep ideological despair and existentialist dilemmas that gripped his generation as the Nazis launched their war and there seemed to be no escape from doom. Even as the bombs fell the deeply orthodox such as the ever joyful and devotionally dancing Menassah David quoted the scripture and said, ""It is man's duty to bless God for the evil that befalls him, as well as for the good" These are pangs of the Messiah - the wars of Gog and Magog ....It is beginning, just as the Book of Daniel says. Idiots!" But others were in a far darker mood. As one of Asa Heshel's mentors Hertz Yanovar gloomily observed, "The Messiah will come soon ...Death's the Messiah. That's the real truth."

[Solmaz Fatehi · Rating 5 out of 5]

همان قوانینی که ماه و خورشید، ستارگان دنباله‌دار و سحابی‌ها را کنترل می‌کنند، زندگی و مرگ را نیز اداره می‌کنند، موسولینی را، هیتلر را، و هر لات نازی را که با شور و شوق ترانه هورست وسل را می‌خواند و برای خون یهودی که از تیغه چاقو فواره می‌زند زوزه می‌کشد.

می رم که یکبار دیگه فیلم The Pianist
رو‌ ببینم.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems at the start a bit snappier than The Manor/The Estate, which followed this in Daily Forward installments in the early 1950s; that thick novel precedes the action in Family Moskat to the end of the 19c., but parallels its Warsaw setting amidst assimilated characters from Ashkenazi communities.

As before, marriages, divorces, affairs, and debates, usually over hearty meals or at least egg cookies and tea (!): an urban confrontation of Torah-true tradition vs. communism, Zionism, spiritualism, capitalism, and feminism. I always enjoy Singer's staging of these heady issues, even if the passions keep getting in the way of forward momentum. This narrative resembles popular entertainment, in the broader canvas of predecessors, determined to create uncertainty over a very prolonged season.

What helps the pace? Diaries and letters from the cast add variety. Whereas Manor/Estate keeps to the omniscient, sprinkling in the men and women's thoughts on paper enriches FM's presentation, as the Great War erupts, and the Continent succumbs, throwing off Tsar, Kaiser, or whomever ruled Poland. Even the standoffish Jews must give in as they're expelled, impelled, conscripted. Suddenly, it's over.

Oddly, post-WWI maybe it's another translator. (A.H. Gross died before he finished it.) Third quarter, its tone alters. The cast's goings-on don't sustain built-up melodramatic zest. America's recounted, yet secondhand. Energy cools. Similar to our streamed diversions, a few seasons or franchise products in? Abram Shapiro returns in the last stretch, as another war looms, and this conniver's by far (not much competition amidst a morose array of sad-sacks) the most engaging actor on Singer's stage.

Once again in his ensemble, his secular protagonist (Asa Heshel) scuffles along. A head full of Spinoza while bereft of any ethics beyond bedding whomever he fancies, justifying his affairs, and moping for a messianic deliverance unsanctioned by Hasidim. Who persist as their children defect and convert. Asa's a particularly lackluster central figure, and contrasted with Abram, he hobbles this lengthy tale.

Newer members of our extended Moskats and their rivals kibitz. Without manic enthusiasm of their Old World forebears, if generally tamer and commonsensical. It may be intentional. Singer's no greenhorn, but it's relatively early in his career; his narrative command may have been at odds with pressures of churning out on-demand storylines drawn out for newspaper publishing deadlines...