Alan’s Comments (group member since Sep 25, 2016)

Alan’s comments from the Yiddish lit in translation group.

The third story in the collection The Wife Beater is pretty heavy.

The Sutskever doc. Did the rounds of Jewish film festivals last year. Apparently an excellent film.

Emory-is that Atlanta? Is there a jewish film festival there?

Yes he was,he eventually moved to Israel and started a very important Yiddish journal which lasted a long time,something unusual for Israel and Yiddish. Ruth Wisse gives an interesting talk about him on you tube. Many thought he was more deserving of the nobel rather than Singer and was considered the greatest Yiddish poet of the past century. Yiddish writers wrote far more poetry than to my liking especially women as men controlled the publishing business and they weren’t interested in fiction written by women. I’m really not a poetry person,never learned to appreciate it,but when you study yid lit there is a tremendous amount of poetry discussed. Jan if Yiddish poetry in translation interests you penguin I believe put out a book of Yiddish poetry many decades ago.

Gimpel the Fool and The Man From Cracow

The first two stories in Singer’s first collection published in English are as masterful as any of his work. What is so remarkable is that he says all of the stories in this collection had been written in the last ten years-slightly after the war up until the beginning of the fifties.

Gimpel would be considered Singer’s most beloved story and it a story of comedy and terrible deafeat but tremendous faith and grace at the end. Gimpel was the first story I had read by Singer when I was at university-it was part of a massive and ground-breaking anthology of Yiddish literature translated into English-edited by Irving Howe and published in 1954,about the same time this first collection in English was published. The story was introduced in a popular Jewish magazine and translated by the then not so famous Saul Bellow. I know of no other works that Bellow translated from Yiddish to English,and I wonder why he did this one. Perhaps he was comisioned to do the job. Re-reading the story lent me to wonder who read a Tresury of Yiddish stories in 1954,it is a massive book and covers a huge collection from the history of Yiddish lit including the Soviet period. Of course I don’t remember one story written by a woman in the collection but that was typical for that time. One can assume that this story like so many others of Singer’s work first appeared in the Yiddish daily forward. There would have been a significantly greater number of readers who could read Yiddish back then. So why and for whom was the anthology first produced. Again one can only assume it was written for readers who were children of Yiddish speakers. Yiddish for most of the past century was spoken by a majority of jews who learned in their homes, but they couldn’t read the language. So here was an opportunity for the children to understand(heavily dramatized)the world where their parents and grand-parents came from.

The second story-The Man From Cracow really surprised me because it was even more expansive and full of wonderment than Gimpel. I was just not prepared for the horror,the hysteria and the whirl of incredible imagination Singer brings to this sensational story. The more you read Singer the more you start to see how frequently he repeated himself and in English The Man from..is the first but he returns to this theme of demons,etc throughout his work.

Finally,it is hard to understand the position of Singer in today’s reading culture. His work is repeatedly misogynistic, almost all of his women,excluding Yentl perhaps are hysterical,sex crazed harlots. Many of them appear with so much passion and furor that their shirts are ripped open as in this story.

Singer once said all of the greatest writers had only one story to tell and throughout his work he did repeat himself over and over again. But he was a master of the imagination,he could reduce the greatest tumult of the world into a single phrase,and I will always love him for this.

I've heard wonderful things about Stolen Words-have to add it to
my pile, thanks.

I would like to list the titles I've mentioned above-all great books.
The first is Yiddish-a Nation of Words by Miriam Weinstein.
A wonderful history of Yiddish culture written about 19 years ago. She covers everything but the book is almost twenty years old and a lot continues to happen-believe it or not-so it's great for a general survey but not very current. A very quick, very fun read.

Then there is Aaron Lansky's Outwitting History-also a quick
read but a remarkable story, well-told. Really an unbelievable
history of his life and what he has accomplished-really mind-boggling.

Finally I'd like to put in a plug for the current Yiddish book
I've been reading which is translated by our own Daniel Kennedy-A Death:Notes of a Suicide by Zalman Shneour. Daniel's book seems to be available only through the Yiddish
book center-I imagine he received a translation grant from them which is good for those of us who hang out on that site, but
it's such a great work and beautiful translation that the book should be sold in regular bookstores as I'm sure it will be well-beloved. When I first read what the book was about I thought-been there-I've read a lot of 19'th Century lit-particularly the
Russians and as Daniel explains in this excellent introduction,the book is very modeled on Doestoevsky's classic Notes from the
underground. I really didn't feel like walking that path again.
But I started reading it on a bench-in the middle of a very cold
Canadian winter-and I just couldn't stop. Daniel's prose is so
beautiful and so vivid-there is no way I can read this book at this point in time in the original-but it just doesn't read like a
translation because it's a beautiful book in it's own right. It's
not the type of plot everyone would enjoy as it's the story of
a young man who spends all of his time contemplating killing himself with a gun,but the writing is just sensational. Daniel
also has another translation that came out last year-Warsaw Stories by Hersh David Nomberg. This collection seems like it might be more light-hearted but I haven't picked up a copy of
it yet. Anyways Daniel can speak for himself and his work.

Great Jan, there have been several translations of children's
and non-children's books into Yiddish over the years. I think the
first and most famous is Winnie the Pooh. Just last week a
translation of Harry Potter appeared and it sold out in three days!
That's incredible.
Most of us , unless we come from ultra-orthodox backgrounds, come to Yiddish from a distance, at least culturally which is fine.
there is so much to learn and you don't have to be obsessed with it to want to understand where it's been and where it is today.
There are many exceptional books about the history of Yiddish-
I can't remember the name of the best one right now-her first
name was Miriam. Also Aaron Lansky who is a superhero in the
world of Yiddish publishing and preservation has written a wonderful book which again I can't remember the title. It's fun to read and for a book lover of any sort it's a fantastic and very inspiring read. lansky is truly a super hero for the work he has
done over the years and the way his work began is unbelievable-he literally recovered books from dumpsters because people were throwing them away.
The relationship between Yiddish and Hebrew is very complicated and there have been several books on the topic
also written. Jews seem to like writing books! The saying goes
that first Hitler killed Yiddish,then Stalin and then Israel. But
there are reasons why Israel suppressed Yiddish for most of it's
life and now there is a huge revival there going on as there is
in Eastern Europe which I have mixed feelings about.

Sit back, enjoy the ride and maybe you'll feel interested in
even taking a course one day. The literature and the history
of the language/history is fascinating. The Yiddish "renaissance"
lasted for sixty years, then it was almost completely obliterated.
But what was accomplished in those sixty years was extraordinary and thanks to translators like Daniel who is a member of this group-forgotten writers are being beautifully
introduced into English. I'm in the middle of one of his translations and it's just sensational-and even though I've read a lot about the history of Yiddish writing-I've never heard about
the writer he has translated and his introduction beautifully outlines the writer's career. Just a massive new contribution to Yiddish literary studies.

Thank-you Daniel. Don't want to put any pressure on you-but I believe the Yiddish book center online book library now has Singer's work as it has reached beyond the copyright line. I'm sure I read
this somewhere-but whatever you wish to do will be a great contribution and I look forward to our beginning. I was hoping
to complete the first two stories this past weekend and didn't get around to it so hopefully it will happen in the next few days.

One question Daniel-do you know if Singer published any of his
stories in book form, or was that entirely for a predominantly english audience. I've never considered this before.

It will be great to have you reading the stories with us Daniel. Is your plan to read them in the original or in translation? I think it would be very interesting if you could talk about the occasional passage from the Yiddish,how the text is different from the English one. My understanding is that Singer is very difficult to read in the original,and therefore difficult to translate his work. Any thoughts?

Hi Anna, if people who want to participate have copies, then
let's try and start this weekend. I agree with you about two stories at a time.

Any public library will have a copy-either the complete works of Singer
or the short story collection called Gimpel the Fool and other
stories.
Welcome Vera!

The first title I hope the group will be reading is Gimpel the Fool by Isaac Bashevis Singer. For anyone familiar with Yiddish literature in translation of our generation, this collection is probably the most known and beloved body of work outside Sholom Aleichem’s Tevye Stories. For the reader it’s a wonderful introduction to Singers collection of short fiction,of which he compiled many volumes in English translation,but overall the publication of Singer’s work in English and the manner in which his work was translated is very unique to any writer I can think of. Singer,unlike other writers whose native tongue was English,did not publish his stories in the chronological order in which they were originally written and published in the Yiddish press. Also,as his work continued to appear and he had acquired greater and greater prominence due to the publication of his stories in high-end magazines such as the New Yorker by the early seventies and Playboy magazine, Singer became very aware that a huge portion of his work was being read by readers who either had no experience with Yiddish literature,and no understanding of life in pre-war Poland which is where many of his stories take place. It has been documented in several books that Singer,almost exclusively working with female translators rewrote his stories for Western readers. These female translators are a legend to themselves and there is even a documentary called Singer’s Women,because of his relationship with his translators. Because of the vast publication of his work in English,among Yiddishists,it is generally considered that this was the only reason why Singer eventually won the Nobel Prize for literature. Personally I have always loved his work with its crazies and swirling passion, but I believe many had felt at the time when he had won the prize it really should have gone to Abraham Sutzkiver who many perceived as a far greater writer.

So we begin our journey through the world of I.B Singer, a master of the short story form.

The group can decide if we want to approach this collection a few stories at a time to avoid spoilers, or complete the entire reading of the book and give warning about spoilers for those who have not yet completed the work.

I leave these decisions to the conscience and wisdom of this group.

I have a library copy but I just ordered the edition with the Allegra Goodman introduction because I think that will be helpful.
Singer is a bit of a moving target as it is very difficult to know when he published what when,particularly with his later work. Gimpel was his first translated story done by Saul Bellow and shortly afterwards he included this in his first collection of stories. From here on it’s anyone’s guess because his versions in Yiddish do not coincide with his English translations nor are the English translations direct translations of his original work. A complicated figure who really learned how to work with a commercial reading market. Yet I still think he was a brilliant writer.

Ok,I am looking at the fourth on the list-the mass paper pack which is as low as .55 cents. That publisher published most of his work back in the day with very nice dignified covers.

Madeleine if you are still out there would you like to join us?

Anna,I’m surprised the contents are not consistent as that was a complete published book that Singer produced. I have the first and I guess original edit upon. I will check.

It is his first Short story collection. One of the titles in the book is called The Wife Murderer and it has to be among his best.

Hi Anna,are you interested in reading Gimpel the Fool right now?

Hi Madeleine,sorry for excluding you from the conversation lately. I’m just so astonished and impressed byDaniel’s incredible work. And to think I knew him when he was but a lad!

Madeleine have you studied any Yiddish before? If you are interested there is an excellent online -classroom program starting again at the beginning of March. Just look under workmen’s circle online Yiddish classes. They have numerous classes at all levels,the instructors are some of the top in the world,and because they have students literally from everywhere around the world-I heard a year ago they already had 100 participants-which is incredible for a program that started no more than three years ago. It’s an online classroom setting-they use their own program which is a type of Skype so please check it out.
I’m sorry we never got around to the Sholom Asch because it is a novel I’ve very badly wanted to read. I’m wondering if you Madeleine and Daniel have time we can try for another group read. Maybe you and I Madeleine can read it in English and Daniel can read it in mamaloshen. I’m wondering if you’d like to try and start with a book of stories. I’ve been meaning to read Gimpel the Fool for years. What do you think?

Daniel-total fluke,I turned to my Shmooze podcast and there was an interview with you about your last book! Now I really want to read the Warsaw stories but the only place I can find it is the Yiddish book center and with the exchange(I live in Canada) and the shipping it comes close to fifty dollars. I totally believe in supporting you Daniel and your work, but I’ve had to stop buying books because it got out of control. I’m sorry about this.
So Madeleine if you’re up to it please let me know if/when you want to start Gimpel if that appeals to you. I think starting with a collection of short fiction is more manageable because I’m due to read so many other novels for other groups.

Hoping to eventually hear from y’all,

Alan

Of course I know and love In Geveb. Where did you do most
of your studying? I just did the Tel Aviv program and hated it.
I'm applying for YIVO next summer. I probably saw your name in
In Geveb but without the picture I couldn't identify you.

HiDaniel,yes I had heard the program folded. I think I read you now work at the medem in Paris.