Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club discussion

Please comment here on the last 12 stories of A Crown of Feathers and other stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The stories are about characters and events in their lives. Each story is intriguing, never boring. The themes are relationships, lovers, beliefs, settling in a new country... A number of stories start with someone coming into a cafe and meeting the protagonist who is a well known writer. The character, usually a male, then tells their story to the writer. Particularly enjoyed The Briefcase and A Day in Coney Island. Definitely worthwhile reading. If you enjoy the short story format, then Singer is a must read!

The settings are generally in Poland and New York in the 1950s. The characters are mostly Jewish and are mainly men telling about an event or events in their life.

I have picked up another of Singer's short story collection titled Short Friday and other stories. To do Singer and the stories justice I think reading only one story a day is probably the way to go so I can reflect on that story. Reading 5 or 6 stories a day tends to make it harder to recall a particular story.

I am interested if anyone else has read Isaac Singer and have any particular short story favourites of his.

Well, I could not get my hands on the collection for our discussion, so I picked up the Collected Stories. It contained 47 picked by Singer. Some of the ones in our group read were contained in this collection, but not all. However, I think I got a good sense of the author's style.

The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer by Isaac Bashevis Singer
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This volume contains 47 of the prize winning author’s short stories. Set among Jewish peasants in Poland or Jewish immigrants to the New World, their characters grapple with existential crisis: the temptation to abandon the practices of the faith, the struggle with doubt or the ambiguity of living between worlds force characters to confront questions of meaning. All are extremely well written. They beg to be read individually, with days or weeks to ruminate between each one. I did not do this and they began to seem too similar, losing their potency.

Irene, did you have an particular favourite short story?

I agree with your point that when you read the stories one after the other, they do seem too similar. Accordingly when I recently read Singer's Short Friday short story collection, written roughly ten years earlier, I read one story a day. I tend not to read short stories as I forget what I have read very quickly. I have come to the conclusion that reading one short story by a given author once a month is probably the ideal way to read a short story collection. It's only taken me 40 odd years to figure this out!

Short Friday and other stories by Isaac Singer includes 16 short stories. I particularly enjoyed Yentl the Yeshiva Boy. I preferred his "A Crown of Feathers and other stories". The stories in "A Crown...." are written ten years after the "Short Friday and Other Stories" book and for me, were just a little more interesting, intriguing and show an improvement in Singer's short story writing craft. He seems wiser and more tolerant ten years on.

No I did not have a favorite, but I liked the ones set in Poland better than the ones featuring immigrants to the New World. What about you? a favorite?

I particularly liked The Briefcase as Kohn, the protagonist is left helpless without his briefcase and just when things sort themselves out his two mistresses arrive at the same place and time to help him out!

I also liked A Day in Coney Island where we learn of a writer on a particular day going through hard times. He had an affair with a woman 10 years older than him but couldn't commit to her as he no funds. Suddenly on this day on Coney Island his luck changes financially but still he thinks he will be deported and the woman he loves has found someone else.

Two stories I have remembered and will reread.

I can't remember titles, but your description of the stories did remind me which one you were referring to.

I did like "The Crown of Feathers" There was another one in my collection about a rabbinical student in search of recognition who converts to Christianity in the hope that he will be made a bishop and his brilliance rewarded, but in the end, he has to make his way back to the faith in humility. There were several others about people being tempted by disguised demonic spirits or their own desires into abandoning either the faith or the tenants of the faith who have to make their way back in humble penance. There was a level of ambiguity in each of these. How do we know truth from deceit? What are the forces that turn us back home and how do we find our way? Can we ever be sure of forgiveness?

I know what you mean about the level of ambiguity and the questions he leaves the reader to ponder.

I thought all the stories offered something. A couple may have had a flat ending but for the most part, I was always interested in the characters, the story being told and the thought provoking issues raised.

All in all, a solid collection of short stories, some of which I will reread.