Entertaining look into the Yiddish experience., 01 Sep 1999
This book satisfied my craving to learn the type of world mygrandparents came from, their language and attitutes. I laughed so hard from Singers descriptions of his characters that I thought I would bust. This is a book for all to learn to appreciate a rich culture that existed in Eastern Europe and was transported to America with those remaining lost in the Holocaust. Singer has some imagination and the talent to relay his thoughts clearly that you feel that you are among the characters. The translation from Yiddish to English was well done and conveyed the message completely. A must for those who want to expand their knowledge of the roots of the Jewish people and their lives and experiences in a world lost.

Entertaining look into the Yiddish experience., 01 Sep 1999
This book satisfied my craving to learn the type of world mygrandparents came from, their language and attitutes. I laughed so hard from Singers descriptions of his characters that I thought I would bust. This is a book for all to learn to appreciate a rich culture that existed in Eastern Europe and was transported to America with those remaining lost in the Holocaust. Singer has some imagination and the talent to relay his thoughts clearly that you feel that you are among the characters. The translation from Yiddish to English was well done and conveyed the message completely. A must for those who want to expand their knowledge of the roots of the Jewish people and their lives and experiences in a world lost.

Masterful stuff from the Big Man, 09 Jan 2003
From the very first paragraph, the economy of Singer's writing takes the breath away. So much information is packed in, with barely a word wasted. Read the first paragraph again when you've finished the novel - you'll see what I mean. One finds one's head spinning. Despite the rather slow start (understandable given the scope of the underaking - it's a hefty tome!), Singer soon ups the pace as the story begins to bound forward with each new, deftly assembled chapter.

In anybody else's hands, this story of a Warsaw Jewish dynasty from the last days of its "golden era" to the verge of destruction at the hands of the Nazis would struggle to avoid appearing trite, melodramatic and overly ambitious. But Singer's taut and elliptical evocation of historical dangers (we never actually experience the First World War or the Russian Revolution at first hand, and we never get to see the Germans) brilliantly ratchets up the drama and tension without succumbing to melodrama, as we share the characters' experience of history from the inside.

Throughout the novel, pessimism (who could avoid a degree of pessimism in light of what we all know happened to Poland's Jews?) battles for elbow room with the lusty - but by now fading - glories of Warsaw Jewish life. While the action remains resolutely in Poland, only rarely venturing away from the Warsaw region, emigration to Palestine repeatedly features as a double-edged sword of an escape route.

God knows what it would look like if they ever made a movie of it. Or have they made one? I think I prefer not to know.

The characterisation, as usual, is brillant. As the parade of vividly-imagined personalities staggers down through the first part of the 20th century, we marvel at their complexity, and our sympathies waver as Singer nudges them first one way, then another. What does he really want us to make of the pessimistic "philosopher" (and key character) Asa Heshel Bannet? Singer can rarely have realised so difficult a portrayal so convincingly.

As the survivors of the family's tribulations live through the start of the second world war, the breathless and brilliantly handled conclusion still manages to surprise. I won't spoil it.
Read more I.B. Singer, learn more about loads of stuff you never thought related to you. They ain't thrillers or airport novels, but they'll enrich your life.

Entertaining look into the Yiddish experience., 01 Sep 1999
This book satisfied my craving to learn the type of world mygrandparents came from, their language and attitutes. I laughed so hard from Singers descriptions of his characters that I thought I would bust. This is a book for all to learn to appreciate a rich culture that existed in Eastern Europe and was transported to America with those remaining lost in the Holocaust. Singer has some imagination and the talent to relay his thoughts clearly that you feel that you are among the characters. The translation from Yiddish to English was well done and conveyed the message completely. A must for those who want to expand their knowledge of the roots of the Jewish people and their lives and experiences in a world lost.

Masterful stuff from the Big Man, 09 Jan 2003
From the very first paragraph, the economy of Singer's writing takes the breath away. So much information is packed in, with barely a word wasted. Read the first paragraph again when you've finished the novel - you'll see what I mean. One finds one's head spinning. Despite the rather slow start (understandable given the scope of the underaking - it's a hefty tome!), Singer soon ups the pace as the story begins to bound forward with each new, deftly assembled chapter.

In anybody else's hands, this story of a Warsaw Jewish dynasty from the last days of its "golden era" to the verge of destruction at the hands of the Nazis would struggle to avoid appearing trite, melodramatic and overly ambitious. But Singer's taut and elliptical evocation of historical dangers (we never actually experience the First World War or the Russian Revolution at first hand, and we never get to see the Germans) brilliantly ratchets up the drama and tension without succumbing to melodrama, as we share the characters' experience of history from the inside.

Throughout the novel, pessimism (who could avoid a degree of pessimism in light of what we all know happened to Poland's Jews?) battles for elbow room with the lusty - but by now fading - glories of Warsaw Jewish life. While the action remains resolutely in Poland, only rarely venturing away from the Warsaw region, emigration to Palestine repeatedly features as a double-edged sword of an escape route.

God knows what it would look like if they ever made a movie of it. Or have they made one? I think I prefer not to know.

The characterisation, as usual, is brillant. As the parade of vividly-imagined personalities staggers down through the first part of the 20th century, we marvel at their complexity, and our sympathies waver as Singer nudges them first one way, then another. What does he really want us to make of the pessimistic "philosopher" (and key character) Asa Heshel Bannet? Singer can rarely have realised so difficult a portrayal so convincingly.

As the survivors of the family's tribulations live through the start of the second world war, the breathless and brilliantly handled conclusion still manages to surprise. I won't spoil it.
Read more I.B. Singer, learn more about loads of stuff you never thought related to you. They ain't thrillers or airport novels, but they'll enrich your life.

Perfect for weaning kids away from the Animorphs!, 27 Jan 1998
I enjoy reading these stories to my kids as much as they enjoy listening to them. These are truly wonderful and riveting stories by a master, who's as comfortable writing about the old country as he is describing quaint Jewish life in Manhattan as an immigrant. Diverse, enchanting tales of everyday life, here and there, of magic and supernatural heroes of the shtetl, and of the all-knowing people and elders of Chelm. All told, the stories are the story. One caveat: a few of these stories have sexual allusions which may be (or should be) beyond the grasp of kids under 10, though most of these stories can be enjoyed even by single-digit young people.