Singer, Isaac Bashevis (Vol. 3) - Singer, Isaac Bashevis 1904–
Singer, Isaac Bashevis 1904–
Singer, born in Poland, is an American novelist and short story writer who writes primarily in Yiddish. His memorable evocations of East European shtetl life, unique in world literature, have recently caught the American literary imagination. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 1-4, rev. ed.)
"Satan in Goray" and "Gimpel the Fool" are certainly amongst the most heart-piercing, penetrating, unforgettable stories ever written either in Yiddish or in America. Although I suppose Singer's plots and characters and milieu could all be called sensational, they are sensational like Märchen, like Grimm's Fairy Tales, with the authenticity and closeness to physical reality and the ways of men of a folk tale told in a cottage on a winter night in a village in the backwoods of Poland. It is as though the Baal Shem Tov had seen a vision of Poland in 1940–45 before he ever set out on his travels, and sat down...
[The entire page is 8604 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
