Difference between revisions of "Isaac Bashevis Singer"
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'''Isaac Bashevis Singer''' (1902 – July 24, 1991) was a [[Poland|Polish]]-born [[American]] writer of [[short story|short stories]] and [[novel]]s in [[Yiddish]]. | '''Isaac Bashevis Singer''' (1902 – July 24, 1991) was a [[Poland|Polish]]-born [[American]] writer of [[short story|short stories]] and [[novel]]s in [[Yiddish]]. | ||
| + | ==Themes== | ||
| + | Why are we born? why must we die? how can we explain evil? how can we account for desire? For Singer, these abiding questions, and his meditations about them, are the stuff of which his extraordinary capacity for storytelling is made. | ||
| − | + | "Gimpel the Fool" is Singer's most anthologized story. Gimpel is a believer in God who extends his willingness to believe to every aspect of his life. He is tempted to disbelieve the stories told to him, to deny his faith, and to enact revenge against those who humiliate him for his gullibility. | |
| + | ==Books for children== | ||
All of Singer's works for children were initially published as translated works from the Yiddish, with the author's contribution as both co-translator and co-editor. In the process he and his coeditor rearranged structural elements in the narratives and with a judicious choice of English vocabulary manage to convey much of the original punch of the Yiddish jokes and exaggerations about Singer's fools. | All of Singer's works for children were initially published as translated works from the Yiddish, with the author's contribution as both co-translator and co-editor. In the process he and his coeditor rearranged structural elements in the narratives and with a judicious choice of English vocabulary manage to convey much of the original punch of the Yiddish jokes and exaggerations about Singer's fools. | ||
Revision as of 21:50, November 4, 2009
Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American writer of short stories and novels in Yiddish.
Themes
Why are we born? why must we die? how can we explain evil? how can we account for desire? For Singer, these abiding questions, and his meditations about them, are the stuff of which his extraordinary capacity for storytelling is made.
"Gimpel the Fool" is Singer's most anthologized story. Gimpel is a believer in God who extends his willingness to believe to every aspect of his life. He is tempted to disbelieve the stories told to him, to deny his faith, and to enact revenge against those who humiliate him for his gullibility.
Books for children
All of Singer's works for children were initially published as translated works from the Yiddish, with the author's contribution as both co-translator and co-editor. In the process he and his coeditor rearranged structural elements in the narratives and with a judicious choice of English vocabulary manage to convey much of the original punch of the Yiddish jokes and exaggerations about Singer's fools.
Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978 "for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life."[1]
Further reading
- Allison, Alida. Isaac Bashevis Singer: Children's Stories and Childhood Memories. (1996).
- Lee, Grace Farrell. From Exile to Redemption: The Fiction of Isaac Bashevis Singer. (1987). 129 pp.
Books
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Zlateh the goat, and other stories.
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. When Shlemiel went to Warsaw & other stories.
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Day of pleasure; stories of a boy growing up in Warsaw.
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Why Noah chose the dove.
- Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Wicked city.