Isaac Bashevis Singer: "Gimpel the Fool," Zlateh the Goat, A Crown of Feathers, The Slave, and more

[Extollager]

A thread for this Nobel Prize winner, author of novels, short stories, books for children, and memoirs.

He was a guest on Dick Cavett's public TV series around 35 years ago. Widely remembered is his remark against seeing authors as celebrities. The New York author admitted that he might cross the street to see Tolstoy; but he wouldn't go to Flushing.

My sense is that he deserves to be better known by fantasy readers who tend to stick to genre favorites.

I expect to read and reread him a bit in weeks ahead. Anyone want to compare notes?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

He's very good. It's over 25 years since I read much of his. I don't think we have any now.

 

[GOLLUM]

Isaac Singer is another one of those authors less known than they should be these days. A recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature Singer is and remains one of the great contributors to Yiddish literature. I have a collection of his short stories.

I first discovered Singer a few years back and have never regretted the encounter. A wise man whose fiction is often thought provoking....

 

[Extollager]

Gollum, what collection do you have?

 

[Extollager]

Would there be interest in discussing "Gimpel the Fool"? It is included in the Collected Stories (along with several other stories from the Gimpel the Fool collection, ""The Gentleman from Cracow," "Joy," "The Little Shoemakers," and "The Unseen").

 

[GOLLUM]

Gollum, what collection do you have?

I have the Collected Stories published by Penguin. I have read some of these before but that was a while back.

 

[Extollager]

Has no one here read any of Singer's novels?

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I'm sure I have,
I'll search the stacks later.

 

[Extollager]

I understand that he may be better as a short story writer, and that would probably be a good form for us to stick to* if this thread goes anywhere.

*Plus his episodic and good memoirs, In My Father's Court. In fact: why not start a discussion on that book? Anybody?

 

[GOLLUM]

I can contribute to this thread by way of the short stores only. I'll try to post something over this weekend here.