Singer's first colleciotn of stories, Gimpel the Fool, is a landmark of world literature and attracted international attention when it was first published in 1957. The title story, beautifully translated by Saul Bellow, follows the exploits of gimpel, an ingenuous baker, who is universally deceived but declines to retaliate. Other protagonists are not so innocent. Hodel, of "The Gentleman from Cracow, " is wed to Ketev Mriri, Chief of the Devils, and Nathan, of "The Unseen," leaves his wife for a demon in the form of a young woman. Enlightened or condemned, all characters inhabit the pre-World War II ghettos of Poland, and take shape in Singer's distinctive prose.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"When I first read Gimpel the Fool . . . I felt not only that I was reading an extraordinarily beautiful and witty story, but that I was moving through as many historical levels as an archeologist at work . . . It is the integrity of the human imagination that Singer conveys so beautifully."--Alfred Kazin, The New Leader
Language Notes
Text: English, Yiddish (translation)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book of four stories contains two that I consider among the best Singer ever wrote, and among the best of all time, 'Gimpel the Fool' and ' The Spinoza of Market Street'. Gimpel is the eternal innocent, the good person who life and its cruelty continually mock and humiliate without ever managing to destroy his goodness and faith. He is the 'fool' who in his goodness and faith is holier than us all. A Jewish Quixote but one without heroic pretensions one instead filled with kindness and love even when he is being laughed at and made a fool of.
'The Spinoza of Market Street' is the story of an impossible love. It is the story of redemption and rebirth of body and soul through human kindness and caring. It is the story of an old philosopher lost in his dreams of Spinoza who is nursed back into life as man by a caring lonely unattractive woman. It is story of hope and of the redemption of the human soul.
How beautiful and deep these two great stories, how they give food and hope for body and soul.
'The Spinoza of Market Street' is the story of an impossible love. It is the story of redemption and rebirth of body and soul through human kindness and caring. It is the story of an old philosopher lost in his dreams of Spinoza who is nursed back into life as man by a caring lonely unattractive woman. It is story of hope and of the redemption of the human soul.
How beautiful and deep these two great stories, how they give food and hope for body and soul.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By kay
Format:Audio Cassette
I enjoyed reading Gimpel the Fool. it made it possible relate to some of the jewish traditions as well as human nature that still is transpiring today. honesty versus dishonesty. isaac bshevis singer is a great writer. plain language and easy to interpret makes it more inspiring to continue to read his stories without putting it aside for later reading. well done indeed.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Gimpel the Fool is a really well written book that is fun to read. It is an important source of information about Jewish history. But don't get me wrong, it's funny and easy to understand. The book focuses on the lives of simple Jews and their struggles and joys. My two favotite stories are "Gimpel the Fool" and "Fire."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is a really great book!
When I first learn about this book, I was in college. At first I thought that Gimpel the Fool would be like some of the other stories that I have read by authors like him from the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Adrianmurphy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yiddish Fables from the Old World
"Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories" was originally published in 1953, and contains ten short stories rife with Singer's unique fictional voice - full of meditations on mortality,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by A Certain Bibliophile
3.0 out of 5 stars
Puzzled because I'm a Goyim?
I bought this book because I'm trying to read more literary Nobel prizewinners, since most of them are from outside the United States, and even in translation, the perspectives of... Read more
Published on January 5, 2011 by N. Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Favorite Short Story in Fiction
I had read Gimpel the Fool as a short story in a literature book years ago, and I felt it was one of the best short stories I had ever read. Read more
Published on September 6, 2010 by Karen
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most beautiful stories ever written
This book contains Saul Bellow's translation of 'Gimpel the Fool'. This is the translation and the story which made Singer famous in America. It is a masterwork. Read more
Published on June 19, 2007 by Shalom Freedman
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