Customer Reviews

Isaac Bashevis Singer Collected Stories V. 2 : A Friend of Kafka to Passions (Library of America) (Vol 2)

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I had read the collected stories of Singer many years ago and many of the images remained embedded in my mind and it was with great joy that I am able to relive them. Even though he wrote novels, I do not believe that Singer would have won the Nobel Prize without his short story output.
It is interesting to witness the growth of Singer as a human and an artist. This middle volume of the LOA series contains stories written after he moved to the US. It is hard to believe that these stories are translated from Yiddish because they read as if they were written in English.
If you can afford all three volumes buy them. The collected stories are still available but Singer's stories are consistenly wonderful. Very view of these stories are not among the very best stories in world literature. Bravo to the Libray of America for reintroducng the reading public to these gems.

What makes the Singer story so remarkable?
First of all, the Singer story is always a story. A beginning, a middle an end, and things which happen. Secondly, its language is lively and humorous, rich in Yiddish idiom, colorful alive. Thirdly, the Singer story has remarkable, memorable characters .
Fourthly the Singer story creates a whole world usually a Jewish world usually a world resembling some past Jewish historical world. Fifthly, the Singer story gives insight, wisdom into life. Sixthly, the Singer story is alive, word by word, line by line, scene by scene.
It lives and makes us want to live more.