Leib Weihnachtskuchen And His Child [Paperback]

Karl Emil Franzos (Author), Michael Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2005

Karl Emil Franzos (1848-1904), the son of a doctor, a liberal Jew, was born in Czortkow (now Chortkiv) and grew up in Czernowitz (now Chernivsty); both towns, until 1918 part of the Habsburg Empire. He studied law, but did not want to work as an advocate; a position of judge was barred to him, as a Jew, and he refused to convert in order to advance his career. He became a journalist and edited important literary magazines in Vienna and, after 1886, in Berlin. But, it was as a writer of reportage, short stories and novels set in his homeland, the area of East Galicia and the Bukovina, that he became widely known during his lifetime. His portrayal of the people of this backward area is not at all folksy local colour, but is informed by his deep humanitarian concern for the oppressed and exploited classes and nationalities. For all his knowledge of local habits and customs which informs his novels, the main emphasis in his work is on the individual. "Leib Weihnachtskuchen and his Child" (first published in 1896), is set in East Galicia, nowadays a province of the Ukraine. It portrays a poverty-stricken Jew whose religion is personal and deeply felt and causes the inevitable tragedy to unfold.

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Ariadne Pr (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572411376
• ISBN-13: 978-1572411371
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,566,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A novel of heart-rending emotion and clashing temperaments, January 10, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leib Weihnachtskuchen And His Child (Paperback)

Fluently translated into English by Michael Mitchell, Leib Weihnachtskuchen And His Child is the story of a tragic attraction between a Janko, a Gentile struggling with a heavy mortgage owed to three local moneylenders, and Miriam, the daughter of the impoverished Jewish innkeeper Leib. Though Janko originally loathes the innkeeper, he comes to learn that the Jew is not the vampiric miser he imagined, and as the throes of love overtake him, he vows "one bed or one grave" for himself and Miriam. Yet Leib and his wife hope to provide for their daughter by marrying her to and old Jew with money and property. A novel of heart-rending emotion and clashing temperaments, set in Podolia, now part of the Ukraine, during the nineteenth century.