Lost Landscapes: In Search of Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Jews of Poland [Hardcover]

Agata Tuszynska (Author), Madeline G. Levine (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

Lost Landscapes documents the search by Poli sh writer and historian, Agata Tuszynska to trace the remain s of Polish Jewish culture after the Holocaust and 45 years of communist rule. She was influenced in this quest by readi ng Isaac Bashevis Singer. '

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 1991 death of Singer motivated Tuszynska, a Polish historian, to learn about the Yiddish writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. After all, his works were her "first guide within the world of Polish Jewry." But this is no standard biography. In impressionistic, almost ethereal fashion, Tuszynska intersperses her reflections on the tragedy that befell Polish Jewry?before WWII by far the largest Jewish community in the world?both during and after the Holocaust with excerpts of interviews with ordinary Poles and Jewish intellectuals. Singer, who emigrated to New York in the 1930s, emerges as a symbol of Polish Jewry. While it's not surprising that some Poles interviewed in the book speak of Jews with a barely masked anti-Semitism, it's somewhat startling to read Singer's contemporaries describing him in unflattering terms?as a hack writer, a pornographer and a philanderer. Those looking for a thorough examination of Singer's life will be disappointed, as will those looking for an investigation into the philo-Semitism that has blossomed (as has anti-Semitism) in Poland since the fall of communism. Even though this well-translated book, which took the author to Israel and the U.S., appears to be something of a spiritual journey, Tuszynska resists personal reflection. But those who prefer a more philosophical approach to the life of a famous writer?and the death of his culture?will find much to digest.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Inspired by the novels and short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Tuszynska, a contemporary Polish writer, reaches back in time to uncover and reconstruct a once-vibrant ethnic community. Obsessed by the few remaining symbols and vestiges of pre^-World War II Jewry left in Poland, she unstintingly travels to small Polish towns and to cities in both the U.S. and Israel in search of witnesses and survivors of the Polish Holocaust. Employing Singer's life and work as both a starting point and a backdrop, Tuszynska weaves these interviews and reminiscences into a lyrical remembrance of a bygone time and place. A haunting tribute to a vanished lifestyle. Margaret Flanagan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company; 1st edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688122140
• ISBN-13: 978-0688122140
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,172,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars dissapointed, April 2, 2003

By 

Justyna Ball (West Brookfield, Ma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Landscapes: In Search of Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Jews of Poland (Hardcover)

I expected an objective tale of a prewar life of Polish Jews in Poland. Jewish writer Tuszynska failed in my opinion. She is one of many Polish Jews who when discovered their roots try to make a living writing about Jewish subjects. Some are better than others, some worst. Tuszynska's great knowledge of Singer is unquestionable but her observations reflect deep anti-Polonizm. Maybe if she tries harder in a future she can create a masterpiece. One star for Tuszynska's book for picking the subject but I believe Singer deserves better.