Amazon.com Review
The stories of David Bergelson are sensitive and moving portrayals of life in the shtetls of Eastern European Jews. His work captures the melancholy and quiet tragedy of a people losing their sense of place and history and whose traditions were slowly undermined by the forces of modernity.
From Library Journal
Innovative Yiddish stylist Bergelson, not widely known to English-language readers, writes of the declining world of small-town Eastern European Jews, capturing the dreariness of the uncommitted life. His characters suffer from despair and depression as a result of the loosening ties of the shtetl (small village) and religion. In "Remnants," for instance, Beyla Henya does not speak. Poor, pockmarked, and ugly, she is trapped in a loveless marriage, yet she does not let the harsh circumstances destroy her. Instead, she extricates herself from her situation and finally is able to marry a respectable man as silent as she. In "Impoverished," the gentle silence of the former story is now oppressive and harsh as two sister act cruelly to their blind father. Werman's subtle translation brings a fine storyteller to light. Recommended for libraries with international and Jewish studies collection.?Molly Abramowitz, Silver Spring, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
