Customer Reviews

Tevye's Daughters: Collected Stories of Sholom Aleichem

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Most of the stories were written by Sholem Aleichem in the early 1900's. They are about Tevye, the dairyman and his daughters and Jewish life in a small town in Russia. Some of the stories became the basis of "Fiddler on the Roof". The very best story is "Chava" about his daughter who marries out of the faith. It is a real tea-jerker."Modern Children" and "Hodel" will also hit home, today. This book gives the reader a picture of what it was like to live in a small town in Russia, as a Jew, one hundred years ago. Sholem Aleichem writes in a clear, easy to read style, with compassion and understanding of human emotions. The translation is an excellent one. A must read for young and old even if you are not Jewish.

This book (second of three) was purchased as part of a study prior to a production of 'A Fiddler on the Roof'. It proved invaluable and provided background to the way of life and conditions during the period of the musical play. A Must for all Directors and cast.

Sholem Aleichem's collected stories titled "Teyve's Daughters" has a few interesting things to say about Jews and their lives, but it reads a bit awkwardly, and well..Teyve is only in about a third of the stories. The rest is totally unrelated to Teyve and his seven daughters. The Teyve chapters are among the best, with the dairyman helping his daughters in spite of his notions of being rich. He loves his daughters, and becomes estranged from one of his daughters, Chava, for marrying a gentle.

I was disapointed that the book had much less to do with Tevye's daughters than the title led me to believe.