THE BROTHERS ASHKENAZI

by I.J. Singer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 25, 1980

A new translation of a 1936 popular success (then in its first English incarnation) by the other Yiddish-writing Singer: Isaac Bashevis' older brother I.J., who died in 1944 but whose major works (Yoshe Kalb, East of Eden, the Family Carnovsky) have been reappearing in print over the past decade. This new edition of the Polish-Jewish saga of twin brothers Max and Jacob Ashkenazi--translated by I.J.'s son Joseph, who has performed the same duty for some of Uncle Isaac's work--also comes with a sharp, context-placing introduction by Irving Howe, who builds up I.J. rather at the expense of I.B. The older Singer is far more skilled as a novelist, says Howe, reaching beyond the shtetl to take on the historical sweep of Dickens, the structural complexity of Thomas Mann, while remaining aware of the bottomline difference: Jewishness. (Isaac Bashevis may seem more modern, but he has also retreated ""to a pre-Enlightenment sensibility."") And I.J. is ""finally more austere and disenchanted, certainly less given to blurring the world with charm."" In other words, devotees of the younger Singer's quizzical, delightfully perverse tone should not expect a family resemblance; but, as in 1936, those partial to rich, dense family tales with Jewish backgrounds will welcome this old-fashioned-seeming saga.

Pub Date: Nov. 25, 1980

ISBN: 1590512901

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION