THE BROTHERS ASHKENAZI, Parts II and III by I. J. Singer
- Yiddish Shmoozers in Translation
- Aug 29, 2020
- 1 min read
Saturday, August 29, 2020, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Written by the older brother of Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, Israel Joshua Singer's The Brothers Ashkenazi is a classic, realist family saga that follows the industrialization of the Polish city of Lodz from the late 18th through early 20th centuries. This ambitious and richly historical work is unsparing in its naked observations and mordant critiques of Jewish and gentile parvenues, German occupiers, Polish aristocrats and nationalists, and Russians, both Tsarist and Bolshevik. Only the more idealistic, if ineffectual socialists get a pass in this novel where wars, labor exploitation, strikes, riots, revolutions accompany the singular rise and dissolution of a Jewish family's capitalist success story. Resources for this book can be found at https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/great-jewish-book-club/2018-book-club-resources/brothers-ashkenazi
Wall Street Journal review with new translation and introductions
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB12339568098945830
New York Times September 13, 1934 (Maurice Samuels translation)
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/09/13/85420733.html?pageNumber=45
Dara Horn "My Favorite Singer brother, I.J."
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/my-favorite-singer-brother-i-j
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