Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories (Library of Yiddish Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Actually, 4.5
Review: Picked up this collection after seeing Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway... Very good, especially the Tevye chapters. Typical Eastern-European Yiddish form: mostly serious, often tragic stories written in a humorous, sarcastic tone. Be ware of catch phrases getting stuck in your head... geared towards people with some historic understandind shtetl life in Czarist Russia. Deffinately wets your apetite for more Yiddish literature.

p.s. If you're unsure whether you'll enjoy this type of literature, check out "Gimpel the Fool", a short story by I.B. Singer. Its great, and it will give you an idea of what to expect.

Rating:
Summary: Master of Internal Monologue
Review: Sholem Aleichem wrote his stories as a modern Mitnagdic Jew about the "old country" twenty to thirty years after the supposed time setting. Aleichem who had never lived the kind of life that Tevye did, far from it at that, used life stories of people as his inspiration. Although I have a personal predeliction for the musical "Fiddler on the Roof", the stories of Tevye the Dairy Man are among the greatest of all Yiddish literature and the musical just does not do it justice. Issues ranging from the changing times in the larger realm of Russia in the late 19th century to Tevye's own personal faith in God are raised in this masterful collection. One must realize that these stories were written years apart and Aleichem's socio/political views are reflected changingly as they were written. The writer was a master of internal monologue where he has Tevye talking the entire time, yet often you forget and feel as if it is another character. The constant usage of Yiddish, Biblical and liturgical phrases might confuse the first time reader, but this edition contains a very helpful notes section in the back of the book. As part of one's own personal education or for provacative literature for enjoyment, this is one that deserves the attention it receives. I highly recomend it.

Rating:
Summary: Master of Internal Monologue
Review: Sholem Aleichem wrote his stories as a modern Mitnagdic Jew about the "old country" twenty to thirty years after the supposed time setting. Aleichem who had never lived the kind of life that Tevye did, far from it at that, used life stories of people as his inspiration. Although I have a personal predeliction for the musical "Fiddler on the Roof", the stories of Tevye the Dairy Man are among the greatest of all Yiddish literature and the musical just does not do it justice. Issues ranging from the changing times in the larger realm of Russia in the late 19th century to Tevye's own personal faith in God are raised in this masterful collection. One must realize that these stories were written years apart and Aleichem's socio/political views are reflected changingly as they were written. The writer was a master of internal monologue where he has Tevye talking the entire time, yet often you forget and feel as if it is another character. The constant usage of Yiddish, Biblical and liturgical phrases might confuse the first time reader, but this edition contains a very helpful notes section in the back of the book. As part of one's own personal education or for provacative literature for enjoyment, this is one that deserves the attention it receives. I highly recomend it.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book for Jew and Gentile Alike
Review: This excellent collection of Sholem Aleichem's stories proves that despite the differences between the modern world and Tevye's, human nature doesn't change. All of Tevye's best qualities--his love of knowledge and for his rebellious daughters--are portrayed with his worst--his stubborness. This is a book that can be read again and again even if one has no knowledge of the meaning of Tevye's Yiddish proverbs.