tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post4056387206276428494..comments2023-11-09T07:51:21.497-05:00Comments on The Boston Bibliophile: REVIEW: Isaac's Torah, by Angel WagensteinMarie Cloutierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14938166831865436287noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-69805561445350702152009-12-20T22:14:10.857-05:002009-12-20T22:14:10.857-05:00I swear, I just finished this book. It made me wan...I swear, I just finished this book. It made me want to laugh and cry in equal amounts. Wagenstein doesn't follow the idea that a book has to end happily ever after. Rather, the ending left me asking why o why does bad things happen to good people- you know, the same thing I ask at the end of every bad day.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03949762363546536614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-30787745457370615642009-07-05T17:47:08.322-04:002009-07-05T17:47:08.322-04:00Sounds like a wonderful book. I like the fact that...Sounds like a wonderful book. I like the fact that it is a poignant book that is laced with humor. Going to be putting this one on my wish list. Thanks!Zibileehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05857638467064749190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-14155464323895434102009-07-03T21:27:10.920-04:002009-07-03T21:27:10.920-04:00I keep running across this book, it sounds like my...I keep running across this book, it sounds like my kind of story. I read Isaac Bashevis Singer's books when I was young, my first experience of Yiddish in translation.Sandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06265301061583417768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-80285527133158670732009-07-02T20:58:11.449-04:002009-07-02T20:58:11.449-04:00this one sounds so so good. i really loved your re...this one sounds so so good. i really loved your review; thanks(Diane) Bibliophile By the Seahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10519875632878992728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-19088234841248199432009-07-01T21:13:07.385-04:002009-07-01T21:13:07.385-04:00Thank you for an enlightening review. The stark ir...Thank you for an enlightening review. The stark irony--telling some of the darkest periods in European history in a novel full of humor, is very appealing. I'm glad to hear that the book is fluid despite it's been translated. I have always have the preconceived idea in Russian literature that owing to the meaning lost in the process translation, I do not catch half the jokes in the original. I'll check this one out for sure. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-23789087184824489862009-07-01T20:53:28.390-04:002009-07-01T20:53:28.390-04:00The book does sound good. I always wonder what I&...The book does sound good. I always wonder what I'm missing if I read something that's translated, because some things are hard to translate.bermudaonionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726401178972099557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-76839297991786391882009-07-01T16:44:54.511-04:002009-07-01T16:44:54.511-04:00I will! Funny and bittersweet is a combination I j...I will! Funny and bittersweet is a combination I just can't resist :)Ana S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16092495983972185943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1359999156621466745.post-62955329448362394392009-07-01T16:30:02.791-04:002009-07-01T16:30:02.791-04:00Sounds like a good book. So much of Yiddish seems...Sounds like a good book. So much of Yiddish seems to be untranslatable. I recently finished "Words on Fire: The Unfinished Story of Yiddish" by Dovid Katz (a book which I loved by the way) and he points out how much Yiddish as a language emphasizes the humorous aspects of the negative, probably because there was so much negative. And Primo Levi [also] wrote (in "The Periodic Table")that the vocabulary of Yiddish uniquely illuminated the disparity between the “divine vocation [of the Jews] and the daily misery of existence. … The Jewish people, after the dispersion, have lived this conflict for a long time and dolorously, and have drawn from it, side by side with its wisdom, also its laughter.”<br /><br />The translated work has been so entertaining, one wonders how much moreso the originals would be!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com