Isaac Babel (1894–1940)

Author of Collected Stories

206+ Works 3,852 Members 77 Reviews 25 Favorited

About the Author

Isaac Babel was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1894. He won early success with stories about his native Odessa and about the exploits of the Bolshevik cavalry in the Polish campaign of 1920-21. During the 1930s his output was small, but his talent remained undiminished. He was arrested in May 1939 show more during the Great Purge, and his manuscripts were confiscated. His exact fate remains unknown. Although Babel's reputation was restored in 1956, he was still published only occasionally in the Soviet Union-the very strong Jewish element in his stories, as well as the ambiguous positions he took on war and revolution, made his stories uncomfortable for Soviet authorities. For a Russian reader, the Odessa Tales (1916) are particularly exotic. Their protagonists, members of the city's Jewish underworld, are presented in romantic, epic terms. The Red Cavalry stories are noted for their account of the horrors of war. In both cycles Babel relies on precisely constructed short plots, on paradox of situation and of character response, and on nonstandard, captivating language-be it the combination of Yiddish, slang, and standard Russian in the Odessa Tales or of uneducated Cossack speech and standard Russian in the Red Cavalry cycle. The result of such features is a prose heritage rare in the history of Russian literature. Isaac Babel passed away in 1941. (Bowker Author Biography) Isaac Babel was born on July 13, 1894 in Odessa, Russia, to a middle-class Jewish family. He attended the Institute of Business Studies. His life was filled with persecution, which greatly influenced his writing. During the civil war that followed the Russian Revolution, Babel served as a soldier in Poland. This experience provided him with material for Red Cavalry, a collection of his stories. Later, in the Odessa Tales, published in 1931, Babel drew on his Jewish heritage to create colorful and memorable characters. As with many great artists in Russia, Babel's creative style was unpopular with the Stalin regime. Babel admitted to a long association with Trotskyites, but denied this testimony at his trial. He was ultimately found guilty of espionage and shot in Moscow in 1939, although, nearly a year later, his wife and the general public were told that he died in a labor camp. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Babel, I. Babel, Babel I., Isak Babel, I.E. Babel, Babel I.E., Izak Babel, Izaak Babel, Isaac Babel, Issac Babel, Isaac Babel, Isaak Babel, Issak Babel, Isaac Babel, Isak BABELJ, Isaak Bábel, Isaac Bábel, Isaac Bábel, Isaak Babeľ, Issaak Babel, Isaac E. Babel, Isaak E Bábel, Isaak E. Babel', Isaac E. Bábel, Isaac e.a. Babel, I. Babel £, Исаак Бабел, Исаак Бабель, Исаак Бабель, Isaak Emmanuilovic Babel, Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel, Isaac Immanuelovich Babel, イサアクバーベリ, イサークバーベリ, Isaak Emanuilovich Babel', Isaac Babel/ David McDuff, Babel Isaak Emmanuilovich, Iszaak Emmanuilovics Babel, Isaak Emmanuilowitsj Babel, Isaak Emmanouilovitch Babel, Isaak Emmanuïlovitsj Babel, Isaac; Babel Babel, Nathalie, Isaak Èmmanuilovič Babelʹ, Isaak Èmmanuilovič Babelʹ, Isaak Émmanuilovich ( Bábel, Исаак Эммануилович Бабель, Sowjetunion Isaak Ėmmanui Schriftsteller Babelʹ

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Works by Isaac Babel

Popular Recent

Collected Stories (1929) 1,059 copies

Red Cavalry (1926) 769 copies

The Complete Works of Isaac Babel (2002) 495 copies

Odessa Tales (1931) 287 copies

Red Cavalry and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) (2005) 183 copies

1920 diary (1989) 157 copies

You Must Know Everything (1966) 106 copies

Lyubka the Cossack and Other Stories (1963) 67 copies

Benya Krik, the Gangster and Other Stories (1948) 58 copies

Quatre contes russos (2009) 43 copies

Isaac Babel: the lonely years 1925-1939 : unpublished stories and private correspondence (1964) 41 copies

The Golden Age of Soviet Theatre (Penguin Classics) (1990) — Contributor — 40 copies

Cuentos de Odesa y otros relatos (1972) 23 copies

De geschiedenis van een paard (2013) 17 copies

Mein Taubenschlag: Sämtliche Erzählungen (2014) 14 copies

Избранное (1983) 13 copies

Verzameld werk toneelstukken en brieven (1979) 13 copies

The Essential Fictions (2017) 13 copies

Toneel 13 copies

Of Sunshine and Bedbugs: Essential Stories (Pushkin Collection) (2022) 12 copies

Récits d'Odessa et autres récits (1999) 12 copies

Odessa (1967) 11 copies

Miniaturen : verspreide verhalen en dagboekbladen (1970) 11 copies

Maria: uma Peça e Cinco Histórias (2003) — Author — 10 copies

Chroniques de l'an 18 et autres chroniques (1916) (1996) 10 copies

Verhalen uit Odessa en andere verhalen (1988) 10 copies

De zonde van Jezus en andere verhalen (1972) 10 copies

No campo da honra (e outros contos) (2014) 9 copies

L'armata a cavallo / Racconti di Odessa /Racconti vari editi e inediti 9 copies

Benya Krik (1948) 8 copies

Brieven naar Brussel 1925-1939 (1970) 8 copies

How It Was Done in Odessa (2002) 8 copies

Odessa lood ja teie novelle (2012) 8 copies

Verzameld werk verhalen en dagboekbladen (1979) 7 copies

Debes saberlo todo relatos 1915 1937 (1976) 7 copies

Armata de cavalerie. Povestiri din Odesa (2005) 7 copies

Erste Hilfe : sämtliche Erzählungen (1987) 7 copies

Stelle erranti 7 copies

Ratsaarmee : [novellid] ; Odessa lood : [jutustused] ; Novellid ; Maria : [näidend] (1977) 6 copies

Cuentos completos (VOCES / LITERATURA) (Spanish Edition) (2021) 6 copies

Histoire de Mon Pigeonnier (2014) 6 copies

Odödliga berättelser ur Tidens klassiker (1986) 5 copies

Història del meu colomar i altres relats (2020) 5 copies

Dziennik 1920 (1990) 5 copies

Issac Babel's selected writings (2009) 5 copies

Конармия. Одесские Рассказы. 5 copies

Prosa (1983) 4 copies

ODESSALAISIA JA MUITA NOVELLEJA (1926) 4 copies

Traonto (1991) 4 copies

Four Stories (Russian Edition) (1965) 4 copies

Marya (in The Golden Age of Soviet Theatre - MAYAKOVSKY) 4 copies

Iszaak Babel művei (1986) 4 copies

Manoscritto da Odessa 4 copies

Contes d'Odessa Suivi de Nouvelles (1967) 4 copies

Rytterarmeen og andre fortællinger (1980) 3 copies

The forgotten prose (1978) 3 copies

Mes premiers honoraires (1972) 3 copies

Racconti proibiti e lettere intime 3 copies

Solnedgång och andra noveller (1988) 3 copies

My First Goose 3 copies

Die traurige Straße : Erzählungen 3 copies

Contos e Diários (Portuguese Edition) (2014) 3 copies

Historia jednego konia (1988) 3 copies

Vremenu i sebi (1967) 3 copies

Rusia. Volumen 2 — Contributor — 2 copies

Сочинения: в двух томах: том первый (1991) 2 copies

В Одессе и около 2 copies

Сочинения: в двух томах: том второй (1991) 2 copies

Det nya livet : reportage, berättelser, dokument (2001) 2 copies

Isaak Babel. Izbrannoe (2000) 2 copies

Kızıl Süvariler -Toplu Öyküler II 2 copies

CONTOS ESCOLHIDOS, de Isaac Babel (2012) 2 copies

Verhalen (Van Oorscot) 2 copies

Konarmia ; Dziennik 1920 (1999) 2 copies

Isaac Babel: You Must Know Everything 2 copies

Odessa (2019) 2 copies

Nello scantinato (2006) 2 copies

Большие пожары 2 copies

Guy de Maupassant (1935) 2 copies

Odessa Stories (1931) 2 copies

Stat'i i materialy 2 copies

Cavalerie rouge: Récits du cycle de Cavalerie rouge, des fragments du Journal de 1920, des Plans et esquisses: suivi… 2 copies

Journal pétersbourgeois (2013) 2 copies

El despertar y otros relatos (1992) 2 copies

A Letter 2 copies

Une soirée chez l'impératrice et autres récits (2013) 2 copies

Utwory wybrane 2 copies

Die Reiterarmee : mit Dokumenten und Aufsätzen im Anhang 1 copy

Dziennik 1920 1 copy

Детство и другие рассказы 1 copy

Azure Cities: Stories of New Russia 1 copy

Le moulin chinois et autres scénarios (1985) 1 copy

Одесские рассказы и другие произведения 1 copy

Στο υπόγειο και άλλες ιστορίες 1 copy

Crvena konjica - odeske priče 1 copy

The Complete Works of Isaac Babel 1 copy

CRVENA KONJICA - ODESKE PRICE - PRICE (1980) 1 copy

Sumrak (1979) 1 copy

Opowiadania odeskie i inne 1 copy

Bluzdajuscie zvezdy : kino-scenarij (1972) 1 copy

Utwory Wybrane. Armia konna, Opowiadania odeskie 1 copy

Prosa 1 copy

Tramonto : racconti, opere per il teatro e per il cinema 1 copy

Konarmija : Izbrannye proizvedenija (1989) 1 copy

Cuentos de Odessa : Relatos 1 copy

Lovashadsereg 1 copy

Lioubka la cosaque 1 copy

Una noche con la emperatriz y otros cuentos 1 copy

Contes d'Odessa: suivi de Nouvelles 1 copy

Siete Relatos (Spanish Edition) (1998) 1 copy

Lovashadsereg és egyéb elbeszélések 1 copy

Budjonnys Reiterarmee und autobiographische Erzählungen 1 copy

Конармия. Рассказы, дневники, публицистика 1 copy

И. Бабель: Избранное 1 copy

Odesskie rasskazy. Konarmija (2020) 1 copy

オデッサ物語 (1995) 1 copy

Die Andere Bibliothek, Band 32: Erste Hilfe. Sämtliche Erzählungen 1 copy

El despertar 1 copy

Kizil Süvariler;Bütün Öyküleri (2022) 1 copy

Inspiration (in Penguin Modern Stories 4 - O'FAOLAIN) 1 copy

Kızıl Süvariler 1 copy

Babel Isaac 1 copy

Odesskie rasskazy (2014) 1 copy

Contos sovi©♭ticos 1 copy

CONTOS SOVIÉTICOS 1 copy

Werke, Zweiter Band 1 copy

Werke, Erster Band 1 copy

L'armata a cavallo. Introduzione di Vittorio Strada (1977) 1 copy

Rytterarmeen (2023) 1 copy

Punainen ratsuväki 1 copy

El Despertar 1 copy

El comandante del escuadrón 1 copy

Obras: narrativa, teatro, escritos diversos 1 copy

Siete relatos 1 copy

Obras. Narrativa. Teatro. Escritos diversos 1 copy

Maria : näidend 8 pildis 1 copy

The Story of My Dovecot {short story} 1 copy

Contos de Odessa 1 copy

Centenary of Isaak Babel 1 copy

Le storie di Odessa 1 copy

Prvá jazdecká : Poviedky 1 copy

Armata de cavalerie. Povestiri din Odesa (Romanian Edition) (2020) 1 copy

Peterburg 1918 (1989) 1 copy

Utwory odnalezione 1 copy

Dolgushov’s Death 1 copy

El despertar y otros relatos (biblioteca de El Sol 239) (1992) 1 copy

Entre chien et loup / Marie (1970) 1 copy

Crvena konjica 1 copy

Sobranie sochinenii v trekh tomakh 1 copy

Racconti di Odessa 1 copy

“My First Goose” 1 copy

Récits d'Odessa: suivi de Le crépuscule, pièce en huit scènes et de Béniak… (2021) 1 copy

חיל הפרשים ועוד סיפורים 1 copy

Nouvelles 1 copy

Werke : Zweiter Band (1973) 1 copy

Werke : Erster Band (1973) 1 copy

Odessa stories 1 copy

Salt 1 copy

"The Sin of Jesus" 1 copy

Red Calvary and Other Stories 1 copy

"Pan Apolek" 1 copy

"Crossing into Poland" 1 copy

Sochineniia v dvukh tomakh 1 copy

"The Story of My Dovecote" 1 copy

"First Love" 1 copy

Detstvo i drugie rasskazy. 1 copy

"The King" 1 copy

"How Things Were Done in Odessa" 1 copy

In the Basement 1 copy

Selected Stories/Рассказы (1976) 1 copy

You must know everything : Stories, 1915-1937 1 copy

Benya Krik 1 copy

Lyubka the Cossack (1963) 1 copy

So wurde es in Odessa gemacht. (1979) 1 copy

De verhalen gevolgd door dagboekbladen 1 copy

Selected stories and plays / Конармия, Одесские рассказы, Пьесы 1 copy

Racconti proibiti e lettere intime 1 copy

Ein Abend bei der Kaiserin Erzählungen, Dramen, Selbstzeugnisse 1 copy

Rytterarmeen og andre fortllinger 1 copy

Zwei Welten (1960) 1 copy

Die traurige Strasse : (1965) 1 copy

Spectaculum. 11. 6 moderne Theaterstücke (1968) 1 copy

Rytterarméen 1 copy

Racconti proibiti e lettere intime 1 copy

Sonnenuntergang Geschichten und Dramen 1 copy

Budjonnys Reiterarmee und anderes : Das erzählende Werk 1 copy

Correspondance: (1923-1939) 1 copy

Historia de mi palomar y otros relatos (2020) 1 copy

L'armata a cavallo (2001) 1 copy

Geschichten aus Odessa . Autobiographie 1 copy

Debes saberlo todo Relatos 1915-1937 1 copy

Isaac Babel: Complete Works 1 copy

GUVERCINLIGIMIN HIKAYESI 1 copy

Caballería roja (1901) 1 copy

Verhalen 1913-1924 1 copy

Collected Stories 1 copy

El comandante del escuadrón 1 copy

Early Stories 1 copy

Lovashadsereg és egyéb elbeszélések 1 copy

The Odessa Stories 1 copy

Konarmiya, Odesskie Rasskazy / Selected Stories & Plays. English introduction by A.B.Murphy. Russian Introduction by… (1965) 1 copy

Budjonnys Reiterarmee und Autobiographische Erzälungen 1 copy

The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel by Babel, Isaac unknown Edition [Paperback(2002)] 1 copy

Sonnenuntergang - Geschichten und Dramen (1962) 1 copy

caballeria roja (2011) 1 copy

Maloe sobranie sochinenij (2014) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,136 copies

My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead (2008) — Contributor — 766 copies

In the Stacks: Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians (2002) — Contributor — 537 copies

The World of the Short Story: A 20th Century Collection (1986) — Contributor — 464 copies

The Penguin Book of War (1999) — Contributor — 453 copies

You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories that Held Them in Awe (1994) — Contributor — 380 copies

Best Short Stories of the Modern Age (1962) — Contributor, some editions — 335 copies

Great Jewish Short Stories (1963) — Author, some editions — 239 copies

Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida (2005) — Contributor — 223 copies

Sudden Fiction International: Sixty Short-Short Stories (1989) — Contributor — 213 copies

McSweeney's Issue 9 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern): We Feel This One Is More Urgent (2002) — Contributor — 201 copies

Randall Jarrell's Book of Stories (1958) — Contributor — 145 copies

Sudden Fiction (Continued): 60 New Short-Short Stories (1996) — Contributor — 133 copies

The Jewish caravan : great stories of twenty-five centuries (1935) — Contributor, some editions — 132 copies

The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories (1998) — Contributor — 132 copies

Great Modern European Short Stories (1969) — Contributor — 113 copies

Magical Realist Fiction: An Anthology (1984) — Contributor — 113 copies

Great Soviet Short Stories (1962) — Contributor — 77 copies

A Golden Treasure of Jewish Literature (1937) — Contributor — 76 copies

Anthology of Russian Literature in the Soviet Period from Gorki to Pasternak (1960) — Contributor — 69 copies

The New Mystery: The International Association of Crime Writers' Essential Crime Writing of the Late 20th Century (1993) — Contributor — 62 copies

Extreme Fiction: Fabulists and Formalists (2003) — Contributor — 51 copies

Modern Jewish stories (1963) — Contributor — 36 copies

Found in Translation (2018) — Contributor, some editions — 36 copies

Korter dan kort de beste kortste verhalen uit de wereldliteratuur (1993) — Contributor — 28 copies

A Cross of Centuries: Twenty-five Imaginative Tales About the Christ (2007) — Contributor — 28 copies

Escape: Stories of Getting Away (2002) — Contributor — 25 copies

One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies

Studies in Fiction (1965) — Contributor — 22 copies

Horse Stories (2012) — Contributor — 16 copies

14 Great Short Stories By Soviet Authors (1959) — Contributor — 15 copies

Russische liefdesverhalen (1961) — Author — 11 copies

Russische verhalen (1965) — Contributor — 11 copies

Het derde Testament : Joodse verhalen (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 7 copies

Moderne joodse verhalen (1964) — Contributor — 7 copies

Penguin Modern Stories 4 (1970) — Contributor — 7 copies

De 43ste april : zeven verhalen op één thema (1961) — Contributor — 6 copies

Bijt me toch, bijt me! De mooiste dierenverhalen uit de Russische Bibliotheek (2013) — Contributor — 5 copies

Skaz: Masters of Russian Storytelling (2014) — Contributor — 5 copies

The Noble Savage 3 (1961) — Contributor — 5 copies

Russland das große Lesebuch (2017) — Contributor — 4 copies

Prachtig weer verhalen (1994) — Contributor — 3 copies

50 seltsame Geschichten — Contributor — 1 copy

現代ソヴェト文学18人集〈第1〉… (1967) — Author — 1 copy

ソヴェート文学 Советская Литература No.17 / 1968 1月号 — Contributor — 1 copy

ロシア短編集　ПЁСТРЫЕ РАССКАЗЫ　雑話集 IV — Contributor — 1 copy

世界文学大系. 第93 (近代小説集第3) — Contributor — 1 copy

この1冊でわかる 20世紀の世界文学新潮 1991年4月号臨時増刊 (1991) — Contributor — 1 copy

季刊ソヴェート文学 Советская Литература 1984年 No. 90 — Contributor — 1 copy

季刊ソヴェート文学 Советская Литература 1984年 No. 89 — Contributor — 1 copy

世界短編名作選〈ソビエト編〉 (1978年) (1978) — Contributor — 1 copy

ロシア短篇24 (現代の世界文学) (1987) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (115) anthology (525) Babel (33) books about books (25) classics (41) collection (49) Cossacks (27) diary (26) fiction (993) history (95) Isaac Babel (41) Jewish (78) Jewish literature (37) Judaism (27) librarians (42) libraries (73) library (23) literature (304) love (25) military (38) military history (64) non-fiction (78) own (30) read (48) Russia (226) Russian (185) Russian fiction (32) Russian literature (343) Russian Revolution (25) short fiction (74) short stories (1,132) short story (75) Soviet Union (45) stories (155) textbook (34) to-read (371) translation (49) unread (57) war (60) writing (70)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Babel, Isaac
Legal name: Бабель, Исаак Эммануилович
Other names: Babel, Isaak
Bobel, Isaac Manievich (birth name)
Babel, Isaak Emmanuilovich
Бабель, Исаак Эммануилович
Birthdate: 1894-07-13
Date of death: 1940-01-27
Burial location: Donskoi Cemetery, Moscow, Russia [mass grave]
Gender: male
Nationality: Russia
Country (for map): Russia
Birthplace: Odessa, Russian Empire
Place of death: Butyrka prison, Moscow, USSR
Cause of death: Firing squad
Places of residence: Odessa, Russian Empire
St. Petersburg, Russia
Education: Kiev Institute of Finance and Business
Occupations: journalist
writer
literary translator
short story writer
playwright
diarist
Relationships: Gorky, Maksim (friend)
Brown, Nathalie Babel (daughter)
Paustovsky, Konstantin (friend)
Short biography: Isaac Babel was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). In 1911, Babel went to study economics and business at the Kiev Institute of Finance and Business Studies, receiving his degree in 1916. While finishing his studies in Kiev, he also enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the Psycho-Neurological Institute in St. Petersburg. At this time, he met Maxim Gorky, who welcomed Babel into a literary career by publishing a selection of his short stories in the November 1916 issue of his journal Letopis (Chronicle). Gorky's mentorship was a major coup for a fledgling author and assured his wider recognition. Babel also became a journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of the acclaimed collections Red Cavalry (1920s) and Odessa Stories (1921-24). Stalin's Great Terror purges destroyed the lives and careers of many of Babel’s friends, and finally reached Babel himself. He was arrested by the Soviet secret police on May 15, 1939 on fabricated charges of terrorism and espionage, and executed on January 27, 1940.

Members

Reviews

Salt by Isaac Babel

awful awful awful... that's all i have to say

Flagged

ZetaRiemann | Apr 4, 2024 |

My First Goose by Isaac Babel

slightly better than salt but not by enough! just not good

Flagged

ZetaRiemann | Apr 4, 2024 |

A Letter by Isaac Babel

this wasn't offensively bad or anything compared to Salt and maybe it was slightly better than My First Goose but compared to literally everything else I've ever read it was trash. I hate Isaac Babel

Flagged

ZetaRiemann | Apr 4, 2024 |

Dolgushov’s Death by Isaac Babel

Okay so for me at least this one did something kind of interesting with the blurred lines of whether it's more ethical to put somebody out of their misery when they ask you to or refuse to participate in someone else's death directly. I still hate Babel though.

Flagged

ZetaRiemann | Apr 4, 2024 |

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