Yoshe Kalb
by Israel Joshua Singer
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A married, aristocratic young Russian Jew wanders in atonement for sin after falling in love with the wife of his father-in-law, an Austrian rabbi.Tags
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A surprisingly readable story about Hasidic Jews. Exactly when it takes place is not clear (at least to me) but there is an Austro-Hungarian empire and an emperor of Russia. According to I.B. Singer, Yoshe Kalb was a real person. Forbidden love, agunot, political intrigue within Hasidic rabbinic courts, and scarcely an admirable person to be found; on the other hand, most everyone is doing the best they can, given the difficult circumstances in which they live. Yoshe Kalb, or Yoshe the Loon, is reminiscent of Martin Guerre.
Yoshe Kalb has the feel of a religious parable or mythic oration mixed with a political satire and a dash of romance novel. I still do not completely understand the ending of this book, but I liked it quite a bit. This is really a fun read with wonderfully written characters (none of whom are all that admirable).
[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/09/yoshe-kalb-1933.html ]
[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/09/yoshe-kalb-1933.html ]
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Author Information
37+ Works 1,315 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Josche Kalb; יאשע קאלב
- Alternate titles
- The Sinner
- Original publication date
- 1932
- People/Characters
- Nahum; Rabbi Melech of Nyesheve; Serele; Malkah; Israel Avigdor
- Important places*
- Galizia, Polonia
- First words
- La grande corte rabbinica di Nyesheve era in grande agitazione per i preparativi del matrimonio di Serele, la figlia del rabbino.
The great Rabbinic Court of Nyesheve hummed with the preparations for the marriage of Serele, the Rabbi's daughter. - Quotations*
- — Yoshe, dì al tribunale di dove sei.
— Sono del mondo.
— E perché sei venuto nella nostra città?
— Non lo so.
— E che cosa vuoi qui, in mezzo a noi?
— Niente.
—Chi s... (show all)ei? Orfano, o hai genitori? Sei scapolo o vedovo? Sei divorziato, o hai lasciato una moglie in qualche posto?
— Io sono una pietra, — rispose Yoshe. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Nella luce del crepuscolo, lo riconobbero e fuggirono da lui. Chiudevano romorosamente le porte delle case. Quando arrivò alla sinagoga, la porta gli venne chiusa e sbarrata sulla faccia, e dall'interno delle voci gli gridarono:
— Demonio! Anima di un morto! Vattene!
Egli proseguì allora verso il cimitero del villaggio, la casa eterna. Qui posò la sua sacca su una pietra, si distese, s'addormentò.
La luna brillava sulla sua faccia, vegliando su di lui.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He passed out of the village to the cemetery, the Eternal House. There he placed his folded sack on a stone, and lay down and slept. The moon shone on his face and kept watch over him.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 839.0933 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures - Yiddish Fiction 1860-
- LCC
- PJ5129 .S5 .Y613 — Language and Literature Oriental languages and literatures Oriental philology and literature Hebrew Other languages used by Jews Yiddish
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 202
- Popularity
- 162,918
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- 9 — Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian, Yiddish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 21
- ASINs
- 12
