The Last Demon

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Isaac Bashevis Singer, who won the Nobel Prize in 1978, is best-remembered for his humane and moving short stories, which drew comparison with those of Maupassant and Chekhov. The three collected here, about a girl who pretends to be a man in order to study the Torah, a frustrated demon, and a writer trying to understand the confusion of a holocaust survivor, illuminate the great themes of human suffering with supernal grace.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Jewish, Literary Fiction, Modern Classics, Poland

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish American author of Jewish descent, noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
His memoir, "A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw", won the U.S. National Book Award in Children's Literature in 1970, while his collection "A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories" won the U.S. National Book Award in Fiction in 1974.

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This includes three short stories - The Last Demon, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, and The Cafeteria - which I all enjoyed, but I enjoyed Yentl the Yeshiva Boy the most, the way it dealt with gender was really interesting - but also because it had the most fleshed-out story. I feel I might not have fully understood The Last Demon. I'd be interested in reading one of his novels.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ideal start for a busy person who wants to get a quick introduction to Isaac Singer, this compilation of three stories samples the range of Singer's repertoire. The mystical & difficult to interpret (the last demon), the spooky (the cafeteria, extracted from "a friend of Kafka") to the well known, down-to-earth, profoundly moving and philosophically challenging story of Yentl. Entertaining, thought provoking and short.

[Lazaros Karavasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Απομόνωση+ αρρώστια+ σπίτι όλη μέρα= διάβασμα λογοτεχνίας (επιτέλους).

Τρείς ιστορίες σε διαφορετικό τόπο και χρόνο, τρεις διαφορετικές θεματικές, τρεις διαφορετικές προσωπικότητες.
Ο Σίννγκερ αποτυπώνει διάφορες πτυχές της εβραϊκής κουλτούρας, με στόχο να κριτικάρει την ίδια την κουλτούρα, χωρίς να την αποποιείται. Και το κάνει πολύ καλά.
Η πρώτη ιστορία αφορά την προσπάθεια ενός δαίμονα να διαφθείρει έναν ραββίνο με όποιον τρόπο μπορεί. Η δεύτερη, έχει να κάνει με την περίπτωση ενός κοριτσιού που ήθελε να πάει ενάντια στους νόμους των αντρών. Τέλος, βλέπουμε τις προσπάθειες ενός συγγραφέα να καταλάβει την αλήθεια στα λεγόμενα ενός επιζήσαντα του Ολοκαυτώματος.
Τον περίμενα πιο συντηρητικό σαν συγγραφέα. Διαψεύστηκα.
Πρόζα, στύλ, ερωτήματα, όλα 9/10. Φοβερός.

[Golsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

ایزاک بشویس سینجر نویسنده چیره دستی است. من قبلاً کتابهای دیگری از نویسنده مطالعه کردم. این کتاب سه داستان دارد که دو داستان آن در کتاب آخرین شیطان نیز آمده است که به مراتب بهتر ترجمه شده است.

[amal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this 👍🏼

[Artur Coelho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Há formas menos curiosas de ficar a conhecer um escritor. Para mim, o nome dee Isaac Bashevis Singer surgiu graças à simpática canção homónima dos The Owls ouvida de passagem no Motel de Moka e um artigo na New Yorker. Foi com muita curiosidade que peguei neste The Last Demon, coligindo três contor de Singer. Fiquei agradavelmente surpreendido com a prosa segura e elegante, com uma simplicidade e um fino bom humor, que tanto nos remete para o mundo desaparecido dos povoados judaicos do leste europeu como para uma Nova Yorque de um certo tom nostálgico.

The Last Demon, conto que dá título a esta obra, envolve um demónio que é enviado para uma aldeia esquecida para tentar o impossível e fazer cair em tentação um rabi conhecido pela sua pureza. Falha redondamente, e vai passando os seus dias esquecido, resíduo de uma era violentamente extinta pelas botas cardadas nazis e soviéticas. Em Yentl, Singer conta-nos uma história de androgenia através de uma mulher que se recusa a assumir as funções tradicionais e, disfarçando-se de homem, entre para uma yeshiva e trava uma amizade com um colega que assume contornos de amor e dedicação. The Cafeteria, a terminar o livro, coloca nas bizarrias de uma sobrevivente de um outro holocausto, os gulags soviéticos, que ao longo de vários anos vai cruzando o seu caminho com o do autor, uma reflexão sobre a aniquilação histórica de uma cultura e o trauma dos campos de concentração.

De origem polaca mas tendo vivido muitos anos em Nova Yorque, Singer manteve-se fiel à tradição judaica, quer pela escolha de temáticas quer pela língua em que escrevia, o iídiche, de tal forma que é talvez o único escritor americano contemporâneo cujas obras são traduzidas para o inglês. Estruturalmente perfeito e dono de uma elegância linguística assinalável, Singer merece uma leitura atenta.

[Nurul Lina Mohd Nor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Demon is great (though it's hard, with Jewish context). Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is new (totally a new theme for a contemporary reader like me). And The Cafeteria has simply brought light on my head! :). Here is the paragraph that might stimulate you some clue (of the light on my head), if you are curious:

"I thought about what Esther had told me of seeing Hitler in the cafeteria. It had seemed utter nonsense, but now I began to reappraise the idea. If time and space are nothing more than forms of perception, as Kant argues, and quality, quantity, causality are only categories of thinking, why shouldn't Hitler confer with his Nazis in a cafeteria on Broadway? Esther didn't sound insane. She had seen a piece of reality that the heavenly censorship prohibits as a rule. She had caught a glimpse behind the curtain of the phenomena. I regretted that I had not asked for more details. ......... Years have passed and I have never seen Esther again. Yes corpses do walk on Broadway. But why did Esther choose that particular corpse? She could have got a better bargain even in this world".

The Last Demon is my first attempt to Singer's writing. Some said The Last Demon is the best introduction to Singer. And I'm glad if it is true because I am so comfortable with his penmanship, and may be will (after my second attempt) consider him next to Gabriel Gracia Marquez as my most favorite author.

[Agnes Kelemen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains three short stories, including the famous "Yentl, the yeshiva boy". However, in my opinion "The Last Demon" is the actual masterpiece.

[Tiff Gibbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, short, sharp collection of stories. Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is the clear standout for the manner in which it explores 19th century Polish life, gender and the elasticity of love. It’s astounding that something so prescient was published back in the early 60s. The Cafeteria is a wonderful bookend to the series, but I felt The Last Demon - funnily enough, the titular story - was lacking even with a passing understanding of Yiddish culture. What shines through is Singer’s humour and wry sense of the absurd. My favourite joke was made twice - that men who did not want to be with their women ‘do what Onan did.’

[Froglady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Singer is a masterful storyteller. From cautionary tales to tradition, his stories open a window to the Jewish experience. This book feels like you're sitting by the fire with your grandmother and listening to her stories. I enjoyed this book a lot; it gave me a lot of insight into the past and the way of life of the Ashkenazi.

[Sandro Tarkhan-mouravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing stuff.

[Bauschan Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The better: the cafeteria (5 stars).....not the others tales!

[Brooke Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible and original writing. If this is the "second original" I can only imagine how rich the initial Yiddish text is

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melancholic reflection on the disappearance of the Jews from a small eastern European town.

[Ο σιδεράς · Rating 5 out of 5]

Έχω τη φωτογραφία του στον τοίχο να με κοιτάει μ εκείνα τα μάτια, κρατώντας την ομπρέλα του ως κατοικίδιο..
Με κοιτάει.. από τη μια μεριά αυτός, από την άλλη ο Φίλιππας (Ροθ). Στον τοίχο δίπλα στην είσοδο ο Ντίκενς, κι απέναντι ο Μπέκετ, με το σιγαρέτο του.. με κοιτάνε όλοι αυτοί, δεν με προστατεύουν από τις βλακείες μου όμως, αντίθετα είμαι σίγουρος ότι διασκεδάζουν μ’ αυτές..
Ας είναι, καλυτέρα έτσι. Βλέπω κι εγώ τον εαυτό μου καμιά φορά, σε ασπρόμαυρη Α4 ανάμεσα στις φτέρες, σ΄ ένα δασικό μονοπάτι. Μπορεί όταν συμβαίνει αυτή η διαδικασία - ο σιδεράς να βλέπει τον εαυτό του να τον κοιτάει, όχι ως ένα διπλότυπο που πρόκειται να κοπεί έναντι απόδειξης βίωσης αλλά ως ρετουσαρισμένη εικόνα ενός εξιδανικευμένου άλλου- τότε κάτι να ζωντανεύει..
Θα ήθελα αυτό - ή οτιδήποτε άλλο - να με κάνει να βγω έξω, έξω στο δάσος , να περιπλανιέμαι κι ας μην ξαναβρώ τα χαραγμένα γράμματα - αφού οι λειχήνες πρέπει να τα ‘χουν από καιρό σκεπάσει..

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/621...

Ε, σήκω πάνω σιδερά, καιρός να περάσεις ένα χέρι τ’ άρβυλα..

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last Demon (3 stars) :
Where is the need for demons when humans have reached the utmost levels of evil without their temptations and persuasions ?

Yentl (2 stars) :
A love story and a look at the traditions and beliefs of orthodox Jews in Eastern Europe where women were denied knowledge and the study of the holy texts and condemned to a narrow, ignorant and superficial life.

Cafeteria (4 stars) :
Holocaust survivors meeting in a N.Y. café : the hopelessly traumatized for whom death is the only comfort, those barely surviving, those trying to start over with a new life and new families, some who sold their souls to survive … all of them witnesses to the writer’s view that “all of humanity suffers from schizophrenia, that degeneration has begun and everyone has gone insane."

[Mark Easton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Containing three short stories–The Last Demon, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, and The Cafeteria–this short collection shines as the laconic, personal tales unfold and roam over the vast topics of religion, morality, temptation, modernity, and the Yiddish spirit. While difficult, perhaps impossible, to truly appreciate without understanding the Jewish context, the book nonetheless makes for an intruding read for a Gentile, and is a great introduction to the spirit of Singer.

[Mariana]

Me gustó mucho el libro. Contenía tres cuentos: el último demonio, Yentl y Cafetería. No sabría decir cual me gustó más... El primero gracioso, el segundo de dilemas complejos y el último sumamente filosófico ... A pesar de que todas las historias giran alrededor de las costumbres de los judíos aunque no las conocía mucho fue fácil seguir la lectura...

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the stories, specially Yentl the Yeshiva Boy.
A small book with three short but deliciously strange (and a bit despairing) tales. Loved it!

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A interesting collection of three short stories. My favorite was the doomed romance of Yentl the Yeshiva Boy.

[Zozo · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the fuck??

[Oli Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

a primeira história (do título do livro) não achei grande coisa. mas as duas últimas são sensacionais.