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The Slave
Four years after the Chmielnicki massacres of the seventeenth century, Jacob, a slave and cowherd in a Polish village high in the mountains, falls in love with Wanda, his master's daughter. Even after he is ransomed, he finds he can't live without her, and the two escape together to a distant Jewish community. Racked by his consciousness of sin in taking a Gentile wife and by the difficulties of concealing her identity, Jacob nonetheless stands firm as the violence of the era threatens to destroy the ill-fated couple.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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5980 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Bashevis Singer
554 books1,100 followersIsaac 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 411 reviews
July 4, 2024
Forbidden Love & A Soul’s Journey
✡️💞Jacob is a slave because he is a Jew owned by a Gentile and made to work the man’s farmland and livestock from dawn to dusk.
He falls in love with the man’s daughter Wanda and she with him, but of course this is something that cannot be known. A Gentile woman in love with a Jew. When Jacob instructs her in the ways of the Jewish faith it just makes matters worse - in Poland it is a capital offense to make a Christian convert to another faith.
So, they run. Take on assumed identities. Anything it takes to be together. Their love for each other consumes them. As the Hebrew Scriptures relate: “love is as strong as death.”
They marry and live with others in a Jewish community. No one suspects she is a convert. Because Wanda has never mastered Yiddish she pretends to be mute and deaf. All is going well. Until she has a difficult childbirth and begins to cry out in Polish. Which people believe is a miracle. And then .. they are not sure .. and things begin to unravel.
But not their love.
It is a journey story in terms of geographical movement, love and spirituality. The latter is hampered by religious rituals and rules and laws. In Singer’s work there is always this battle between the two - often we see grace and mercy trampled by what religion proscribes. Jacob and Wanda struggle with this discrepancy all the time - a villain keeps kosher but treats people like dirt; someone else knows the Torah inside and out, but beats his servants.
This incongruity between faith and practice is evident in Enemies, A Love Story, as well. It may be a perpetual theme of Singer’s fiction. Along with magical realism - his novels are replete with ghosts and demons and Baba Yaga and visions of the dead in heavenly splendor - and an ongoing debate about why God permits suffering, there is another ongoing debate about whether God actually exists. Singer’s work is very theological and very philosophical.
💞Yet written with beauty, strength and a true storyteller’s touch. I love his novels, but they are so intense I am emotionally exhausted by the end of each one and thinking, pondering, always trying to grasp the riddles of the universe and what might swirl beyond the fabric of material existence.
✡️💞Jacob is a slave because he is a Jew owned by a Gentile and made to work the man’s farmland and livestock from dawn to dusk.
He falls in love with the man’s daughter Wanda and she with him, but of course this is something that cannot be known. A Gentile woman in love with a Jew. When Jacob instructs her in the ways of the Jewish faith it just makes matters worse - in Poland it is a capital offense to make a Christian convert to another faith.
So, they run. Take on assumed identities. Anything it takes to be together. Their love for each other consumes them. As the Hebrew Scriptures relate: “love is as strong as death.”
They marry and live with others in a Jewish community. No one suspects she is a convert. Because Wanda has never mastered Yiddish she pretends to be mute and deaf. All is going well. Until she has a difficult childbirth and begins to cry out in Polish. Which people believe is a miracle. And then .. they are not sure .. and things begin to unravel.
But not their love.
It is a journey story in terms of geographical movement, love and spirituality. The latter is hampered by religious rituals and rules and laws. In Singer’s work there is always this battle between the two - often we see grace and mercy trampled by what religion proscribes. Jacob and Wanda struggle with this discrepancy all the time - a villain keeps kosher but treats people like dirt; someone else knows the Torah inside and out, but beats his servants.
This incongruity between faith and practice is evident in Enemies, A Love Story, as well. It may be a perpetual theme of Singer’s fiction. Along with magical realism - his novels are replete with ghosts and demons and Baba Yaga and visions of the dead in heavenly splendor - and an ongoing debate about why God permits suffering, there is another ongoing debate about whether God actually exists. Singer’s work is very theological and very philosophical.
💞Yet written with beauty, strength and a true storyteller’s touch. I love his novels, but they are so intense I am emotionally exhausted by the end of each one and thinking, pondering, always trying to grasp the riddles of the universe and what might swirl beyond the fabric of material existence.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2023
Superb. A love story between a Jew and a gentile set during a series of pogroms.
Isaac Bashevis Singer's first published stories are full of demons and devils and sprites. Here he uses his knowledge of Judaism — he came from a family of rabbis — cabala and medieval superstition to set a story in mid 1600s Poland, just after the Polish-Cossack wars known as the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
Jacob is a Jewish slave and Wanda is the Christian daughter of his master. They love each other but despite his smoldering lust Jacob insists on his religious prerogatives and won't touch her. He recites the Talmud from memory, since war has parted him from the accoutrement of his faith (prayer shawl, phylacteries, etc.) He is a righteous man living among uncouth slobs.
He doesn't even have a calendar to observe holy days. It's a miracle, Wanda says, no one has killed him yet — being a descendent of Christ killers. The Christian village is filled with dirt poor families and their so-called bastards. Incest is rife. The girls flash Jacob their bits and say: "lay me." But his religious discipline is unyielding.
"Jacob . . . was now past twenty-nine, so he had lived a seventh of his life in this remote mountain village, deprived of family and community, separated from books, like one of those souls who wander naked in Tophet. And here it was the end of summer; the short days, the cold nights had come. He could reach out his hand and actually touch the darkness of Egypt, the void from which God's face was absent. Dejection is only one small step from denial. Satan became arrogant and spoke to Jacob insolently: 'There is no God. There is no world beyond this one.' He bid Jacob become a pagan among the pagans; he commanded him to marry Wanda or at the very least to lie with her." (p. 54)
The Slave reminds me of Bernard Malmud's impressive The Fixer. Though set at a different time that book, too, is filled with an ever-present genocidal atmosphere for Jews. Both books are in their way lessons about how we got to today's homicidal antisemitism. When Jacob sleeps with Wanda his prayers mix with a newfound bodily astonishment.
"How could he have known that such passion and love as Wanda's existed? He again heard Wanda's voice, the words she had whispered to him, her groans, the swift intake of her breath, and he again felt the touch of her tongue and the sharpness of her teeth. She had left marks on his body. She was willing to flee with him across the mountains in the middle of the night. She spoke to him exactly as Ruth had spoken: 'Where thou goest, I go. Thy people are my people. Thy God is my God.'" (p. 71)
This novel is like any other that carries you to a strange and mysterious realm: i.e. Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Hilary Mantel, etc. It's Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre, The Red and the Black. No single people have a monopoly on virtue; these are people, good and bad, whether Jew or gentile.
Later, when ransom is paid and he is brought back to his village, Jacob thinks of Wanda, who is far away. She is, he believes, a manifestation of the devil for which he constantly upbraids himself. Yet he cannot stop thinking about her. Jacob tries to focus on the Jews all around him who have been maimed and crippled by the Cossacks, but inevitably his thoughts drift to Wanda, and self-hatred. Finally, he gives in, travels back to the village in which he was a slave, and takes her with him.
They blend into a new, post-pogrom village. Wanda is now Dumb Sarah, pretending to be a mute, and pregnant. Jacob teaches in the school and builds a house. Naturally, the villagers try to make out their story. The couple fear exposure more than anything.
"Sarah's presence in Pilitz imperiled the town. If the Polish authorities learned that a Christian girl had been seduced into Judaism, there would be reprisals. God knows what accusations would be made. The priests only wanted a pretext. And if the Jews got wind of it, the elders would immediately investigate the circumstances of the conversion and would guess correctly that Sarah had left her own religion because of Jacob — women being little interested in speculative matters; and Jacob would be ex-communicated." (p. 156)
She's smart. The passage when they're lying in bed and whispering about the law, while she asks trenchant questions, is gripping. Theirs is a profound but anxious happiness. Will they be found out? What about the child? When the peasants see her they make a slitting-the-throat gesture. Will the Cossacks return? My God, the tension! And this vague synopsis covers only half the book. Please read it...
Isaac Bashevis Singer's first published stories are full of demons and devils and sprites. Here he uses his knowledge of Judaism — he came from a family of rabbis — cabala and medieval superstition to set a story in mid 1600s Poland, just after the Polish-Cossack wars known as the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
Jacob is a Jewish slave and Wanda is the Christian daughter of his master. They love each other but despite his smoldering lust Jacob insists on his religious prerogatives and won't touch her. He recites the Talmud from memory, since war has parted him from the accoutrement of his faith (prayer shawl, phylacteries, etc.) He is a righteous man living among uncouth slobs.
He doesn't even have a calendar to observe holy days. It's a miracle, Wanda says, no one has killed him yet — being a descendent of Christ killers. The Christian village is filled with dirt poor families and their so-called bastards. Incest is rife. The girls flash Jacob their bits and say: "lay me." But his religious discipline is unyielding.
"Jacob . . . was now past twenty-nine, so he had lived a seventh of his life in this remote mountain village, deprived of family and community, separated from books, like one of those souls who wander naked in Tophet. And here it was the end of summer; the short days, the cold nights had come. He could reach out his hand and actually touch the darkness of Egypt, the void from which God's face was absent. Dejection is only one small step from denial. Satan became arrogant and spoke to Jacob insolently: 'There is no God. There is no world beyond this one.' He bid Jacob become a pagan among the pagans; he commanded him to marry Wanda or at the very least to lie with her." (p. 54)
The Slave reminds me of Bernard Malmud's impressive The Fixer. Though set at a different time that book, too, is filled with an ever-present genocidal atmosphere for Jews. Both books are in their way lessons about how we got to today's homicidal antisemitism. When Jacob sleeps with Wanda his prayers mix with a newfound bodily astonishment.
"How could he have known that such passion and love as Wanda's existed? He again heard Wanda's voice, the words she had whispered to him, her groans, the swift intake of her breath, and he again felt the touch of her tongue and the sharpness of her teeth. She had left marks on his body. She was willing to flee with him across the mountains in the middle of the night. She spoke to him exactly as Ruth had spoken: 'Where thou goest, I go. Thy people are my people. Thy God is my God.'" (p. 71)
This novel is like any other that carries you to a strange and mysterious realm: i.e. Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Hilary Mantel, etc. It's Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre, The Red and the Black. No single people have a monopoly on virtue; these are people, good and bad, whether Jew or gentile.
Later, when ransom is paid and he is brought back to his village, Jacob thinks of Wanda, who is far away. She is, he believes, a manifestation of the devil for which he constantly upbraids himself. Yet he cannot stop thinking about her. Jacob tries to focus on the Jews all around him who have been maimed and crippled by the Cossacks, but inevitably his thoughts drift to Wanda, and self-hatred. Finally, he gives in, travels back to the village in which he was a slave, and takes her with him.
They blend into a new, post-pogrom village. Wanda is now Dumb Sarah, pretending to be a mute, and pregnant. Jacob teaches in the school and builds a house. Naturally, the villagers try to make out their story. The couple fear exposure more than anything.
"Sarah's presence in Pilitz imperiled the town. If the Polish authorities learned that a Christian girl had been seduced into Judaism, there would be reprisals. God knows what accusations would be made. The priests only wanted a pretext. And if the Jews got wind of it, the elders would immediately investigate the circumstances of the conversion and would guess correctly that Sarah had left her own religion because of Jacob — women being little interested in speculative matters; and Jacob would be ex-communicated." (p. 156)
She's smart. The passage when they're lying in bed and whispering about the law, while she asks trenchant questions, is gripping. Theirs is a profound but anxious happiness. Will they be found out? What about the child? When the peasants see her they make a slitting-the-throat gesture. Will the Cossacks return? My God, the tension! And this vague synopsis covers only half the book. Please read it...
January 26, 2020
Τι καταπληκτικό βιβλίο... Τι καταπληκτικό βιβλίο!
Επιτέλους ένα ανάγνωσμα που να δικαιώνει τα βραβεία του συγγραφέα του.
Τραβήξτε την κουρτίνα της φαινομενικά απλής ιστορίας αγάπης, και θα δείτε πολύ περισσότερα απ' αυτό.
Το συνιστώ χωρίς καμία επιφύλαξη.
Επιτέλους ένα ανάγνωσμα που να δικαιώνει τα βραβεία του συγγραφέα του.
Τραβήξτε την κουρτίνα της φαινομενικά απλής ιστορίας αγάπης, και θα δείτε πολύ περισσότερα απ' αυτό.
Το συνιστώ χωρίς καμία επιφύλαξη.
July 10, 2019
This is a stunning work. I can't do it justice. But I'll try with what enfeebled abilities I have. But first the whole story I got this book and took too long to read it.
I first became a "serious reader" in my mid to late high school years. I remember it was George Orwell and Anthony Burgess who, first, introduced to me the idea that books could be more than just fodder thrown by unfulfilled public school teachers at a sneering and half conscious student body to keep them busy and adhere to arbitrary academic standards. Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984" as well as Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" were the first novels to evidence the ability of literature to cut deep and excite, to teach and to terrify, and, most profoundly, entertain and revivify.
From there I slowly made my winding way through the annals of many books. Not as many as I'd like, not as many as some friends (both current and former) but many enough to whittle away hours, months, days, years. And amid all that I took slow steps into the realm of Jewish Fiction. There was no direction, no guiding ethos, I just read what I could find and what was recommended to me. Philip Roth was a perverted and neurotic maestro of prose, Saul Bellow was a bloviating dilettante not without his share of genius, Kafka was the patron saint of Jewish misery and 'the guilt without source'. Of course Norman Mailer was the robber baron of arrogance and unparalleled literary ambition. And then the Jews of European and Israeli origins. The list goes on. But with all of that the name Isaac Bashevis Singer popped up in random spots, a soft whisper resonant of a Jewish life and mentality that had all but ceased to be. This need be evidenced no more than by his choice (and superb ability) to write in Yiddish. Not English, not German, not Hebrew, but Yiddish; a writer of the old language, emblematic of diaspora and all that came with it. And that he was awarded the nobel prize of literature and a Jew of orthodoxy (and a vegetarian to boot!) only added to his mystique and appeal.
So I read Singer's "Gimpel the Fool" and enjoyed it. Much later I read "The Penitent" which, while skillfully written, was unfortunately brought down by the noxious pedantry and sententious elitism of its protagonist. But all along his novel "The Slave" remained on the backburner. A more or less self-published novelist, an American Jew living in Israel who become very religious and conservative, derided the novel as well written but borderline pornographic. Having been at the stage where I was just simply angry, I bought the book almost as an act of spite against a man I'd never met but who seemed to embody the worst of my then current neuroses and shortcomings, and dreams and aspirations as well. But years have gone by and my obsessions and weaknesses have shifted. And still "The Slave" remained on my perpetual 'to read' pile.
When I finally sat down to read the book I consumed it quickly and deeply. The story of Jacob the Polish Jew who is sold into slavery after a horrific pogrom that leaves most of his family dead and his village destroyed, is told in bitter but never embittered terms. It's a superb recitation of a black historical incident. Jacob is exiled to the Polish mountains where he barely ekes out an existence among people who, at best, distrust him, and, at worst, want him dead for the crime of living. But still Jacob maintains, to the best of his ability, his religious Jewish life. This would have been and could have been a monastic tale of personal strength in a time of diaspora but Singer introduces the love interest: the non-Jewish Polish woman Wanda, who proves to be the impetus for Jacob's transformation into one the most tragic, beautiful, and fully realized protagonists in world Jewish literature.
Singer pulls no punches here. The non-Jewish Poles are depicted in various states of savagery and depredation, as well as with spots of humanity belying their downtrodden circumstances. Jacob's fellow Jews are trenchantly delineated with a similarly even hand, showing both the beauty and the hypocrisy inherent within the Jewish religious lifestyle under the aegis of ambivalent (at times) and evil (at times) host culture. The true characters in this work are Jacob and Wanda (later Sarah) who, through their doomed love and passionate dedication to each other, create a tableau of such meaning and profundity that's hard to believe this book isn't at the top of more 'best of' lists.
Jacob and Wanda, for me, represent the ethereal and complex, the damning and revelatory aspects of love better than anything I've yet read. They aren't meant to be. And they will be torn from each other and destroyed. But like a postlapsarian Adam and Eve, theirs is a love of creation amid a dark world of Lilith and Satan, a fire to be snuffed but to shine brilliantly while it can.
This is a sad novel. But it possesses a nobility and an elan in form I've never seen before. It's human. It's love made real in all its maddening perplexities and hypocrisies. Read this if you want a taste of what it is to love, be damned by that love, but to love anyway, because it's human, and the joy is the misery is the joy.
I first became a "serious reader" in my mid to late high school years. I remember it was George Orwell and Anthony Burgess who, first, introduced to me the idea that books could be more than just fodder thrown by unfulfilled public school teachers at a sneering and half conscious student body to keep them busy and adhere to arbitrary academic standards. Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984" as well as Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" were the first novels to evidence the ability of literature to cut deep and excite, to teach and to terrify, and, most profoundly, entertain and revivify.
From there I slowly made my winding way through the annals of many books. Not as many as I'd like, not as many as some friends (both current and former) but many enough to whittle away hours, months, days, years. And amid all that I took slow steps into the realm of Jewish Fiction. There was no direction, no guiding ethos, I just read what I could find and what was recommended to me. Philip Roth was a perverted and neurotic maestro of prose, Saul Bellow was a bloviating dilettante not without his share of genius, Kafka was the patron saint of Jewish misery and 'the guilt without source'. Of course Norman Mailer was the robber baron of arrogance and unparalleled literary ambition. And then the Jews of European and Israeli origins. The list goes on. But with all of that the name Isaac Bashevis Singer popped up in random spots, a soft whisper resonant of a Jewish life and mentality that had all but ceased to be. This need be evidenced no more than by his choice (and superb ability) to write in Yiddish. Not English, not German, not Hebrew, but Yiddish; a writer of the old language, emblematic of diaspora and all that came with it. And that he was awarded the nobel prize of literature and a Jew of orthodoxy (and a vegetarian to boot!) only added to his mystique and appeal.
So I read Singer's "Gimpel the Fool" and enjoyed it. Much later I read "The Penitent" which, while skillfully written, was unfortunately brought down by the noxious pedantry and sententious elitism of its protagonist. But all along his novel "The Slave" remained on the backburner. A more or less self-published novelist, an American Jew living in Israel who become very religious and conservative, derided the novel as well written but borderline pornographic. Having been at the stage where I was just simply angry, I bought the book almost as an act of spite against a man I'd never met but who seemed to embody the worst of my then current neuroses and shortcomings, and dreams and aspirations as well. But years have gone by and my obsessions and weaknesses have shifted. And still "The Slave" remained on my perpetual 'to read' pile.
When I finally sat down to read the book I consumed it quickly and deeply. The story of Jacob the Polish Jew who is sold into slavery after a horrific pogrom that leaves most of his family dead and his village destroyed, is told in bitter but never embittered terms. It's a superb recitation of a black historical incident. Jacob is exiled to the Polish mountains where he barely ekes out an existence among people who, at best, distrust him, and, at worst, want him dead for the crime of living. But still Jacob maintains, to the best of his ability, his religious Jewish life. This would have been and could have been a monastic tale of personal strength in a time of diaspora but Singer introduces the love interest: the non-Jewish Polish woman Wanda, who proves to be the impetus for Jacob's transformation into one the most tragic, beautiful, and fully realized protagonists in world Jewish literature.
Singer pulls no punches here. The non-Jewish Poles are depicted in various states of savagery and depredation, as well as with spots of humanity belying their downtrodden circumstances. Jacob's fellow Jews are trenchantly delineated with a similarly even hand, showing both the beauty and the hypocrisy inherent within the Jewish religious lifestyle under the aegis of ambivalent (at times) and evil (at times) host culture. The true characters in this work are Jacob and Wanda (later Sarah) who, through their doomed love and passionate dedication to each other, create a tableau of such meaning and profundity that's hard to believe this book isn't at the top of more 'best of' lists.
Jacob and Wanda, for me, represent the ethereal and complex, the damning and revelatory aspects of love better than anything I've yet read. They aren't meant to be. And they will be torn from each other and destroyed. But like a postlapsarian Adam and Eve, theirs is a love of creation amid a dark world of Lilith and Satan, a fire to be snuffed but to shine brilliantly while it can.
This is a sad novel. But it possesses a nobility and an elan in form I've never seen before. It's human. It's love made real in all its maddening perplexities and hypocrisies. Read this if you want a taste of what it is to love, be damned by that love, but to love anyway, because it's human, and the joy is the misery is the joy.
August 13, 2017
Ovo je jedan izuzetan roman smješten 1648, u vrijeme nakon masakra nekoliko tisuća Židova od strane kozačkih hordi. Glavni je lik pobožan i obrazovan Židov Jakov koji u tom masakru gubi svoju porodicu, zarobljen je i postaje rob u hrišćanskoj porodici. Lijepo se prema njemu ophodi jedino prelijepa Wanda, kći njegovog gospodara. I naravno, počinje romansa... ali kakva! Neobična i dirljiva, napisana na jedan stvarno vrhunski način. Ovo je dirljiva, tragična i izuzetno tmurna priča ljubavi, strasti, ali i vjere, pobožnosti i duhovnosti. Ovo je divno, predivno napisana knjiga puna života i nabijena emocijama. Opet nas Singer uvjerava u svoja ubeđenja – preko discipline, vjere, kulture i tradicije može se istrajati uprkos svemu. Lično me fascinira ta Židovska vjera i tradicija. Iako po ubeđenju ateist, rasla sam uz njegove knjige i shvatam njegova nastojanja koja gravitiraju natrag u tradiicju koja je zbog svega nabrojanog odolela brojnim napadima i antisemitizmu, pokušaj da se izađe iz slijepe ulice modernog i da se spasi taj veliki duh i vrline. Wanda i Sara – dva imena jedne žene koja se zbog ljubavi odriče svega i zbog koje se Jakob bori sa samim sobom, ali i zbog koje stvara svoju dušu ponovo i makar i na kratko doživljava sreću zbog koje opstaje. Jakov je rob Jana Bizika, u isto vrijeme rob vjere, tradicije, rituala da bi postao rob ljubavi, žudnje i strasti....
Svaka me je rečenica oduševila. Ova je knjiga dragulj u svijetskoj književnosti!
Svaka me je rečenica oduševila. Ova je knjiga dragulj u svijetskoj književnosti!
January 14, 2016
Translated from the Yiddish by the author and Cecil Hemley
Description: Four years after the Chmielnicki massacres of the seventeenth century, Jacob, a slave and cowherd in a Polish village high in the mountains, falls in love with Wanda, his master's daughter. Even after he is ransomed, he finds he can't live without her, and the two escape together to a distant Jewish community. Racked by his consciousness of sin in taking a Gentile wife and by the difficulties of concealing her identity, Jacob nonetheless stands firm as the violence of the era threatens to destroy the ill-fated couple.
Opening: A single bird call began the day. Each day the same bird, the same call.
An unusual love story, yet one, thankfully, that doesn't hover on sentimental hogwash. If you love bizarre superstitions including succubi, vampires, Dizwosina and Skrots, then this may just be the book for you. 
Drowning Baba Yaga.Thoroughly disconcerted as to why Poland has willingly returned to media censorship after they fought so hard to slough off the yoke, I go searching for answers in past fiction, well, 'pointers' to be more exact. I read Turkish literature for the same reason, why, after Atatürk's splendid ideals, are there Islamists in government there. So many questions to ponder over, so little time.
Chmielnicki: the Cossack-Polish War 1648-1657: mass atrocities committed by Cossacks against civilian population, especially against the Roman Catholic clergy and the Jews. Relevent to today's world is thisbit snaffled from wiki: it [this war] led to the eventual incorporation of eastern Ukraine into the Tsardom of Russia.
April 15, 2017
الكاتب هو يهودي بولندي حاز على نوبل 1978.
أنا بحب أقرأ عن المجتمع اليهودي , وبتسحرني الأعمال اللى أبطالها بيكونوا من اليهود , والكاتب مؤمن شديد التدين , متمعن فى ديانته , فتظهر أعماله بشكل متناسق له بريق العمل المؤمن به صاحبه.
ببساطة : الرواية تدور فى بولندا فى القرن ال17 أثناء تمزق شديد طال المجتمع البولندي واضطهاد شديد للطائفة اليهودية .
يعقوب : اليهودي المتدين شديد الورع يقظ الضمير فى مواجهة بدائية وفجر مجتمع ساء حظه بأن وقع عبد لفرد منه.
واندا : الأرملة الجميلة البولندية , التي تمنت يعقوب وتمنع هو عليها .
سارة : الصماء البكماء المحبة الحبيبة
عمل مميز جدا , يظهر لك ما يعانيه المختلف عن مجتمع ما, وخاصة له ظهر اختلافه بأفضلية بالنسبة له وتميز له عنهم .
عرض مميز للأحداث ومعرفة واسعه بالمجتمع البولندي مع وضوح فى الشرح وتميز في العرض مع اسهاب فى عرض الصلوات والمعلومات الدينية اليهودية .
الترجمة جيدة و مفيدة جدا تدل على عظمة النص بلغته الأم , وهوامش المترجم كانت غاية الروعة وساعدت على الفهم الكامل للعمل
الشخصيات مرسومة باحترافية عالية جدا , والاحداث شديدة القرب , نجح الكاتب باقتدار فى أن ينقلك لأحداث العصر وجعلك تواكبه وتتأثر به .
فى المجمل عمل جيد,
August 13, 2019
ΤΙ ΝΑ ΠΩ ΓΙ ΑΥΤΟ ΤΟ ΔΙΑΜΑΝΤΙ; ΕΝΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΙΚΟ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΥΡΓΗΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΛΟΓΟΤΕΧΝΙΑΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΣΙΝΓΚΕΡ. ΘΑ ΜΟΥ ΠΕΙΤΕ ΠΩΣ ΕΧΕΤΕ ΒΑΡΕΘΕΙ ΝΑ ΑΚΟΥΤΕ ΤΗ ΛΕΞΗ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΥΡΓΗΜΑ. ΘΑ ΣΑΣ ΠΩ ΠΩΣ ΔΕ ΘΑ ΒΑΡΕΘΩ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΚΑ ΝΑ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΙΖΩ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΠΟΥ ΜΟΥ ΑΛΛΑΖΟΥΝ ΤΗΝ ΚΟΣΜΟΘΕΩΡΙΑ, ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΠΟΥ ΜΕ ΑΦΥΠΝΙΖΟΥΝ, ΠΟΥ ΜΕ ΓΕΜΙΖΟΥΝ ΜΕ ΑΜΦΙΒΟΛΙΕΣ Κ ΑΜΦΙΣΒΗΤΗΣΕΙΣ, ΑΡΙΣΤΟΥΡΓΗΜΑΤΑ.
ΜΑΚΑΡΙ ΤΕΤΟΙΑ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΜΑΤΑ ΝΑ ΒΟΗΘΟΥΣΑΝ ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΟΥΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΣ...
ΠΡΟΚΕΙΤΑΙ ΓΙΑ ΕΝΑ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΟΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΟ Κ ΛΙΓΟΤΕΡΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟ ΜΥΘΙΣΤΟΡΗΜΑ. ΒΕΒΑΙΑ, ΤΑ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΤΑ ΤΑ ΟΠΟΙΑ ΥΙΟΘΕΤΕΙ Ο ΣΙΝΓΚΕΡ ΕΧΟΥΝ ΚΑΤΑΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΑ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ. ΔΕΝ ΤΑ ΕΒΓΑΛΕ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΜΥΑΛΟ ΤΟΥ. ΜΑΚΑΡΙ ΝΑ ΜΠΟΡΟΥΣΕ..
ΣΦΑΓΕΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΩΝ, ΒΙΑΣΜΟΙ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΩΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΚΟΖΑΚΟΥΣ, ΕΚΔΙΩΓΜΟΙ ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝ. ΞΕΚΛΗΡΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΤΗΤΑΣ. ΜΕΙΩΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΟΥ. ΓΙΑ ΠΟΙΟ ΛΟΓΟ ΑΚΡΙΒΩΣ; ΜΑ ΦΥΣΙΚΑ ΣΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΙΑΣ Κ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΣΜΟΥ. ΣΤΟ ΒΩΜΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΙΚΡΑΤΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΙΔΩΛΟΛΑΤΡΩΝ Κ ΑΛΟΓΩΝ ΑΤΟΜΩΝ, ΓΙΑΤΙ ΕΤΣΙ ΜΟΝΟ ΜΠΟΡΟΥΝ ΝΑ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΙΣΤΟΥΝ, ΥΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΝΤΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ "ΚΥΡΙΟΥ" ΤΟΥΣ ΘΑΝΑΤΩΝΟΥΝ ΟΠΟΙΟΝ ΠΙΣΤΕΥΕΙ ΣΕ ΑΛΛΟ ΘΕΟ Ή ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΘΕΟΣ.
Ο ΙΑΚΩΒ, Ο ΗΡΩΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΥ, ΕΒΡΑΙΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΤΑΓΩΓΗ, ΕΧΟΝΤΑΣ ΧΑΣΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΦΟΥ ΣΦΑΧΤΗΚΕ ΑΠΟ ΚΟΖΑΚΟΥΣ, ΑΙΧΜΑΛΩΤΙΣΤΗΚΕ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΟΛΩΝΟΥΣ Κ ΠΟΥΛΗΘΗΚΕ ΩΣ ΣΚΛΑΒΟΣ. ΔΟΥΛΕΥΕΙ ΩΣ ΓΕΛΑΔΑΡΗΣ Σ ΕΝΑ ΠΟΛΩΝΙΚΟ ΧΩΡΙΟ ΠΟΥ ΒΡΙΣΚΕΤΑΙ ΨΗΛΑ ΣΤΑ ΒΟΥΝΑ. ΕΚΕΙ ΘΑ ΓΝΩΡΙΣΕΙ ΤΗ ΒΑΝΤΑ Κ ΠΑΡ' ΟΛΕΣ ΤΙΣ ΣΥΣΤΟΛΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΡΩΤΕΥΘΕΙ. ΠΩΣ ΟΜΩΣ ΘΑ ΕΠΙΒΙΩΣΕΙ Ο ΕΡΩΤΑΣ ΤΟΥΣ; ΕΠΙΤΡΕΠΕΤΑΙ ΕΝΑΣ ΕΒΡΑΙΟΣ ΝΑ ΠΑΝΤΡΕΥΤΕΙ ΜΙΑ 《ΕΘΝΙΚΗ》; ΟΧΙ, ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΑ! ΑΠΟΦΑΣΙΖΟΥΝ ΝΑ ΦΥΓΟΥΝ ΟΧΙ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΒΡΟΥΝ 《ΤΗ ΓΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΙΑΣ》 ΑΛΛΑ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΛΥΤΡΩΘΟΥΝ, ΝΑ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΘΟΥΝ. ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΘΑ ΛΥΤΡΩΘΟΥΝ ΑΠΟ ΠΡΟΚΑΤΑΛΗΨΕΙΣ, ΔΕΙΣΙΔΑΙΜΟΝΙΕΣ Κ ΟΣΑ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΖΕΙ Ο ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΟΣ ΝΟΜΟΣ.
ΘΑ ΔΑΝΕΙΣΤΩ ΜΙΑ ΦΡΑΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΜΑΤΟΣ: 《Ο,ΤΙ ΚΑΝΕΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΓΙΑ ΚΑΛΟ》ΚΑΙ ΘΑ ΑΝΑΡΩΤΗΘΩ, ΩΣ ΛΟΓΙΚΟΣ Κ ΝΟΗΜΩΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ, ΠΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΟΤΑΝ ΧΑΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΑΘΩΕΣ ΨΥΧΕΣ, ΞΕΚΛΗΡΙΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΕΣ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΕΣ; ΠΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΟΤΑΝ ΓΙΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΕΓΚΛΗΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΤΗΤΑΣ; Η ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΗ Η ΔΙΚΗ ΜΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ : ...
ΜΑΚΑΡΙ ΤΕΤΟΙΑ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΜΑΤΑ ΝΑ ΒΟΗΘΟΥΣΑΝ ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΟΥΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΣ...
ΠΡΟΚΕΙΤΑΙ ΓΙΑ ΕΝΑ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΟΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΟ Κ ΛΙΓΟΤΕΡΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟ ΜΥΘΙΣΤΟΡΗΜΑ. ΒΕΒΑΙΑ, ΤΑ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΤΑ ΤΑ ΟΠΟΙΑ ΥΙΟΘΕΤΕΙ Ο ΣΙΝΓΚΕΡ ΕΧΟΥΝ ΚΑΤΑΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΑ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ. ΔΕΝ ΤΑ ΕΒΓΑΛΕ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΜΥΑΛΟ ΤΟΥ. ΜΑΚΑΡΙ ΝΑ ΜΠΟΡΟΥΣΕ..
ΣΦΑΓΕΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΩΝ, ΒΙΑΣΜΟΙ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΩΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΚΟΖΑΚΟΥΣ, ΕΚΔΙΩΓΜΟΙ ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝ. ΞΕΚΛΗΡΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΤΗΤΑΣ. ΜΕΙΩΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΟΥ. ΓΙΑ ΠΟΙΟ ΛΟΓΟ ΑΚΡΙΒΩΣ; ΜΑ ΦΥΣΙΚΑ ΣΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΘΡΗΣΚΕΙΑΣ Κ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΣΜΟΥ. ΣΤΟ ΒΩΜΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΙΚΡΑΤΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΙΔΩΛΟΛΑΤΡΩΝ Κ ΑΛΟΓΩΝ ΑΤΟΜΩΝ, ΓΙΑΤΙ ΕΤΣΙ ΜΟΝΟ ΜΠΟΡΟΥΝ ΝΑ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΙΣΤΟΥΝ, ΥΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΝΤΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ "ΚΥΡΙΟΥ" ΤΟΥΣ ΘΑΝΑΤΩΝΟΥΝ ΟΠΟΙΟΝ ΠΙΣΤΕΥΕΙ ΣΕ ΑΛΛΟ ΘΕΟ Ή ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΘΕΟΣ.
Ο ΙΑΚΩΒ, Ο ΗΡΩΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΥ, ΕΒΡΑΙΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΤΑΓΩΓΗ, ΕΧΟΝΤΑΣ ΧΑΣΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΦΟΥ ΣΦΑΧΤΗΚΕ ΑΠΟ ΚΟΖΑΚΟΥΣ, ΑΙΧΜΑΛΩΤΙΣΤΗΚΕ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΟΛΩΝΟΥΣ Κ ΠΟΥΛΗΘΗΚΕ ΩΣ ΣΚΛΑΒΟΣ. ΔΟΥΛΕΥΕΙ ΩΣ ΓΕΛΑΔΑΡΗΣ Σ ΕΝΑ ΠΟΛΩΝΙΚΟ ΧΩΡΙΟ ΠΟΥ ΒΡΙΣΚΕΤΑΙ ΨΗΛΑ ΣΤΑ ΒΟΥΝΑ. ΕΚΕΙ ΘΑ ΓΝΩΡΙΣΕΙ ΤΗ ΒΑΝΤΑ Κ ΠΑΡ' ΟΛΕΣ ΤΙΣ ΣΥΣΤΟΛΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΡΩΤΕΥΘΕΙ. ΠΩΣ ΟΜΩΣ ΘΑ ΕΠΙΒΙΩΣΕΙ Ο ΕΡΩΤΑΣ ΤΟΥΣ; ΕΠΙΤΡΕΠΕΤΑΙ ΕΝΑΣ ΕΒΡΑΙΟΣ ΝΑ ΠΑΝΤΡΕΥΤΕΙ ΜΙΑ 《ΕΘΝΙΚΗ》; ΟΧΙ, ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΑ! ΑΠΟΦΑΣΙΖΟΥΝ ΝΑ ΦΥΓΟΥΝ ΟΧΙ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΒΡΟΥΝ 《ΤΗ ΓΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΙΑΣ》 ΑΛΛΑ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΛΥΤΡΩΘΟΥΝ, ΝΑ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΘΟΥΝ. ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΘΑ ΛΥΤΡΩΘΟΥΝ ΑΠΟ ΠΡΟΚΑΤΑΛΗΨΕΙΣ, ΔΕΙΣΙΔΑΙΜΟΝΙΕΣ Κ ΟΣΑ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΖΕΙ Ο ΘΡΗΣΚΕΥΤΙΚΟΣ ΝΟΜΟΣ.
ΘΑ ΔΑΝΕΙΣΤΩ ΜΙΑ ΦΡΑΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΜΑΤΟΣ: 《Ο,ΤΙ ΚΑΝΕΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΓΙΑ ΚΑΛΟ》ΚΑΙ ΘΑ ΑΝΑΡΩΤΗΘΩ, ΩΣ ΛΟΓΙΚΟΣ Κ ΝΟΗΜΩΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ, ΠΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΟΤΑΝ ΧΑΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΑΘΩΕΣ ΨΥΧΕΣ, ΞΕΚΛΗΡΙΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΕΣ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΕΣ; ΠΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΟΤΑΝ ΓΙΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΕΓΚΛΗΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΤΗΤΑΣ; Η ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΗ Η ΔΙΚΗ ΜΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ : ...
August 23, 2019
A rich, poignant, deep, tragic and somber novel of love, faith and spirituality. Four years after the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 in which tens of thousands of Jews were massacred by Cossack hordes, a pious Jew Jacob, exists as a slave ,captured during the massacres in the mountains of Poland for gentile, peasants. Treated like a beast, he is shown mercy and tenderness by his master's beautiful daughter Wanda, who he falls in love with.
When he returns to how own Jewish town, Jacob cannot forget Wanda and brings her back to his home as a convert to Judaism. But as conversion was forbidden in that time and place, he cannot reveal her gentile birth and to cover up this, and not let this be revealed by her Polish accent, he must pass her off as a mute. Her name is now Sarah.
Despite her great reservoir of kindness, and piety she is ill treated by most of the community. Jacob has to also forebear the capricious cruelty of the local Polish nobleman Adam Pilsidsky. Before Wanda dies in childbirth she reveals that she is of gentile birth. As a result of pressure from the narrow minded hypocrites within the community especially the execrable Gershon, Sarah is given a donkey's burial, and the baby boy she has delivered declared not a part of the community. But he is looked after by a good hearted couple and is fetched by his father who takes him to the Land of Israel. 20 years pass before Jacob returns and a great miracle takes place to show that Sarah's (Wanda) soul was indeed that of a daughter of Israel. Full of spiritual phenomena, as well as the rich superstitions of the time, this novel will excite those interested in such subjects and is a classic and jewel of Jewish literature by a master in that craft.
When he returns to how own Jewish town, Jacob cannot forget Wanda and brings her back to his home as a convert to Judaism. But as conversion was forbidden in that time and place, he cannot reveal her gentile birth and to cover up this, and not let this be revealed by her Polish accent, he must pass her off as a mute. Her name is now Sarah.
Despite her great reservoir of kindness, and piety she is ill treated by most of the community. Jacob has to also forebear the capricious cruelty of the local Polish nobleman Adam Pilsidsky. Before Wanda dies in childbirth she reveals that she is of gentile birth. As a result of pressure from the narrow minded hypocrites within the community especially the execrable Gershon, Sarah is given a donkey's burial, and the baby boy she has delivered declared not a part of the community. But he is looked after by a good hearted couple and is fetched by his father who takes him to the Land of Israel. 20 years pass before Jacob returns and a great miracle takes place to show that Sarah's (Wanda) soul was indeed that of a daughter of Israel. Full of spiritual phenomena, as well as the rich superstitions of the time, this novel will excite those interested in such subjects and is a classic and jewel of Jewish literature by a master in that craft.
November 2, 2019
Τι όμορφη ιστορία! Η ιστορία ενός ευσεβούς ταλαίπωρου σκλάβου του οποίου η ζωή τον καταδίκασε σε μια τεράστια περιπέτεια. Μ΄ ένα συγκινητικό τέλος. Επέστρεψε μετά από είκοσι χρόνια στον τόπο που αφήσει την νεκρή γυναίκα του εξαιτίας της καταδίκης της κοινωνίας. Εψαχνε τον τάφο της. Δεν τα βρήκε είχαν ποδοπατήσει τον τάφο της και ήταν αδύνατο να βρεθεί μέσα στην τεράστια προέκταση του νεκροταφείου. Ο ήρωας μας λόγω κακουχιών πέθανε. Στο μέρος που έσκαβαν να τον θάψουν, εντόπισαν τα οστά της γυναίκας του!
Δεν χρειάζονται περισσότερα. Αντισταθείτε στις νέες εκδόσεις, βρείτε το βιβλίο και θα περάσετε σπουδαίες στιγμές αναγνωστικής απόλαυσης....
Δεν χρειάζονται περισσότερα. Αντισταθείτε στις νέες εκδόσεις, βρείτε το βιβλίο και θα περάσετε σπουδαίες στιγμές αναγνωστικής απόλαυσης....
June 9, 2019
Περίεργη γραφή: αφήγηση που δε μοιάζει με αφήγηση, σα να σου ανοίγει τα μάτια και με έκπληξη βρίσκεις τον εαυτό σου στο ίδιο βοσκοτόπι. Στη σελίδα 13 σχεδόν μύρισα φρεσκοαρμεγμένο γάλα. Αντί να σχολιάσει την πίστη, χρησιμοποιεί μια τραγικά ωραία ικανότητα: παρουσιάζει την καθημερινότητα σαν λαγαρό ρυάκι που το νερό πάντα κινείται με τους τρόπους του, τελικά ανεμπόδιστα κι ας είναι πάντα το ίδιο, οι τρόποι του καθησυχάζουν, δεν υπάρχει τίποτα πεζό. Μα την ίδια στιγμή, η εθιμοτυπία της πίστης δε διαχωρίζεται από διακαείς ψυχαναγκασμούς του είδους που γεννά διαρκώς άγχος, το οποίο ποτέ δεν αντιλαμβάνεσαι ως πραγματική ανιερότητα, παρά ως κρότο που σε προειδοποιεί για κάτι το ανίερο ή το βλάσφημο που βρίσκεται έξω απ’ τη σκέψη τιμωρίας – ψυχαναγκασμό σε αυτά που στην πραγματικότητα δε μπορείς να ελέγξεις, απαιτώντας μια τελειότητα απ’ τον εαυτό σου, η οποία όμως δεν ανήκει στη φύση σου.
Στη σελίδα 52 αισθάνθηκα πραγματικό πόνο απ’ το κακό που μπορεί να προκαλέσει κι η παραμικρή δεισιδαιμονία, όταν παίρνουν οι αγελαδάρηδες, τον Ιακώβ μαζί τους στο πανηγύρι. Στην πραγματικότητα, η λέξη πόνος είναι υπερβολική κι η λέξη δυσφορία, λίγη. Έμοιαζε περισσότερο με καημό να ξηλώσω αυτό που διάβασα, την εικόνα που μου δημιούργησε από μέσα μου, να τα ξεχάσω όλα.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucBf...
Παρακάτω γίνεται λόγος για ‘κεινο τον έρωτα που σε αποξενώνει απ’ τον εαυτό σου. Κοιτάς μέσα και δε μπορείς να αγγίξεις αυτόν που σου μιλούσε ως χτες, μοιάζει σα χαλκομανία να κόλλησε πάνω σου κι ο ένας να μην ξεχωρίζει απ’ τον άλλο εαυτό κι όμως κι οι δυο να αντιλαμβάνονται την απουσία του άλλου. Ο έρωτας σε αποξενώνει απ’ τους άλλους, αυτός όμως ο έρωτας στην απουσία του άλλου σε κάνει να αισθάνεσαι μισός, στην απομάκρυνση του είσαι κενός. Σε ένα βιβλίο που η λέξη έρωτας, δεν κάνει πουθενά την εμφάνιση της…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8xi8...
Ο τρόπος του συγγραφέα είναι πολύ προσωπικός, χρησιμοποιεί ταυτόχρονα την κυριολεξία και την αλληγορία τη μια σα μέσο για να ��ατασπαράξει την άλλη, απευθύνεται λες σε ‘σενα προσωπικά χωρίς να σ’ αφήνει να αράξεις στον καναπέ σου. Κι είναι ο τρόπος του να σου δείξει πως υπάρχουν στιγμές που κατέχεις τα πάντα, δεν έχεις όμως τίποτα, δε γεύεσαι καν κι η μεγάλη σου ευκαιρία είναι αυτή που φοβάσαι κάπου πέρα μακριά στον ορίζοντα, όταν όλα χάνονται. Τότε αρχίζεις πραγματικά να τα έχεις. Κι αν τύχει και τα πλησιάσεις πάλι, έρχεται κι η αυτονόητη συνειδητοποίηση όσων ακμών στρογγύλεψες απ’ αυτά που κατείχες και έχασες πριν προλάβεις να κατανοήσεις, μα που έγιναν απωθημένα για να επαναποκτηθούν. Όμως εκείνα που στο σβήσιμο του γίνανε πραγματικά δικά σου, συνεχίζεις να τα έχεις κι είναι η βαθιά ουσία τους που σου ανήκει και γι’ αυτό πια μπορείς να βλέπεις τα περιγράμματα του κόσμου ακόμα κι αν δεν ενώνεις τις τελείες, όχι με τον τρόπο που θα επέτρεπε μια αποστομωτική ατάκα πριν βγεις απ’ τη σκηνή.
Στη Μεγάλη Περιπέτεια του Ξενόπουλου έχεις ένα μη Εβραίο συγγραφέα που λέει πως οι μη Εβραίοι φερθήκαμε σαν κτήνη. Κάτι που συνάδει με την άποψη πολλών Εβραίων και μη συγγραφέων. Εδώ όμως έχεις τον πρώτο συγγραφέα, απ’ όσους έχω διαβάσει εγώ, που απαντάει σύμφωνα με ‘κεινο το παλιό ρώσικο παραμύθι με το Γερμανό και το Ρώσο που ξέπνοοι απ’ την αιώνια αψιμαχία τους κοιμούνται στην ακροποταμιά και μες στον ύπνο αλλάζουν ρούχα και το πρωί βλέπει ο ένας στον άλλο τον εαυτό του για πρώτη φορά. Και σου λέει, ναι κι εμείς οι Εβραίοι είμαστε το ίδιο επιρρεπείς στη ματαιοδοξία, στη λαιμαργία, στη χειραγώγηση, όπως κάθε άλλος λαός. Το βιβλίο αυτό είναι ένα ς πατέρας σκληρός που δεν παύει να είναι δίκαιος και που μπορεί και να γίνει πολύ τρυφερός.
Και θα μπορούσε κάποιος να υποθέσει πως ένα βιβλίο στο οποίο γίνεται διαρκές μπραντεφέρ ανάμεσα στην πίστη και την αμφιβολία στο περιβάλλον του Ιουδαϊσμού δε μας αφορά, αφορά άλλους. Όχι αφορά εμάς. Οι άνθρωποι ντυνόμαστε διαφορετικά και κάθε εποχή έχει τη δική της έκφραση, όμως πάντα οι ίδιες σκανδάλες μας φοβίζουν, οι ίδιες εξάπτουν την περιέργεια μας, ή ανάβουν τη φλόγα των υψηλών ιδανικών ή της λαγνείας. Και μπορούμε να απορρίψουμε το βιβλίο πως μιλάει για πράγματα παλιά και χιλιοειπωμένα – έχουμε αυτό το δικαίωμα. Δεν έχουμε ωστόσο καμιά δικαιολογία, αν το κάνουμε. Γιατί το βιβλίο γράφτηκε το 1962. Έπεται των μεγάλων δεινών της Ιστορίας. Άρα είναι άλλη η ερμηνεία του. Κι αν το πρελούδιο λέγεται Ιουδαϊσμός, ίσως είναι τρόπος να ειπωθούν όλες αυτές οι ερωτήσεις, που συμψηφίζονται σε μία: προς τι όλα αυτά; Φοράμε ταυτότητες και γινόμαστε θύματα τους, περιορίζοντας τον εαυτό μας σε λεκτικά σύμβολα που καταντούν κατάρες και δεισιδαιμονίες. Και όμως αρκεί τελικά ένα ‘’Καλημέρα. Ευχαριστώ’’ ελεύθερα στον αέρα, με ανώνυμο αποδέκτη. Χριστιανός, Εβραίος, Μουσουλμάνος ( με όποια σειρά ). Αυτή η καλημέρα είναι το μόνο που χρειάζεται. Ευχαριστώ που υπάρχω, που υπήρξαν όσοι υπήρξαν, να είναι καλά αυτοί που υπάρχουν. Κι αν όλα τα υπόλοιπα δε θες να τα δεις κάτω απ’ το πρίσμα της θρησκευτικής διαφοράς, καλύτερα. Δες όλες τις πολιτικές διαφορές, τις μορφωτικές, τις οικονομικές. Όλες όσες υπάρχουν. Και υπάρχουν. Μα καθένας μας μέσα στο υποσύνολο που βρίσκεται μοιάζει με κάποιον από άλλο υποσύνολο και όλοι μοιάζουμε με κάποιους άλλους κι είναι το μόνο που ποτέ δε βλέπουμε. Το θαύμα να είσαι άνθρωπος κι η υπεροψία να αναγνωρίζεις στη θνητή σου υπόσταση, πως μέρος της αρετής είναι και το να υπακούς στα εύκολα και να δυσανασχετείς στα δύσκολα, να … τιμάς το Θεό, αλλά να υποτιμάς τους ανθρώπους. Σκλάβος των περιούσιων δυνατοτήτων σου, που επιβάλλουν τελικά τις διακρίσεις σου.
Το ηχηρότερο μήνυμα του βιβλίου είναι πως δε μπορείς ρε φίλε να παίρνεις την αγάπη και να τη ντύνεις με απάτες. Είναι Έγκλημα. Πάρτη και περπάτα σ’ όλη τη γη, ντυμένος με τις κλωστές που θα σου δώσει εκείνη. Σίγουρα θα νιώσεις κρύο, θα νιώσεις ζέστη, θα πονέσεις, θα χτυπήσεις, αλλά θα την έχεις μαζί σου καθαρή κι ατόφια να σου κρατά το χέρι και να σε σηκώνει, θα σε κάνει καθαρό. Μη τη ντύνεις. Είναι η ίδια φορεσιά, πίστη, πατρίδα. Και γ@μα τις νηστείες κι όλα τα σχετικά.
Σε πολλές στιγμές της ζωής μας ευδοκιμεί μέσα μας μια ξεχωριστή οντότητα, η Τιμωρία. Μπορεί να είναι μηχανισμός της εσωτερικής αίσθησης για το σωστό ή το λάθος, ή ακόμη ‘’υποσυνείδητο’’ της διδαγμένης ηθικής. Αναπτύσσεται σα διακαής φόβος, λαμπάκι ασφαλείας μόνιμα αναμμένο. Παραδοχή, μαζί και, πρόκληση. Όχι στο ίδιο το δεινό. Τα δεινά τελικά έρχονται, θέλουμε ή όχι, στην πραγματική τους μορφή κι όχι σε όποια το παρασταίνουμε. Είναι το είδος του μαθήματος που βασίζεται η εξωτερική επιβολή της κοινωνίας, στα προεφηβικά μας μαθήματα, πάνω στα περιγράμματα του μηχανισμού λειτουργίας μας. Εκπαιδευόμαστε να είμαστε ενοχικοί. Μα γιατί δεν είμαστε όλοι, λοιπόν; Δεν είμαστε, θα ρωτούσα με ανασηκωμένο φρύδι – ο Σίνγκερ αν και εκδηλωτικότερος είναι και περισσότερο διακριτικός από ‘μενα, καθένας μας επιλέγει τους διαβόλους του, ή γίνεται η επιλογή γι’ αυτόν. Η κοινωνία, η οικογένεια, τα βιώματα μας, τα ‘’αναγνώσματα’’ μας, προϋποθέτουν ποιοι θα είναι. Ξανά, ο απόηχος των σκέψεων του Σαντ…
Και τελικά, χρειάζεται και λίγο μυστήριο στον πυρήνα της δικαίωσης, αυτό που μια ξαφνική δίνη, ένα σπρώξιμο, κάτι που δε μπορεί να ελεγχθεί, σε βοηθά να πάρεις ανάσα.
Πως μπορώ να προφέρω λέξεις ιερές σ’ αυτό το βρώμικο χώρο
Στη σελίδα 52 αισθάνθηκα πραγματικό πόνο απ’ το κακό που μπορεί να προκαλέσει κι η παραμικρή δεισιδαιμονία, όταν παίρνουν οι αγελαδάρηδες, τον Ιακώβ μαζί τους στο πανηγύρι. Στην πραγματικότητα, η λέξη πόνος είναι υπερβολική κι η λέξη δυσφορία, λίγη. Έμοιαζε περισσότερο με καημό να ξηλώσω αυτό που διάβασα, την εικόνα που μου δημιούργησε από μέσα μου, να τα ξεχάσω όλα.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucBf...
Παρακάτω γίνεται λόγος για ‘κεινο τον έρωτα που σε αποξενώνει απ’ τον εαυτό σου. Κοιτάς μέσα και δε μπορείς να αγγίξεις αυτόν που σου μιλούσε ως χτες, μοιάζει σα χαλκομανία να κόλλησε πάνω σου κι ο ένας να μην ξεχωρίζει απ’ τον άλλο εαυτό κι όμως κι οι δυο να αντιλαμβάνονται την απουσία του άλλου. Ο έρωτας σε αποξενώνει απ’ τους άλλους, αυτός όμως ο έρωτας στην απουσία του άλλου σε κάνει να αισθάνεσαι μισός, στην απομάκρυνση του είσαι κενός. Σε ένα βιβλίο που η λέξη έρωτας, δεν κάνει πουθενά την εμφάνιση της…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8xi8...
Ο τρόπος του συγγραφέα είναι πολύ προσωπικός, χρησιμοποιεί ταυτόχρονα την κυριολεξία και την αλληγορία τη μια σα μέσο για να ��ατασπαράξει την άλλη, απευθύνεται λες σε ‘σενα προσωπικά χωρίς να σ’ αφήνει να αράξεις στον καναπέ σου. Κι είναι ο τρόπος του να σου δείξει πως υπάρχουν στιγμές που κατέχεις τα πάντα, δεν έχεις όμως τίποτα, δε γεύεσαι καν κι η μεγάλη σου ευκαιρία είναι αυτή που φοβάσαι κάπου πέρα μακριά στον ορίζοντα, όταν όλα χάνονται. Τότε αρχίζεις πραγματικά να τα έχεις. Κι αν τύχει και τα πλησιάσεις πάλι, έρχεται κι η αυτονόητη συνειδητοποίηση όσων ακμών στρογγύλεψες απ’ αυτά που κατείχες και έχασες πριν προλάβεις να κατανοήσεις, μα που έγιναν απωθημένα για να επαναποκτηθούν. Όμως εκείνα που στο σβήσιμο του γίνανε πραγματικά δικά σου, συνεχίζεις να τα έχεις κι είναι η βαθιά ουσία τους που σου ανήκει και γι’ αυτό πια μπορείς να βλέπεις τα περιγράμματα του κόσμου ακόμα κι αν δεν ενώνεις τις τελείες, όχι με τον τρόπο που θα επέτρεπε μια αποστομωτική ατάκα πριν βγεις απ’ τη σκηνή.
Στη Μεγάλη Περιπέτεια του Ξενόπουλου έχεις ένα μη Εβραίο συγγραφέα που λέει πως οι μη Εβραίοι φερθήκαμε σαν κτήνη. Κάτι που συνάδει με την άποψη πολλών Εβραίων και μη συγγραφέων. Εδώ όμως έχεις τον πρώτο συγγραφέα, απ’ όσους έχω διαβάσει εγώ, που απαντάει σύμφωνα με ‘κεινο το παλιό ρώσικο παραμύθι με το Γερμανό και το Ρώσο που ξέπνοοι απ’ την αιώνια αψιμαχία τους κοιμούνται στην ακροποταμιά και μες στον ύπνο αλλάζουν ρούχα και το πρωί βλέπει ο ένας στον άλλο τον εαυτό του για πρώτη φορά. Και σου λέει, ναι κι εμείς οι Εβραίοι είμαστε το ίδιο επιρρεπείς στη ματαιοδοξία, στη λαιμαργία, στη χειραγώγηση, όπως κάθε άλλος λαός. Το βιβλίο αυτό είναι ένα ς πατέρας σκληρός που δεν παύει να είναι δίκαιος και που μπορεί και να γίνει πολύ τρυφερός.
Και θα μπορούσε κάποιος να υποθέσει πως ένα βιβλίο στο οποίο γίνεται διαρκές μπραντεφέρ ανάμεσα στην πίστη και την αμφιβολία στο περιβάλλον του Ιουδαϊσμού δε μας αφορά, αφορά άλλους. Όχι αφορά εμάς. Οι άνθρωποι ντυνόμαστε διαφορετικά και κάθε εποχή έχει τη δική της έκφραση, όμως πάντα οι ίδιες σκανδάλες μας φοβίζουν, οι ίδιες εξάπτουν την περιέργεια μας, ή ανάβουν τη φλόγα των υψηλών ιδανικών ή της λαγνείας. Και μπορούμε να απορρίψουμε το βιβλίο πως μιλάει για πράγματα παλιά και χιλιοειπωμένα – έχουμε αυτό το δικαίωμα. Δεν έχουμε ωστόσο καμιά δικαιολογία, αν το κάνουμε. Γιατί το βιβλίο γράφτηκε το 1962. Έπεται των μεγάλων δεινών της Ιστορίας. Άρα είναι άλλη η ερμηνεία του. Κι αν το πρελούδιο λέγεται Ιουδαϊσμός, ίσως είναι τρόπος να ειπωθούν όλες αυτές οι ερωτήσεις, που συμψηφίζονται σε μία: προς τι όλα αυτά; Φοράμε ταυτότητες και γινόμαστε θύματα τους, περιορίζοντας τον εαυτό μας σε λεκτικά σύμβολα που καταντούν κατάρες και δεισιδαιμονίες. Και όμως αρκεί τελικά ένα ‘’Καλημέρα. Ευχαριστώ’’ ελεύθερα στον αέρα, με ανώνυμο αποδέκτη. Χριστιανός, Εβραίος, Μουσουλμάνος ( με όποια σειρά ). Αυτή η καλημέρα είναι το μόνο που χρειάζεται. Ευχαριστώ που υπάρχω, που υπήρξαν όσοι υπήρξαν, να είναι καλά αυτοί που υπάρχουν. Κι αν όλα τα υπόλοιπα δε θες να τα δεις κάτω απ’ το πρίσμα της θρησκευτικής διαφοράς, καλύτερα. Δες όλες τις πολιτικές διαφορές, τις μορφωτικές, τις οικονομικές. Όλες όσες υπάρχουν. Και υπάρχουν. Μα καθένας μας μέσα στο υποσύνολο που βρίσκεται μοιάζει με κάποιον από άλλο υποσύνολο και όλοι μοιάζουμε με κάποιους άλλους κι είναι το μόνο που ποτέ δε βλέπουμε. Το θαύμα να είσαι άνθρωπος κι η υπεροψία να αναγνωρίζεις στη θνητή σου υπόσταση, πως μέρος της αρετής είναι και το να υπακούς στα εύκολα και να δυσανασχετείς στα δύσκολα, να … τιμάς το Θεό, αλλά να υποτιμάς τους ανθρώπους. Σκλάβος των περιούσιων δυνατοτήτων σου, που επιβάλλουν τελικά τις διακρίσεις σου.
Το ηχηρότερο μήνυμα του βιβλίου είναι πως δε μπορείς ρε φίλε να παίρνεις την αγάπη και να τη ντύνεις με απάτες. Είναι Έγκλημα. Πάρτη και περπάτα σ’ όλη τη γη, ντυμένος με τις κλωστές που θα σου δώσει εκείνη. Σίγουρα θα νιώσεις κρύο, θα νιώσεις ζέστη, θα πονέσεις, θα χτυπήσεις, αλλά θα την έχεις μαζί σου καθαρή κι ατόφια να σου κρατά το χέρι και να σε σηκώνει, θα σε κάνει καθαρό. Μη τη ντύνεις. Είναι η ίδια φορεσιά, πίστη, πατρίδα. Και γ@μα τις νηστείες κι όλα τα σχετικά.
Σε πολλές στιγμές της ζωής μας ευδοκιμεί μέσα μας μια ξεχωριστή οντότητα, η Τιμωρία. Μπορεί να είναι μηχανισμός της εσωτερικής αίσθησης για το σωστό ή το λάθος, ή ακόμη ‘’υποσυνείδητο’’ της διδαγμένης ηθικής. Αναπτύσσεται σα διακαής φόβος, λαμπάκι ασφαλείας μόνιμα αναμμένο. Παραδοχή, μαζί και, πρόκληση. Όχι στο ίδιο το δεινό. Τα δεινά τελικά έρχονται, θέλουμε ή όχι, στην πραγματική τους μορφή κι όχι σε όποια το παρασταίνουμε. Είναι το είδος του μαθήματος που βασίζεται η εξωτερική επιβολή της κοινωνίας, στα προεφηβικά μας μαθήματα, πάνω στα περιγράμματα του μηχανισμού λειτουργίας μας. Εκπαιδευόμαστε να είμαστε ενοχικοί. Μα γιατί δεν είμαστε όλοι, λοιπόν; Δεν είμαστε, θα ρωτούσα με ανασηκωμένο φρύδι – ο Σίνγκερ αν και εκδηλωτικότερος είναι και περισσότερο διακριτικός από ‘μενα, καθένας μας επιλέγει τους διαβόλους του, ή γίνεται η επιλογή γι’ αυτόν. Η κοινωνία, η οικογένεια, τα βιώματα μας, τα ‘’αναγνώσματα’’ μας, προϋποθέτουν ποιοι θα είναι. Ξανά, ο απόηχος των σκέψεων του Σαντ…
Και τελικά, χρειάζεται και λίγο μυστήριο στον πυρήνα της δικαίωσης, αυτό που μια ξαφνική δίνη, ένα σπρώξιμο, κάτι που δε μπορεί να ελεγχθεί, σε βοηθά να πάρεις ανάσα.
Πως μπορώ να προφέρω λέξεις ιερές σ’ αυτό το βρώμικο χώρο
October 7, 2025
A beautifully written and absurdly romantic love story. I found this both exquisite in terms of the prose but also in terms of the slow and magnificently detailed development of their relationship and hardships. I thought the writing was sublime and suspect a great deal of credit must also go to the translator given that Singer wrote exclusively in Yiddish.
After a massacre of Jews in 17th century Poland, a Jew named Jacob is taken as a slave to a small mountain village. He endeavours to maintain his religion despite the villagers mocking and beating him, trying to force him to eat pork, and, in many ways, he uses these experiences to become even more devout, observing as many traditional rituals as possible, methodically carving the commandments into a stone, and rejecting all potential temptation to sin. His master has a daughter named Wanda and the two develop an attraction which slowly builds into an intense sexual craving (which appals Jacob as it goes against his religion and feels more like a torment from the devil). Eventually, the two succumb and begin a sexual relationship. After many years of slavery, some Jews come to ransom him and he is, without ceremony, taken back to Josefov, the town where he is originally from and where he continues to crave Wanda. He eventually decides to leave the town and return to her but knows, because she is a gentile, that they must live somewhere else and keep her identity secret. They arrive in a town called Pilitz and Wanda masquerades as a mute woman called Sarah. During the birth of their child, however, she gives herself away by speaking Polish which causes the Jewish community to grasp that she is not a Jew and results in them punishing Jacob for this transgression. The final part of the book then jumps 20 years ahead.
It's a magnificent piece of work. It occasionally drags because of the intricate details Singer includes, the day to day existence, the minutia of their experiences. But the writing is always very high quality. Obviously, the book has a very religious nature but while it explores themes of suffering for the Jews, it also criticises many aspects of Judaism itself, especially those that reveal themselves to be overtly hypocritical. While Jacob is treated unpleasantly by the Christians, a thing which Jacob insist would not happen the other way around, once Wanda is among the Jewish community, she is also treated very badly demonstrating that the Jewish ideals they live by are equally malleable. The defining feature of the book, however, is the intense feeling of connection between these two people, their almost addictive passions, Jacob and Wanda/Sarah beginning their relationship on a foundation of pure lust but discovering that their love goes significantly deeper. It reminded me a lot of Kazanzakis' The Last Temptation both in its spiritual profundity but also in its terrible heart-ache. I think I would describe this as one of the most romantic books I have ever read.
After a massacre of Jews in 17th century Poland, a Jew named Jacob is taken as a slave to a small mountain village. He endeavours to maintain his religion despite the villagers mocking and beating him, trying to force him to eat pork, and, in many ways, he uses these experiences to become even more devout, observing as many traditional rituals as possible, methodically carving the commandments into a stone, and rejecting all potential temptation to sin. His master has a daughter named Wanda and the two develop an attraction which slowly builds into an intense sexual craving (which appals Jacob as it goes against his religion and feels more like a torment from the devil). Eventually, the two succumb and begin a sexual relationship. After many years of slavery, some Jews come to ransom him and he is, without ceremony, taken back to Josefov, the town where he is originally from and where he continues to crave Wanda. He eventually decides to leave the town and return to her but knows, because she is a gentile, that they must live somewhere else and keep her identity secret. They arrive in a town called Pilitz and Wanda masquerades as a mute woman called Sarah. During the birth of their child, however, she gives herself away by speaking Polish which causes the Jewish community to grasp that she is not a Jew and results in them punishing Jacob for this transgression. The final part of the book then jumps 20 years ahead.
It's a magnificent piece of work. It occasionally drags because of the intricate details Singer includes, the day to day existence, the minutia of their experiences. But the writing is always very high quality. Obviously, the book has a very religious nature but while it explores themes of suffering for the Jews, it also criticises many aspects of Judaism itself, especially those that reveal themselves to be overtly hypocritical. While Jacob is treated unpleasantly by the Christians, a thing which Jacob insist would not happen the other way around, once Wanda is among the Jewish community, she is also treated very badly demonstrating that the Jewish ideals they live by are equally malleable. The defining feature of the book, however, is the intense feeling of connection between these two people, their almost addictive passions, Jacob and Wanda/Sarah beginning their relationship on a foundation of pure lust but discovering that their love goes significantly deeper. It reminded me a lot of Kazanzakis' The Last Temptation both in its spiritual profundity but also in its terrible heart-ache. I think I would describe this as one of the most romantic books I have ever read.
January 11, 2020
Pokajanjem grijeh može da se preobrati u pobožnost, a pravda u milosrđe. I neko ogriješenje može, ponekad, da vodi ka dobru.
Strasno napisana ljubavna priča koja svoju egzaltaciju dobija u mučenju i progonu. Poljska i masakr nad Jevrejima u 17. stoljeću. Singer je izvukao Biblijske naratore, i sve ono što oni nose sa sobom, sve mane i vrline utkao je u figuru po imenu Jakov. On će padati u određena iskušenja, pojedine izjave zvučaće kao jeres, ali Singer koristi tu književnu slobodu i miješa je sa nekim od načela svojih svetih knjiga. Kod Singera je sve u nekoj simbolici, određene stvari mogu da se sa raznih strana sagledavaju i tumače. Često apostrofira i pravi religiozne digresije po pitanju dobra i zla. Njegove suptilne sentence o bogu i njegovom odricanju ili prihvatanju u najtežim trenucima, promišljanja o samoj vjeri te kako se i zašto ona gubi, ispitivanje kauzalnosti jeste neka vrsta goriva koja pokreće ovaj roman. Likovi nisu u crno-bijeloj varijanti, njihov saživot je stvaran, barem oku naše svakodnevne stvarnosti, i ona je prikazana bez ukrašavanja sa svom svojom svirepošću. Singer iako nije sklon patetici i nekoj tugaljivosti, nekako ima istančanost da sentiment prenese na čitaoca i ostavi neki gorko-slatki ukus. Sve u svemu, „Rob“ je jedna tragična priča, tečna do samog kraja. Ona svoj pedigre nalazi u savremenom čovjeku u nešto malo izmjenjenijim okolnostima spoljašnje egzistencije.
April 2, 2025
Questo romanzo, scritto da Isaac Bashevis Singer [1903-1991], nel 1962 e ambientato nella Polonia del XVII secolo, ha per protagonista Jacob, un ebreo che è riuscito a sfuggire a un pogrom del suo villaggio a prezzo della perdita della giovane moglie, dei figlioletti e del poco che aveva di suo e infine anche della libertà, perché all’inizio del romanzo lo conosciamo già schiavo da tempo di una famiglia polacca a cui è stato venduto: egli conduce in montagna una vita grama e solitaria confinato in una stalla, si occupa della cura dei bovini dei padroni, i giovinastri della zona a volte lo prendono in giro, ma pur ossessionato dai ricordi e da sogni di improbabile libertà, non dà eccessivo credito nemmeno alla giovane Wanda, l’unica della famiglia dei padroni a trattarlo con umanità, addirittura con amore finché non gli si apre una inattesa opportunità che gli permetterebbe di cominciare una nuova vita lontano, daccapo uomo libero stimato e rispettato e amato…ma c’è davvero per l’umanità una seconda possibilità?
Romanzo indimenticabile a tinte forti, colorato dal sangue di vittime innocenti, dagli incendi appiccati da anni di intolleranza, dall’odio di razza e di religione, in un tempo apparentemente lontano dal nostro eppure così vicino, così simile all’oggi, teso a farci comprendere che l’uomo con i suoi sentimenti peggiori non cambierà mai.
Romanzo indimenticabile a tinte forti, colorato dal sangue di vittime innocenti, dagli incendi appiccati da anni di intolleranza, dall’odio di razza e di religione, in un tempo apparentemente lontano dal nostro eppure così vicino, così simile all’oggi, teso a farci comprendere che l’uomo con i suoi sentimenti peggiori non cambierà mai.
June 23, 2024
Kako čovek da se oporavi posle ove knjige?
Vanvremenska priča i očaravajuće pripovedanje.
Vanvremenska priča i očaravajuće pripovedanje.
January 16, 2019
Fra i suoi diciotto romanzi, “Lo schiavo” è sicuramente uno di quelli da non farsi sfuggire; pubblicato nel ’62 partecipa con peso specifico alla prolifica stagione creativa che, dal primo romanzo “Satana a Goraj”, porta l’autore, passando per il successo di critica e di pubblico de “La famiglia Moskat”, al premio Nobel del ’78.
È una storia ambientata nel 1600, in una Polonia sferzata da venti gelidi e cosacchi a cavallo, piegata inoltre da una miriade di credenze superstiziose che si vorrebbero derivate dalle grandi religioni monoteiste, senza derivazione alcuna in realtà. La gente è povera, subisce la prepotenza di pochi che la governano, l ‘ebreo, in questo contesto, patisce ancor di più per i ripetuti pogrom e la superstizione aiuta gli animi a sopportare le violenze e le sopraffazioni.
Simbolo della condizione ebraica, racchiusa in un ampio raggio che va dalla sottomissione a Dio, alla ritualità passando per l’intrinseca condizione di esule senza patria, è Jacob, un giovane uomo al quale i cosacchi sterminano la famiglia, moglie e figli, e che in seguito viene venduto a cristiani che, in qualità di schiavo, lo sfruttano per il lavoro nei campi e con gli animali, mentre la comunità del villaggio ospitante ne fa il capro espiatorio di ataviche paure.
Pende su Jacob una condizione di eterna precarietà, potrebbe essere ammazzato per nulla, mentre rassegnato coltiva, per quanto possibile, la sua fede in Dio, mantenendo o recuperando il patrimonio di conoscenze e di riti che la sua precedente condizione di benestante gli aveva assicurato. Ora è un povero schiavo e solo la fede lo consola; l’incontro con Wanda e il successivo legame amoroso-al quale si opporrà con tutte le sue forze perché è vietato per un ebreo legarsi con una gentile- lo porteranno a vivere gioie e dolori, a scontrarsi con le ipocrisie delle due comunità religiose e a sperimentare una nuova condizione servile, rimpiangendo in lui e negli altri la possibilità di godere di piena libertà.
Rimarrà sempre un uomo giusto trascendendo le prescrizioni imposte dalla legge religiosa, seguendo una morale e un’etica che, pare dire Singer, appartiene prima all’individuo poi alla fede. Il romanzo contempla tutta la sua esistenza mentre l’epilogo, bellissimo, ne consegna il suo profondo significato.
Magistrale rappresentazione realistica di un mondo crudele: si fa in fretta a opporlo al nostro, progredito e civile e a distanziarlo così tanto da chiedersi se in fondo in questo nostro mondo, immutato nelle intolleranze religiose, incapace ancora di perseguire il bene, specchio di una finitezza umana misera e votata all’odio, ci siano poi degli uomini giusti che possano farci da guida.
È una storia ambientata nel 1600, in una Polonia sferzata da venti gelidi e cosacchi a cavallo, piegata inoltre da una miriade di credenze superstiziose che si vorrebbero derivate dalle grandi religioni monoteiste, senza derivazione alcuna in realtà. La gente è povera, subisce la prepotenza di pochi che la governano, l ‘ebreo, in questo contesto, patisce ancor di più per i ripetuti pogrom e la superstizione aiuta gli animi a sopportare le violenze e le sopraffazioni.
Simbolo della condizione ebraica, racchiusa in un ampio raggio che va dalla sottomissione a Dio, alla ritualità passando per l’intrinseca condizione di esule senza patria, è Jacob, un giovane uomo al quale i cosacchi sterminano la famiglia, moglie e figli, e che in seguito viene venduto a cristiani che, in qualità di schiavo, lo sfruttano per il lavoro nei campi e con gli animali, mentre la comunità del villaggio ospitante ne fa il capro espiatorio di ataviche paure.
Pende su Jacob una condizione di eterna precarietà, potrebbe essere ammazzato per nulla, mentre rassegnato coltiva, per quanto possibile, la sua fede in Dio, mantenendo o recuperando il patrimonio di conoscenze e di riti che la sua precedente condizione di benestante gli aveva assicurato. Ora è un povero schiavo e solo la fede lo consola; l’incontro con Wanda e il successivo legame amoroso-al quale si opporrà con tutte le sue forze perché è vietato per un ebreo legarsi con una gentile- lo porteranno a vivere gioie e dolori, a scontrarsi con le ipocrisie delle due comunità religiose e a sperimentare una nuova condizione servile, rimpiangendo in lui e negli altri la possibilità di godere di piena libertà.
Rimarrà sempre un uomo giusto trascendendo le prescrizioni imposte dalla legge religiosa, seguendo una morale e un’etica che, pare dire Singer, appartiene prima all’individuo poi alla fede. Il romanzo contempla tutta la sua esistenza mentre l’epilogo, bellissimo, ne consegna il suo profondo significato.
Magistrale rappresentazione realistica di un mondo crudele: si fa in fretta a opporlo al nostro, progredito e civile e a distanziarlo così tanto da chiedersi se in fondo in questo nostro mondo, immutato nelle intolleranze religiose, incapace ancora di perseguire il bene, specchio di una finitezza umana misera e votata all’odio, ci siano poi degli uomini giusti che possano farci da guida.
January 16, 2018
Jako dobar stil pripovijedanja, to me oduševilo iako se, tu i tamo, ponavlja. Odličan prikaz čovjeka koji je cijeli život bio robom - svoga gospodara, ljubavi prema ženi i konačno vlastite vjere.
Autor je tako fino iskritizirao sukob religija - mržnju i netrpeljivost prema pripadnicima druge vjere. Bog je samo jedan (samo ga različito imenujemo) i ne vjerujem da nas mrzi i kažnjava zbog svake naše pogreške. Tako to izgleda kada mi sami interpretiramo božju riječ i pitam se: zašto bi sve trebalo biti negativno. Zašto ne vidimo samo ljubav i svjetlost? Bilo bi nam lakše.
Naravno, sve to ako vjerujete.
Autor je tako fino iskritizirao sukob religija - mržnju i netrpeljivost prema pripadnicima druge vjere. Bog je samo jedan (samo ga različito imenujemo) i ne vjerujem da nas mrzi i kažnjava zbog svake naše pogreške. Tako to izgleda kada mi sami interpretiramo božju riječ i pitam se: zašto bi sve trebalo biti negativno. Zašto ne vidimo samo ljubav i svjetlost? Bilo bi nam lakše.
Naravno, sve to ako vjerujete.
March 15, 2018
Η ιστορία του Ιακώβ και της Βάντας είναι μια μικρογραφία της εβραϊκής ιστορίας, από την Έξοδο και την περιπλάνηση στην έρημο του Σινά, μέχρι τις σφαγές του Χμιελνίσκυ και το σύγχρονο ολοκαύτωμα από τους Ναζί, μια ιστορία γεμάτη διωγμούς και εγκλήματα εις βάρος του λαού του Ισραήλ...
Δυστυχώς στις μέρες μας έχουν αντιστραφεί οι ρόλοι του Δαβίδ με τον Γολιάθ...
Δυστυχώς στις μέρες μας έχουν αντιστραφεί οι ρόλοι του Δαβίδ με τον Γολιάθ...
February 20, 2011
I realize that this is a love story. What I found charming about this particular love story is that I couldn't understand why it was called one. That is, until the end. The end is beautiful. I've read so many endings; endings that end with a sigh, with a cry, or with a laugh. But this one was perfect. I must admit I was sleepy when I read that last sentence, but I don't think I could've reacted to the finish of this book anyways. It was perfect.
Like I said, for me, this was mostly a ...moreI realize that this is a love story. What I found charming about this particular love story is that I couldn't understand why it was called one. That is, until the end. The end is beautiful. I've read so many endings; endings that end with a sigh, with a cry, or with a laugh. But this one was perfect. I must admit I was sleepy when I read that last sentence, but I don't think I could've reacted to the finish of this book anyways. It was perfect.
Like I said, for me, this was mostly a story on humanity. On how complex and hideous humanity can be, but how sometimes God and good shine through and how misunderstood that can be. Jacob never thought of himself as good; he lived with the assurance that he would go to hell because he had married Wanda, or Sarah, and thus he was resigned. Having determined that he would go to hell, he could have been as evil and corrupt as he wanted. But he was so good, so perfectly good that it becomes unbelievable, laughably novel-like. (This is, by the way, the only fault I can find in the book.) And the beauty of the main character's disposition gives the whole tale so much bitter-sweetness. The love story is opaqued.
Also, Isaac Bashevis Singer is a genius. This is the first novel of his I have read; I had read short stories before, such as "In my Father's Court." I don't know if it's the brilliance of the translation, but I think that there were some passages that one truly had to re-read, because the language used was heart-wrenching, the landscapes painted fairy-like. How rare and beautiful that is.
All in all, this was a book that, although smeared with tragedy, was beautiful. I think I may have to reread it.
Like I said, for me, this was mostly a ...moreI realize that this is a love story. What I found charming about this particular love story is that I couldn't understand why it was called one. That is, until the end. The end is beautiful. I've read so many endings; endings that end with a sigh, with a cry, or with a laugh. But this one was perfect. I must admit I was sleepy when I read that last sentence, but I don't think I could've reacted to the finish of this book anyways. It was perfect.
Like I said, for me, this was mostly a story on humanity. On how complex and hideous humanity can be, but how sometimes God and good shine through and how misunderstood that can be. Jacob never thought of himself as good; he lived with the assurance that he would go to hell because he had married Wanda, or Sarah, and thus he was resigned. Having determined that he would go to hell, he could have been as evil and corrupt as he wanted. But he was so good, so perfectly good that it becomes unbelievable, laughably novel-like. (This is, by the way, the only fault I can find in the book.) And the beauty of the main character's disposition gives the whole tale so much bitter-sweetness. The love story is opaqued.
Also, Isaac Bashevis Singer is a genius. This is the first novel of his I have read; I had read short stories before, such as "In my Father's Court." I don't know if it's the brilliance of the translation, but I think that there were some passages that one truly had to re-read, because the language used was heart-wrenching, the landscapes painted fairy-like. How rare and beautiful that is.
All in all, this was a book that, although smeared with tragedy, was beautiful. I think I may have to reread it.
June 11, 2021
Premda mu je radnja smeštena u Poljskoj u 17.veku, roman "Rob" Isaka Singera podseća na biblijsku fabulu, protkanu motivima svetih knjiga ali prisnijeg narativa, čime ljubavna priča dobija na neposrednosti. Potlačenik Jakov i udovica Vanda i osećanja koja kuljaju između njih uprkos svim preprekama, samo su jedna od tema ovog slojevitog romana, čiji me je autor, već u prvim stranicama, kupio svojim bravuroznim umećem pripovedanja. Singer će svojim junacima prirediti svakakva iskušenja, a nama nepredvidiv narativ, priču pune simbolike, teoloških diskursa, hrišćanske mitologije, ali i poljskog folklora, jazičestva, magijskih rituala i totemizma. Ali, kada se u obzir uzmu okolnosti vremena koja se na ovaj ili onaj način odražavaju na bistvovanje protagonista, njihova unutrašnja kolebanja nalaze univerzalnu primenu i u savremenom dobu. Pisac je uspeo u nameri da ih nam približi, savladavši vremenski hijatus od četiri veka između doba u kojem žive neprikosnoveni, savesni i hrabri Singerovi junaci, Jakov i Vanda i nas koji uživamo ili ćemo tek uživati u njihovoj priči.
5*
July 24, 2022
3,5⭐️
Το βασικό στοιχείο του βιβλίου επισημαίνει την αποδοχή του διαφορετικού,. του Άλλου , από άλλες εθνικότητες και φυλές από άλλες κουλτούρες. Όλοι μας έχουμε κάποια χαμένη φυλή κάποιο κρυμμένο DNA. Σε σπρώχνει στο στοχασμό και την ενδόμυχη γέννηση της αλληλεγγύης.
Με την αιμάτινη σφραγίδα των σφαγών του Chmielnicki το 1648, χιλιάδες Εβραίοι έχασαν τη ζωή τους, ανάμεσά τους ήταν και η οικογένεια του Ιακώβ, ο οποίος μεταφέρθηκε ως σκλάβος αργότερα για να πουληθεί σε Πολωνούς αγρότες. Σε ένα περιβάλλον αρρωστημένο και σάπιο σε ψυχές και μπάσταρδα κορμιά.
Εκεί ψηλά, στα βουνά,σε αντίξοες και απάνθρωπες συνθήκες διαβίωσης αντιμετωπίζεται από όλους ως υπάνθρωπος, εκτός από μια Πολωνή αγρότισσα την Βάντα. Όπως είναι φυσικό, ερωτεύονται. Παράνομα και παθιασμένα.
Και εδώ αρχίζει η δραματουργία της τραγωδίας. Πολύ δυνατή ιστορία για μια σχέση μεταξύ δύο ανθρώπων από διαφορετικές κουλτούρες και θρησκείες σε μια εποχή που δεν υπήρχε ανοχή για τον άλλον.
Είναι επίσης μια βαθιά εξέταση του καλού και του κακού της θρησκείας.
Φυσικά το βιβλίο βρίθει θρησκευτικών ορισμών δογματισμού, μεγάλη και εκτενέστατη αναφορά στις γραφές τόσο των εβραϊκών ιδεωδών όσο- αν και κάπως λιγότερο- σε άλλες θρησκείες με τον
ίδιο θεό θεατή στα εγκλήματα που λάβαιναν μέρος ως θυσίες προς την Αγία θεια Χάρις του.
Πολλοί νεκροί μα καμία συγχώρεση, καμία παρέμβαση από το άγιο πνεύμα που φωτίζει τους θρησκευτικούς οπαδούς κάθε πίστης και πιστής ομάδας.
Διαδραματίζεται τον 16ο αιώνα στην Πολωνία, εν μέσω άγνοιας, βίας και μιας Πολωνίας που μεταβαίνει βιαίως από τη μεσαιωνική νοοτροπία. Το θάρρος και η δύναμη των κύριων χαρακτήρων, του σκλάβου, εβραίου Ιακώβ
και της «εθνικής» χωριατοπούλας,
Βάντας - Σάρας, που προσηλυτίστηκε από πάθος και πόθο στην εβραϊκή πίστη, είναι αληθινά εμπνευσμένα και απαράμιλλα εντυπωσιακά σαν γραφή μυθιστορήματος
Η αγάπη και η αφοσίωσή τους είναι απτή και το ιστορικό πλαίσιο είναι απολύτως συναρπαστικό, ο σκλάβος σε σκλαβώνει
Δεν ενθουσιάστηκα ιδιαίτερα με την πλοκή και την εξέλιξη αλλά μου άρεσε το διαχρονικό ερώτημα σχετικά
με τον θρησκευτικό συμβιβασμό, την ηθική ασάφεια,το συνειδησιακό ανάστημα, τις σχέσεις με τον «Άλλο», την αξιολόγηση της καλοσύνης, τα είδη σκλαβιάς σε σχέση με την ανθρωπιά και τις απαντήσεις στον αντισημιτισμό. ( Αν υπάρχουν).
Ίσως και σε κάθε μορφή τυπολατρικής έκφανσης ρατσισμού.
Καλή ανάγνωση
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.
Το βασικό στοιχείο του βιβλίου επισημαίνει την αποδοχή του διαφορετικού,. του Άλλου , από άλλες εθνικότητες και φυλές από άλλες κουλτούρες. Όλοι μας έχουμε κάποια χαμένη φυλή κάποιο κρυμμένο DNA. Σε σπρώχνει στο στοχασμό και την ενδόμυχη γέννηση της αλληλεγγύης.
Με την αιμάτινη σφραγίδα των σφαγών του Chmielnicki το 1648, χιλιάδες Εβραίοι έχασαν τη ζωή τους, ανάμεσά τους ήταν και η οικογένεια του Ιακώβ, ο οποίος μεταφέρθηκε ως σκλάβος αργότερα για να πουληθεί σε Πολωνούς αγρότες. Σε ένα περιβάλλον αρρωστημένο και σάπιο σε ψυχές και μπάσταρδα κορμιά.
Εκεί ψηλά, στα βουνά,σε αντίξοες και απάνθρωπες συνθήκες διαβίωσης αντιμετωπίζεται από όλους ως υπάνθρωπος, εκτός από μια Πολωνή αγρότισσα την Βάντα. Όπως είναι φυσικό, ερωτεύονται. Παράνομα και παθιασμένα.
Και εδώ αρχίζει η δραματουργία της τραγωδίας. Πολύ δυνατή ιστορία για μια σχέση μεταξύ δύο ανθρώπων από διαφορετικές κουλτούρες και θρησκείες σε μια εποχή που δεν υπήρχε ανοχή για τον άλλον.
Είναι επίσης μια βαθιά εξέταση του καλού και του κακού της θρησκείας.
Φυσικά το βιβλίο βρίθει θρησκευτικών ορισμών δογματισμού, μεγάλη και εκτενέστατη αναφορά στις γραφές τόσο των εβραϊκών ιδεωδών όσο- αν και κάπως λιγότερο- σε άλλες θρησκείες με τον
ίδιο θεό θεατή στα εγκλήματα που λάβαιναν μέρος ως θυσίες προς την Αγία θεια Χάρις του.
Πολλοί νεκροί μα καμία συγχώρεση, καμία παρέμβαση από το άγιο πνεύμα που φωτίζει τους θρησκευτικούς οπαδούς κάθε πίστης και πιστής ομάδας.
Διαδραματίζεται τον 16ο αιώνα στην Πολωνία, εν μέσω άγνοιας, βίας και μιας Πολωνίας που μεταβαίνει βιαίως από τη μεσαιωνική νοοτροπία. Το θάρρος και η δύναμη των κύριων χαρακτήρων, του σκλάβου, εβραίου Ιακώβ
και της «εθνικής» χωριατοπούλας,
Βάντας - Σάρας, που προσηλυτίστηκε από πάθος και πόθο στην εβραϊκή πίστη, είναι αληθινά εμπνευσμένα και απαράμιλλα εντυπωσιακά σαν γραφή μυθιστορήματος
Η αγάπη και η αφοσίωσή τους είναι απτή και το ιστορικό πλαίσιο είναι απολύτως συναρπαστικό, ο σκλάβος σε σκλαβώνει
Δεν ενθουσιάστηκα ιδιαίτερα με την πλοκή και την εξέλιξη αλλά μου άρεσε το διαχρονικό ερώτημα σχετικά
με τον θρησκευτικό συμβιβασμό, την ηθική ασάφεια,το συνειδησιακό ανάστημα, τις σχέσεις με τον «Άλλο», την αξιολόγηση της καλοσύνης, τα είδη σκλαβιάς σε σχέση με την ανθρωπιά και τις απαντήσεις στον αντισημιτισμό. ( Αν υπάρχουν).
Ίσως και σε κάθε μορφή τυπολατρικής έκφανσης ρατσισμού.
Καλή ανάγνωση
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.
March 28, 2021
"Yaşamım boyunca bir şey öğrendim: hiçbir şeye bağlanmayacaksın."
(s.235)
Sular akıyor şırıl şırıl seyrek ağaçlı tepelerden... Güneşin ışığı çiseliyor sabaha karşı. Vistül Nehri öyle kötü kokuyor ki sürüklediği cesetlerden ötürü... Bogdan Chmielnicki, (ismi yerin dibine batsın) boydan boya kuşatmıştı kötülüğüyle Ukrayna'yı ve öldürmüştü sayısız Yahudiyi, sırf Yahudi oldukları için.
Öyle bir dünya ki, olanca güzelliğine karşın, masmavi göğüne, pırıl pırıl renklerine karşın; içinde bitmek bilmez kini, öfkeyi, hırsı taşıyan ve ufuksuz cehaletiyle insansoyu tarafından sayısız kötülüğün işlenmesine sahne olmuş. Bir insan nedir ki? Kısacık ömrüyle nedir bir insan? Nedir yaşam? Ölümü bile anlayamadık henüz. Ölümün anlamını... Yaşamın anlamını anlayabilelim.
"Yaşam nedir ki? Beklersin, günler geçer, ölüm gelir ve hepsi sona erer." (s.192)
Elimde tuttuğum baskı, bu kitabın ilk ve son baskısı olan 1979 Altın Kitaplar baskısı. Şömizli sert kapak, dikişsiz yapıştırma cilt. Çevirisini de, bazı yerlerde mesela soğan yerine "sovan" diye çeviren ilginç diliyle verimli çevirmen Mehmet Harmancı yapmış. Daha önce onun çevirilerinden birkaç kitap daha okumuştum. Kitabın şömizinin kapağında bir nehir var Vistül olduğunu tahmin ediyorum. Şömizin altındaki sert kapağı ise suni deri mukavva. Sırtında da yanaklarında da hiçbir yazı yok. Baskı kalitesi idare eder ama elimdeki bu baskının 40 yaşında olduğunu düşünürsek oldukça iyi dayanmış bunca yıla. Dikişsiz olduğu için de cildi biraz ayrılmış sadece.
Bu kitabın 1962'de yayınlandığını düşünürsek, 1965 yılında yazılan Boyalı Kuş'a bazı yönlerden ilham vermesi olası. Konular farklı olsa dahi, yaşananları anlatım tarzı ve bu yaşanan olaylardaki trajik unsurlar benzer. Boyalı Kuş'ta da hafızam beni yanıltmıyorsa Kazaklar bir sahnede çıkıyordu karşımıza. Bu kitap elbette 17. yüzyıldaki Bogdan Chmielnicki'nin katliamlarını merkeze aldıysa da çizdiği toplum resimleri ortak.
Bu kitaptaki insancıkların yaşadıkları dünya "bütünüyle inançlar" üzerine inşa edilecek olası bir dünyanın ne olacağı hakkında çok iyi bir ipucu veriyor. Zira bir zamanlar her şey zaten böyleydi. Bu kitapta da gördüğümüz gibi, insanlar her şeyi; hemen her şeyi dini kurallar üzerine inşa etmeye çalışıyorlar, onların yetersiz olduğu noktalarda batıl inançlar, pagan inançları, çeşitli dini objeler (relics) ve kanaat önderlerinin düşünceleri belirliyor hayatın her şeyini. Gerçek dünyanın bütün fizik olayları bu insanlar için cinlerin, perilerin, büyülerin eseri. Anlayamadıkları her şeyden korkuyla uydurma metafizik alemine sığınıyorlar.
Gerçek dünya, zaten yeterince çetrefilli iken, bir de ikinci bir dünyayla mücadele etmek ne kadar fazla bir yük, insan için.
Bu kitaptan çok şey öğrendim. İnsanların bilim olmayan bir dünyada nasıl yaşayacağını gördüm. Bir defa daha yaşadığım hayata şükürler ettim. Yaşadığım zamana, sahip olduğumuz bilime, bugüne kadar dünyayı daha iyi bir yer yapmak için durmak bilmeden çalışan ve bizleri bu "büyülerle, cinlerle, perilerle" dolu dünyadan kurtaran bilim insanlarına o kadar çok şey borçluyuz ki! Onlar olmasaydı eğer bizler de bu kitaptaki gibi batıl inançlara, cehalete köle olurduk.
Köle, bir metafor. Gerçeğin de ötesinde, insanın kulluk ettiği her şeyin metaforu. İnanma, kandırma, kandırılma, bağlanma mecburiyeti, bedeni ihtiyaçlar, şehevi arzular... Aslında, insan her zaman köledir.
Yeni keşfettiğim bir kahve sayesinde geceleri biraz daha çok çalabiliyorum uykudan. Ah evet, kölesi olduğumuz uykudan. Belki daha çok okumalı. Daha çok anlamalı.
Barbarları Beklerken'den sonra bu yılın Nobel ödüllü yazarı olan ikinci eser oldu bu okuma.
Boyalı Kuş'u ve bu kitabı birlikte okuyun derim!
M.B.
Mersin
22.09.2019
Kitaplarına köle. (Daha iyisi olabilir mi?)
https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/03/28/...
Sular akıyor şırıl şırıl seyrek ağaçlı tepelerden... Güneşin ışığı çiseliyor sabaha karşı. Vistül Nehri öyle kötü kokuyor ki sürüklediği cesetlerden ötürü... Bogdan Chmielnicki, (ismi yerin dibine batsın) boydan boya kuşatmıştı kötülüğüyle Ukrayna'yı ve öldürmüştü sayısız Yahudiyi, sırf Yahudi oldukları için.
Öyle bir dünya ki, olanca güzelliğine karşın, masmavi göğüne, pırıl pırıl renklerine karşın; içinde bitmek bilmez kini, öfkeyi, hırsı taşıyan ve ufuksuz cehaletiyle insansoyu tarafından sayısız kötülüğün işlenmesine sahne olmuş. Bir insan nedir ki? Kısacık ömrüyle nedir bir insan? Nedir yaşam? Ölümü bile anlayamadık henüz. Ölümün anlamını... Yaşamın anlamını anlayabilelim.
"Yaşam nedir ki? Beklersin, günler geçer, ölüm gelir ve hepsi sona erer." (s.192)
Elimde tuttuğum baskı, bu kitabın ilk ve son baskısı olan 1979 Altın Kitaplar baskısı. Şömizli sert kapak, dikişsiz yapıştırma cilt. Çevirisini de, bazı yerlerde mesela soğan yerine "sovan" diye çeviren ilginç diliyle verimli çevirmen Mehmet Harmancı yapmış. Daha önce onun çevirilerinden birkaç kitap daha okumuştum. Kitabın şömizinin kapağında bir nehir var Vistül olduğunu tahmin ediyorum. Şömizin altındaki sert kapağı ise suni deri mukavva. Sırtında da yanaklarında da hiçbir yazı yok. Baskı kalitesi idare eder ama elimdeki bu baskının 40 yaşında olduğunu düşünürsek oldukça iyi dayanmış bunca yıla. Dikişsiz olduğu için de cildi biraz ayrılmış sadece.
Bu kitabın 1962'de yayınlandığını düşünürsek, 1965 yılında yazılan Boyalı Kuş'a bazı yönlerden ilham vermesi olası. Konular farklı olsa dahi, yaşananları anlatım tarzı ve bu yaşanan olaylardaki trajik unsurlar benzer. Boyalı Kuş'ta da hafızam beni yanıltmıyorsa Kazaklar bir sahnede çıkıyordu karşımıza. Bu kitap elbette 17. yüzyıldaki Bogdan Chmielnicki'nin katliamlarını merkeze aldıysa da çizdiği toplum resimleri ortak.
Bu kitaptaki insancıkların yaşadıkları dünya "bütünüyle inançlar" üzerine inşa edilecek olası bir dünyanın ne olacağı hakkında çok iyi bir ipucu veriyor. Zira bir zamanlar her şey zaten böyleydi. Bu kitapta da gördüğümüz gibi, insanlar her şeyi; hemen her şeyi dini kurallar üzerine inşa etmeye çalışıyorlar, onların yetersiz olduğu noktalarda batıl inançlar, pagan inançları, çeşitli dini objeler (relics) ve kanaat önderlerinin düşünceleri belirliyor hayatın her şeyini. Gerçek dünyanın bütün fizik olayları bu insanlar için cinlerin, perilerin, büyülerin eseri. Anlayamadıkları her şeyden korkuyla uydurma metafizik alemine sığınıyorlar.
Gerçek dünya, zaten yeterince çetrefilli iken, bir de ikinci bir dünyayla mücadele etmek ne kadar fazla bir yük, insan için.
Bu kitaptan çok şey öğrendim. İnsanların bilim olmayan bir dünyada nasıl yaşayacağını gördüm. Bir defa daha yaşadığım hayata şükürler ettim. Yaşadığım zamana, sahip olduğumuz bilime, bugüne kadar dünyayı daha iyi bir yer yapmak için durmak bilmeden çalışan ve bizleri bu "büyülerle, cinlerle, perilerle" dolu dünyadan kurtaran bilim insanlarına o kadar çok şey borçluyuz ki! Onlar olmasaydı eğer bizler de bu kitaptaki gibi batıl inançlara, cehalete köle olurduk.
Köle, bir metafor. Gerçeğin de ötesinde, insanın kulluk ettiği her şeyin metaforu. İnanma, kandırma, kandırılma, bağlanma mecburiyeti, bedeni ihtiyaçlar, şehevi arzular... Aslında, insan her zaman köledir.
Yeni keşfettiğim bir kahve sayesinde geceleri biraz daha çok çalabiliyorum uykudan. Ah evet, kölesi olduğumuz uykudan. Belki daha çok okumalı. Daha çok anlamalı.
Barbarları Beklerken'den sonra bu yılın Nobel ödüllü yazarı olan ikinci eser oldu bu okuma.
Boyalı Kuş'u ve bu kitabı birlikte okuyun derim!
M.B.
Mersin
22.09.2019
Kitaplarına köle. (Daha iyisi olabilir mi?)
https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/03/28/...
August 1, 2023
I started this book feeling slightly mad about all the religious righteousness; by the end, my heart was shattered. I think it is going to take a while to recover. Highly recommend! Please break your hearts like I did.
August 15, 2013
Što napisati o romanu koji me je oduševio ? Čitajući ga sa 17 godina, duboko sam proživljavala sve što je u djelu napisano, sve što su proživljavali glavni likovi, a i sporedni ), sve što je rečeno bilo mi je začuđujuće dobro. I onda se odlučih prošle godine ponovo ga čitati. Nisam ništa očekivala. Zapravo sam mislila da me se neće tako dojmiti kao prije, jer sam dosta skeptična kada neko djelo čitam drugi put. Rijetko koje mi ponovo „legne“ Ovaj put sam se prevarila, jer začudo, nije bilo tako.
Već na početku romana osjetila sam opet onu staru privlačnost, koja vas veže za neko djelo dok ga čitate, neku nevidljivu nit, koja vas spaja i koja koja vas prosto drži da roman ne ispustite iz ruku. Drugim riječima „ Rob“ mi se zalijepio za prste i nije me pustio do samog kraja.
Za one koji ne znaju „Rob“ je predivno ispisana priča o ljubavi i o žrtvi iz ljubavi i zbog ljubavi. I ne samo to. U središtu romana je seoska djevojka Vanda, kršćanka i rob Jakov Židov, koji se bezuvjetno zaljubljuje u nju. I upravo već na početku romana imate dojam da ova ljubavna priča neće završiti sretno.Jakov je rob ne samo kod Vandinog oca, već je rob ljubavi i moralnih načela s jedne strane i svetog načina razmišljanja s druge. Vanda je djevojka koja ga prihvaća i voli, te pristaje poći s njim u njegovu židovsku zajednicu. Tu se ona žrtvuje u ime ljubavi i zbog ljubavi, glumeći gluhonijemu ženu samo zato da je drugi Židovi ne bi prozreli, jer nije znala njihov jezik. Sam život u židovskoj komuni nije za Vandu ni malo lak, tako da ona u poodmakloj trudnoći radi sve poslove zbog sigurnosti, te trpi razna vrijeđanja koje joj druge žene govore, a ona ih čuje ).
Cijelo vrijeme dok sam čitala roman, prepoznavala sam da su Jakov i Vanda netipični junaci koji su u stalnom sukobu sa svojim moralnim načelima, pa i bogom.Jakov se kroz cijelo djelo preispituje što je dobro, a što ne , smatrajućei da je upravo ljubav prema Vandi grijeh koje treba okajati i iskupiti, te se kažnjava nekim zemaljskim , običnim žrtvama., kao što je spavanje na kamenu, strogi post, život po strogim židovskim pravilima i religiji.
Zašto me se roman po drugi puta dojmio?
Singerove rečenice pune su personifikacija, opisi krajolika su začuđujuće uvjerljivi tako da prosto pred svojim očima stvarate pejzaže i slike , a tako i ljude i događaje. Čitajući ga naučit ćete puno o židovskoj kulturi i običajima, ali i o ljubavi kao glavnom pokretaču kroz roman. Naučit ćete da je ljubav žrtva koja je u stvarnom životu jako potrebna , ljubav koja pokreće lavinu događaja. Ali isto tako da ljubav ne mora uvijek završiti sretno da bi se definirala kao prava ljubav.
Ovo je roman koji vas ne može ostaviti ravnodušnim. Ili ga volite ili ne. Nema između.
Ja vam savjetujem da ga pročitate ako do sada niste, ali ako od njega očekujete čistu ljubavnu priču, sladunjavu i jednostavnu, odmah odustanite. Jer „Rob“ to zasigurno nije.
Već na početku romana osjetila sam opet onu staru privlačnost, koja vas veže za neko djelo dok ga čitate, neku nevidljivu nit, koja vas spaja i koja koja vas prosto drži da roman ne ispustite iz ruku. Drugim riječima „ Rob“ mi se zalijepio za prste i nije me pustio do samog kraja.
Za one koji ne znaju „Rob“ je predivno ispisana priča o ljubavi i o žrtvi iz ljubavi i zbog ljubavi. I ne samo to. U središtu romana je seoska djevojka Vanda, kršćanka i rob Jakov Židov, koji se bezuvjetno zaljubljuje u nju. I upravo već na početku romana imate dojam da ova ljubavna priča neće završiti sretno.Jakov je rob ne samo kod Vandinog oca, već je rob ljubavi i moralnih načela s jedne strane i svetog načina razmišljanja s druge. Vanda je djevojka koja ga prihvaća i voli, te pristaje poći s njim u njegovu židovsku zajednicu. Tu se ona žrtvuje u ime ljubavi i zbog ljubavi, glumeći gluhonijemu ženu samo zato da je drugi Židovi ne bi prozreli, jer nije znala njihov jezik. Sam život u židovskoj komuni nije za Vandu ni malo lak, tako da ona u poodmakloj trudnoći radi sve poslove zbog sigurnosti, te trpi razna vrijeđanja koje joj druge žene govore, a ona ih čuje ).
Cijelo vrijeme dok sam čitala roman, prepoznavala sam da su Jakov i Vanda netipični junaci koji su u stalnom sukobu sa svojim moralnim načelima, pa i bogom.Jakov se kroz cijelo djelo preispituje što je dobro, a što ne , smatrajućei da je upravo ljubav prema Vandi grijeh koje treba okajati i iskupiti, te se kažnjava nekim zemaljskim , običnim žrtvama., kao što je spavanje na kamenu, strogi post, život po strogim židovskim pravilima i religiji.
Zašto me se roman po drugi puta dojmio?
Singerove rečenice pune su personifikacija, opisi krajolika su začuđujuće uvjerljivi tako da prosto pred svojim očima stvarate pejzaže i slike , a tako i ljude i događaje. Čitajući ga naučit ćete puno o židovskoj kulturi i običajima, ali i o ljubavi kao glavnom pokretaču kroz roman. Naučit ćete da je ljubav žrtva koja je u stvarnom životu jako potrebna , ljubav koja pokreće lavinu događaja. Ali isto tako da ljubav ne mora uvijek završiti sretno da bi se definirala kao prava ljubav.
Ovo je roman koji vas ne može ostaviti ravnodušnim. Ili ga volite ili ne. Nema između.
Ja vam savjetujem da ga pročitate ako do sada niste, ali ako od njega očekujete čistu ljubavnu priču, sladunjavu i jednostavnu, odmah odustanite. Jer „Rob“ to zasigurno nije.
July 21, 2022
Родилият се човек е родил се роб. И обикновено умира като роб, по-рядко - като човек.
Ако авторът беше екзалтиран католик, мистичен източноправославен или изпаднал в унес суфи никак нямаше да се учудя, би му подхождало. Но да е кашерен евреин му подхожда не по-малко. А неговата робска история има удивителни духовни прилики с ”Лавър" на Евгений Водолазкин - сходство в мирогледа, нищо повече.
Полша от средата на 17-ти век е мъчена от алчни панове и шляхтичи, бедност, невежество, шведски нападения и бандитски рейдове от намиращите се на изток казаци (днешна Украйна). Казаците, за разлика от шведите, обичат да избиват и евреи, заличавайки цели селища. Да, това е исторически факт, използван два века по-късно, когато същите тези храбри казаци извършват масови погроми над евреи по височайша заповед на руския император. Но дотогава има още доста време, та волните казаци си громят наред.
Яков е син на дълга линия полски равини и учени. Казашко нападение заличава със зверска жестокост семейството, децата му и градчето му, а него самия превръща е роб на неграмотен полски селянин в планинско селце.
В дълбоките селски дебри езичеството още живее, заедно с мора от жестоките панове-господари, които си прибират всяко зрънце, а селянинът да мре. Нищо чудно, че хората по тези места понякога са превърнати в чудовища от невежество, алчност, злоба и безсилие. Яков обаче има своя Закон. Има своята Тора, своята вяра и своя Бог. Има своята съзерцателност и спасение в мисълта. И оцелява духовно и физически. Затова пък влюбването му в дъщерята на господаря му - Ванда - представлява предателство спрямо всички негови правила. Тези правила винаги са негови господари, а той - техен роб, както нито един жив човек не успява да го подчини. Защото тези правила и техният буквализъм го превръщат на моменти в егоист и страхливец, вечно каещ се пред своя Бог за несъществуващи или маловажни грехове, вечно оправдаващ се, вечно неуверено търсещ кое е предначертаното. Свободна воля за Яков не съществува, освен единствено в неохотната му връзка с Ванда. За която той се самобичува отначало докрай, зает изключително със себе си, без да се сети да помисли кой знае колко за жената до него.
Ванда/ Сара е свободният човек в този сюжет. Тя никога не приема безусловните фалшиви авторитети. За нея християнският Бог и Йехова могат да си сменят местата, ако любовта го наложи. Тя никога не приема случващото се безкритично и без да го осмисли. Изводите и, непочерпени от никаква Тора или Библия, са законите на живота и на човешкото съществуване, каквото би могло и би трябвало да бъде. Ванда умее да направи саможертва, умее да приеме и осмисли различието, за разлика от Яков, при когото това е просто религиозна съзерцателност и примирение, дори когато може да промени нещо. Опитът на Сингер да я доближи до представата за светица е твърде несполучлив - така той избягва неудобните за ограничено религиозен човек детайли в характера и, които просто прескачат конвенциите, без твърде много да ги съзерцават.
Историческият период не е просто фон, поднесен е убедително и без грим. И ако някой днешен украинец писне възмутено, че казашкият хетман Богдан Хмелницки е очернен, ще има много здраве от историята. Погледът към злото у човека и неговото угодничене пред по-силните - равини, крале, богове или собствената му алчност - също е безжалостно детайлен. Католиците не са жестоки неверници, а евреите хич не са невинни агънца. Лицемерието е порокът, който всички изповядват и който им позволява да ядат само кашерно месо или да се изповядват просълзени, но да убиват ближните си.
Сингер е омагьосващ разказвач. Той обаче е отредил място за борба за щастие едва в отвъдното, досами пред божия престол. Неговият Яков намира екзалтация, но никога - истинско прозрение. Просто Сингер искрено бърка едното с другото. Странното е, че собственият му разказ го опровергава, но авторът чистосърдечно апелира как оживеният вътрешно-съзерцателен живот, губещ от поглед хората до нас и парализиращ всяко активно действие за промяна или съпротива, в крайна сметка е пътят . Нещо като да те заколят с приятна упойка. Но все пак така го разбират много светци от различните религии. И доста религиозни люде. Кой знае, за себе си може и да са прави… Но какво са променили те?
3,5⭐️
Или 4 звезди, но се усещат като 3 😆
——
Отличен превод и оформление на издателството. До последно мислех да дам повече звезди, но краят просто ме вбеси с посланието си…
Ако авторът беше екзалтиран католик, мистичен източноправославен или изпаднал в унес суфи никак нямаше да се учудя, би му подхождало. Но да е кашерен евреин му подхожда не по-малко. А неговата робска история има удивителни духовни прилики с ”Лавър" на Евгений Водолазкин - сходство в мирогледа, нищо повече.
Полша от средата на 17-ти век е мъчена от алчни панове и шляхтичи, бедност, невежество, шведски нападения и бандитски рейдове от намиращите се на изток казаци (днешна Украйна). Казаците, за разлика от шведите, обичат да избиват и евреи, заличавайки цели селища. Да, това е исторически факт, използван два века по-късно, когато същите тези храбри казаци извършват масови погроми над евреи по височайша заповед на руския император. Но дотогава има още доста време, та волните казаци си громят наред.
Яков е син на дълга линия полски равини и учени. Казашко нападение заличава със зверска жестокост семейството, децата му и градчето му, а него самия превръща е роб на неграмотен полски селянин в планинско селце.
В дълбоките селски дебри езичеството още живее, заедно с мора от жестоките панове-господари, които си прибират всяко зрънце, а селянинът да мре. Нищо чудно, че хората по тези места понякога са превърнати в чудовища от невежество, алчност, злоба и безсилие. Яков обаче има своя Закон. Има своята Тора, своята вяра и своя Бог. Има своята съзерцателност и спасение в мисълта. И оцелява духовно и физически. Затова пък влюбването му в дъщерята на господаря му - Ванда - представлява предателство спрямо всички негови правила. Тези правила винаги са негови господари, а той - техен роб, както нито един жив човек не успява да го подчини. Защото тези правила и техният буквализъм го превръщат на моменти в егоист и страхливец, вечно каещ се пред своя Бог за несъществуващи или маловажни грехове, вечно оправдаващ се, вечно неуверено търсещ кое е предначертаното. Свободна воля за Яков не съществува, освен единствено в неохотната му връзка с Ванда. За която той се самобичува отначало докрай, зает изключително със себе си, без да се сети да помисли кой знае колко за жената до него.
Ванда/ Сара е свободният човек в този сюжет. Тя никога не приема безусловните фалшиви авторитети. За нея християнският Бог и Йехова могат да си сменят местата, ако любовта го наложи. Тя никога не приема случващото се безкритично и без да го осмисли. Изводите и, непочерпени от никаква Тора или Библия, са законите на живота и на човешкото съществуване, каквото би могло и би трябвало да бъде. Ванда умее да направи саможертва, умее да приеме и осмисли различието, за разлика от Яков, при когото това е просто религиозна съзерцателност и примирение, дори когато може да промени нещо. Опитът на Сингер да я доближи до представата за светица е твърде несполучлив - така той избягва неудобните за ограничено религиозен човек детайли в характера и, които просто прескачат конвенциите, без твърде много да ги съзерцават.
Историческият период не е просто фон, поднесен е убедително и без грим. И ако някой днешен украинец писне възмутено, че казашкият хетман Богдан Хмелницки е очернен, ще има много здраве от историята. Погледът към злото у човека и неговото угодничене пред по-силните - равини, крале, богове или собствената му алчност - също е безжалостно детайлен. Католиците не са жестоки неверници, а евреите хич не са невинни агънца. Лицемерието е порокът, който всички изповядват и който им позволява да ядат само кашерно месо или да се изповядват просълзени, но да убиват ближните си.
Сингер е омагьосващ разказвач. Той обаче е отредил място за борба за щастие едва в отвъдното, досами пред божия престол. Неговият Яков намира екзалтация, но никога - истинско прозрение. Просто Сингер искрено бърка едното с другото. Странното е, че собственият му разказ го опровергава, но авторът чистосърдечно апелира как оживеният вътрешно-съзерцателен живот, губещ от поглед хората до нас и парализиращ всяко активно действие за промяна или съпротива, в крайна сметка е пътят . Нещо като да те заколят с приятна упойка. Но все пак така го разбират много светци от различните религии. И доста религиозни люде. Кой знае, за себе си може и да са прави… Но какво са променили те?
3,5⭐️
Или 4 звезди, но се усещат като 3 😆
——
Отличен превод и оформление на издателството. До последно мислех да дам повече звезди, но краят просто ме вбеси с посланието си…
December 18, 2021
Wanda/Sarah
Le due parti che, prima di un breve ma importante epilogo, compongono questo gran romanzo di Isaac Singer sono significativamente intitolate ai due nomi femminili che scopriremo identificare la medesima donna, l’appassionata amante e poi moglie di Jacob. Infatti Lo Schiavo è anche (e forse soprattutto) una storia d’amore, oltre che romanzo storico e drammatica cronistoria di un’esistenza che attraversa decenni fra conflitti di religione, pogrom, superstizioni, riti di stampo quasi tribale.
E’ un romanzo storico nell’accezione più estesa del termine, poiché sa ritrarre fino a renderla palpabile l’atmosfera di un luogo (la lontana provincia polacca quasi al confine con le steppe russe) in un periodo, il ‘600, caratterizzato in quelle lande da scorrerie dei cosacchi, miseria e intolleranza religiosa. E la religione è a sua volta un altro punto cardinale del racconto, sia per l’insistenza e l’invadenza dei rituali e delle privazioni cui lo stesso protagonista si sottopone costantemente, sia per le riflessioni che anche la gente più umile elabora sui temi della divinità, della persistenza del male, della colpa e dell’espiazione.
In parallelo con i contrasti religiosi, soprattutto fra cristiani ed ebrei e non senza una persistenza tenace del paganesimo, prospera la superstizione, al punto che tutto il paese e soprattutto la natura circostante sembra pullulare, nell’immaginazione popolare, di spettri, entità maligne, spiriti ancestrali che incombono sulla miserabile esistenza della povera gente.
Va da sé che un simile contesto costituisce una persistente minaccia per la precaria esistenza dell’ebreo Jacob, un uomo mite e colto sfuggito al pogrom che ne ha sterminato la famiglia, venduto poi come schiavo, sfruttato come mandriano e lacerato da un conflitto interiore fra la rigidità dei dogmi e dei testi sacri cui si impone di obbedire e le pulsioni affettive e sessuali verso Wanda, l’unica persona che lo assiste nel suo forzato isolamento nella capanna fra i pascoli sulla montagna.
Per la coppia che l’ipocrisia della comunità giudica dannata ed eretica, in quanto lui ebreo e lei cristiana, la fuga alla ricerca di una nuova identità costituisce l’unica speranza di futuro ma non permetterà di sfuggire al destino avverso.
Il racconto, descritto dall’autore con lucida coerenza ed uno stile impeccabile, si intreccia a tante altre storie in un mondo tragico e ostile dove l’umanità si aggrappa alla religione o alla superstizione come surrogati di un’esistenza tranquilla e serena che sembra irraggiungibile: solo dopo la morte Jacob riuscirà a ricongiungersi con la persona amata in un epilogo imprevedibile e commovente.
Le due parti che, prima di un breve ma importante epilogo, compongono questo gran romanzo di Isaac Singer sono significativamente intitolate ai due nomi femminili che scopriremo identificare la medesima donna, l’appassionata amante e poi moglie di Jacob. Infatti Lo Schiavo è anche (e forse soprattutto) una storia d’amore, oltre che romanzo storico e drammatica cronistoria di un’esistenza che attraversa decenni fra conflitti di religione, pogrom, superstizioni, riti di stampo quasi tribale.
E’ un romanzo storico nell’accezione più estesa del termine, poiché sa ritrarre fino a renderla palpabile l’atmosfera di un luogo (la lontana provincia polacca quasi al confine con le steppe russe) in un periodo, il ‘600, caratterizzato in quelle lande da scorrerie dei cosacchi, miseria e intolleranza religiosa. E la religione è a sua volta un altro punto cardinale del racconto, sia per l’insistenza e l’invadenza dei rituali e delle privazioni cui lo stesso protagonista si sottopone costantemente, sia per le riflessioni che anche la gente più umile elabora sui temi della divinità, della persistenza del male, della colpa e dell’espiazione.
In parallelo con i contrasti religiosi, soprattutto fra cristiani ed ebrei e non senza una persistenza tenace del paganesimo, prospera la superstizione, al punto che tutto il paese e soprattutto la natura circostante sembra pullulare, nell’immaginazione popolare, di spettri, entità maligne, spiriti ancestrali che incombono sulla miserabile esistenza della povera gente.
Va da sé che un simile contesto costituisce una persistente minaccia per la precaria esistenza dell’ebreo Jacob, un uomo mite e colto sfuggito al pogrom che ne ha sterminato la famiglia, venduto poi come schiavo, sfruttato come mandriano e lacerato da un conflitto interiore fra la rigidità dei dogmi e dei testi sacri cui si impone di obbedire e le pulsioni affettive e sessuali verso Wanda, l’unica persona che lo assiste nel suo forzato isolamento nella capanna fra i pascoli sulla montagna.
Per la coppia che l’ipocrisia della comunità giudica dannata ed eretica, in quanto lui ebreo e lei cristiana, la fuga alla ricerca di una nuova identità costituisce l’unica speranza di futuro ma non permetterà di sfuggire al destino avverso.
Il racconto, descritto dall’autore con lucida coerenza ed uno stile impeccabile, si intreccia a tante altre storie in un mondo tragico e ostile dove l’umanità si aggrappa alla religione o alla superstizione come surrogati di un’esistenza tranquilla e serena che sembra irraggiungibile: solo dopo la morte Jacob riuscirà a ricongiungersi con la persona amata in un epilogo imprevedibile e commovente.
September 11, 2020
Labai gera knyga, kurios vienu prisėdimu niekaip nebūčiau perskaičiusi. Nes joje man per daug to, ko pati sočiai turiu - užsispyrimo (kentėti, kankintis, mokytis, tikėti, mylėti ir gyvent savaip). Todėl reikėdavo pertraukos, bet trumpos, nes ir vėl norėdavosi grįžti. Ir nors nebuvo lengva, buvo tikrai įdomu ir vietomis netgi labai pikta, kad negalima kažkaip paprasčiau to gyvenimo sudėlioti.
November 26, 2016
I have not yet read anything by I B Singer I did not love. The Slave is no exception. Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978 and always wrote in Yiddish until his death in 1991, in Surfside, FL.
After all my reading this year about slavery in America, I come to this reminder that slavery is as old an institution as prostitution. Both seem to be inherent in the human story.
The Slave is an epic in 311 pages. Jacob was a learned and pious Jew, son of wealthy parents, who found himself a slave to a farmer in a remote mountain village. His birthplace, Josefov, was a Polish town that lay in the path of Ukrainian Cossacks in the 17th century. The ensuing massacres had cleared the town of Jews. Jacob fled, thinking his parents, wife and children dead, then fell into the hands of robbers who sold him into slavery.
Though he desperately strove to stay true to his faith, Jacob began to love the farmer's daughter. Wanda was a step above her environment, a practically prehistoric milieu of pagan superstition, tooth and claw existence, and rural poverty. But she was a Gentile and therefore forbidden. Her passion for him finally overcame his religious scruples and they planned to escape.
Of course, that plan fell through on the first attempt. Jacob's life from then on is one of perils and his search for redemption, taking him all the way to Israel as part of the early Zionist movement, at last reuniting with Wanda, and on to his final days where he finds peace and wisdom.
Besides being a beautiful love story, the novel is also a contemplation of the place of religion in human society including the contradiction that it condemns believers who do not follow its commandments while it honors the phenomenon that spirituality can lift us above our animal nature. The result is a timeless tale.
How interesting that Singer published a novel called The Slave just as the Civil Rights Movement was catching fire in America, his adopted country since 1935.
After all my reading this year about slavery in America, I come to this reminder that slavery is as old an institution as prostitution. Both seem to be inherent in the human story.
The Slave is an epic in 311 pages. Jacob was a learned and pious Jew, son of wealthy parents, who found himself a slave to a farmer in a remote mountain village. His birthplace, Josefov, was a Polish town that lay in the path of Ukrainian Cossacks in the 17th century. The ensuing massacres had cleared the town of Jews. Jacob fled, thinking his parents, wife and children dead, then fell into the hands of robbers who sold him into slavery.
Though he desperately strove to stay true to his faith, Jacob began to love the farmer's daughter. Wanda was a step above her environment, a practically prehistoric milieu of pagan superstition, tooth and claw existence, and rural poverty. But she was a Gentile and therefore forbidden. Her passion for him finally overcame his religious scruples and they planned to escape.
Of course, that plan fell through on the first attempt. Jacob's life from then on is one of perils and his search for redemption, taking him all the way to Israel as part of the early Zionist movement, at last reuniting with Wanda, and on to his final days where he finds peace and wisdom.
Besides being a beautiful love story, the novel is also a contemplation of the place of religion in human society including the contradiction that it condemns believers who do not follow its commandments while it honors the phenomenon that spirituality can lift us above our animal nature. The result is a timeless tale.
How interesting that Singer published a novel called The Slave just as the Civil Rights Movement was catching fire in America, his adopted country since 1935.
April 28, 2022
"إني أجد أحيانا أنه من المستحيل أن أصدق
أن العالم سوف يستمر بعد رحيلي، و أن الشمس
سوف تشرق، و أن الأشجار سوف تزهر، وأني لن
أكون موجودة فيه، كلا إن هذا مما لايتخيل."
القراءة الثانية لإسحق سنجر، بعد روايته المهمة الأخرى
"شوشا"
أصبح إسحق سنجر من الكتاب المهمين عندي، فرواياته
عرفتني و قربتني من المجتمع اليهودي و عاداته و تقاليده
ولديه نفس عظيم في السرد، و أيضا يعجبني كمية الأسئلة
التي يطرحها في رواياته، و الشخصيات التي يخلقها لاتنسى.
:أمر أخير لابد ذكره، كان منغصا علي أثناء القراءة
الكمية الكبيرة من الأخطاء المطبعية التي تغص بها صفحات
الرواية، و كانت كفيلة بكفي عن القراءة.
أن العالم سوف يستمر بعد رحيلي، و أن الشمس
سوف تشرق، و أن الأشجار سوف تزهر، وأني لن
أكون موجودة فيه، كلا إن هذا مما لايتخيل."
القراءة الثانية لإسحق سنجر، بعد روايته المهمة الأخرى
"شوشا"
أصبح إسحق سنجر من الكتاب المهمين عندي، فرواياته
عرفتني و قربتني من المجتمع اليهودي و عاداته و تقاليده
ولديه نفس عظيم في السرد، و أيضا يعجبني كمية الأسئلة
التي يطرحها في رواياته، و الشخصيات التي يخلقها لاتنسى.
:أمر أخير لابد ذكره، كان منغصا علي أثناء القراءة
الكمية الكبيرة من الأخطاء المطبعية التي تغص بها صفحات
الرواية، و كانت كفيلة بكفي عن القراءة.
Read
November 16, 2018Жила-була й переклала (для “Духу і літери”).
1650-ті, щойно відгриміли козацькі погроми (одразу попереджаю тих, хто незнайомий із цим історичним сюжетом, а до козаків ставиться трепетно: так, Хмельницький триста років лишався головним негативним персонажем у єврейській історичній пам’яті, а козацькі погроми в давньому історіописанні вбрані в усі тропи із пророчих книг – див. “Глибокий мул” Натана Гановера).
Отже, 1650-ті, юдей Яків стоїть на горі десь у польських Карпатах, сумний та невеселий: його під час погромів викрали і погнали туди в рабство, тепер він глядить худобу на полонині й поволі забуває життя до катастрофи, але це не найнагальніша його проблема. Нагальніша проблема виглядає так: він шалено закохався в доньку свого господаря, Ванду, але нічого з того не вийде, бо (а) вона християнка, отже, йому за релігійними законами заборонено заводити з нею стосунки; (б) він узагалі не знає, чи жива його перша дружина – а раптом вона не загинула в погромі? (в) Ванда не може прийняти юдаїзм, бо, по-перше, в Речі Посполитій за це спалюють, а по-друге, юдаїзм дозволено приймати тільки з любові до Бога, а не з любові до чоловіка. Отака от, загалом, заковика.
(Між іншим, які в Башевіса прекрасні пейзажні замальовки! Доти я їх не помічала, а в “Рабі” вони просто йдуть пачками. Щоразу, як треба передати щедрість і милосердя Бога-творця, Башевіс втулює ще сторінку описів природи – бо до людей текст не ласкавий, від людей тут нічого доброго не чекають, зате ландшафти прегарні:
Він рвучко прочинив двері хліва й побачив, як тягнуться вдалину гори. Ближчі вершини, порослі лісами, скидалися на зеленобородих велетів. Туман, що кучерями здіймався над лісами, нагадав Якову Самсона. У сонячних променях зі сходу повсюди вигравали вогненні відблиски. Подекуди над вершинами мріяв дим, ніби гори тліли зсередини. Розправивши крила, безжурний яструб повільно ширяв над усіма земними турботами. Яковові здалося, наче птах літає тут ще від самого сотворіння світу.
Далі синіли інші гірські хребти, а найдальші вершини було ледве видно, вони височіли, ніби безплотні привиди. Там завжди стояли сутінки. На головах цих неземних титанів, мешканців краю світу, де люди не ходять і маржина не пасеться, лежали шапки хмар. Ванда, Яна Бзіка донька, казала, що там живе Баба Яга — відьма, що літає у ступі, стернуючи товкачем. Мітла в Баби Яги була довша за найвищі смереки, і це вона змітала світло світу.)
Коротше, роман починається, ніби він про любов, але дуже скоро виявляється, що насправді він про теодіцею – як виправдати чи бодай пояснити існування Бога, якщо він дозволяє у світі стільки зла? А також як жити з суцільними травмами замість особистої й історичної пам’яті, з циклічністю катастроф, коли майже всіх регулярно вирізають ледве не до ноги? Що недобитки можуть потім збудувати на цьому кривавому попелищі? “Раб” вийшов друком у 1962 р., по дуже свіжих слідах Голокосту, видно, як Башевіс бореться з цими питаннями сам.
Башевіс висловлює свої стандартні рецепти виживання в такому історичному ландшафті. Намагатися не кривдити інших: заповіді про стосунки з людьми важливіші, ніж заповіді про стосунки з Богом, Богу людська ласка менш потрібна, ніж іншим людям. Стати веганом, щоб не чинити з іншими живими істотами так, як погромники чинять із його народом. Читати старі тексти і знаходити в них втіху:
(далі цитата-спойлер фіналу роману)
1650-ті, щойно відгриміли козацькі погроми (одразу попереджаю тих, хто незнайомий із цим історичним сюжетом, а до козаків ставиться трепетно: так, Хмельницький триста років лишався головним негативним персонажем у єврейській історичній пам’яті, а козацькі погроми в давньому історіописанні вбрані в усі тропи із пророчих книг – див. “Глибокий мул” Натана Гановера).
Отже, 1650-ті, юдей Яків стоїть на горі десь у польських Карпатах, сумний та невеселий: його під час погромів викрали і погнали туди в рабство, тепер він глядить худобу на полонині й поволі забуває життя до катастрофи, але це не найнагальніша його проблема. Нагальніша проблема виглядає так: він шалено закохався в доньку свого господаря, Ванду, але нічого з того не вийде, бо (а) вона християнка, отже, йому за релігійними законами заборонено заводити з нею стосунки; (б) він узагалі не знає, чи жива його перша дружина – а раптом вона не загинула в погромі? (в) Ванда не може прийняти юдаїзм, бо, по-перше, в Речі Посполитій за це спалюють, а по-друге, юдаїзм дозволено приймати тільки з любові до Бога, а не з любові до чоловіка. Отака от, загалом, заковика.
(Між іншим, які в Башевіса прекрасні пейзажні замальовки! Доти я їх не помічала, а в “Рабі” вони просто йдуть пачками. Щоразу, як треба передати щедрість і милосердя Бога-творця, Башевіс втулює ще сторінку описів природи – бо до людей текст не ласкавий, від людей тут нічого доброго не чекають, зате ландшафти прегарні:
Він рвучко прочинив двері хліва й побачив, як тягнуться вдалину гори. Ближчі вершини, порослі лісами, скидалися на зеленобородих велетів. Туман, що кучерями здіймався над лісами, нагадав Якову Самсона. У сонячних променях зі сходу повсюди вигравали вогненні відблиски. Подекуди над вершинами мріяв дим, ніби гори тліли зсередини. Розправивши крила, безжурний яструб повільно ширяв над усіма земними турботами. Яковові здалося, наче птах літає тут ще від самого сотворіння світу.
Далі синіли інші гірські хребти, а найдальші вершини було ледве видно, вони височіли, ніби безплотні привиди. Там завжди стояли сутінки. На головах цих неземних титанів, мешканців краю світу, де люди не ходять і маржина не пасеться, лежали шапки хмар. Ванда, Яна Бзіка донька, казала, що там живе Баба Яга — відьма, що літає у ступі, стернуючи товкачем. Мітла в Баби Яги була довша за найвищі смереки, і це вона змітала світло світу.)
Коротше, роман починається, ніби він про любов, але дуже скоро виявляється, що насправді він про теодіцею – як виправдати чи бодай пояснити існування Бога, якщо він дозволяє у світі стільки зла? А також як жити з суцільними травмами замість особистої й історичної пам’яті, з циклічністю катастроф, коли майже всіх регулярно вирізають ледве не до ноги? Що недобитки можуть потім збудувати на цьому кривавому попелищі? “Раб” вийшов друком у 1962 р., по дуже свіжих слідах Голокосту, видно, як Башевіс бореться з цими питаннями сам.
Башевіс висловлює свої стандартні рецепти виживання в такому історичному ландшафті. Намагатися не кривдити інших: заповіді про стосунки з людьми важливіші, ніж заповіді про стосунки з Богом, Богу людська ласка менш потрібна, ніж іншим людям. Стати веганом, щоб не чинити з іншими живими істотами так, як погромники чинять із його народом. Читати старі тексти і знаходити в них втіху:
(далі цитата-спойлер фіналу роману)
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