And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight

by S.Y. Agnon

S.Y. Agnon's first book-length, breakthrough work, originally published in Hebrew in 1912 and now available in English for the first time in a fully annotated edition. This novella depicts an impossible moral dilemma faced by the tragic hero Menasheh Chaim, in mid-19th century Buczacz (in today's western Ukraine). In the framework of a traditional Jewish folktale of old world Eastern European Jewry, Agnon delivers a profoundly modern piece of literature, which benefits from the tension between plot and genre.

- New volume of Agnon's fiction in first-time English translation.
- Volume 14 in the Toby Press' S.Y. Agnon Library the fullest collection of the Nobel laureate's work in annotated English translation.
- Critical introduction to the novella by translator, Professor Michael P. Kramer, unlocking the themes of exile and redemption and providing the historical context for Agnon's achievement with this breakthrough work.
- 50 pages of annotations, unpacking Agnon's rich symbolism and sources with which he built his intertextual masterpiece.
- Annotated bibliography of criticism and scholarship on the work by series editor Jeffrey Saks.
- Woodcut illustrations from the 1919 Hebrew edition published in Berlin.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Judaism

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

also known as Shai Agnon

Dramatic novels in Hebrew of Polish-born Israeli writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon include A Guest for the Night (1939); he shared the Nobel Prize of 1966 for literature.

"For his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people," he shared this award with Nelly Sachs. He died in Jerusalem, Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmuel_...

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic story. I think one can only appreciate this story if you've read Tanach, midrashim, and chassidic stories. Agnon's hebrew blends the language of all of them. You feel like you're truly reading a masterpiece. He takes the best of Jewish literature throughout history and crafts a new story that seems like it's continuing the tradition while at the same time adding something uniquely modern. This is Jewish culture at its finest.

[Miki Noam · Rating 5 out of 5]

מרגש בצורה בלתי רגילה. כתוב בחן וביופי, זה פורטל לתקופה ומקום אחרים שמרגישים מוכרים וידועים.

בסיפור עצמו כמו בכל סיפור טוב אין נבלים, יש אנשים אמיתיים שמתמודדים עם החיים כמיטב יכולתם, ועם הסבל שהם גורמים לעצמם ולאחרים. הכל מובן, ועדיין הכאב גדול. ועגנון יודע לספר גם את ההחלטות השגויות וגם את הכאב באופן מובן ומעורר הזדהות.

ספר נפלא.

[Stefano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult book to read today. I found the foreword of Michael P. Kramer the most interesting part of the book (5 stars for that). The reason is paradoxically exactly why the book is so beautiful. Written in 1911-12 this book is a pearl of the early stages of how to write in modern Hebrew the old Yiddish stories of the shtetls of the Jews coming to Palestine at the time of the second Aliah. There is a creation of the language, through Biblical stories, through the legends of the Hassidim, that makes this story a beauty.
But ... we are now in 2018 and if you are not a scholar or a researcher of this world ... it is really a tough book to read. More so if you have no emotional connection with the world depicted by the pen of Agnon.
So, ... up to you! LOL

[Donna Zeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing introduction to the writings of Agnon, who everyone with an interest in Judaism or being Jewish, should read. This is Agnon's first novella, which shocked and inspired the nascent Hebrew literature movement of the early 20th century. This is the book that Yosef Chaim Brenner sold his suspenders for so he could get the money to publish it.

[Lyvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can say is that Agnon is not my cup of tea! I find his prose tangled and his references obscure (this last is my short-coming, not his).

[Steven Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid little novella. One of Agnon's firsts, it has the hallmarks of some good Agnon...the wandering man, the beggars and benefactors, and the talmudic chatter.

[Jacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a feeling my experience with this novella (beloved of Gershom Scholem and Robert Alter) will be similar to my experience with Agunot, the early (& , as with most everything of his, later revised) publication from the title of which Agnon adapted his pen name. On first read, I was interested and charmed but far from overcome; on second, spellbound, astonished, moved to tears. That's just a feeling. For now, with And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, I'm merely interested and charmed, and far from overcome.