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Old Love
In love as in other matters, the young are just beginners.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
23 people are currently reading
213 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 8, 2017
In Awe of Words
I.B. Singer has a deceptively easy style of writing. You think that it should be copiable, that you could repeat it if only you had some worthy tale to tell. But no, it is so polished and solid that only a great writer could equal it. Perhaps this is the best style to have---no fancy curlicues, no bright, vivid colors in a splashy-trashy patchwork over the pages--just solid telling of tales. And what tales ! This collection is just one of the many that Singer wrote over his lifetime. Most of them concern small details, incidents of interesting lives or even of simple, ordinary people touched by Fate or by the spirits. In these 18 stories, I cannot find a single bad one. Some stand out for their brilliance, for example, "There Are No Coincidences" a seemingly banal set of events centered around a boring party on Long Island, a heavy rain storm and a kind janitor who saves two strangers from the deluge. Ernest Hemingway, it's not. The construction and execution of such a story staggered me with its skill. As always I remain in awe of the power of words in Singer's work. Love is complex, love blows hot or cold, love can spring up out of nothing. There is jealousy and there is sacrifice and maybe both in the same relationship. "The Manuscript" tells of a woman's relationship with a womanizing writer. She risks her life during WW II to save the manuscript of his best work, only to find him in bed with another woman when she returns. The result is unexpected. Could there even be love from beyond the grave? For the most part, Singer writes of books, teaching, religious ideas or practices, and of the tangled relationships between men and women, that set of behaviors one might call "sexual intrigue" but also "love". As in all his books, he brings to life that lost Jewish world, destroyed by the Nazis (with help from Communism) in Eastern Europe, and its remnants in the USA and Israel. Rather than be overtly political, his approach is always philosophical. Many of his characters are Holocaust survivors ekeing out their lives as best they can after the disaster. Perhaps "Old Love" refers also to love of the old, love of the lost world as well as to love between two people. If you can't find beauty and wisdom in these stories, if nothing of what I say intrigues you, you should take up golf !
I.B. Singer has a deceptively easy style of writing. You think that it should be copiable, that you could repeat it if only you had some worthy tale to tell. But no, it is so polished and solid that only a great writer could equal it. Perhaps this is the best style to have---no fancy curlicues, no bright, vivid colors in a splashy-trashy patchwork over the pages--just solid telling of tales. And what tales ! This collection is just one of the many that Singer wrote over his lifetime. Most of them concern small details, incidents of interesting lives or even of simple, ordinary people touched by Fate or by the spirits. In these 18 stories, I cannot find a single bad one. Some stand out for their brilliance, for example, "There Are No Coincidences" a seemingly banal set of events centered around a boring party on Long Island, a heavy rain storm and a kind janitor who saves two strangers from the deluge. Ernest Hemingway, it's not. The construction and execution of such a story staggered me with its skill. As always I remain in awe of the power of words in Singer's work. Love is complex, love blows hot or cold, love can spring up out of nothing. There is jealousy and there is sacrifice and maybe both in the same relationship. "The Manuscript" tells of a woman's relationship with a womanizing writer. She risks her life during WW II to save the manuscript of his best work, only to find him in bed with another woman when she returns. The result is unexpected. Could there even be love from beyond the grave? For the most part, Singer writes of books, teaching, religious ideas or practices, and of the tangled relationships between men and women, that set of behaviors one might call "sexual intrigue" but also "love". As in all his books, he brings to life that lost Jewish world, destroyed by the Nazis (with help from Communism) in Eastern Europe, and its remnants in the USA and Israel. Rather than be overtly political, his approach is always philosophical. Many of his characters are Holocaust survivors ekeing out their lives as best they can after the disaster. Perhaps "Old Love" refers also to love of the old, love of the lost world as well as to love between two people. If you can't find beauty and wisdom in these stories, if nothing of what I say intrigues you, you should take up golf !
May 13, 2022
1/6 points, short stories, no, sorry, still no fan of short stories
April 13, 2020
This was my first Isaac Bashevis Singer book so when I picked it up I didn't know what to expect.
Based on the description in the book cover, I was hoping for something sentimental and insightful.
I got something very different.
There's a lot of humor here, a lot of satire, some subtle sarcasm and a tinge of sadness. The collection here isn't about deep relationships over complicated emotions but it's certainly colorful, highly entertaining and rich in descriptions of another time and place.
Reading it is just as much about Shtetl life as it is about old love, and gives me pause as to just how Judaism has changed even for those who practice it as if they still live in the Shtetl.
Based on the description in the book cover, I was hoping for something sentimental and insightful.
I got something very different.
There's a lot of humor here, a lot of satire, some subtle sarcasm and a tinge of sadness. The collection here isn't about deep relationships over complicated emotions but it's certainly colorful, highly entertaining and rich in descriptions of another time and place.
Reading it is just as much about Shtetl life as it is about old love, and gives me pause as to just how Judaism has changed even for those who practice it as if they still live in the Shtetl.
June 7, 2020
Old? Yes. Colorful, yes! Love? Didn’t find much evidence of love in these pages... which is perhaps the basic idea. Sadness prevails. -also on the part of this reader. I was overwhelmed by “In My Father’s Courts” but just saddened by these stories.
October 15, 2023
Not sure exactly why but Singer's stories simply do not resonate. Perhaps it's his choice of unappealing dysfunctional characters in unhappy circumstances who give up and die as they are, i.e. unhappy and unappealing. Shrug...
December 17, 2024
Whacky stories! Stories I will remember for a long time, stories that bring to life the old world and the refugee experience after WW2, stories that startle, that make you laugh, that linger in your thoughts.
April 30, 2018
Two
Get ready for Jewish Trans trivulations
Get ready for Jewish Trans trivulations
November 24, 2020
Truth most everlasting.
These stories are at once unique and as old as time itself.
Five big stars.
These stories are at once unique and as old as time itself.
Five big stars.
April 22, 2021
An interesting collection of short stories. Some were wonderful; some escaped my understanding.
August 30, 2024
Lovely storytelling - a liitle satirical, a little from the heart, a little crazy
June 20, 2025
everyone is either a writer or the frummest person ever. really speaks to his experience of life..
October 22, 2024
4.5. Funny, wild and short. Had a good time with these stories. Also, the writing is genius and some ideas in there were incredible.
March 11, 2025
Toto čítam každý večer pre spaním. Samozrejme hociktorú poviedkovú knihu od Singera, jeho poviedky to je niečo neopísateľne presné. Čítam to, aby som dal zmysel prežitému dňu, čítam to ako čítajú židia, tí hrdinovia so Singerovych poviedok, Talmud a ďalšie svoje posvätné knihy hľadajúc večnú pravdu, snažiac sa získať útechu o povahe sveta.
Čítal som to už dávno, 15 rokov dozadu, aj vtedy sa mi to páčilo, ale vlastne som to vôbec nepochopil. Je to skutočne niečo ako zložitý náboženský text, v ktorom určité vrstvy odčítate až po násobnom prečítaní. Nechápem, ako som tam tie veci vtedy nemohol nevidieť. Každopádne myslím si, že Singerové poviedky dajú viac ľudom, ktorí už majú niečo odžité. Nechcem, aby to znelo snobsky. Ale ako mladé ucho som asi nedokázal precítiť všetky tie nuansy príbehov a ľuďoch stratených v svojej márnej existencii či už vo sveje tradičných uzavretých komunít na odľahlom vidieku východnej Európy, alebo v modernom prostredí odcudzeného sveta dravého kapitalizmu za veľkou mlákou.
O tom píše Singer. Čo zažil ako dieťa, čo nasal od svojich predkov. A čo zažil ako emigrant v Amerike. Čo je na jeho písaní také fascinujúce? Je to samozrejme grandiózny rozprávač. Jeho opisy postáv sú veľmi plastické, zameriava sa na fyziognomické črty a v tom jeho písanie pripomína skôr pred-modernistický balzakovský román. Príbehy majú vždy nečakané absurdné zvraty, ktoré však organicky vyrastajú z látky. A Singer píše stále akoby z perspektívy dieťaťa, ktoré sa skrylo za dverami kuchyne a počúva príbehy dospelákov. V tom sa môže jeho tvorba javiť naivne a starosvetsky, ale chvalabohu, že to tak je. Singer je vlastne trocha rozprávač anekdôt, historiek a duchárskych báchoriek.
Čo je však za tým? Neviem, či som dodnes čítal nejakého iného autora, ktorý by dokázal tak odzbrojujúco písať o absurdnosti ľudskej existencie a o tom, že vlastne na určité veci sa nedá odpovedať, že je vlastne spravidla nemožné pomenovať, kto je lapidárne zlý a kto dobrý, kto má ten správny svetonázor a ako svet funguje. Samozrejem podobne dialekticky píšu aj iný židovský autori ako napríklad Amos Oz či Chaim Potok. Singer dokáže dokonale vykresliť skrz jednoduché príbehy nejednoznačnosť vecí a našu márnu snahu dopracovať sa k nejakým konečným odpovediam. Preto sú jeho texty skutočne niečo ako náboženská literatúra, aj keď je to plnohodnostná beletria. Jeho poviedky vás dokážu uzemniť, pretočia vašu persketívu nazerania na realitu ale zároveň v sebe nesú potešenie z rozprávania, ktoré jediné funguje ako určitý mechanizmus uistenia sa, že veci sa stali tak ako sa stali a dáva nám silu pokračovať.
Čítal som to už dávno, 15 rokov dozadu, aj vtedy sa mi to páčilo, ale vlastne som to vôbec nepochopil. Je to skutočne niečo ako zložitý náboženský text, v ktorom určité vrstvy odčítate až po násobnom prečítaní. Nechápem, ako som tam tie veci vtedy nemohol nevidieť. Každopádne myslím si, že Singerové poviedky dajú viac ľudom, ktorí už majú niečo odžité. Nechcem, aby to znelo snobsky. Ale ako mladé ucho som asi nedokázal precítiť všetky tie nuansy príbehov a ľuďoch stratených v svojej márnej existencii či už vo sveje tradičných uzavretých komunít na odľahlom vidieku východnej Európy, alebo v modernom prostredí odcudzeného sveta dravého kapitalizmu za veľkou mlákou.
O tom píše Singer. Čo zažil ako dieťa, čo nasal od svojich predkov. A čo zažil ako emigrant v Amerike. Čo je na jeho písaní také fascinujúce? Je to samozrejme grandiózny rozprávač. Jeho opisy postáv sú veľmi plastické, zameriava sa na fyziognomické črty a v tom jeho písanie pripomína skôr pred-modernistický balzakovský román. Príbehy majú vždy nečakané absurdné zvraty, ktoré však organicky vyrastajú z látky. A Singer píše stále akoby z perspektívy dieťaťa, ktoré sa skrylo za dverami kuchyne a počúva príbehy dospelákov. V tom sa môže jeho tvorba javiť naivne a starosvetsky, ale chvalabohu, že to tak je. Singer je vlastne trocha rozprávač anekdôt, historiek a duchárskych báchoriek.
Čo je však za tým? Neviem, či som dodnes čítal nejakého iného autora, ktorý by dokázal tak odzbrojujúco písať o absurdnosti ľudskej existencie a o tom, že vlastne na určité veci sa nedá odpovedať, že je vlastne spravidla nemožné pomenovať, kto je lapidárne zlý a kto dobrý, kto má ten správny svetonázor a ako svet funguje. Samozrejem podobne dialekticky píšu aj iný židovský autori ako napríklad Amos Oz či Chaim Potok. Singer dokáže dokonale vykresliť skrz jednoduché príbehy nejednoznačnosť vecí a našu márnu snahu dopracovať sa k nejakým konečným odpovediam. Preto sú jeho texty skutočne niečo ako náboženská literatúra, aj keď je to plnohodnostná beletria. Jeho poviedky vás dokážu uzemniť, pretočia vašu persketívu nazerania na realitu ale zároveň v sebe nesú potešenie z rozprávania, ktoré jediné funguje ako určitý mechanizmus uistenia sa, že veci sa stali tak ako sa stali a dáva nám silu pokračovať.
November 5, 2010
A collection of short stories from the (as far as I know) only Nobel prize-winning author to compose in Yiddish. On the whole, the collection gives one glimpses of the lost world of Eastern European Judaism--not so much the religion but focusing more on the culture of which the religion is a part. The examination is of the lives and interactions of people with their religion and with each other.
Most of the stories were merely okay, hence the two star rating but of the twenty or so stories here, a couple were probably three stars and one, "The Manuscript" was a four star story for me. Glimpses of insight and transcendence of man's relationship to his milieu mixed with a lot of mundanity--which I guess can be some kind of structualist meta-comment on the way that life usually works, although I doubt a comment on that scale was intentional.
Most of the stories were merely okay, hence the two star rating but of the twenty or so stories here, a couple were probably three stars and one, "The Manuscript" was a four star story for me. Glimpses of insight and transcendence of man's relationship to his milieu mixed with a lot of mundanity--which I guess can be some kind of structualist meta-comment on the way that life usually works, although I doubt a comment on that scale was intentional.
January 25, 2008
Translations usually make me feel one stop removed from the actual prose, but this one has a potent impact. Most of these stories were published in The New Yorker first. They are mature, painful romantic vignettes. The content is not a natural first choice for me; the writing's so good, it doesn't matter.
November 17, 2014
This is vintage Singer. Several pieces are also in the "Collected Short Stories'. The author opens a window on a culture and historical period most of us aren't familiar with. Vivid, humorous, pessimistic, and often nearly mystical. Ordinary people, including Singer's surrogate, become involved in sometimes nearly surreal adventures.
January 1, 2024
DNR. This was my second attempt at Singer's books, and I just don't seem to get it. Stories are scattered and "magical" but not in a way that speaks to me, at all. Maybe I can't understand them, for I tried to, but I just can't work through more of this convoluted, unconnected, unreasonable, and strenuous writing.
December 6, 2011
This book didn't engage me as much as others by Isaac Singer, who is one of my favorite writers of fiction. I found the stories to be uneven, though I thought the theme -- the loves of older people -- was a promising one.
January 7, 2017
I have just finished reading the book. I enjoyed these short stories from which I was able to learn about Jewish culture, traditions, laws in stories about daily life. I still wonder how he could make some apparently simple situations so interesting.
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February 16, 2013I loved this book. It was unique in tone, and outside the sphere of any book I've read thus far.
June 27, 2018
Warto przeczytac dla opowiadan o rabinach i cadykach w żydowskiej Polsce
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews