Ordinary Jews

Yehoshue Perle, Shirley Kumove

Description

Since its original publication in 1935, Ordinary Jews has come to be regarded as one of the masterpieces of Yiddish literature. In his portrayal of the lives of ordinary Polish Jews in a small provincial city at the end of the nineteenth century, Yehoshuah Perle offers a glimpse at a way of life that was already changing by the time of the novel's publication and would soon be brutally exterminated in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of the novel's young protagonist, Mendl Shonash, we are introduced to an intricate society of housewives, beggars, tailors, doctors, maidservants, tavern keepers, teachers, gravediggers, rabbinical students, and a whole range of people living close to the bottom of the social scale, as well as the various social hierarchies, shady dealings, pretensions, grotesqueries, and superstitions that color and order their world. Like a star whose light is visible to us light years after its creation, Ordinary Jews provides a glimpse into a particular culture and unique way of life that might otherwise be lost to history.
Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Translator’s Notes to the Reader

Novel

Glossary and Notes
Bibliography

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438435527
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

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ORDINARY JEWS

ORDINARY JEWS

Yehoshue Perle

Translated and with an introduction by Shirley Kumove

e e excelsioreditions State University of NewYork Press Albany, NewYork

Words Like Arrows: A Collection of Yiddish Folk Sayings,University of Toronto Press, 1984, Shocken Books, 1985

More Words, More Arrows: A Further Collection of Yiddish Folk Sayings, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1999

Drunk From the Bitter Truth: The Poetry of Anna Margolin,State University of New York Press, Albany, 2005

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2011 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press

Production by Kelli W. LeRoux Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Perle, Iehoshua, 1888–1943.  [Yidn fun a gants yor. English]  Ordinary Jews / Yehoshue Perle ; translated by Shirley Kumove.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references.  ISBN 978-1-4384-3550-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Jewish fiction. I. Kumove, Shirley, 1931– II. Title.

PJ5129.P4—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2010031859

The translation of this book is dedicated to the millions of Polish Jews—Yiddish-speaking men, women, and children, who went to untimely deaths and whose graves are unmarked and unknown, annihilated in the Shoah simply because they were Jews.

May the translation of this novel stand as a monument and redeem their memories from eternal oblivion.

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Contents

Preface / ix

Acknowledgments / xi

Introduction / 1

Translator’s Notes to the Reader / 19

Novel / 27

Glossary and Notes / 335

Bibliography / 341

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