The letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl ; and, Motl, the cantor's son / Sholem Aleichem ; translated and with an introduction by Hillel Halkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sholem Aleichem, 1859-1916.

Contributor:

Halkin, Hillel, 1939-

Series:

New Yiddish library

Standardized Title:

Menaḥem-Mendl. English

Language:

English

Yiddish

Subjects (All):

Sholem Aleichem, 1859-1916--Translations into English.

Sholem Aleichem.

Sholem Aleichem, 1859-1916.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xxix, 325 pages ; 22 cm.

Other Title:

Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl ; and, Motl, the cantor's son

Moll, the cantor's son

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2002]

Language Note:

Translated from the Yiddish.

Summary:

This volume presents an outstanding new translation of two favorite comic novels by the preeminent Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916). The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl portrays a tumultuous marriage through letters exchanged between the title character, an itinerant bumbler seeking his fortune in the cities of Russia before departing alone for the New World, and his scolding wife, who becomes increasingly fearful, jealous, and mystified. Motl, the Cantor's Son is the first-person narrative of a mischievous and keenly observant boy who emigrates with his family from Russia to America. The final third of the story takes place in New York, making this Sholem Aleichem's only major work to be set in the United States.

Motl and Menakhem-Mendl are in one sense opposites the one a clear-eyed child and the other a pathetically deluded adult. Yet both are ideal conveyors of the comic disparity of perception on which humor depends. If Motl sees more than do others around him, Menakhem-Mendl has an almost infinite capacity for seeing less. Sholem Aleichem endows each character with an individual comic voice to tell in his own way the story of the collapse of traditional Jewish life in modern industrial society as well as the journey to America, where a new chapter of Jewish history begins. This volume includes a biographical and critical introduction as well as a useful glossary for English-language readers.

Contents:

The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl

Londons: The Odessa Exchange 3

Stocks & Bonds: The Yehupetz Exchange 19

Millions: Traders, Agents, and Speculators 38

An Honorable Profession: Menakhem-Mendl Becomes a Writer 72

It's No Go: Menakhem-Mendl the Matchmaker 83

Always a Loser: Menakhem-Mendl the Insurance Agent 96

Motl, the Cantor's Son.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Contains:

Sholem Aleichem, 1859-1916. Moṭel Peysi dem ḥazens. English.

Motl, the cantor's son.

ISBN:

0300092466

OCLC:

48858109