Author: Ken B.
Date: 07-14-04 11:21
I favor "Gimpel Before He Was Wise" -- I mean "Gimpel the Fool." The bulk of the book has themes and a rhythm of classic Yiddish literature (at least in English translation) to the extent that I often forget that Singer wrote it. Then I remember or get to the part where Gimpel urinates in his bakery's bread dough. (He discards the loaves and doesn't sell them to anyone.) That's the classic Singer deviating from the classic Yiddish Lit. Then comes an ending (or part of the ending; Singer didn't develop it as much as I would have liked) that synthesizes classic Yiddish Lit and classic Singer: Gimpel the protagonist hits the road, serves as a witness to the world's lies that turn out to be true, and wanders with purpose, namely, putting his life in perspective, and becoming wise and possibly holier. It reminds me of Jules (played by Samuel Jackson), in the movie "Pulp Fiction," who retires from one life to "walk the earth." It reminds me of Cain. The Jewish tradition doesn't offer many wandering fools, wise men, or holy men, such as Gimpel. So Singer's marvelous synthesis presents something that he made sound so Jewish, but isn't really Jewish. (Singer did the same thing in "The Magician of Lublin." The protagonist, in penance, had himself bricked into a small unheated hut with a dirt floor, and stayed for years to do penance.)
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