Amazon.com
Arguably the best book of short stories published in 2001, The Complete Works of Isaac Babel, expertly translated by Peter Constantine, should affirm Babel's place among the top Russian short story writers. Like Chekhov, Isaac Babel primarily wrote odd, tightly wrung little stories in which he displays a variety of convincing styles and tones, with each piece having an immediacy and weight that exceeds its brevity.
Babel's writing life lasted approximately 20 years. (He was executed by Stalin after a few military subjects unflatteringly portrayed in his "Red Cavalry" stories gained positions of influence.) His most notable stories depict the Russian civil war and Jewish soldiers, his childhood, and Jewish thugs in his native Odessa. Often journalistic in style, his stories provided gripping war accounts to Russians eager for news from the front, as in this passage from "The Church in Novograd": We drank rum, waiting for the military commissar, but he still hadn't come back from the headquarters. Romuald had collapsed in a corner and fallen asleep. He slept and quivered, while beyond the window an alley seeped into the garden beneath the black passion of the sky. Thirsting roses swayed in the darkness. Green lightning bolts blazed over the cupolas. A naked corpse lay on the embankment. And the rays of the moon streamed through the dead legs that are pointing upward. So this is Poland... This collection is a delight for its organization: the stories are grouped by periods, feature introductions, and include helpful maps. The preface and afterward by his daughter and editor, Nathalie Babel, are insightful. Also included are two plays, several screenplays, a chronology, and an introduction by Cynthia Ozick. The Complete Works of Isaac Babel should be a welcome addition to readers of literature everywhere. --Michael Ferch
From Library Journal
It's all here diaries, plays, and screenplays as well as the incomparable stories that made Babel one of the great Russian writers of the 20th century. With a little help from Babel's daughter, Nathalie, and the skills of an award-winning translator, this should be great reading. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Born in Odessa, Russia, in 1894, Babel had a great appetite for life and a profound aptitude for expression. He wrote vivid, ironic stories about his hometown's rascally Jewish underworld; then, after courageously joining the notorious Red Calvary on the Polish front, he wrote scorchingly candid stories about the atrocities committed by this outlaw force and the horrific suffering of his fellow Jews. Astonishing in their bloody yet lyrical intensity, these tales of man's madness and brutality made Babel famous and cost him his life when Stalin ordered his execution in 1940. A crucial voice of the Soviet debacle and the war against the Jews, and an enigmatic, compelling man, Babel will finally reach the international readership he deserves thanks to this revelatory and comprehensive collection. Incisively introduced by Cynthia Ozick, thoughtfully edited by Babel's daughter, Nathalie, and newly translated by Peter Constantine, this volume chronicles Babel's life and presents his complete stories, including his final works, iridescent and wrenching fiction rooted in his childhood; the unforgettable diary of his time with the Cossacks; plays; screenplays; and other writings. Here is Babel whole, a compassionate and uncompromising artist who grappled with good and evil, and from terror distilled beauty. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Lionel Trilling
A talent of great energy and boldness.
Alfred Kazin, New York Review of Books
Babel is altogether the artist, drawing the reader completely into a new view of the world.
Lionel Trilling
A talent of great energy and boldness.
Alfred Kazin, New York Review of Books
Babel is altogether the artist, drawing the reader completely into a new view of the world.
Book Description
A literary event of extraordinary dimensions—the first single-volume edition of all of Isaac Babel's work. Considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century—and the greatest short story writer since Chekhov—Isaac Babel (1894-1941) also wrote numerous plays, diaries, and screenplays. Despite his stature, the whole of Babel's work has never been assembled in one place. This magnificent edition of Babel's collected work, edited and authorized by Babel's daughter Nathalie and newly translated by Peter Constantine, includes such standard works as the "Red Cavalry" cycle and his diaries, as well as several previously untranslated stories and screenplays. Often revolving around the tortured dilemmas faced by Jews within the ruthless Soviet state, Babel's terse, violent fiction has left its mark on generations of readers and writers. This book will stand as Babel's final, most enduring legacy. Slipcased edition. 2 b/w photographs, 3 maps.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian
About the Author
Isaac Babel was arrested in 1939 for his work's lack of Socialist Realism. He died in a gulag in 1941. Translator Peter Constantine won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Prize for his translation of Thomas Mann.
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