Short stories 211-220

Next come the Polish stories:

“The Lighthouse Keeper of Aspinwall” by Henryk Sienkiewicz . A wonderfully lyric tale of a happy interlude in a long life full of misfortune. Recommended. (this appears to be the same translation as I read)

“Forebodings, a sketch” by Stefan Zeromski. There were actually two sketches, but one was too short to include here. About finding peace in adversity.

And now the Yiddish authors:

“A Woman’s Wrath” by Isaac Loeb Peretz. A rather harrowing tale of n incident between a woman and her good-for-nothing husband. Recommended.

“The Passover Guest” by Sholom Aleichem. A wryly humorous tale about the power of good storytelling and a Jewish family who entertain an exotic foreign guest during Passover. Heartily recommended.

“A Picnic” by Z. Libin. A humorous tale about a family picnic gone wrong. Recommended.

“The Kaddish” by Abraham Raisin. About a man obsessed with having a son.

“Abandoned” by Sholom Asch. Both sad and humorous, about a criminal left alone with a baby. Recommended.

“In the Storm” by David Pinski. A dramatic tale about a woman’s fury. Recommended.

Next are the Nordic tales. I will not include the Icelandic tales, one of which I have read, preferring to read the other in the original language (although, come to think of it, it would be interesting to do a side-by side reading of the translation and the original...). I am also skipping a Danish tale by Hans Christian Andersen, which I have read both in Danish and Icelandic (another possible comparative translation project).

From Denmark:
“Henrik and Rosalie” by Meyer Aron Goldschmidt. A sweet romantic tale.

“Two Worlds” by Jens Peter Jacobsen. A very atmospheric tale about, well, two different worlds. Recommended.
--

I may be biased, but it's positively shocking that there is no Icelandic short story in this book written after the end of the 13th century.

Comments

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