A Day of Pleasure - Book 52

A Day of Pleasure and Other Stories for Children by Isaac Bashevis Singer was a pure pleasure to read.  This was a re-read for me.  As I read, I recalled the stories I'd first encountered many years ago.  Singer wrote in Yiddish and so all these stories have been translated into English, many by him with some other translator.  Singer won the Nobel prize for literature in 1978.  He wrote many adult novels too but they have many of the same features and same mood as these children's stories. 

The first third of the book is actually short chapters of memoirs of Singer's own childhood in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw, just before and during World War I.  His father was a Hasidic rabbi.  His world is steeped in the Torah, the Talmud, Jewish neighbors and customs, Jewish folklore, grinding poverty, study and simple pleasures.  During World War I, the economy got so bad the family was in danger of starving to death, so they returned to their tiny village Biloray where Singer's grandfather was rabbi. 

All these stories have a sweetness to them, yet they are realistic, clear and intelligent.  Many have supernatural elements involving witches, house imps (with a name in Yiddish), dybbuks, Elijah visiting to help, angels, miracles, dreams.  Many of the stories feature Hanukkah, many feature young innocent love. 

The whole book is full of poignancy because all this takes place before the Nazi occupation and the Holocaust.  Singer himself immigrated to New York in 1935 because he feared what was happening next door in Germany.  And of course, he was right.  So a deep sadness fills these stories even as they reflect the innocence of childhood and a basic belief in a God of Creation who gave us this beautiful world.  Singer is looking back on a lost world and culture that was brutally obliterated by almost inconceivable evil. 

Two thumbs up for this exquisite book!  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.