- Hardcover: 217 pages
- Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre / Not Applicable (Mar 1 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0374255113
- ISBN-13: 978-0374255114
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,515,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Written two decades ago but never before published in English, this culturally rich but oddly uninvolving novel features a typical Singer protagonist, caught in the dichotomy between the dictates of religion and his sensual nature. "Scum" refers both to 47-year-old Max Barabander and the Jewish underworld of Warsaw to which he returns in 1906 after a 23-year absence. In Buenos Aires, where he had fled as a juvenile delinquent to make his fortune, his 17-year-old son has just died, leading to his wife's breakdown and his impotence. His trip, at once a pathetic attempt at "rejuvenation" and a response to a midlife crisis, results in his disastrous involvement with four women: Tsirele, a poor rabbi's daughter; Reyzl, mistress of the local gang leader, who nets him in a scheme to import prostitutes to Buenos Aires; their first target, Basha, a servant girl; and the clairvoyant Madame Theresa. Hating himself for these deceitful liaisons, Max resolves to flee, but in the process he accidentally shoots one of the women, thus ending as he began, a convict. Max's existential dilemma often seems contrived, and fans of Nobel Prize winner Singer, while relishing the redolent atmosphere of the Warsaw Jewish community and the colorful old world Yiddish culture, may be disappointed by the story's failure to convince.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Shady Max Barabander, a Polish Jew, forsakes his adopted home of Argentina after his teenage son suddenly dies and his wife loses interest in living. He goes back to Poland, ostensibly to visit the graves of his parents. Instead, he finds companionship in the criminal underworld of Warsaw. Max seeks out women for his sexual salvation and to escape the constant fear he has of imprisonment and isolation. He becomes involved with a prostitute, a baker's wife, and a rabbi's daughter and others who see him as a means of escaping the legal and societal subjugation they experience in the Poland of 1906. Max deceives them all, and his deceptions--which reflect his spiritual anarchy--lead to violence. That Singer is a master storyteller is evident in this compelling--and quite modern--tale. Although not on par with his greatest works--e.g., Family Moskat , The Slave --this is a striking novel nevertheless, full of memorable characters sketched with great artistry. Highly recommended for most libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/90.
-Paul Kaplan, Dakota Cty. Lib. System, Apple Valley, Minn.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Paul Kaplan, Dakota Cty. Lib. System, Apple Valley, Minn.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating novel about a lost world, July 11 1999
By "derbyram@hotmail.com" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Scum (Hardcover)
Singer (and his translator) manages with beautiful, easy-to-read prose, to evoke a lost world. His sketches of the the people and places in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw c 1906 are memorable and convincing. While I was reading the book I was conscious that the city was flattened in the 1940s and 6/7 of Polish Jews were murdered during the Nazi occupation - i.e. a stark dark line through history cut Max's world off from from today's Poland. Max recalls the assimilated, Spanish speaking Jewish community in Argentina and the ultra-conservative village in Western Poland where he grew up - and to which he is forever planning to return. He observes the pious Warsaw families in their detailed preparations for and observation of the Sabbath - but also the other Jews, the thieves, pimps, whores who live in the same street, and the middle class Jews in their large apartments a few blocks away. This multi-layered community speaks a different language from the millions of Poles that surround them and is loathed by many of the hosts. Singer makes occasional refererence to the pogroms, anti-Semitism, the Russian occupation, but it is not an overtly political novel. It concentrates on the the street life in the ghetto and specifically on the character of Max. Manic mad Max can't help getting into trouble. He lurches from one messy encounter to the next, creating new dangers for himself even before the previous one has been resolved. He has a wife in Argentina, yet promises himself to several Warsaw women in his first few days in the city. His treatment of women is appalling, yet by highlighting his protagonist's self-awareness, self-loathing, his profound grief over his lost son, his occasional moments of kindness, his guilt and conscience, Singer will endear his extraordinary creation to many readers. Max is deeply lonely and Singer explains much of his bizarre behaviour with reference to his desperate need to avoid being alone with his despair. This is my first Singer novel and I will definitely read others - he creates both a strong multi-dimensional central character and a powerful sense of place with stark, economical prose. A glossary of religious and cultural terms would have been helpful - and a few pages of recipes would have been a treat (although I'll skip the cabbage fried in lard!)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful parable, Feb 14 2010
By Israel Drazin - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Scum (Paperback)
Isaac Bashevis Singer's Scum is a tale of a 47 year old successful business man, thief and fornicator who hid many of his business deals and money and sex liaisons from his wife, who was his partner. Their son, a teen-ager dies unexpectantly. His wife falls into a deep depression, becomes frigid, and is unable to have a close relationship with him. While he thinks that he is not depressed, he becomes impotent and suffers for several years feeling that he has no enjoyment from his life. He decides to rekindle his zest for life by returning to the ultra-Orthodox Judaism of his youth, beginning with his return to his birthplace Poland and a visit to his parents' graves.He arrives in Poland in 1906 and is drawn to the thieves' quarter where he discovers two kinds of Jews, the ultra-Orthodox and the unreligious and secular minded criminal class. The former are overwhelmed by piety, study of the Talmud and prayer; the latter by sex.
He makes several attempts to overcome his impotency and to find satisfaction. He becomes involved with five different women, each in a despicable way. He is charmed by the daughter of an extremely poor rabbi and offers her marriage. The girl is young enough to be his daughter. He tries to rape a servant girl to regain his potency. He joins with a woman who is unfaithful to her lover, who is a married man, in an enterprise to seduce or kidnap girls from Poland and take them to his country, Argentina, and place them in a brothel. He has sex with her and thinks that he recovered his potency. He seeks help from a clearly fraudulent clairvoyant to see his dead son and decides to help her escape from a man who is controlling her.
The story, as many written by the Nobel Prize Winner I. B. Singer, can be read as a parable of man's search for meaning and how he is hindered in his search by his failure to realize that he is searching for meaning, his inability to maintain focus on his goal and his failure to abandon his nature, in this case being scum.
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