Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: Babel is a great model for new writers in his ability to place "life on the page." This translation is as complete as they come and well translated for the contemporary American ear.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: Babel is a great model for new writers in his ability to place "life on the page." This translation is as complete as they come and well translated for the contemporary American ear.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: Babel is a great model for new writers in his ability to place "life on the page." This translation is as complete as they come and well translated for the contemporary American ear.
Rating: 
Summary: Read this Book
Review: Hemingway was a wimp. Babel's stories about men and their ludicrous justifications for their appalling violence are rigorous and strangly fair. He does not judge; and the morality of the reader is revealed. The Polish front during an inept campaign, peopled by a fascinating war and horse culture is the subject of the Red Cavalry Stories. Any one who lives with or loves horses would be fascinated by them. The interaction of animal and man is, I think, rarely so well written.
Rating:
Summary: Like Finding A Secret Treasure
Review: I bought this book after stumbling upon one of Babel's army stories from the "Red Cavalry" collection. Babel truly is a master of short fiction. I am surprised that I have gone this far in my life and have just now found him.The biographical information provided by his daughter enhances the reading pleasure as well as draws attention to the politics that contributed to self-censorship and eventual assassination from Stalin's henchmen. Babel is the Checkov and the Turgenev of his time: classic Russian Short Fiction at its most beautiful. The only drawback to this extensive collection is its extensiveness. Babel's longer works and plays lack some of the focus and integrity of his short stories. Luckily the short stories make up the bulk of the book. If you can afford it buy the hardcover. It comes in a protective box and I guarantee this is a collection you will want to preserve and cherish forever.
Rating:
Summary: Like Finding A Secret Treasure
Review: I bought this book after stumbling upon one of Babel's army stories from the "Red Cavalry" collection. Babel truly is a master of short fiction. I am surprised that I have gone this far in my life and have just now found him. The biographical information provided by his daughter enhances the reading pleasure as well as draws attention to the politics that contributed to self-censorship and eventual assassination from Stalin's henchmen. Babel is the Checkov and the Turgenev of his time: classic Russian Short Fiction at its most beautiful. The only drawback to this extensive collection is its extensiveness. Babel's longer works and plays lack some of the focus and integrity of his short stories. Luckily the short stories make up the bulk of the book. If you can afford it buy the hardcover. It comes in a protective box and I guarantee this is a collection you will want to preserve and cherish forever.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing absolutely
Review: I read a review of this book in the Washington Post's book section today Sunday Nov. 25, 2001. Having read some of Babel's works previously, and based on the review in the WP, I can't wait to get my hands on this latest book. Babel was an absolute genius, martyred by Stalin in his prime. Moreover, his translator carries the day with a superb translation from the Russian. Don't miss out on one of the 20th century's greatest writers.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure Chest
Review: Isaac Babel was a Russian Jewish writer who wrote his most famous works -- all short stories -- under the Soviet regime in the 1920s. He was tragically killed during the Stalin purges of the late 1930s. His work is unique from so many perspectives: he was a Jew, but he did not live in the Pale or write in Yiddish (he was a modern, secular Jew how lived in Odessa and wrote in Russian); he fought in the Red Army in the Russian Revolution, became disillusioned, but never left Russia; he wrote only short works such as short stories in screen plays. In this one volume, his daughter has collected every available work that he ever wrote. While there were many manuscripts that were destroyed when Babel was purged, this will stand as his complete works, all recently translated. In addition to Babel's own writings, there are wonderful introductions from Cynthia Ozick, the translator Peter Constantine and Babel's daughter, Nathalie Babel. Ms. Babel also includes, as an afterward, a wonderful memoir of how she came to produce this work, starting with the gripping tale of her and her mother's life in France during WWII. Also included is a timeline of Babel's life. These materials alone make for fascinating reading as you dip into Babel's literary works. Of course, it is Babel's short stories that are the star attraction. There are three main collections, the Odessa stories, which tell the tales of Russian Jewish thugs living in a district in Odessa, the Red Cavelry stories, which are based on Babel's experiences in the Red Army in the Russian Revolution, and the Dovecote stories, which are autobiographical tales of Babel's youth. The stories are all lean and sparsely written with a biting irony that attacks all facets of Russian life. This is not a book one is likely to or needs to read from cover to cover at one time. It is, however, perfectly designed to let one slowly absorb this great writer as you dip into this over time.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF VERY FEW
Review: There were only a few Soviet writers who tried to tell the story exactly how it happened and Isaac Babel was on of these very few bright and brave men. His work deserves to be known, remembered, and the highest points.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF VERY FEW
Review: There were only a few Soviet writers who tried to tell the story exactly how it happened and Isaac Babel was on of these very few bright and brave men. His work deserves to be known, remembered, and the highest points.
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