This is the first book I have read by Singer and I really enjoyed it. It was loaned to me by a work colleague who is a self confessed non-reader. Despite being someone who "doesn't like to read" he said that this was one of his favorite books. I wasn't sure if this was a good recommendation for a book or not! However, within a few pages I was hooked.
The scope and the treatment of morals, values and societal pressure reminded me of Anna Karenina.
I found the insight into Jewish society and family quite fascinating. It is set in Poland in the late 19th Century. Singer examines the conflicting pressures on Jewish families to rigidly continue their Jewish culture or integrate with the wider Polish society. For individuals there is then the further pressures to conform to expectations placed on them or break out and pursue other dreams. The consequences, perhaps predictably for many of the characters, are often disastrous either way.
As I came close to the end of the story I started to worry about how Singer was going to tie up all the loose ends in the remaining pages. When I finally reached the end I felt cheated, as though the story had been suddenly snapped closed without resolving much of the tension. I complained about this to my husband. So imagine my relief when he told me, after a quick google search, that there is a sequel. I promptly ordered a copy of The Estate from Better World Books and I look forward to reading it.
I did some googling about Singer myself and was interested to find out:
1. He won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978,
"for his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a
Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to
life".
Nobel Prize Web Site The fact that I have never heard of him before this is proof (yet again) of my uncouthness!
2. All his work was written in Yiddish and later translated to English.
3. He became a vegetarian in the mid 1960's and was a strict vegetarian for the last 35 years of his life. He is responsible for some fabulously insightful and quotable statements about the ethics of vegetarianism.
The International Vegetarian Union has
a page about Singer and reports that
"He was fond of saying that he was a vegetarian for health reasons - the health of the chicken."
Some further examples all lifted from the
Wikipedia page about him (showing that I am not only uncouth but lazy):
"How can we speak of right and justice if we take an innocent
creature and shed its blood?"
In
The Letter Writer, he wrote:
"In relation to [animals], all people are Nazis; for the animals, it is an eternal Treblinka."
In the preface to Steven Rosen's "Food for Spirit: Vegetarianism and
the World Religions" (1986), Singer wrote:
"When a human kills an animal
for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for
mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why should man then
expect mercy from God? It's unfair to expect something that you are not
willing to give. It is inconsistent. I can never accept inconsistency or
injustice. Even if it comes from God. If there would come a voice from
God saying, "I'm against vegetarianism!" I would say, "Well, I am for
it!" This is how strongly I feel in this regard."
I struggled a bit with this one at first. It was for book club and I was rushing to try and finish it in time for book club so perhaps that made it a bit harder. Possibly if I had taken my time with it I would have enjoyed it more.
