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Magician of Lublin
Magician of Lublin | Isaac Bashevis Singer
4 posts | 7 read | 8 to read
The fiftieth anniversary of a lost classic a deceptively sophisticated tale of sexual compulsion and one man's flight from loveYasha Mazur is a Houdini-like performer whose skill has made him famous throughout eastern Poland. Half Jewish, half Gentile, a freethinker who slips easily between worlds, Yasha has an observant Jewish wife, a Gentile assistant who travels with him, and a mistress in every town. For Yasha is an escape artist not only onstage but in life, a man who lives under the spell of his own hypnotic effect on women. Now, though, his exploits are catching up with him, and he is tempted to make one final escape from his wife and his homeland and the last tendrils of his father's religion.Set in Warsaw and the shtetls of the 1870s but first published in 1960 Isaac Bashevis Singer's second novel hides a haunting psychological portrait inside a beguiling parable. At its heart, this is a book about the burden of sexual freedom. As such, it belongs on a small shelf with such mid-century classics as Rabbit, Run; The Adventures of Augie March; and The Moviegoer. As Milton Hindus wrote in The New York Times Book Review, "The pathos of the ending may move the reader to tears, but they are not sentimental tears . . . [Singer] is a writer of far greater than ordinary powers.""
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AshleyHoss820
Magician of Lublin | Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Pickpick

Oh what a tangled web we weave! Yasha, a far-from-devout Jewish man leads a devil-may-care life. He is married to the devout, loving, Esther but, despite multiple mistresses, he is planning to leave everything behind for his newest lover, Emilia. One twist of fate after another, his life begins to unravel and Yasha makes an interesting life choice. I didn‘t want to care about Yasha‘s fate, but Singer made sure that I did! 191/1,001 #1001Books

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Liz_M
Magician of Lublin | Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Pickpick

Yasha Mazur has a charmed life, balancing his domestic life, profession, social interactions with scoundrels, forays into society, and his many, many mistresses. But now he is in love and must decide whether to abandon his religion, wife, and country for the love of his refined, gentile mistress. I enjoyed his exploits and the depictions of Lublin and Warsaw, but I don't think enough groundwork was laid for the final turn of events to make sense.

Liz_M Gratuitous picture of Bert, since I've returned the book to the library. #catsoflitsy (edited) 4y
BarbaraBB I‘ve been looking forward to this one 4y
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BarbaraBB Say hi to Bert 🐈 🙋🏻‍♀️ 4y
Liz_M @BarbaraBB He yawns in your general direction. 4y
Librarybelle Cute cat photo! 4y
BarbaraBB I hope you will be joining us for #ReadingAsia2021! 4y
Liz_M @BarbaraBB I've already signed up, although I don't have many unread Asian 1001-books. 4y
BarbaraBB There aren‘t that many on the list I think. But so many good ones that have won literary prices and I‘ve been meaning to read. I hope I will now and I am happy you signed up! 4y
18 likes9 comments
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Mistermandolin
Magician of Lublin | Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Pickpick

Singer is my favourite writer and this is my favourite ever novel. With deft and seemingly effortless lyricism he evokes another time and place vividly and memorably and the story-telling is superb. Haunting and beautiful. Moral, too. That‘s the thing. He‘s a very moral writer but never patronising or preachy. If I could take only one novel to a desert island it would be this one. Story-telling is a gift and Singer has it in spades.

13 likes2 stack adds
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Daisey
Magician of Lublin | Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Mehso-so

I‘ve been reading this book off and on since the beginning of the year and made a point to finally finish it today. This story of a Jewish magician in Poland who has a wife and multiple mistresses was just not my style. I couldn‘t really find sympathy for his troubles, but I did find his final response to the consequences of his choices interesting.

#1001books #ReadingEurope2020 #Poland #translated #ReadtheWorld #ReadingtheWorld