The Glatstein Chronicles

Fiction & Literature, Historical
Cover of the book The Glatstein Chronicles by Jacob Glatstein, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jacob Glatstein ISBN: 9781480440760
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: October 15, 2013
Imprint: The New Yiddish Library Language: English
Author: Jacob Glatstein
ISBN: 9781480440760
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: October 15, 2013
Imprint: The New Yiddish Library
Language: English

In 1934, with World War II on the horizon, writer Jacob Glatstein (1896–1971) traveled from his home in America to his native Poland to visit his dying mother. One of the foremost Yiddish poets of the day, he used his journey as the basis for two highly autobiographical novellas (translated as The Glatstein Chronicles) in which he intertwines childhood memories with observations of growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

Glatstein’s accounts “stretch like a tightrope across a chasm,” writes preeminent Yiddish scholar Ruth Wisse in the Introduction. In Book One, Homeward Bound, the narrator, Yash, recounts his voyage to his birthplace in Poland and the array of international travelers he meets along the way. Book Two, Homecoming at Twilight, resumes after his mother’s funeral and ends with Yash’s impending return to the United States, a Jew with an American passport who recognizes the ominous history he is traversing.

The Glatstein Chronicles is at once insightful reportage of the year after Hitler came to power, a reflection by a leading intellectual on contemporary culture and events, and the closest thing we have to a memoir by the boy from Lublin, Poland, who became one of the finest poets of the twentieth century.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1934, with World War II on the horizon, writer Jacob Glatstein (1896–1971) traveled from his home in America to his native Poland to visit his dying mother. One of the foremost Yiddish poets of the day, he used his journey as the basis for two highly autobiographical novellas (translated as The Glatstein Chronicles) in which he intertwines childhood memories with observations of growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

Glatstein’s accounts “stretch like a tightrope across a chasm,” writes preeminent Yiddish scholar Ruth Wisse in the Introduction. In Book One, Homeward Bound, the narrator, Yash, recounts his voyage to his birthplace in Poland and the array of international travelers he meets along the way. Book Two, Homecoming at Twilight, resumes after his mother’s funeral and ends with Yash’s impending return to the United States, a Jew with an American passport who recognizes the ominous history he is traversing.

The Glatstein Chronicles is at once insightful reportage of the year after Hitler came to power, a reflection by a leading intellectual on contemporary culture and events, and the closest thing we have to a memoir by the boy from Lublin, Poland, who became one of the finest poets of the twentieth century.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book The Secret Poisoner by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book A Little Book of Language by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book The Jeffersons at Shadwell by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book The Yale Guide to Women's Reproductive Health by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Globetrotter by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Gallipoli by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Portrait of a Woman in Silk by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book The Romances of Chretien de Troyes by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Europe's Deadlock by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Louis by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability: Redefining Our Relationship with Nature by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Sun Chief by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book From Peace to Freedom by Jacob Glatstein
Cover of the book Catholics on the Barricades by Jacob Glatstein
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy