Love and Exile: The Early Years - A Memoir - Tapa dura

During his lifetime, the work of Isaac Bashevis Singer has attracted an enormous following and received universal critical acclaim, culminating on the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. His compelling stories and novels, which are steeped in the tradition of Polish-Jewish culture, are remarkable for their insight, humanity, wisdom and humour. Singer, now in his eightieth year, reveals these same qualities in a highly personal account of the formative period of his life in Poland and the United States. Love and Exile traces Singer's intellectual, artistic and emotional development over a period of thirty years. The author tells us in the introduction, 'The Beginning', that he can vividly remember the time when he was only three and growing up in the Orthodox atmosphere of his father's home where rational argument was very much a part of everyday life. It is clear from 'The Beginning' and the first section of the memoir, 'A Little Boy in Search of God', that Singer was an unusually intelligent child who read avidly and constantly questioned the tenets of the Jewish faith. His older brother, Joshua, encouraged him in his search for enlightenment and neither of them seems to have been overpowered by their father's position as a Rabbi. In this colourful portrait of his youth, we sense the tension in Singer's personality: he was spiritually rooted in the Middle Ages but also a heretic, fascinated by magic, spirits and dybbuks. Many of the thoughts he currently holds on God and literature originated from this phase of his life. He wished to transform the sentimental, rather ponderous tradition of Yiddish writing by injecting it with passion and a sense of reality. In 'A Young man in Search of Love, Singer describes the hand-to-mouth existence he led in Warsaw, where he hoped to establish himself as a writer. He creates a powerful impression of the political and artistic atmosphere of the period. He managed to survive on the meager earnings as a journalist and frequented the Writer's Club where he became involved in the highly-charged debates between Communists, Socialists and Fascists. The eager enthusiasm of the young Singer gave way to disillusion. He continued to pray and study, but lived like a libertine, anxious to experience the company of women and the pleasure of sex. In order to escape Nazis and emigrate to Palestine, he agreed to a marriage of convenience. His plans then foundered and 'Lost in America' reveals Singer at his most melancholy and confused. His father had died, Hitler was on the verge of obtaining power, and Singer's emotional life was in turmoil. Eventually he was granted permission to joint his brother, who was at this stage the more respected writer, in the United States. Instead of experiencing a sense of liberation, he suffered from feelings of alienation and doubt. It was a time of crisis when he appeared to drift, unable to derive comfort from his faith and having yet to find his voice as a writer. The memoir, set against a backcloth of great political upheaval in Europe, is characterized by a sense of urgency and personal discovery. Singer's recollections are so vividly evoked, his philosophical and religious analysis so lucidly expressed, the reader is on no doubt that this is a very special autobiography. Love and Exile is a fascinating exploration of the mind and development of one of the greatest mastres of fiction. It is written with humour and affection; it is always direct and accessible - and constantly entertaining.