Four years after the Chmielnicki massacres of the seventeenth century, Jacob, a slave and cowherd in a Polish village high in the mountains, falls in love with Wanda, his master's daughter. Even after he is ransomed, he finds he can't live without her, and the two escape together to a distant Jewish community. Racked by his consciousness of sin in taking a Gentile wife and by the difficulties of concealing her identity, Jacob nonetheless stands firm as the violence of the era threatens to destroy the ill-fated couple.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Torture and Enslavement:
I know I'm stepping on religious ground. "God" help me! If you're Jewish, this book has appeal. If you're an atheist or even a non-Jew, however, this book is a chronicle of pain, suffering, torture, guilt, hypocritical behavior, and misery. I pretty much hated the story, which I found endlessly repetitive, even though the writing was briliant in places. Typically, I. B. Singer writes with graphic clarity about barbaric behavior that is hard to stomach. The Jewish community isn't immune from such behavior... more info
On the one hand...:
I stayed all night reading this book, a love story between an enslaved Jew and the gentile daughter of his owner. On the other hand, this book is undeniably a second-rate book. With the exception of the hero/narrator, nearly all of Singer's characters (especially the women) are either unspeakably virtuous and desirable or unspeakably degraded.
Amazing book, a definite must read:
Well, this is my first book review, but I simply had to write this one. I read the Hebrew version of the book and was fascinated with the language, the descriptions and the story.
Isaac does an amazing job of bringing you back there to the time of the 18th century when Jews were killed in Poland and yet managed to build up communities (that later on were demolished and so on).
He describes the people, and makes you feel like you are seeing the entire story unfolding before your very eyes. With... more info
Another gripping story from Isaac Singer:
In "The Slave", Singer presents us with a pious Jewish man (Jacob) who, despite the fact that he has lost his wife and children in a massacre in 1648 Poland, still retains his religious beliefs. Jacob, after losing his entire family in a slaughter, is sold as a virtual slave to a Polish farmer, where he lives years of his life in a barn. Part of this time he is tended to by the farmers' daughter Wanda, with whom he eventually falls in love. Jacob is a slave to the Polish farmer, and his love for Sarah... more info
