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Title: The Zelmenyaners

Subtitle: A Family Saga

Author: Moyshe Kulbak, Hillel Halkin - translator

Narrator: David Skulski

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-06-17

Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

This is the first complete English-language translation of a classic of Yiddish literature, one of the great comic novels of the 20th century. The Zelmenyaners describes the travails of a Jewish family in Minsk that is torn asunder by the new Soviet reality. Four generations are depicted in riveting and often uproarious detail as they face the profound changes brought on by the demands of the Soviet regime and its collectivist, radical secularism. The resultant intergenerational showdowns - including disputes over the introduction of electricity, radio, or electric trolley - are rendered with humor, pathos, and a finely controlled satiric pen.

Moyshe Kulbak, a contemporary of the Soviet Jewish writer Isaac Babel, picks up where Sholem Aleichem left off a generation before, exploring in this book the transformation of Jewish life.

Members Reviews:

Finally in Translation

Timeless satire, originally written in the 1930s. If you like Jewish family sagas, you will love this one. A large shetl family copes with the new Soviet Union.

Fantastic Book

Kulbak's sincere analysis of the evolution of Jewish identity under Soviet regime- this book highlights the replacement of traditional Jewish culture with a more universal Soviet mindset.

One of the great Yiddish language satires

The Zelmenyaners is simultaneously a brutal satire of an extended Jewish family and a eulogy following its destruction at the hands of Soviet industrialization. Moshe Kulbak was a major talent; his tragic death during the Stalinist purges should not allow him to be forgotten. The Zelmanyaners is funny, mean, and tender often at the same time, and it is never anything less than engaging.

A very worthwhile read. Satire is often the closest ...

A very worthwhile read. Satire is often the closest to truth you'll find. This charmingly told story captivates and educates the reader about a dynamic family caught between a rock and a hard place both of which are being manipulated by Stalin's Five-year plan.

5 shtern

A timeless satire, filled with poignant humor as it chronicles a Jewish family in the midst of unparalleled social and technological upheaval in early 1930s Minsk. The prose (in excellent translation) is deft, punchy, and episodic in a way that captivates even the 21st-century attention span. Even if you don't care about Yiddish culture, Soviet history, or the development of the Soviet Jewish identity, The Zelmenyaners is bigger than its thematic context and is absolutely worth a read as universal literature and satire. That said, the helpful annotations and phenomenal introduction put the work in its proper historical context and make it accessible to all.