In the newly released anthology, 18, Nora Gold has collected translations of eighteen Jewish short stories, each from a different a language—ranging from works by well-known authors like Isaac Babel and S.Y. Agnon to more obscure ones like the Albanian novelist Entela Kasi. David Wolpe seeks what they have in common:
One seemingly consistent thread is that, despite a lightness of tone in many stories, these are all ultimately tales of moral seriousness. Even when the issue seems trivial—as in the Croatian author Jasminka Domaš’s “Purimspiel,” where the confusion surrounding a woman’s disappearance and subsequent, unexplained reappearance at the other end of the world is caused by a drunken angel—the brilliant final line gestures toward questions, connections, and issues far beyond the scope of a seemingly sweet slice of fantasy.
The stories Gold has chosen are almost uniformly gripping. Not only do their plots compel and the skill of their respective translators astonish; they also move the reader to reflect on the multifarious moral dilemmas that have faced the Jewish people, both as Jews and simply as human beings, in all the lands of their dispersion and at all phases of their history. Unsurprisingly, World War II haunts many of the narratives, seeping into stories whether directly or by implication. Even so, the collection’s pervasive gravitas does not read as the result of any one tragedy but rather as the legacy of a people who have seen so much, endured so long, and thought so deeply about their experiences.
Read more on Los Angeles Review of Books: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/tales-of-moral-seriousness-on-nora-golds-18