The Brothers Ashkenazi

With a vision of judgment and redemption recalling the Old Testament, I. J. Singer, brother of Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, brought his considerable talents to his ambitious epic from 1936, The Brothers Ashkenazi. Simha and Jacob Ashkenazi are opposites in every way: where Simha is withdrawn, conniving, and vindictive, Jacob is open, forthright, and kind—and the dualities each character represents are indicative of the broad strokes in which this novel is drawn. Singer deftly interlaces the trajectory of the brothers' lives with the transformation of their Polish hometown Lodz from a desolate, overlooked hamlet to a magnetic, bustling center of industry. Conflicting issues of family, religion, and economy alternately hound and motivate Simha and Jacob as they wrestle with the expectations of their father's traditions and codes in their pursuit of pleasure and power. Through all the compromises they embrace or are forced into, it becomes clear that what they both lack seems to be a conscience—something the religious upbringing they spurn might have provided them. The Brothers Ashkenazi teems with characters from every social strata, and Singer's acquisitive and loving attention to detail both minute and general makes for a sumptuous reading experience. Translated from the Yiddish by Joseph Singer, I.J.'s son, and with a new introduction and eye-catching cover, Other Press has restored a missing gem with this reissue.