2/23/04

Wanted: fact-checker (copy editor?) for Nextbook

OBITUARY
Yossel Birstein, Novelist and Raconteur
For 13 years, Birstein traveled with painter Yosl Bergner from Poland through Tahiti, Panama, and Australia. In 1950, he arrived in Israel, where he produced Oyf Shmole Trotwarn (Narrow Paths), the first Yiddish novel of kibbutz life, before switching to Hebrew. His works include Don't Call Me Job and "The Blood Bond."


Um...he never "switched to Hebrew." He started writing in Hebrew once he came to Israel (or perhaps even before?), but continued to create important work in Yiddish. This bilingual literary output is part of what made Birstein remarkable, and at the same time a continuation of Jewish literary tradition. (Oh, and who spells his name "Yossel"?)

1 comment:

  1. Alittle gem of (sad) information, buried deeply in the World Wide Web.
    Many thanks
    a blog friend of Bergner's
    Hel
    http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete