THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, September 27, 1985
29
NEWS
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Interviews, Short Stories
Clues To I. B. Singer
IB. Singer
Lovers of good literature often
learn either to love or to hate
the authors. It is a natural reac-
tion to take an interest in a per-
son's favorite author. This
opportunity is provided for
readers of the narratives by
Isaac Bashevis Singer.
The character and philosophy
of the Nobel Prize Winner in
Literature in 1978 is char-
acterized in his own words in
Conversations with Isaac
Bashevis Singer (Doubleday)
conducted by Richard Burgin,
who is presently the editor of
the literary magazine
Boulevard.
For eight years Burgin re-
searched Singer's works and his
conversations with him are
based on the eminent author's
writings and views on public is-
sues. Perhaps the very best
question and answer provide a
basis for appreciation of the
frankness of questions and an-
swers, indicated in the follow-
ing:
BURGIN: For you, then, the
universe is like an infinite book.
SINGER: An infinite book of
which I've read a few lines.
These lines seem to me beauti-
ful but cruel. The best we can do
is be silent, but there are times
when we must cry out: Why tor-
ture the helpless? Why build
your glory on our misery? Some-
times I feel that the Almighty is
tired of all the praise and the
flattery which we pour on Him.
BURGIN: You have been ac-
cused at times of being a misan-
thrope. What kind of misan-
thropy is it?
SINGER: _It consists of not
demanding anything from other
people, not even from friends —
neither money, nor honors, nor
recognition. In this epoch where
everyone begs — not only the
poor but also the mighty, vote
for me, buy my merchandise,
support 'my organization, love
me, praise me, forgive my
crimes — it is a high ideal to
abstain from all this beggary.
The beggar often carries a knife
in his bag. I don't stretch out
my hand for any favor. I don't
ask for love if it doesn't come by
itself."
The recorded conversations by
a well qualified interviewer and
his famous respondent give a
clue to the character of the
Nobelist as well as his philos-
ophy on life. Issues involving
Jewish concerns are fully
covered. The author's attitude
on the language he writes in,
his readers, publishing, and on
human values in a general
sense are provided here.
It is well worth giving em-
phasis to a direct quotation from
Singer on the basis of the total-
ity of the questions and answers
in the conversations with Bur-
gin. Singer thus defines "char-
acter":
"We always love to discuss
and reveal character because
human character is to us the
greatest puzzle. No matter how
much you know a human being,
you don't know him or her
enough. Discussing character
constitutes a supreme form of
entertainment."
Of special interest simultane-
ous with the appearance of Con-
versations is Singer's latest, The
Image and Other Stories (Far-
rar, Straus and Ciroux).
This is a collection of 22
stories based on the author's
earliest days in Warsaw and
continuing to Singer's life in
America.
In a sense, the new colume
also is a continuum of the
Nobelist's total achievements.
Biographically it could be
viewed as a lifetime of experi-
ences embodied in 22 tales. In
the literary sense, The Image
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tions.
-P.S.
4.25 Million
Live In Israel
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Israel's
population at the end of the
Jewish year 5745 numbered
4,255,000, the government Cen-
tral Bureau of Statistics an-
nounced last week.
Of the total, 82.5 percent were
Jews, 13.5 percent Moslems,.2.3
percent Christians, and 1.7 per-
cent Druze and others. During
the past year, the total popula-
tion increased by about 1.8 per-
cent, with the Jewish population
growing by 1.6 percent and the
Moslems by about 3.2 percent.
Of the 99,999 infants born dur-
ing the year, some 75,000 were
Jewish.
Interior Ministry figures for
August show that, for the first
time in many years, there are
now more Jews than Arabs in
the Galilee, with 382,000 Jews
and 376,999 Arabs.
In other year-end statistics,
the police and the road accident
prevention society reported that
last year's death toll on the
roads had been the lowest since
1970.
A total of 370 persons died in
traffic accidents last year, a re
duction of 13 percent over the
previous year. There was also a
three percent drop in the
number of persons injured in
traffic accidents, from 19,256 to
18,685.
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.11
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