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July 29, 2016
S.Y. Agnon’s History of His Hometown, Told in Short Stories
Fish that turn into frogs, a dead count, and halakhic humor.
In the posthumously published collection of short stories titled A City and Its Fullness, the Nobel prize-winning Israeli author takes the reader through 300 years of the history of his birthplace, Buczacz. To mark the publication of a partial English-language translation of this work, Ariel Hirschfeld, Alan Mintz, and Jeffrey Saks discuss Agnon’s overall project, his use of the Jewish legal tradition as a source of humor, and some of the individual stories—including one where fish “miraculously” turn into frogs and another where a pious Jew must care for the body of a dead count. The session includes a reflection by the author A.B. Yehoshua, written especially for the occasion, on Agnon’s inventive use of language. (Audio, 76 minutes.)
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Login or SubscribeJuly 29, 2016
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S.Y. Agnon’s History of His Hometown, Told in Short Stories
Fish that turn into frogs, a dead count, and halakhic humor.