Benya Krik/Gangster

by Isaac Babel

Book Overview

A group of stories by Isaac Babel, in which he seeks to balance the image of Jewish violence against the violence done to Jews who are so Jewish that they cannot help but be nonviolent. The collection includes the tales Benya Krik and The Gangster.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805202447
• ISBN13: 9780805202441
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Schocken Books Inc
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 and higher

Customer Reviews

My Favorite Gangster and My Favorite Writer

Thanks to Isaac Babel,there is one city I'd care to see in Russia(Ukraine)-that would be Odessa.Odessa was where the great Babel was from and Odessa was also the turf of Benya Krik,who is my favorite character in the history of literature.To get a sense of Babel's scope,check out one of his anthologies;'Benya' is a great Babel compilation for anyone who wants to cut to the chase-and which includes Babel masterpieces such as 'The History of My Dovecot' about a pogrom from from a kid's viewpoint.But my favorites are the Benya Krik stories,particulary 'The King' in which Benya and his boys prevent a pogrom from taking place at his sister's wedding in a quasi-religious sense because we know who did it indirectly-as if Benya-or God was responsible for burning down the police station.If we had read the Benya Krik stories in Hebrew School,I never would've dropped out-and it's no mystery why Stalin executed Babel.