PENITENT Paperback – May 15, 2008

Can't go wrong with I. B. Singer!

Very good book that was hard to put down.

I have read The Penitent several times over through the years and find it a rich and symbolic story. Singer is one of my favorite authors because he combines a love of life and nature with the longing to move beyond this world in order to embrace God Himself. This story is particularly meaningful today as we face tremendous crises in the material world. The Penitent (original Yiddish title is " The Master of Turning") shows the way to turn from empty self-seeking to a life aligned with God's purposes. In this case, he finds a way to do this through obedience to the Law of Israel or Torah. He and his first wife are living a life of financial success and acedemic accomplishment. Their moral life together is a life of extreme poverty. The Penitent knows this and has known it all along. Finally, in a break with the past he makes an end to his New York life. He yearns for and leaves for Israel. He faces constant temptation of the flesh and of the spirit, but makes his way to the Beautiful Land and finds a worthy mate as well. Piety and devotion, prayer and study replace greed and self-will which he formerly has found to be profoundly toxic for him. The penitent is ultimately nostalgic for the life of holiness to be found in Hasidic Judism. He is described by the narrator as a man with a shining and intelligent presence.

In 1969 I.B. Singer goes to the Wailing Wall for the first time and meets a man wearing ritual garments named Joseph Shapiro. Shapiro survived WWII in Poland and Russia, moved to the US and became a successful business man in New York. Over the next couple of days he tells Singer how he came to renounce his old life, move to Israel, and become an observant Jew.In NY Shapiro lived a life that disgusted him. He was a philanderer. Everything around him seemed venal. One night, he comes home after having an argument with his mistress and finds his wife with a professor of her's. At this point he decides to change his life. He walks out into the cold Winter night. He soon resolves to go to Israel and live as a Jew. It's a protest against the evils of the world.As he goes to Israel and tries to make a new life he battles Satan, who he calls The Great Dialectician. Satan mocks him and his desire to change himself. Much of the book is his battle against The Glib One (another of his names for Satan) and his hopes for a righteous new life.It's a compelling story and Singer tells it in his signature Modern Folk Tale style.

Great read.

Incredible read! Hard to put the book down. A real page turner, easy read and compelling story. My first book by Isaac Singer and I have since ordered two more.

Like the character in The Fountainhead, this 'hero' is determined to make life on his own terms. Starting later than Ms Rand's character, he nonetheless redefines his entire existence.

one of Singers best. the story of a man lost in the world returning to his orthodox roots remembered as a child. excelent writing by one of the greatest of the Yiddish writers.

Very good service and very good bookshop. A book by Isaac Singer is always a wonderful read