"א פעסטונג אין ברוקלין" נייער בוך וועגן חסידישע וויליאמסבורג

berlbalaguleh האט געשריבן:fIDDLER: But if you would write the same essay in Yiddish, you would have a wider audience. because 90% of the readers and commenters on this website are Yiddish speaking...!

פידלער האט געשריבן:

berlbalaguleh האט געשריבן:fIDDLER: But if you would write the same essay in Yiddish, you would have a wider audience. because 90% of the readers and commenters on this website are Yiddish speaking...!

יישר כח. אבער ס'נעמט מיר צו לאנג צו טייפן אידיש, און איך האב מיך געאיילט.

Besides, anyone who can't read English well enough to read my few words will obviously not read the book

פידלער האט געשריבן:

I hope to write some more about this book as soon as I have time, but the one thing I wanted to mention was how fascinating it is to get a sort of bird's eye view of the entire picture. When a person is part of a community, particularly as its narrative is unfolding, it's not easy to see how the many specifics create an articulate whole. It's also not easy to pick up on all the various little details and notice the cause-and-effect relationship between them -- how one thing leads to another. That's what this book highlights.

Even if you're not old enough to remember the Seneca Club and Los Sures -- names familiar to those growing up in the '70s -- most people here are old enough to remember the beginnings of "milchemes artistn." At that point, no one knew how it would end. And now that the saga has basically ended, who remembers the beginning? A Fortress in Brooklyn presents the entire picture, and I, for one, found it fascinating.

Another thing. Although this is an academic book, the writing sometimes has a certain wistfulness to it. I think that one can't help but feel some admiration for this "little community that could." Their fierce loyalty to their way of life; their ability to learn the ropes and figure out a way; their talent at adapting even while supposedly not budging from the alteh oysgetrotene vayg... There's a romance to this narrative, and it comes through in the book.

As I said, I hope to write some more, mainly about the various societal shifts the book explores, although -- it has to be said -- none add up to a complete community paradigm shift (in my opinion).

I also hope to hear more from others who have read the book.

כרם זית האט געשריבן:אינטערעסאנט ווי זיי טייטשן "וועקער" אויף א וועק זייגער, ווען לכאורה מיינט עס א מענטש וואס וועקט.