Finished the first chapter of Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman and I can’t wait to bite off another piece of this t-bone steak. He’s a master storyteller with a comedic timing that somehow works in the print medium. I laughed out loud on the subway over the part where he’s struggling figuring out how much to accept as a reward for bringing two wealthy ladies safely home.
Tevye's inner dialogue was great. One ruble when he might get two. But two rubles for a wagon ride? And then he finds himself yelling “Three!”
Looked up the author on wikipedia and found some more quotes to look forward to:
- Gossip is nature's telephone.
- Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.
- No matter how bad things get, you got to go on living, even if it kills you.
- The rich swell up with pride, the poor from hunger.
From my initial impression, Shalom writes with a warm perspective on life and, as someone who grew up as a poor eastern european jew, I like how he knows "what hunger tastes like."
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