Savage Shorthand

July 25, 2005
This portrait of Babel by the prolific Charyn (The Green Lantern,
etc.) is confounding for reasons he himself elaborates on: it's difficult to know much for certain about the life of the great Russian Jewish short-story writer (1894–1940), whom Charyn emphasizes was a self-mythologizer. Charyn begins the book by seeming to appropriate Babel's qualities for himself by describing how an editor said Charyn's first book called Babel's writings to mind. Ellipses at the end of paragraphs to indicate uncertainty in the narrative underscore the lack of hard facts; using the word "some" as a modifier, as in "Mandelstam would die in some transit camp," has the effect of lessening the horror being described. Babel's death at Stalin's hand remains legendary for the reported sighting of the writer that followed his murder, but Charyn gets so caught up in such myths that he forgets to give us the man. "Even as he bares himself, it's hard to figure Babel out," Charyn notes. So perhaps one would do best to read Babel himself; his collected works have been reissued by Norton. Agent, Georges Borchardt.

September 1, 2005
Charyn ("Darlin' Bill") shares his lifelong passion for the Soviet writer Isaac Babel (1894 -1940) in a work that is as much a detective story as it is a biography. From a close reading of Babel's work to an interview with his daughter Nathalie, Charyn offers a number of fresh insights into the life and death of this historic figure. All the same -and as Charyn will be the first to admit -every answer in Babel's life seems only to lead to more questions. Filling in these gaps with research and conjecture, Charyn does a masterful job of assembling a chronology of the last ten years of Babel's life, which ended when he was shot as a spy on orders from Stalin. Charyn is certain that the key to understanding Babel is through the character of Benya Krik, a fairy-tale king who first appeared in Babel's work in 1921. Though Krik is ultimately as mysterious as Dickens's Magwitch or Melville's Bartleby, Charyn manages at least to bring the reader closer to the heart of the enigma. Recommended for academic libraries. -Anthony Pucci, Notre Dame H.S., Elmira, NY

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2005
" The Complete Works of Isaac Babel" (2001), replete with commentary by Cynthia Ozick and Babel's daughter, Nathalie, enables readers to experience the full power of this intrepid Russian Jewish writer's revolutionary writings. Now Charyn, a versatile and prolific writer intensely interested in the Soviet regime, the subject of his last novel, " The Green Lantern "(2004), presents a vigorous response to Babel's indelible work, especially his bold stories about the Odessa gangster-king Benya Krik and the now-classic " Red Cavalry, "along with a meticulous inquiry into Babel's life. Bringing unusual energy and tough lyricism to the art of interpretation, Charyn explicates Babel's "savage shorthand," his way of writing about the surreal horrors of war, linking his work to that of Hemingway and photographer Diane Arbus. He also exposes the many contradictions embedded in the mythos that surrounds Babel, most generated by Babel himself for good reasons, and discloses the bitter truth about Babel's long-concealed murder by Stalin's henchmen. Not unlike Janet Malcolm's " Reading Chekhov" (2001), this is a zestful and revelatory appreciation of a great and courageous writer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)