Book Review: "Collected Stories" by Isaac Babel

No, I've never read anything by Isaac Babel before and the only reason I picked this book up is because there was an offer I was looking to get on used books and needed to complete my 'buy three get one free' basket. I didn't know what to expect and basically went in completely blind about it. I was guessing it was going to be 20th century because of the cover depicting what looked like a Soviet army man and I thus thought that it would be something critical on the political system of the time. I happened to be right but let's have a look at some of the stories within. I for one, was pleasantly surprised...

Do not be fooled by the title of the story My First Goose. This is not something light and nice but instead a story of moral degradation and violence. It is about a man who is mocked by his fellow Cossack army men for being a bit of a softy. In order to prove himself therefore, he confronts an old woman and brutally kills the goose she keeps, ordering her to cook it for him. This woman is a peasant and probably, as we can assume, had not much more than said goose. The soldier is thus accepted by his fellow men and they stop mocking him. But he cannot help but think one thing: at what price? This story is so existential because it forces us to answer the question of 'why'. This man has, as the saying goes, destroyed himself for nothing.

In The Letter, Vasily is a Red Army soldier and he writes to his mother about the turbulence of war. This is especially important because it happens within the male members of the family with the father murdering one of his sons for being on the wrong side. This then causes the older brother of Vasily to hunt down and execute their father in revenge and retaliation. The younger generation joining the Red Army whilst the older generation are strictly Anti-Bolsheviks. One thing I thought about this story is that it showed how potent the political atmosphere was within people's own families and thus, how this idea of father and son turning against each other as both had different hills to die on becoming entirely possible. It's shocking and violent but then again, it is very, very true in its analysis of what happened.

The next story I want to write about is called Gedali. Set on the eve of the Sabbath, Lyutov encounters an old, blind Jewish shopkeeper named Gedali in a desolated town. Gedali laments the destructive result of the revolution, he questions why both the White and Red armies bring violence and theft while promising liberation. He pleads, asking for people to be good rather than seek revenge and bloodshed. One thing we are forced to see is that these Jewish communities are not part of the war but are nonetheless caught in the bloodshed and war between the two sides, many being used as scapegoats by either side whenever the side pleases. Babel's use of language in this story was probably my favourite example of his prose in the whole book because the story is so simple and so atmospheric. The tone is so powerful and of course, it looks at the people who are not directly connected to the war - but are harmed by it whether or not someone was winning or not. It reminds us that there are no real winners in war. Everyone, even those not involved, will lose.

Isaac Babel doesn't hold back when it comes to language. He shows us the violence, the truths, the existentialism, the darkness and more. He shows us people dying, buildings like churches destroyed and the sky turning black. We are shown images of war and bloodshed, noise and violence whilst also being led through these very potent images of graveyards in small Jewish towns. I might just in a few years, read this again. It is a book that definitely takes you by surprise as to how good it actually is and yet I have never heard about him before. If there's something important to read in the midst of our wars of the 21st century it might just be this.

Join in on my writing challenge!

Winners announced on Halloween...