The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and Fantasies

Zangwill, Israel, 1864-1926Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
569K words
Chapters
57

Tags

English Originals Foreign Literature Power GameAntiheroComplex HumanitySatirical StyleExotic Culture

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and Fantasies by Israel ZangwillAuthor: Zangwill, Israel, 1864-1926,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 26, 2011

Editor's review

Israel Zangwill's work centers on the "King of Schnorrers," exploring the delicate relationship between beggars and almsgiving, identity and dignity within the Jewish community, combining grotesque color with satirical edge. The author long wrote about Jewish immigrant life in London, with a humorous yet warm tone, skilled at revealing internal hierarchy and human feeling within the community through comic situations. Characters drive the plot through witty dialogue and clever schemes, making for an easy read that nonetheless offers social observation. As a public-domain English literary work, it suits readers interested in Jewish literature, London urban life, and late 19th-century English short narrative. When reading, note the immigrant situation and community ethics behind the humor; it need not be treated as strict social history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the title novella first to grasp the character logic of the "King of Schnorrers," then proceed to the other stories.
  2. While reading, note the irony in dialogue and Yiddish cultural background; jot down comic points and conflicts as you go.
  3. Read it alongside other London immigrant-themed works of the same period to observe images of the city and community.
  4. Readers of the English original may read a chapter through before revisiting unfamiliar words, to keep the narrative rhythm.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57

FAQ

What does "Schnorrer" mean, and do I need to know it beforehand? The word comes from Yiddish and refers to someone who solicits alms in a clever way, carrying both a derogatory and humorous sense. Understanding this background helps in grasping the beggar characters' self-respect, scheming, and the community's complex attitude toward them.
Is this book a novel or a short story collection? According to the title and materials, it contains "The King of Schnorrers" and several "Grotesques and Fantasies" pieces, partaking of both novel and short story collection. Each piece can be read independently; the title piece is longer and has the most concentrated characters.
How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for learning English? The text is English literary writing from the late 19th to early 20th century, with much dialogue and many colloquialisms and cultural allusions, of intermediate-to-advanced difficulty. It suits learners who can already read a complete short story; beginners should choose annotated editions or read an introduction first.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Zangwill, Israel, 1864-1926 Author

Israel Zangwill (1864–1926) was a writer in modern English literature whose work drew heavily on life in London's Jewish community. Sixteen of his works are included here, spanning novels, short-story collections and plays. His representative Children of the Ghetto examines the customs and spirit of a Jewish immigrant quarter in a realistic manner, a vein continued in Ghetto Tragedies, Ghetto Comedies and The Grandchildren of the Ghetto, while The King of Schnorrers and The Grey Wig are notable for grotesque and humorous storytelling. The Big Bow Mystery shows his attempt at detective fiction, and The Melting-Pot uses drama to discuss immigrant assimilation. His writing combines social observation with satirical wit; public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted.