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Odessa stories Isaac Babel

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Title: Odessa stories

About the book “Odessa Stories” Isaac Babel

Isaac Babel was very fond of embellishment, and therefore his biography, which was subject to correction more than once and has survived to this day, is considered not entirely accurate.

From known facts we can say that he was a native of the city of Odessa, but already in 1895 his family moved to the Kherson province. Babel lived there until he was 11 years old. In 1911 he graduated from the Odessa Commercial School and entered the Kiev Commercial Institute. Graduated in 1917. While studying at the KKI, I. Babel published his work for the first time under the title “Old Shloyme.” There, in Kyiv, in 1919 he married Evgenia Gronfain. In total, Babel had three beloved women in his entire life: Evgenia Gronfain, Tamara Kashirina and Antonina Pirozhkova. The writer began creating his famous cycle “Odessa Stories” while working as a reporter at the State Publishing House of Ukraine.

The writer's life ended rather tragically. On May 15, 1939, Isaac Babel was arrested and accused of espionage and anti-Soviet activities. During interrogations he was subjected to torture, which forced him to confess illegal activities. He was sentenced to death in 1940. In 1954 he was posthumously rehabilitated.

The famous stories “Father”, “Froim Grach”, “King” and others are included in the cycle “Odessa Stories”. The love for paradoxical and comical situations prompted the author to describe the well-known Odessa district of Moldovanka. Isaac Babel himself was born there, which proves his direct connection to the Jewish quarter.

The main character of the collection “Odessa Stories” is called Benya Krik. The prototype of this character is considered to be Mishka Yaponchik, the famous Odessa raider. Benya is the leader of the Odessa bandits, under whose command are many raiders and bandits. Isaac Babel hides his gangster life and cruelty behind humor, ridiculing the simplicity of his characters. He takes them beyond the framework of everyday life and gray bourgeois life. The entire gangster life described in the stories is more like a funny performance than the reality of “knife and ax workers.” Picturesque costumes, specific speech and unusual settings make the characters unforgettable.

The series “Odessa Stories” was first published in magazines, and later, in 1931, it was published as a single book. “Ironic pathos,” as I.A. called it. Smirin will make everyone smile and will leave no choice even for the most picky readers.

On our website about books you can download the site for free without registration or read online book“Odessa Stories” by Isaac Babel in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. Buy full version you can from our partner. Also, here you will find last news from literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers there is a separate section with useful tips and recommendations, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.

Quotes from the book “Odessa Stories” by Isaac Babel

Shame, Monsieur Tartakovsky - in what fireproof closet have you hidden your shame?

Gentlemen, mark my words, children must be made with your own hands...

People did not sit at the table according to seniority. Stupid old age is no less pathetic than cowardly youth. And not by wealth. The lining of the heavy wallet is made of tears.

Work calmer, Solomon,” Benya remarked to one of those who shouted louder than others, “don’t have this habit of being nervous at work.”

The old woman did not love her son-in-law. She spoke about him: Froim is a dray driver by occupation, and he has black horses, but Froim’s soul is blacker than the black color of his horses...

I see good order on this Sakhalin, here is a child lying and being torn to pieces, what a pity to watch, and you, a fat woman, are sitting like a stone in the forest, and cannot give him a pacifier...

Destroying lies, he seeks justice, and that justice that is in brackets and that is without brackets. But all the others are as imperturbable as jellied meat, they don’t like to search, they won’t search, and that’s worse.

And he achieved his goal, Benya Krik, because he was passionate, and passion rules over the worlds. The newlyweds lived for three months in lush Bessarabia, among grapes, abundant food and the sweat of love.

Every girl has her own interest in life, and only one I live as a night watchman at someone else's warehouse. Either do something to me, dad, or I'm doing the end of my life...

Don’t say “no,” Russian man, when life says “yes” to you.

Download the book “Odessa Stories” for free by Isaac Babel

(Fragment)

The fate of the famous Russian writer Isaac Babel was tragic. The events that happened in his life especially seem paradoxical against the backdrop of his works. For example, his book “Odessa Stories” is filled with good, sparkling humor and subtle sarcasm. One got the impression that its author was completely happy with life person, optimist. However, what we think is not always true. Isaac Babel and his family had to live in bad times. The writer's grandfather died in a Jewish pogrom, and the author himself was accused of terrorist activities and espionage. In 1940 he was sentenced to death penalty. The execution and sentence were signed personally by Stalin...

"Odessa Stories" is one of the most famous books Isaac Babel. It tells about the life of one criminal group in pre-revolutionary Odessa. The names of Benny Krik and Misha Yaponchik have become legends in these places. The Jewish district of Moldavanka is under the control of a gang of raiders. They are smart, cunning, insightful. In some cases they are broad-minded, in others they are deadly. This book contains a certain romanticization of banditry, albeit seasoned with delicious humor and a unique, colorful writing style. A parallel can be drawn between the works presented in the collection “Odessa Stories from famous films, released on big screen and are very popular among viewers. This includes the series “Brigade” and the films “Brother” and “Brother 2”, which tell about the dashing 90s. They also contain “good” bandits. However, it is still difficult to call a person who took up arms a hero. This worldview of criminal Odessa will run counter to the worldview of people who consider themselves pacifists. However, it is impossible to read these funny, curious stories about Benya Krik and his gang of raiders without smiling. You will definitely be captivated by the plot and writing style. The book is written in the colorful, vibrant dialect of a certain community of people - the Jewish population of Odessa.

Thanks to the works presented in the collection “Odessa Stories”, you will attend the wedding of Benny Krik’s sister, penetrate the secret circles of the criminal world, take part in the first serious case of this raider and find out why this man will be given the nickname “King” in the future. colorful, vernacular, sparkling humor and mass incredible adventures won't let you get bored while reading incredibly fascinating story about the legendary leader of a criminal gang, Ben Creek.

On our literary website books2you.ru you can download the book “Odessa Stories” by Isaac Babel for free in suitable formats different devices formats - epub, fb2, txt, rtf. Do you like to read books and always keep up with new releases? We have big choice books of various genres: classics, modern fiction, literature on psychology and children's publications. In addition, we offer interesting and educational articles for aspiring writers and all those who want to learn how to write beautifully. Each of our visitors will be able to find something useful and exciting for themselves.

Isaac Babel

Odessa stories

The wedding was over, the rabbi sank into a chair, then he left the room and saw tables set up along the entire length of the courtyard. There were so many of them that they stuck their tails out of the gate onto Hospital Street. Velvet-covered tables snaked around the courtyard like snakes with patches of all colors on their bellies, and they sang in deep voices - patches of orange and red velvet.

The apartments were converted into kitchens. A fat flame, a drunken and plump flame, was blazing through the smoky doors. Its smoky rays baked old women's faces, women's shaking chins, and dirty breasts. Sweat, pink as blood, pink as the foam of a mad dog, flowed around these piles of overgrown, sweetly stinking human flesh. Three cooks, not counting the scullery maids, were preparing the wedding dinner, and over them reigned the eighty-year-old Reizl, traditional as a Torah scroll, tiny and hunchbacked.

Before dinner, a young man unknown to the guests wandered into the yard. He asked Benya Krik. He took Benya Krik aside.

Listen, King,” said the young man, “I have a few words to tell you.” Aunt Hana sent me with Kostetskaya...

Well, okay,” answered Benya Krik, nicknamed the King, “what are these couple of words?”

A new bailiff arrived at the station yesterday, Aunt Hana told you to tell...

“I knew about it the day before yesterday,” answered Benya Krik. - Further.

The bailiff gathered the precinct and gave the precinct a speech...

The new broom sweeps cleanly,” answered Benya Krik. - He wants a raid. Further…

And when there will be a raid, you know. King?

She will be there tomorrow.

King, she will be there today.

Who told you this, boy?

Aunt Hana said this. Do you know Aunt Hana?

-...The bailiff gathered the station and gave them a speech. “We must strangle Benya Krik,” he said, “because where there is a sovereign emperor, there is no king. Today, when Creek is marrying off his sister and they will all be there, today we need to make a raid ... "

-...Then the spies began to be afraid. They said: if we make a raid today, when it’s his holiday, Benya will get angry and a lot of blood will flow out. That's what the bailiff said - self-esteem is more valuable to me...

“Well, go,” answered the King.

What should I say to Aunt Hana about the raid?

Say: Benya knows about the raid.

And he left, this young man. He was followed by about three of Ben's friends. They said they would be back in half an hour. And they returned half an hour later. That's all.

People did not sit at the table according to seniority. Stupid old age is no less pathetic than cowardly youth. And not by wealth. The lining of the heavy wallet is made of tears.

The bride and groom sat in first place at the table. This is their day. In second place sat Sender Eichbaum, the King's father-in-law. It's his right. The story of Sender Eichbaum is worth knowing because it is not a simple story.

How did Benya Krik, the raider and king of the raiders, become Eichbaum's son-in-law? How he became the son-in-law of a man who had sixty milk cows without one? It's all about the raid. Just a year ago, Benya wrote a letter to Eichbaum.

“Monsieur Eichbaum,” he wrote, “please place, please, tomorrow morning under the gate at 17 Sofiyevskaya, twenty thousand rubles. If you don’t do this, something unheard of will await you, and all of Odessa will be talking about you. With respect, Benya the King."

Three letters, one clearer than the other, remained unanswered. Then Benya took action. They came at night - nine people with long sticks in their hands. The sticks were wrapped in tarred tow. Nine flaming stars lit up in Eichbaum's barnyard. Benya took the locks off the barn and began to take the cows out one by one. A guy with a knife was waiting for them. He knocked over the cow with one blow and plunged the knife into the cow's heart. On the ground, drenched in blood, torches bloomed like fiery roses and shots rang out. Benya used shots to drive away the workers who had come running to the barn. And after him, other raiders began to shoot in the air, because if you don’t shoot in the air, you can kill a person. And so, when the sixth cow fell with a death moo at the King’s feet, then Eichbaum ran out into the yard in his underpants and asked:

What will happen from this, Benya?

If I don't have money, you won't have cows, Monsieur Eichbaum. That's twice two.

Come into the room, Benya.

And indoors they agreed. The slaughtered cows were divided in half by them. Eichbaum was guaranteed immunity and was issued a stamped certificate. But the miracle came later.

During the raid, on that terrible night, when the pinned cows mooed, and the heifers slid in their mother's blood, when the torches danced like black maidens, and the milkmaids shied away and squealed under the guns of friendly Brownings - on that terrible night, she ran into the yard in cut-out shirt, the daughter of old man Eichbaum - Tsilya. And the King's victory became his defeat.

Two days later, Benya, without warning, returned all the money he had taken to Eichbaum and then came for a visit in the evening. He was dressed in an orange suit, with a diamond bracelet shining under his cuff; he entered the room, said hello and asked Eichbaum for the hand of his daughter Tsili. The old man suffered a slight blow, but he got up. The old man still had about twenty years of life left in him.

Listen, Eichbaum,” the King told him, “when you die, I will bury you in the first Jewish cemetery, right at the gate.” I will erect for you, Eichbaum, a monument made of pink marble. I will make you the headman of the Brodsky Synagogue. I will give up my specialty, Eichbaum, and join your business as a partner. We will have two hundred cows, Eichbaum. I will kill all the milkmen except you. A thief will not walk along the street where you live. I will build you a dacha at the sixteenth station... And remember, Eichbaum, you weren’t a rabbi in your youth either. Who forged the will, let’s not talk about it loudly?.. And your son-in-law will be a King, not a brat, but a King, Eichbaum...

And he achieved his goal, Benya Krik, because he was passionate, and passion rules over the worlds. The newlyweds lived for three months in lush Bessarabia, among grapes, abundant food and the sweat of love. Then Benya returned to Odessa in order to marry off his forty-year-old sister Dvoira, who was suffering from Graves' disease. And now, having told the story of Sender Eichbaum, we can return to the wedding of Dvoira Krik, the King’s sister.

At this wedding they served turkeys for dinner, fried chicken, geese, stuffed fish and fish soup, in which lemon lakes shone like mother-of-pearl. Flowers swayed like lush plumes above the dead goose heads. But is it possible that fried chicken is washed ashore by the foamy surf of the Odessa Sea?

All the noblest of our contraband, all that the earth is famous for from end to end, did its destructive, its seductive work on that starry, that blue night. The foreign wine warmed the stomachs, sweetly broke the legs, stupefied the brains and caused belching, sonorous as the call of a battle trumpet. The black cook from the Plutarch, which arrived on the third day from Port Said, carried pot-bellied bottles of Jamaican rum, oily Madeira, cigars from the plantations of Pierpont Morgan and oranges from the outskirts of Jerusalem beyond the customs line. This is what the foamy surf of the Odessa Sea washes ashore, this is what Odessa beggars sometimes get at Jewish weddings. They got Jamaican rum at Dvoyra Creek's wedding, and so, having drunk like club pigs, the Jewish beggars began to clatter their crutches deafeningly. Eichbaum, having loosened his vest, looked around the raging meeting with narrowed eyes and hiccuped lovingly. The orchestra played tunes. It was like a division review. Touche - nothing but touche. The raiders, sitting in close ranks, were at first embarrassed by the presence of strangers, but then they dispersed. Leva Katsap broke a bottle of vodka on his lover’s head. Monya The artilleryman fired into the air. But the delight reached its limits when, according to the custom of the old days, the guests began to give gifts to the newlyweds. The synagogue shames jumped up on the tables and chanted the number of donated rubles and silver spoons to the sounds of the bubbling carcass. And then the King’s friends showed what it’s worth blue blood and the still unextinguished Moldavian knighthood. With a careless movement of their hands they threw gold coins, rings, and coral threads onto silver trays.

Moldavian aristocrats, they were clad in crimson vests, red jackets covered their shoulders, and their fleshy legs had bursting skin the color of heavenly azure. Straightening up to their full height and sticking out their bellies, the bandits clapped to the beat of the music, shouted “bitterly” and threw flowers to the bride, and she, forty-year-old Dvoira, sister of Benny Krik, sister of the King, disfigured by illness, with an overgrown goiter and eyes bulging out of her sockets, sat on a mountain of pillows next to a frail boy, bought with Eichbaum’s money and numb with melancholy.

The ritual of gifting was coming to an end, the shames became hoarse and the double bass did not get along with the violin. A sudden light smell of burning wafted across the courtyard.