The Denver Jewish news., 1921-03-23
Jewish Types in Ameri-
can Fiction
"HUNGRY HEARTS" BY ANZI,A
YEZIERSKA.


Hungry Hearts" for treatment in a
special article because her book. which
appeared few months ago is n well
come departure from the rut of Jew
ish-American fiction in the English
language. True, as ! pointed out in
the preceding article, this departure
has not originated with her, but the
voice of her predecessors of the real
istic sclsol was only small. still
voice; their characters Only hinted at
what Anzia Yeziersaa's types openly
and syociferously demand
Now, what is this distinguishing
feature l had In mind? 1t is this:
Practically in all our cwish-English
fiction the immigrant jew is depict
ed rs being without any ideals, with
out traditions TO speak OF, creature
who, if not for the opportunities pre-
sentcd by America, would have re-
manned a Semi-savage, an ignoramus, a
being of lower order. \ glaring eN-
ample of this attitude is Mary Antin's
"The Promised Land" and it is also
manifest, to greater or n lesser de-
gree, in almost every work of fiction
of the period mentioned in article "
of this series. Hardly any one of
those works as much us mentions
what the immigrant in general and the
immigrant Jew in particular. has done
for his adopted country, whDt influ-
cnce the traditions, ideals, ana even
customs and habits. he has brought
along from his old home. have had on
American life. We are not told any
thing of the new conceptions of art.
literature, government which have
gradually taken root in this country.
owing to the Immigrant becoming part
and parcel Of American life.
'The Rise of David Levinsky" by
Abraham Cahnncould be considered as
I'm exception If it were not for the fact
that his hero gives way in the struggle
with materialism and by degrees loses
Ills idcnl seif-tfiat self of the poor.
but ideaifstic. talmudical Student.
In Anzia Yezierska's Hungary
Hearts," found-in place of cringing
and servility the proud words of an
immigrant who not only received boun- |
ties of America, who not only took I
but who also gave and perhaps gave
more than she took. In other words,
Miss Yezicrska who IT seems. has her
self known the struggles and tribula-
tons of the Jewish immigrant girl aud
whose stories have found favor with
the readers of the most prominent
American magazines during the last
two or three years Miss YeZierskl
comes to the reader with the heart
that is hungry for all the lofty Ameri-
can ideals about which she heard SO
much in her old home. all ideals which.
on arrival here, she has not found
and she demands of America that she
fulfill hcr great promise, that Ameri-
ca give back to her nt least n small
part of what she. the immigrant girl,
brought here and what the rush
and tulnult of immigrant life has rob
he'd her Other faith in a true, better
America.
DeloTt L So uily L "oh''
like to remark that Hungry Hearts
is not entirely devoid of faults Thus.
for instance, we read of Jewish
woman on the East side who has
scarcely been two years in the coun-
try and who speaks English in hci
family circle. OF course. it is a brok
On, specific East-Side English, yet it
is absolutely impossible that any ton
que but Yiddish would be use,l under
the circumstances for intimate family
our realistic writer's cannot tear
themselves away from rendering Iid-
dish which is spoken by their char
acters more or less gramatically-into
idiomatic instead of idiotic English.
Possibly the fault is not entirely theirs
the amusement loving American
reading public may like its literary
dish Favored with these ''transla-
tions.'' and ii may also be that even
stories of genuine talent, like Miss
Yezierska's, need this .'flavorins" 10
scale the wall of rejection slips.
on the other hand, the book con
tains few stories told in the first
person. in the English dialect of Il
Jewish shop girl who ha, been few
years in the country. these stories
are sincere and natural. and gain the
readers sympathy.
Hungary Hearts contains ten
stories. one of which "The Fat of the
Land" was pronounced by O'Brien the
compiler of the Best Short Stories for
the year as the prize work for 19la
To my mind. however the best two
stories are "IIow / Found America