THE DEEP ONES: "The Enemy" by Isaac Bashevis Singer
ConversazioniThe Weird Tradition
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1semdetenebre
"The Enemy" by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Discussion begins March 2, 2022.
First published in Dark Forces (1980).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?43742
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
The Image and Other Stories
Collected Stories: One Night in Brazil to The Death of Methuselah
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date.
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-guide-to-isaac-bashevis-singer/
https://www.commentary.org/articles/isaac-singer/an-interview/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bashevis_Singer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPDowgxqqjA
https://tinyurl.com/bdu379rv
Discussion begins March 2, 2022.
First published in Dark Forces (1980).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?43742
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
The Image and Other Stories
Collected Stories: One Night in Brazil to The Death of Methuselah
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date.
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-guide-to-isaac-bashevis-singer/
https://www.commentary.org/articles/isaac-singer/an-interview/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bashevis_Singer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPDowgxqqjA
https://tinyurl.com/bdu379rv
2RandyStafford
An interesting story. Singer was interested in the occult, and the book mentioned at the beginning is a real book Singer probably read.
Chaikin suffers what is, for all practical purposes, a very targeted pogrom.
Still, there are a lot of questions. Why did Chaikin's astral body take on this form? Is he neurotic or self-loathing? We don't see a lot of evidence of that except for his avoidance of conflict. If throwing the waiter overboard somehow signifies some psychological change to Chaikin why is the waiter spotted again?
Chaikin suffers what is, for all practical purposes, a very targeted pogrom.
Still, there are a lot of questions. Why did Chaikin's astral body take on this form? Is he neurotic or self-loathing? We don't see a lot of evidence of that except for his avoidance of conflict. If throwing the waiter overboard somehow signifies some psychological change to Chaikin why is the waiter spotted again?
3AndreasJ
Finally got around to reading this today. Rather liked it.
The waiter may be an astral projection, but the pogrom, to call it that, is wider than him, to judge from eg the behaviour of the librarian. The whole ship seems to be something like a personal purgatory for Chaikin.
The waiter may be an astral projection, but the pogrom, to call it that, is wider than him, to judge from eg the behaviour of the librarian. The whole ship seems to be something like a personal purgatory for Chaikin.
4housefulofpaper
I don't have a lot to say about this one. I enjoyed it and obviously it's a well-told story, with a style that doesn't draw attention to itself, very easy and deceptively simple.
I have to wonder how much in the way of implication, or subtext, I'm missing.
Taking the supernatural element of the story at face value, I suppose it's possible Singer (the in-story Singer, of course) has mis-identified the evil waiter and he's not a particular human being's astral body but a demonic entity - targeting Chaikin, for whatever reason, but spreading its influence so that even other people (such as the librarian) treat him badly.
I have to wonder how much in the way of implication, or subtext, I'm missing.
Taking the supernatural element of the story at face value, I suppose it's possible Singer (the in-story Singer, of course) has mis-identified the evil waiter and he's not a particular human being's astral body but a demonic entity - targeting Chaikin, for whatever reason, but spreading its influence so that even other people (such as the librarian) treat him badly.
