Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Tevye's Daughters: Collected Stories of Sholom Aleichem

Rate this book
Book by Aleichem, Sholem

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1894

Loading interface...
Loading interface...

About the author

Sholom Aleichem

280 books169 followers
Russian-born American humorist Sholem Aleichem or Sholom Aleichem, originally Solomon Rabinowitz, in Yiddish originally wrote stories and plays, the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof .

This Jew wrote under this pen name, Hebrew for "peace be upon you."

From 1883, he produced more than forty volumes as a central figure in literature before 1890.

His notable narratives accurately described shtetl life with the naturalness of speech of his characters. Early critics focused on the cheerfulness of the characters, interpreted as a way of coping with adversity. Later critics saw a tragic side. Because of the similar style of the author with the pen name of Mark Twain, people often referred to Aleichem as the Jewish version of Twain. Both authors wrote for adults and children and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
108 (37%)
4 stars
118 (40%)
3 stars
54 (18%)
2 stars
8 (2%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Bill Kerwin.
Author 2 books83.5k followers
January 12, 2020

Fiddler on the Roof fans who have not yet read these stories should give this a try. Tevye is here, in all his glory: his humor, his sorrow, his philosophical reflections, his faith. But friends of well crafted short stories who shun the traditional musical should give it a look too. These tales have a darkness and depth not found in the Bock/Harnick/Stein Broadway classic.

The title of this book is somewhat deceiving, since the monologues of Tevye the Dairyman comprise only one-fourth of the stories and approximately one-half of the text of this three-hundred-page volume. Although I enjoyed it all, The Tevye stories are superior to the rest.

Sholom Aleichem found in Tevye—as Mark Twain found in Huckleberry Finn—a persona with a voice so original and engaging that it allows him to achieve an emotional range and concentrated power only occasionally matched in the rest of his work. Tevye tells his stories to “ Mister Sholem Aleichem,” and the reader, through his identification with this listener, gets to know Tevye intimately–laugh at his digressions and misapplied scripture, smile at his gentleness and humanity and weep for his sorrows.

Don't get me wrong, though: many of the non-Tevye stories are very effective too. I particularly like “The Man from Buenos Aires” (a charming wheeler-dealer returns to his native Ukraine), “The Easy Fast” (a powerful tale of hunger and poverty) and the hilarious “Two Shalachmones, or A Purim Scandal” (how two hungry servant girls spark a family feud).
Profile Image for Helen.
Author 13 books228 followers
February 22, 2017
I'm giving up on this for now. I'm having trouble with Sholom Aleichem's stories. Something about reading about old world Russian shtetls makes the muscles in my shoulders and the back of my neck clench right up. The same with Isaac Bashevis Singer. Probably because I've had a lot of actual real-world contact with Eastern European immigrants who bear more than a passing resemblance to the folks in his stories. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with this.
Profile Image for Clay Davis.
Author 3 books141 followers
August 20, 2024
Every short story in this book is a masterpiece. The simple pencil on the cover is not very good and should show Tevye's daughters and not just Golde. I like the blurb on the back written by Leonard Nimoy. Checked out this book through interlibrary loan from the Modesto Junior College library.
83 reviews
August 31, 2012
perfect.

i never realized how political his writing was until this collection, he masks so much with simple prose and humor, which i guess is how you are able to say what you aren't supposed to without getting censored or banned. a lot of people think that this story collection just gets progressively more and more depressing, but i think there's pretty much a tiny current of heartbreak running through all the stories. maybe you just don't always notice it until the end. of course people know this for the tevye stories, and i don't think anybody is arguing that those pieces AREN'T his best and most-loved work, but these stories are really special. it's sad - dare i say - to look at the lighthearted and, even jovial culture of judaism (because there's really not a focus on religion in these tales, which is a huge misconception and why i like them so much!) and to think that it evolved into the more extreme orthodox and hassidic sects of today. it's so clear reading these stories that, like i've heard a lot of people say, the modern chassidish lifestyle was just so not what the shtetl lifestyle was aiming for AT ALL. they'd probably be freaking out if they could see what was going on. a lot of people look at these stories as some kind of weird religious text or precursor, especially "Outsiders" (if you know what that alludes to you'll get what i mean) and avoid them like the plague because they think they're about to get a heavy dose of theology. god is more of a minor character, and when he's mentioned, tevye is usually not too happy with him. it's nice to see somebody standing up to god for a change. there are, i've gotta say, a lot of "she is only a woman's" here, which is of course annoying, but we can be glad that the majority of the word has evolved since then and take these awesome tales as brilliant and, most importantly of all, enjoyable. people think i want to learn yiddish so i can hang out with hassidic guys and try to seduce people. nope. i want to learn yiddish so i can read this original text.
Profile Image for Brenda.
286 reviews
March 7, 2023
2.5 stars. Maybe the humour got lost in translation. Most of the short stories are tragic with one or two that are merely sad. Russian society of the late 1800s and early 1900s was divided into two classes, the rich and the poor. The stories are written about the poor who struggle to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. When the rich are described it's usually with disdain.

I don't like any of the characters including Tevye whose stories Fiddler on the Roof was based on. When he gets angry, he lies to his wife, quotes or misquotes the Bible, disowns a daughter and beats his horse. Watch the movie instead as it's much more entertaining.

Reading this book was a chore that I'm glad is over. Amen.
Profile Image for April Helms.
1,177 reviews7 followers
June 23, 2013
It was neat reading some of the stories that inspired one of my favorite musicals, "Fiddler on the Roof." My respect for the musical grew; the writers really nailed Aleichem's character Tevye, a well-known milkman who sells butter, cheese and milk to neighboring villages. Not all the stories deal with Tevye and his family, which includes his wife and his seven lovely daughters. Yes, there are seven- five of whom we learn more about, a six is named, and a seventh unnamed mentioned early on. There are other short, standalone stories that often read like parables, many of them darkly funny. One of the more memorable ones concerns two young, ill-used maids who decide to sample the goodies intended for their employers' Purim feasts and unwittingly start a feud between the two families. The stories concerning Tevye are conveyed either as letters between the milkman and the author, or by chance meetings between the two. The stories usually concern Tevye's daughters and their relationships with their suitors. Each challenges Tevye's traditions but while he is a conservative man, he also is fully aware of how the world is changing. Those who have seen the musical know what happens with his first three daughters: one marries a suitor that was not arranged by her father, one marries someone from outside their village and winds up leaving the family forever when the new husband is imprisoned, and the third marries a Christian and converts. The stories of the fourth and fifth daughter also are related, that of Shprintze and Bielke. Their stories, also, are very sad for different reasons. The stories are darkly humorous (although sometimes heart-wringing), and often have very pointed commentary. For example, there's another short story about a wealthy man who was known for giving away kind words and clucks of sympathy when his less-off neighbors would approach, but what is pointedly not given is money or any useful help. This seems to be a common theme in several of the stories.
318 reviews8 followers
March 11, 2017
The humor and heartbreak in these stories come together to form a vivid picture of Jewish life in the shtetls of the Pale. I was struck in particular by Tevye's statement in 'Schprintze': “I wasn’t worried about God so much, I could come to terms with Him, one way or another. What bothered me was people. Why should people be so cruel to one another, when they could be so kind? Why should human beings bring suffering to one another as well as to themselves, when they could all live together in peace and good will?”

It's a thought to ponder, and as relevant today as it was when he wrote it, more than a century ago.
Profile Image for Klára.
190 reviews
January 13, 2017
Na tuto knížku jsem narazila náhodou na uložto, tak jsem si ji stáhla jako audioknihu. Nelituji. Nádherně zpracované krátké příběhy o tom, jak Tovje vdává dcery, jak se vypracoval a bohužel jak jeho život zase upadal. Ačkoliv jsou zde vtipné momenty, zároveň nás to nutí zamyslet se nad chováním dětí k rodičům. A ačkoliv kniha vypovídá o příběhu zhruba konce devatenáctého a půlky dvacátého století, je stále aktuální. Neuvěřitelně použitý jazyk a životní optimismus.
Profile Image for Maggie Anton.
Author 13 books273 followers
July 8, 2022
I wasn't sure whether to give Tevye's Daughters: Collected Stories of Sholom Aleichem 1, 2 or no stars. I started reading it because the Jewish Book Group on Goodreads wanted a "comfort book" and this one got the most votes. I confess I didn't read all the stories in order; I started with the first three, the third featuring Tevye's daughters. The first two are about money: lacking it, various schemes to obtain it, what would happen if he had it, etc. Not particularly comforting tales.

Next came "Modern Children," the love story of Tzeitl and Motel, which I recognized immediately as being the inspiration for "Fiddler on the Roof." The plot is the same, the characters are the same, even much of the dialogue is the same--although there are many more of Tevye's incorrect Bible quotes. I quite enjoyed it, so I decided to skip the intervening stories/chapters and read "Hodel." The plot was similar to her romance in the movie, but darker. We never read for what crime her lover was arrested, where he is imprisoned, or what they'll do after/if he's actually released. But at the train station Hodel tells Tevye that they'll never see each other again and we get his interior monologue at how unhappy he'll be. To make this clear, the last line is, "Now let's talk about more cheerful things. What news is there of the cholera epidemic in Odessa?"

After this we read about "Chava," the brilliant daughter who runs away to the village priest, apparently in order to marry her goyish lover, Fyedka. Tevya's wife Golde is so devastated that she curls up into a ball on the bed, weeping. Does he comfort her? No, he only spouts more pseudo-Torah aphorisms, many of them misogynist. There is nothing like the movie's "Do You Love Me?" duet. Then there is the "Shprintze," a daughter who doesn't appear in "Fiddler on the Roof" (for obvious reasons when you get to the ending). At first it seems that she'll be the one to make Tevye's fortune, because a wealthy young Jewish man falls in love with her (and she with him) and they become engaged. But his family intervene, the wedding is off, and Shprintze drowns herself in the pond near Tevye's house. After which, readers get another of Tevye's one-sided conversations with The Almighty while Golde dies of grief.

As if that weren’t enough misery, Motel dies in his sleep, leaving Tzeitl and her many children to move in with poor Tevye in time for the village constable to ride up and tell them to sell their house, that all the Jews in the village must leave. Which they do, but only to another town a few miles away. On the road they meet Chava, who has left her husband behind and wants to go into exile with her family. Finally we get the story of Beilke, Tevye and Golde's youngest daughter, who cares for her father after her mother's death. Beilke accepts the proposal of wealthy war-profiteer Podhotzur, who is chosen for her by the matchmaker and showers her with gifts. Over the course of the story, Podhotzur goes broke, and the couple flee to America where they both end up working in sweatshops. What happens to Tevye and the remaining daughters? We never find out.

My conclusion: NOT my definition of a “comfort book.”
Profile Image for Bryan--The Bee’s Knees.
407 reviews63 followers
March 31, 2018
It's sad to think that this edition of Sholem Aleichem's stories was published in 1949--when the life he writes about was already completely destroyed. Not that the life of the Jewish shtetl that he describes sounds so wonderful--although his stories certainly have a zest to them--but it's heartbreaking to know, in retrospect, the fate of these communities. Tevye's Daughters is one volume of a two-volume collection of Aleichem's stories, and the figure of Tevye appears in a half-dozen or so of them. The rest are unconnected to Tevye, but similarly concerned with Jewish life in the last decades of the 19th century. And it's this picture--surely not comprehensive, but representative at least--of a time and place gone forever that makes this collection more than just a sum of its parts.

It took me a little while to warm up to the stories--I read them over the course of a couple months, to keep from getting too familiar with the author's style, but because it is the style itself that helps paint the picture of this period, I probably could have read this one a bit quicker without reaching that point of saturation that I often find with single-author short-story collections. The strength of the collection doesn't depend on the originality of each story--rather it depends on the cumulative strength of the collection as a whole. And the most noticeable elements of that are tradition and community.

I don't know that other readers would be struck with the same sense of having glimpsed an entire world after reading Aleichem--but because I did, I felt this deserved its five stars. Not every story was of the same quality, but after I'd read about half the book, I realized that that didn't make any difference--it was more like a layering of details upon details. Often, I think, the reception for books like this is a matter of 'right time, right place', which is nearly impossible to define for any particular person. But whether that's true or not, I know I was ready for it. Recommended.
549 reviews1 follower
May 8, 2024
I originally read this because of "Fiddler on the Roof", but honestly, these are such charming, unique tales that I recommend them to anyone who enjoys short fiction or any character work. Tevye's voice, the way he tells stories, it lulls you, it feels like you're in the room with him. This would work incredible on audiobook. He goes on tangents, he adds exclamations, he adds his opinions, and he leaves many things open. Each of the stories was fantastic, showing him in a conundrum and turning to both his love of his daughters and faith to decide what to do. Many were tragic. My personal favorite was "Chava", the line where he says his heart was beating "CHA-VA" has really stuck with me, but so has the ending of "Get Thee Out", where he has to decide whether or not to take her back in. The beginning stories were hilarious, and I couldn't help but warm to Tevye, this man who was always in a pickle. The book was a great examination of love and tradition, of life in Russia, and of what home is. Tevye's daughters were also so fun, falling in love with their whole hearts and souls, and each of their arguments for why they should marry their loves are so passionate and touching. There's that sliding scale that is also interesting – how Tevye grows more and more dissatisfied with the match, but it's the rich man who he dislikes the most.
I also appreciate that Tevye is unique not for his place in life but for his personality. Fortune rarely comes to his life, but he is happy because of his daughters – and he rarely laments having daughters, only when he needs someone to do funeral rites for his wife. He would like riches of course, but doesn't put that above the happiness of his family (which he learns the hard way), and sees that others are happy when poor too – one line that sticks out is "why does a Jew marry?".
This is a classic, a classic in short fiction, a classic in narration, a classic in character portraits, a classic in all of literature. I cannot state enough how much you'll fall in love with it.
Profile Image for Ásta Melitta.
231 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2021
Ég hlustaði á hljóðbók sem heitir Tevje kúabóndi og dætur hans.
Bókin samanstendur af köflum þar sem Tevje mjólkurpóstur segir höfundinum frá ævi sinni, og þá helst þeim tíma þegar dætur hans sjö eru komnar á giftingaraldur. Einnig segir hann frá konu sinni Goldu, og samskiptum sínum við aðra í rússneska þorpinu þar sem hann býr. Tevje skreytir mál sitt gjarnan með tilvitnunum í Gamla testamentið og Talmúð og er skemmtilegur karakter. Þetta eru áhugaverðar sögur af lífi Gyðinga í Rússlandi, bæði í gleði og sorg.
Þessar sögur eru grunnurinn að söngleiknum Fiðlarinn á þakinu, sem flestir þekkja. Í sönunum eru þó fleiri dætur en í söngleiknum.
Mig langar að gefa 3,5 stjörnur en ætla að hækka þær upp í fjórar.
Profile Image for Sharon.
173 reviews2 followers
January 15, 2022
I must have had two books by Sholom Aleichem for about 50 years and never read them. After we watched a Polish film "Tevye, I thought, well, it's about time. And I am so glad I did. It is charming, witty, and full of Jewish humor with Yiddish words and sayings throughout. I found it delightful, sometimes silly, and took me back to my Jewish beginnings, and my joy of seeing Fiddler on the Roof as a stage production and film several times. This book contained the story of Tevye and his daughters intermittently with other stories of other Jewish characters and situations. It was a fun book to read.
Profile Image for Stephanie Salyer.
299 reviews2 followers
January 31, 2021
Very funny and well done collection of short stories. I don't think I'll read it again but it was enjoyable.
Profile Image for Adina.
279 reviews
July 3, 2022
A loving portrayal of a real and yet mythical time and place. I’m glad to have read this translation.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
675 reviews101 followers
Read
April 7, 2011
I'm not sure, really, how to rate this book. The writing is absolutely awesome and worthy of five stars; the content, though, started out at five stars and then slipped downward into two stars (and maybe even one). I was immediately pulled into the stories of Jewish life in Eastern Europe and loved especially the stories about Tevye and his family. However, the story of Tevye gets more and more depressing as you get farther along until its completely unbearable. There is no happy ending for Tevye.

The other stories in this book also tended to be on the dark side as well, having a bitter edge to them. I can tolerate a lot of darkness in a book but I felt like this one was just too much. And I especially hated to see the author discredit and misrepresent through very subtle means the God of the universe, my loving and merciful Savior. In fact, the author's anger against God seems to be the running theme in the background and is what ties all of the stories together.
Profile Image for Karla.
9 reviews1 follower
September 8, 2008
Few books could be as humorous, as poignant and as heart wrenching at the same time as this chronicle of early twentieth century Russia and the pogroms that eventually caused the exodus of the Jewish community.
168 reviews
February 24, 2016
I enjoy reading the original stories behind the musicals. This one is incredible; there are more stories than in Fiddler on the Roof, but the jist of the play is in this book. It reflects the conflict Tevye, a traditional Jew in early 1900 Russia, goes through as times are changing.
114 reviews
July 1, 2024
The book the play Fiddler on the Roof was based on. I enjoy the folk nature of the book, but there was lots of description which made it hard to get through. Thankfully there was a glossary for the Jewish terms.
14 reviews2 followers
November 30, 2013
Great collection of stories! It's tales are full of bitter humor. Many times, I wish that I could read the stories in their original language. Much of the humor is lost in translation.
Profile Image for Sandra.
260 reviews7 followers
April 28, 2015
Really enjoyed these short stories --several of which involve Tevye the Dairyman-- which is what Fiddler on the Roof is based on.
15 reviews
September 10, 2016
Тевье не женщина, Тевье всё стерпит.
Тонкий (?) еврейский юмор про расхождение жизни и писаний (?), который я скорее всего не понял из-за своей ограниченности.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.