(FT) 8vo. 305 pages. In Hebrew. Volume one only. SUBJECT(S) : Fiction. OCLC lists 29 copies worldwide. Top edge gilt. "A disciple of the "psychology" approach to literature and a writer of the "uprooted" generation, Brenner [1881-1921] became a key figure of the school in modern Hebrew literature; he focused and ruthlessly exposed the anxieties, self-probing, and despair of intellectual anti-heroes overwhelmed by life in a society that had lost meaning and direction. His fiction, bleak and fiercely honest, nourishes, however, a belief in artistic truth where faith in all else has failed. A contemporary and friend of G. Schoffmann and U. N. Gnessin, Brenner, like them, was also influenced by M. J. Berdyczewski. In style, he considered himself a follower of Berdyczewski, and in social outlook, a disciple of Mendele Mokher Seforim. Like many Hebrew writers of the early decades of the 20th century, he was mainly influenced by Russian literature, specifically by writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoevski (he frequently mentions the latter in his letters) , and by such European writers as Nietzsche and Hauptmann. Brenner, a novelist, critic, philosopher, translator, editor, and publisher, wrote in Hebrew and in Yiddish. He exercised a powerful personal influence, often exceeding his impact as a writer and a critic, on his generation, and on the following one. His colleagues and friends saw in him "a secular saint caught in a world that was not worthy of him" (H. Zeitlin) , and he became their moral, social, and artistic yardstick. Brenner's approach to literature demanded a close link between the creative process, the artistic work, and real life. " (EJ, 2007) Covers missing, leather backstrip present, text in very good condition. (HebLit-4-9)
