Product Review

Roth's novellas and short stories will rank with Chekhov's and Kafka's as among the greatest of modern literature.

Roth's novellas and short stories will rank with Chekhov's and Kafka's as among the greatest of modern literature. Appearing in English for the first time, The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth is a remarkable achievement, seventeen novellas and stories that echo the intensity and achievement of his greatest novel, The Radetzky March. Spanning the entire range of Roth's brief life (1894-1939) and including many stories just recently discovered, the book showcases the stunning "Strawberries" (1929), which comprises the first few chapters of a novel Roth would never complete. Here, clearly at the height of his literary prowess, Roth depicts his native town of Brody, a mad little Jewish village given over to mild criminality, yet oddly still ticking along. Similarly breathtaking, indeed reminiscent of Chekhov, are the novellas "Stationmaster Fallmerayer" (1933) and "The Bust of the Emperor" (1935). These short works, each a stunning example of Roth's legendary explorations of character, reflect an enduring and tragic sensibility that stands alone in the annals of twentieth-century fiction.