Harry Kemelman

Harry Kemelman (born November 24, 1908 in Boston , Massachusetts , † December 15, 1996 in Marblehead , Mass.) Was an American writer and literature professor .

Life

Kemelman, the child of Russian Jewish immigrants (parents: Isaac Kemelman and Dora, née Prizer), a full-time teacher of English literature at Boston State College, became famous for his series of Rabbi Small thrillers. Its protagonist David Small is a rabbi in a Jewish community on the American east coast not far from Boston. His specialty is the pilpul , a Talmudic method of finding the finest differences and thus discovering the truth. Because he has an excellent command of this method, the rabbi repeatedly bailed out his sheep, but is still not particularly popular because he refuses to make any concessions to the zeitgeist. The figure is reminiscent of the Catholic priest detective Father Brown of GK Chesterton ; Kemelman attached importance to the statement that it was the traditional task of the rabbi - especially in contrast to the Christian pastor - to act more as a judge and interpreter of the law than as a religious leader.

The amateur detective David Small , who investigated murders , not only provided exciting crime stories, but also made the reader familiar with Jewish traditions and ways of thinking: he introduced him to the everyday life of a typical American Jewish community that largely belonged to conservative Judaism . The real message of Kemelman's novels appears to be the rejection of assimilation and the campaign for understanding and recognition of difference.

Kemelman also wrote short stories with the hero Prof. Nicholas Welt, which were first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and later summarized in the book The Nine Mile Walk (German: Quiz with Kemelman ), as well as the non-fiction book Common Sense in Education (1970).

For the Rabbi-Small-Krimi Friday the Rabbi Slept Late , published in 1964 , Kemelman received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the category Best First Work. Since then, Kemelman has published ten successful cases for the scribe and astute amateur detective.

Works

Kemelman's works were initially published individually in German by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag , and in 1990 also as collected works in a cassette with ten volumes.

• The rabbi slept long on Friday , Reinbek 1966; New edition 2001, ISBN 3-499-23127-1
• On Saturday the rabbi did not eat anything , Reinbek 1967; New edition 2001, ISBN 3-499-23128-X
• Quiz with Kemelman , Reinbek 1969, ISBN 3-499-42172-0
• The rabbi stayed away on Sunday , Reinbek 1973; New edition 2001, ISBN 3-499-23129-8
• The rabbi left on Monday , Reinbek 1974; New edition 2002, ISBN 3-499-23273-1
• On Tuesday the rabbi saw red , Reinbek 1975; New edition 2002, ISBN 3-499-23274-X
• On Wednesday the rabbi gets wet , Reinbek 1977; New edition 2003, ISBN 3-499-23351-7
• The rabbi shot on Thursday , Reinbek 1979; New edition 2003, ISBN 3-499-23353-3
• One day the rabbi goes , Reinbek 1985, ISBN 3-499-42720-6
• A cross for the rabbi , Reinbek 1988, ISBN 3-499-42860-1
• A new job for the rabbi , Reinbek 1994, ISBN 3-499-43120-3
• When the Rabbi left the city , Reinbek 1997, ISBN 3-499-43252-8

literature

• Peter Freese : The ethnic detective. Chester Himes , Harry Kemelman, Tony Hillerman . The blue owl, Essen 1992, ISBN 3-89206-502-0 (Works on American Studies 10).

Web links

• Literature by and about Harry Kemelman in the catalog of the German National Library