The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman

By: Sholem Aleichem

Narrated by: Theodore Bikel

Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The internationally renowned star of Fiddler on the Roof brings the original stories of Tevye to life! Tevye personified the dreams not only of Russian Jews but of people everywhere when he sang "If I Were a Rich Man." And for millions around the world, Theodore Bikel personified Tevye. Now hear the original stories of Tevye, as written by Sholem Aleichem (pen name of Sholem Rabinovich): "Today's Children," "Hodl," "Chava," and "Lekh-Lekho," the stories which were the basis for Fiddler, plus "Tevye Strikes It Rich" and "Tevye Blows a Small Fortune." Reacquaint yourself with the buoyant, ingenious, compassionate, irrepressible, anxious, philosophical, God-loving, God-fearing dairyman, who embodies the simple and joyous, difficult and sometimes dangerous world of the Eastern European Jews during a time of sweeping historical change.

©1987 by Shocken Books, Inc., Translated With the Permission of the Family of Sholem Aleichem (P)1995 by Audio Renaissance Tapes, a Division of Cassette Productions Unlimited, Inc.

Simply heautiful

Warm, funny and heart-touching! Stories of Tevye on which Fiddler on the roof is based. Excellent narration.

A Classic

These stories are essential to the Ashkenazi Jewish self-image and mythos. This is the backbone of the Fiddler On The Roof script. The narrator, Theodore Bikel, does a fantastic job. A great listen!

Bikel's reading improves masterpiece of literature

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

As a series of stories written in the first person, this is clearly a work that is improved as an audiobook, especially as the story is told by a top-notch actor, Theodore Bikel. So much more of Sholem Aleichem's humor and pathos is expressed in this reading that could easily be missed in a quick reading of the stories alone.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman?

There were many. I especially enjoyed Tevye's misquotes of Bible and Talmud.

Which character – as performed by Theodore Bikel – was your favorite?

Clearly it was Tevye as the main character. However, Bikel's reading was so good, it was easy to tell one character from another.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Origin of "Fiddler on the Roof"

Unexpected delight

A real unexpected purchase but absolutely wonderful. The performance is extraordinary, the writing is wonderful, and it's just the right length.

Bikel is fantastic as Tevye

Don't worry about the poor audio on the sample, the download is fine. I am using quality 4 (because I have an old iPod) and there are no problems. I own this on cassette, so I knew that the performance was fantastic. Theodore Bikel knows how to deliver Tevye. If you love Fiddler on the Roof, this is a great way to get the stories that inspired the musical.

magic team: sholem aleichem and theodore bikel

These beautiful stories deserve to be told and retold, and who can do it better than Mr. Bikel, who is practically as legendary now as Tevye himself? Literature as the story of life, up and down, with miracles and yet so often caught in the crossroads of history: Every human heart will be touched by such stories!

Lovely

Was assigned to read a few of these chapters for a college class but ended up loving the whole thing. Great performance. Great story. Don’t worry, the sound quality is great, don’t know what’s up with the sample. If you are picking between this version and the version on audible called “tevye the milkman” I’d say go with this one

A powerful performance!

The story and the performance touched me. growing up in Ukraine and seeing what is going on there now makes the story even more relevant and appealing. it has lots of humour but it's very sad to listen. Tevye has a big and kind heart. and so much resilience despite the human cruelty he had to experience. huge thanks.

Category all its own

Depth, heart, substance, faith, family, joys, heartaches, all this and Theodore Bikel! A joy to listen to, not a novel but genuine stories via master storyteller.

Theodore Bikel nails it.

Bikel does a wonderful job at reading this book. His pronunciations are superb as are the inflections in his voice. He’s a real yid reading about yids. And of course the story’s are all very entertaining. If you love the stories of Sholom Aleichem, like I do, give this reading a listen!