My brother sent me this Guardian link:
Authors choose their favourite short stories
For the next two weeks over the festive period we will be running a short story podcast each day. Our contributing authors introduce the stories they have chosen to read
From Zadie Smith on Giuseppe Pontiggia to Will Self on Jorge Luis Borges, the selections and descriptions are interesting even if you’re not a podcast person, and (as I told my brother) it’s worth it just for the chance to read “The Story of My Dovecote” by Isaac Babel (chosen by Nathan Englander; the Russian text is here, for those who read Russian). It’s not exactly cheery holiday fare—in fact, it’s grim as death—but boy, is it one hell of a story. And I look forward to checking out some of the others. Thanks, Eric!
My Russian’s pretty poor, but as far as I can tell it’s a great translation. But doesn’t “your little Jews” lack the anti-Semitic punch of “жидки ваши”? “Your kikes” maybe?
Thanks for passing this on. I love that story by Babel!