Sholom Aleichem's Inside Kasrilevke is a novel in the guise of a travel book, meant to examine and appreciate the fictional city of Kasrilevke. The intent of the author is to create an imaginative city which will evoke the reader's sympathies for the unique human population of that city and for the many various social and economic sufferings which they endure and generally overcome.
The author, who purports to be a native of the city returning after some time away, declares in his Foreword that "it has occurred to me that there is no better way of showing my gratitude to my friends in Kasrilevke for their hospitality [on his visit to his parents' graves there] than by spreading the fame of their city far and wide" (7). The author leaves no doubt in his conclusion that the people of the city are indeed hardy survivors of distressing circumstances:
This has ever been the fate of the little folk of Kasrilevke: when they dream of good things to eat---they haven't a spoon; when they have a spoon---they don't dream of good things to eat (222).
The ostensible purpose of the author is the creation of a travel book: "It will tell [strangers to the city] where to get off the train; what transportation to use; where to get a tasty meal or good glass of wine" (8), etc. Again, however, in reality the author has a much more humanistic aim: to portray the difficult lives of the residents and to engender the sympathetic emotions of the reader for that Jewish populace. His book is in fact far more an ethnic-oriented appreciation of those fictionalized people than a guide for visitors. It is, after all, a novel designed to examine the characters and lives of the Jewish denizens created by the author, who are the true objects of his study and not the attractions which normally highlight a travel book. The author purports to be trying to urge others to visit the town, but in fact almost everything he tells us about it would dissuade any but ...