New Releases by Amos Oz

“Thoughtful, self-assured and highly sophisticated, full of the most skillful modulations of tone and texture. A modern Israeli Madame Bovary.” —The New York Times Book Review Set in 1950s Jerusalem, My Michael is the story of a remote and intense woman named Hannah Gonen and her marriage to a decent, pragmatic, but unremarkable geology professor named Michael. Wedded too young, emotionally unprepared for motherhood, and forced to abandon her university studies, Hannah grows bored, frustrated, and increasingly removed from the banal certainty of her immediate world. As years pass, and Michael goes off to war, Hannah’s heady fantasy life encroaches upon reality. Hannah grows ever more estranged from her husband, as the marriage begins to disintegrate. “A flickering, multi-toned Israeli novel which grapples with time’s incursions, love’s deceptions, and the diminishment of desire” (Kirkus Reviews), My Michael is at once a haunting love story and a rich, reflective portrait of a place and time that “takes the reader into the fevered mind of a young woman” (The Guardian).

This is the story of a relationship between a Jewish boy and a British police sergeant interested in Biblical Israel and the Hebrew language. In exchange for English lessons, Profi offers to teach the soldier Hebrew, thinking he will use the relationship to learn ''enemy'' information, but when his friends find out about their relationship he is accused of being a traitor.

Une page planche, un début de roman. Comment démarrer une histoire ? Comment trouver les premiers mots et entraîner le lecteur avec soi ? Lire un roman est un jeu qui exige la participation active du lecteur, avec son expérience, sa candeur, sa perspicacité, son ingéniosité. Les contrats introductifs jouent parfois à cache-cache, manquent à leur promesse, la tiennent inopinément, invitent à entrer dans un labyrinthe... Il faut savoir déjouer les pièges, lire entre les lignes. C''est dans cet univers d''incipit de grands romanciers comme Kafka, Gogol, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Tchekhov, Theodor Fontane et bien d''autres encore qu''Amos Oz nous entraîne avec L''histoire commence, véritable introduction à l''apprentissage de la lecture " au ralenti ".

A man who has lost his wife to cancer takes in the girlfriend of the son who is wandering the mountains of Tibet.

Some great writers write and rewrite the first sentence of a book a hundred times and never get beyond it. Others, presumably, give up altogether and, perhaps in despair, decide to begin just as it comes to them.

Una serie de cartas, cruzadas entre distintos personajes, nos revela el entramado de sus relaciones: los insultos se entrelazan con los halagos, la traicion con la generosidad, el odio con el deseo, sobre un telon de fondo donde destacan las tensiones politicas, etnicas y religiosas de la actual sociedad israeli. Novela sobre la pasion y el fanatismo, La caja negra obtuvo en Francia el premio Femina 1988.

The lighthearted tale of a 12-year-old Jewish boy who befriends a British policeman in 1947 Israel, a friendship which leads his comrades to accuse him of treason. The boys have formed a secret liberation army to throw out the British.

“A delicate contemporary tale about the quiddities of love and the perpetual mysteries of human motivations” from the bestselling Israeli author of Judas (Los Angeles Times). A New York Times Notable Book of the Year At Tel-Kedar, a settlement in the Negev desert, the longtime love affair between Theo, a sixty-year-old civil engineer, and Noa, a young schoolteacher, is slowly disintegrating. When a pupil dies under difficult circumstances, the couple and the entire town are thrown into turmoil. Amos Oz explores with brilliant insight the possibilities—and limits—of love and tolerance. “A rich symphony of humanity . . . If Oz’s eye for detail is enviable, it is his magnanimity which raises him to the first rank of world authors.” —Sunday Telegraph (UK) “Vivid, convincing, and haunting.” —The New York Times Book Review “A vividly and affectionately detailed picture of Israeli village life—and of what might be called a JulyOctober relationship—by acclaimed essayist and novelist Oz . . . A perfectly pitched comedy, expertly translated, and one of Oz’s most attractive and accomplished books.” —Kirkus Reviews “This novel, his 10th (after Fima), is set in Tel Kedar, a quiet desert town in the Negev that is both a microcosm of Israeli society and a vividly evoked setting whose atmosphere and residents are palpable . . . his story carries thought-provoking implications.” —Publishers Weekly “Skillfully alternating point of view between his two main characters, Oz shows us the painful process by which a couple uncouples, one sinew at a time.” —Booklist

Juif errant du XXe siècle, Elisha Pomerantz incarne toutes les fuites, toutes les quêtes d''une hypothétique Terre promise. Son périple, poétique mais tragiquement circulaire, le mène du fracas des canons nazis dévastant les forêts de Pologne au grondement des chars syriens sur les hauteurs du Golan. Aux fureurs humaines, Pomerantz, maître ès mathématiques et musicien, oppose son art. C''est en échappant en quelque sorte aux lois de la gravité qu''il fuit les Allemands, en résolvant un paradoxe essentiel qu''il est reçu dans le sein de la terre d''Israël avec sa femme enfin libérée des griffes de l''Ours russe. L''onirisme et l''ironie, la tragédie et la comédie s''entremêlent.

"Perhaps most of the essays in this book are substitutes for stories that I have not managed to write," says Amos Oz in the preface to Under This Blazing Light. Published for the first time in English, this collection of essays reveals the personal and political thoughts of Israel''s most celebrated novelist. The essays in this volume put a unique perspective on the author''s own experiences and development, and reveal a complex and deeply human figure of practical political influence as well as of significant literary stature. Oz''s refreshing blend of skepticism and idealism will win for him new readers, while delighting those who will recognize here the qualities evident in his other writings. Relevant in light of recent developments in the Middle East, the topics covered include an examination of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a dispute between "Right and Right"; a look at the meaning of socialism in the Israeli context; reflections on the concept of "Homeland" and on the nature of the Kibbutz; and reflections on the character of Zionism. The essays also include portraits of several Jewish writers and thinkers whose ideas and themes in one way or another have proved influential or determinative for Amos Oz himself. Amos Oz is widely considered to be Israel''s most famous living writer. His fifteen books include My Michael, Touch the Water, Touch the Wind, In the Land of Israel, Black Box, To Know a Woman, and Fima. His work has been translated into twenty-nine languages, and he has received several major literary awards. He is currently a Professor of Modern Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University.

Pour échapper à son existence étriquée, un homme se lève et s''en va, laissant tout derrière lui. L''histoire serait banale si ce départ n''avait pris les proportions d''une désertion. Car, en quittant le kibboutz où il est né, Jonathan Lifschitz, fils d''un des fondateurs de l''Etat d''Israël, lance en quelque sorte une gifle à la face des idéaux sionistes et socialistes de la génération dont il est issu. Cet univers de Kibboutznik, le bouillant Azaria Guitlin rêve au contraire de s''y faire admettre en étonnant ses aînés par sa culture et son intelligence. Entre ces deux hommes animés d''un mouvement contraire de s''y faire admettre en étonnant ses aînés par sa culture et son intelligence. Entre ces deux hommes animés d''un mouvement contraire, une femme, Rimona, va être le lien qui aidera chacun à trouver un juste repos. Autour d''eux, des personnages sages ou fous, humbles ou orgueilleux, dont Amos Oz nous fait partager les doutes et les espoirs dans un Israël sur lequel plane la menace de la guerre des Six jours.

“Powerful” essays from a founder of the Peace Now movement and advocate for a two-state solution (Library Journal). The haunting poetry of [Oz''s] prose and the stunning logic of his testimony make a potent mixture." —Washington Post Book World Amos Oz was one of the first voices of conscience to advocate for a two-state solution. As a founding member of the Peace Now movement, Oz has spent over thirty-five years speaking out on this issue, and these powerful essays and speeches span an important and formative period for understanding today''s tension and crises. Whether he is discoursing on the role of writers in society or recalling his grandmother''s death in the context of the language''s veracity; examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a tragicomedy or questioning the Zionist dream, Oz remains trenchant and unflinching in this moving portrait of a divided land. "[Oz is] the modern prophet of Israel." —Sunday Telegraph (UK)

Traduit dans plus de dix pays, Mon Michaël confirme tous les espoirs qu''avait fait naître le premier roman d''Amos Oz, Ailleurs peut-être. Il nous montre Hanna, qui, déçue par son mari, par ses amis, par la vie, devient peu à peu étrangère au monde qui l''entoure. Tout lui paraît atteint d''une implacable érosion à laquelle elle-même ne peut échapper. Dans son journal, qu''elle tient comme pour se prouver sa propre existence, fiction et réalité se mêlent. C''est à travers ces pages d''une langue admirable que nous la voyons s''enliser dans la nostalgie de son enfance en Palestine, dans des fantasmes où deux jumeaux arabes reflètent à la fois ses obsessions sexuelles et les terreurs d''un peuple qui ne peut vivre en paix. La guerre du Sinaï est proche. Labyrinthe de rues et de rocs, Jérusalem que cernent d''imprécises menaces, étouffe. Hanna a peur. Elle va entrer dans la guerre comme on sombre dans la mer. Ce bouleversant portrait de femme est aussi une remarquable analyse d''un pays toujours entre guerre et paix.

This tale of a conflicted family living on a kibbutz in Israel just before the Six-Day War is “Oz''s strangest, riskiest, and richest novel.” —The Washington Post Book World On a kibbutz, the country’s founders and their children struggle to come to terms with their land and with each other. The messianic father exults in accomplishments that had once been only dreams; the son longs to establish an identity apart from his father; the fragile young wife is out of touch with reality; and the gifted and charismatic “outsider” seethes with emotion. Through the interplay of these brilliantly realized characters, Oz evokes a drama that is chillingly, strikingly universal. “[Oz is] a peerless, imaginative chronicler of his country’s inner and outer transformations.” —Independent (UK)

Fima er midaldrende, fraskilt og har en fortid som lovende digter. Han hutler sig igennem tilværelsen, men har mange menneskelige relationer og deltager aktivt i debatten om dagens israelske samfund

La boîte noire, celle qui enregistre les dialogues des pilotes, restitue, sous forme de lettres échangées entre Alec et Ilana, après sept années d''éloignement et de silence, leur vie passée. Alec Gidéon, intellectuel de renommée internationale, vit aux Etats-Unis ; ses rapports exacerbés avec son ex-femme Ilana, révèlent un homme blessé, qui n''a pas su oublier. Ilana, agaçante, passionnée, s''écoutant écrire, n''aura de cesse qu''Alec revienne. Michel Sommo, pied-noir, partisan du Grand Israël, deuxième mari d''Ilana à qui il voue un amour total, se laissera corrompre par l''argent d''Alec qu''il lui aura extorqué. Et Boaz, fils d''Alec et d''Ilana, graine de voyou, est le symbole d''une certaine jeunesse, lasse des guerres qui veut " prendre du bon temps ". Tels sont les acteurs de ce roman des affrontements, dans lequel ce qui est exprimé n''a souvent qu''un lointain rapport avec la réalité : Amos Oz change de registre et se renouvelle dans cette histoire d''amour où la violence, l''érotisme et l''humour servent de révélateurs à un Israël contemporain.

Oz has crafted an intricate tale of people constantly seeking escape from a hostile world, an escape symbolized on its highest level by the watchmaker Pomeranz, a mathematician and musician. By the power of his music, he causes the arid earth to turn into a moist womb that receives him and his wife not in death but in immortality. Translated by Nicholas de Lange. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Novel of the microcosmic world of a kibbutz community located near the Jordanian frontier.