"These brilliant writers, through their works, never fail to exert their power in spadefuls, and soar to heights of grace and excellence in confronting the great existential dramas of life." In a collection of passionate, sparkling essays, one of Australia's leading literary critics presents a fresh and exciting ode to Jewish fiction. Rescuing some brilliant texts from the dustbin of oblivion or from culture's short-memory, Abramovich, writing with affection and authority, offers gems of critical appreciation and in-depth discussion of masterpieces and iconic authors such as Nobel Prize Winner S.Y. Agnon, Israel's most celebrated living author Amos Oz, the mesmerising Paul Celan, the incomparable David Grossman, the extraordinary Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, the Israeli "Agatha Christie", and the early pioneers of Hebrew letters. Sharing his lifetime joy of reading and engagement with the written word, and showcasing his scholarly erudition, Abramovich effortlessly muses on the nature of writing, and takes readers on an intellectual and philosophical journey through grand thematic landscapes such as memory, the Holocaust, identity, man's relationship with God, imagination, family, marriage, death and suffering. A celebration and a tribute to old favourites, this delightful volume of reflections and meditations is sure to ignite a fire in discerning readers' minds, and motivate them to go back to those classics with a renewed sense of excitement. Certain to become a valuable and entertaining guide for anyone who loves Israeli and Jewish fiction, this work will provide inspiration and reason aplenty to turn off the computer or TV and start reading again.
In this compelling and engaging book, Dvir Abramovich introduces readers to several landmark novels, poems and stories that have become classics in the Israeli Holocaust canon. Discussed are iconic writers such as Aharon Appelfeld, Dan Pagis, Etgar Keret, Yoram Kaniuk, Uri Tzvi Greenberg and Ka-Tzetnik, and their attempts to come to terms with the unprecedented trauma and its aftereffects. Scholarly, yet deeply accessible to both students and to the public, this illuminating volume offers a wide-ranging introduction to the intersection between literature and the Shoah, and the linguistic, stylistic and ethical difficulties inherent in representing this catastrophe in fiction. Exploring narratives by survivors and by those who wrote about the European genocide from a distance, each chapter contains a compassionate and thoughtful analysis of the author’s individual opus, accompanied by a comprehensive exploration of their biography and the major themes that underpin their corpus. The rich and sophisticated discussions and interpretations contained in this masterful set of essays are sure to become essential reading for those seeking to better understand the responses by Hebrew writers to the immense tragedy that befell their people.