Synopses & Reviews
From the internationally acclaimed Israeli author, a unique novel
in verse that will take its place among the great books of our time.
The Same Sea is Amos Oz's most adventurous and inventive novel, the book by which he would like to be remembered. This is Oz free of convention--literary and otherwise. Prose leads to poetry, poetry to prose. The cast of characters ranges from a prodigal son to a widowed father who has taken in his son's enticing young girlfriend, who in turn sleeps with her boyfriend's close friend. The author himself receives phone calls from his characters, criticizing the way he portrays them in his novel. In this human profusion there is chaos and order, love and eroticism, loyalty and betrayal, and ultimately an extraordinary energy.
Reminiscent of Under Milk Wood for the range of its voices, its earthy humor, and its poignancy, The Same Sea is heartbreaking and sensuous, filled with classical echoes and Biblical allusions. Oz at his very best.
"I wrote this book with everything I have. Language music, structure everything that I have. . . . This is the closest book I've written. Close to me, close to what I always wanted. . . . I went as far as I could. --Amos Oz
Review
PRAISE FOR AMOS OZ
"A commanding artist who ranks with the most important writers of our time."-Cynthia Ozick
PRAISE FOR THE SAME SEA
"Impressive and moving . . . Oz tells the story of ordinary people in an extraordinary manner . . . Literature that is both spiritually moving and secularly provocative."-Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"[An] indelible memoir"
Review
"From the whispered tales of a local monster to the brash, spunky heroes on a quest, internationally acclaimed Israeli author Oz litters his story with fairy-tale tropes that give this narrative a fable-like quality; the atmosphere is intriguingly secretive and shadowed, but the prose is measured and accessible and the length manageable....There is plenty to discuss here, making it a useful classroom companion when tackling issues of historical and contemporary conflicts." —
The Bulletin "It's through Matti and Maya's willingness to challenge everything that Oz channels hope."—
Publishers Weekly
"Oz creates palpable tension with a repetitive, almost hypnotic rhythm and lyrical language that twists a discussion-provoking morality tale into something much more enchanting." —Booklist
Praise for Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest from the UK: "If you're a reader... you'll be prepared simply to be enchanted. You'll recognize no one, and see only yourself." —The Guardian "Both a children's fable and an allegory for adults. It may be a fast read, but it has enormous resonances." —The Independent Praise for Rhyming Life and Death: "From the prodigious Oz comes a delightfully elusive...story of imagination, talent and the transitory nature of fame...Stamped with Oz's charm and graceful skill in creating rich characters, this is a must for any fan." —Publishers Weekly "Hilarious and profound, Ozs tale of a mischievous taleteller ponders the eroticism of stories and the mysterious ways language and literature bridge the divide between inner and outer worlds; and it helps us make some sense, however gossamer, of life and death. A slyly philosophical novel." —Booklist
Review
"Sensitive, intuitive, restrained . . . will take its place with the books that endure."--Saturday Review
"Written with rare intuition and pictured with warm sympathy and charm."--The Horn Book
"No young person . . . will ever forget it."--Book Week
Review
Never out of print since its 1944 publication, this tender story offers readers of all ages a timeless message of compassion and understanding. At its heart is Wanda Petronski, an immigrant girl in an American school, who is ridiculed for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. When she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses at home, she unwittingly triggers a game of teasing that eventually ends in a lesson for all.
In restoring the reproduction of Louis Slobodkin's artwork, this new edition recaptures the original vivid color. And to celebrate the book's enhanced beauty, Helena Estes, the daughter of the author, has written a new letter to readers about the true story behindThe Hundred Dresses.
A restored edition of a classic, award-winning book about prejudice and understanding.
"Will take its place with the books that endure."--Saturday Review
"Written with rare intuition and pictured with warm sympathy and charm."--The Horn Book
"No young person . . . will ever forget it."--Book Week
Review
"From the prodigious Oz comes a delightfully elusive if slight story of imagination, talent and the transitory nature of fame...Stamped with Oz's charm and graceful skill in creating rich characters, this is a must for any fan."
-Publishers Weekly
"Israeli novelist Amos Oz performs an exquisite balancing act in his taut, evocative novel Rhyming Life & Death, which immerses readers in the vagaries of the creative process, never letting us forget that theres an author pulling the strings, making the decisions, however arbitrary, and making us complicit in the illusion that these words on the page somehow represent lives lived, destinies fulfilled and desires thwarted...[A] spellbinding fable."
-Kirkus Reviews, UpFront Review
"Hilarious and profound, Ozs tale of a mischievous taleteller ponders the eroticism of stories and the mysterious ways language and literature bridge the divide between inner and outer worlds; and it helps us make some sense, however gossamer, of life and death. A slyly philosophical novel."
-Donna Seaman, Booklist"Beguiling...funny and philosophical...a surprisingly playful departure for Oz." - Financial Times "The book is a meditation on the art of writing, the relationship between literature and life, between life and death, and also about the nature and significance of literary fame....the work of a master...A book you are likely to return to." - The Scotsman "...it is fascinating to witness this assured and experienced writer address such basic novelistic concerns as life and death, love and sex, language and silence, along a spectrum from cynicism, through humour to candour." - Sunday Telegraphy "...a deft way with quirky deail, a master class in interlocking character sketches, and a fable on themes of sex, death and writing ;pitched somewhere between the fictional universes of JM Coetzee and Milan Kundera." - The Guardian "Delectable...Amos Oz's Rhyming Life and Death is a midsummer night's dream."
- Buffalo News "...a juicily sadistic fable of creation." - Slate
Review
" Israeli novelist Amos Oz performs an exquisite balancing act in his taut, evocative novel Rhyming Life & Death, which immerses readers in the vagaries of the creative process, never letting us forget that theres an author pulling the strings, making the decisions—however arbitrary—and making us complicit in the illusion that these words on the page somehow represent lives lived, destinies fulfilled and desires thwarted."
Review
" Hilarious and profound, Ozs tale of a mischievous taleteller ponders the eroticism of stories and the mysterious ways language and literature bridge the divide between inner and outer worlds; and it helps us make some sense, however gossamer, of life and death. A slyly philosophical novel."
Review
"Beguiling...funny and philosophical...a surprisingly playful departure for Oz."
Review
"The book is a meditation on the art of writing, the relationship between literature and life, between life and death, and also about the nature and significance of literary fame....the work of a master...A book you are likely to return to."
Review
"...it is fascinating to witness this assured and experienced writer address such basic novelistic concerns as life and death, love and sex, language and silence, along a spectrum from cynicism, through humour to candour."
Review
"...a deft way with quirky deail, a master class in interlocking character sketches, and a fable on themes of sex, death and writing ;pitched somewhere between the fictional universes of JM Coetzee and Milan Kundera."
Review
"Delectable...Amos Oz's Rhyming Life and Death is a midsummer night's dream."
Review
"...a juicily sadistic fable of creation."
Review
Never has the author's writing been more controlled and polished. . . .
An eloquent and thoughtful exposition of human nature, the power of words and the stories they tell."--The Times Literary Supplement (London)
A strange and beautiful book; strange because it's hard to classify, beautiful because it is touching and honest. A book that we wish would never end."
--L'Espresso (Italy)
Review
"Touching, haunting, wrenching, amusing, and sometimes downright hilarious...the best book Oz has ever written"
Synopsis
In a gray and gloomy village, all of the animals—from dogs and cats to fish and snails—disappeared years before. No one talks about it and no one knows why, though everyone agrees that the village has been cursed. But when two children see a fish—a tiny one and just for a second—they become determined to unravel the mystery of where the animals have gone. And so they travel into the depths of the forest with that mission in mind, terrified and hopeful about what they may encounter.
From the internationally bestselling author Amos Oz, this is a hauntingly beautiful fable for both children and adults about tolerance, loneliness, denial, and remembrance.
Synopsis
An ingenious, witty, behind-the-scenes novel about eight hours in the life of an author.
A literary celebrity is in Tel Aviv on a stifling hot night to give a reading from his new book.While the obligatory inane questions ("Why do you write? What is it like to be famous? Do you write with a pen or on a computer?) are being asked and answered, his attention wanders and he begins to invent lives for the strangers he sees around him. Among them are Yakir Bar-Orian Zhitomirski, a self-styled literary guru; Tsefania Beit-Halachmi, a poet (whose work provides the novels title); and Rochele Reznik, a professional reader, with whom the Author has a brief but steamy sexual skirmish; to say nothing of Ricky the waitress, the real object of his desire. One life story builds on anotherand the author finds himself unexpectedly involved with his creations.
Synopsis
A restored edition of a classic, award-winning book about prejudice and understanding.
Synopsis
Yoel Ravid devoted many years to the Israeli secret service, his uncanny instinct and ability to sense the truth making him an invaluable agent. Now widowed and retired, Yoel lives in a house in a Tel Aviv suburb with his mother, his mother-in-law, his daughter, and the haunting memory of his wife. Selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Translated by Nicholas de Lange. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.
Synopsis
From “a great and true voice of our time” (Washington Post Book World), comes this story of Proffy, a twelve-year-old living in Palestine in 1947. When Proffy befriends a member of the occupying British forces who shares his love of language and the Bible, he is accused of treason by his friends and learns the true nature of loyalty and betrayal. Translated by Nicholas de Lange.
Synopsis
In this collection of ten essays, Amos Oz shares his rich and rewarding experience as both writer and teacher. As he analyzes the opening sections of novels and short stories by such writers as Agnon, Gogol, Kafka, Chekhov, García Márquez, and Raymond Carver, Oz instructs, challenges, and guides. He writes about the notion of "beginnings," what the beginning of a novel or short story might "mean" to the author and how important it is. And best of all-he entertains. He highlights opening paragraphs in which authors make promises they may or may not deliver later in the work, or deliver in unexpected ways, or they may deliver more than they have promised. It is a game that miraculously and playfully engages both writer and reader. The Story Begins is a resourceful, accessible, and friendly companion for all students of literature and writing and for all book lovers.
Synopsis
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award International Bestseller "[An] ingenious work that circles around the rise of a state, the tragic destiny of a mother, a boys creation of a new self." — The New Yorker A family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of a boy who grows up in war-torn Jerusalem, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mothers suicide. The story of a man who leaves the constraints of his family and community to join a kibbutz, change his name, marry, have children. The story of a writer who becomes an active participant in the political life of his nation. "One of the most enchanting and deeply satisfying books that I have read in many years." — New Republic
Synopsis
Wanda Petronski, a little Polish girl in an American school, is laughed at because she always wears a faded blue dress, until her classmates learn a lesson.
Synopsis
Eleanor Estesand#8217;s The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesnand#8217;t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time itand#8217;s too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wandaand#8217;s classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again."
About the Author
Amos Oz was born in 1939 in Jerusalem. At the age of fifteen, he left home and went to live and work on Kibbutz Hulda. His first book, "Where the Jackals Howl", was published in 1965, to immediate acclaim. For thirty years, until 1986, he divided his time between writing and teaching at the kibbutz high school, and turned over all his literary income to the kibbutz. He now lives in Arad and teaches at Ben-Gurion University. He is one of the leading figures of the Peace Now movement, and has written and lectured widely on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first book of his to be published at Harcourt was "Elsewhere, Perhaps", which appeared in 1973. To date, Harcourt has published 18 books by Oz, including his recent memoir, "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (2004), an international bestseller and recipient of the Koret Jewish Book Award, among many other honors. Nicholas de Lange is a professor at the University of Cambridge and a renowned translator. He has translated Amos Oz's work since the 1960s.