The Book of Questions: • El, or the Last Book

by Edmond Jabès, Rosmarie Waldrop (tr.)

The Book of Questions, Wesleyan University Press, 1976–1984
I. The Book of Questions, 1976
II / III. The Book of Yukel / Return to the Book, 1977
IV / V / VI. Yaël, Elya, Aely, 1983
VII. El, or the Last Book, 1984
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Le Livre des questions, t. I, Gallimard, 1963
Le Livre de Yukel (Le livre des questions, t. II), Gallimard, 1964
Le Retour au livre (Le livre des questions, t. III), Gallimard, 1965
Yaël (Le livre des questions, t. IV), Gallimard, 1967
Elya (Le livre des questions, t. V), Gallimard, 1969
Aely (Le livre des questions, t. VI), Gallimard, 1972
• (El, ou le dernier livre)[2] (Le livre des questions, t. VII), Gallimard, 1973
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.,."language of rare density, a powerful and abrupt unit of tone, a vibrant soberness at the same time lyrical and abstract...unique in French prose." --Roger Caillois, Les Nouveaux Cahiers

"For anyone who is interested in the last frontiers of thought and language he is an irreplaceable writer."--Graham Martin, Times Literary Supplement

"Neither novel nor poem, neither essay nor play, The Book of Questions is a combination of all these forms, a mosaic of fragments, aphorisms, dialogues, songs, and commentaries that endlessly move around the central question of the book: how to speak what cannot be spoken"--Paul Auster, New York Review of Books

..."language of rare density, a powerful and abrupt unit of tone, a vibrant soberness at the same time lyrical and abstract...unique in French prose." --Roger Caillois, Les Nouveaux Cahiers

Genres: Poetry, Religion, France, Literature, Philosophy, Theology, Fiction

165 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Edmond Jabes was a major voice in French poetry in the latter half of this century. An Egyptian Jew, he was haunted by the question of place and the loss of place in relation to writing, and he was one of the most significant thinkers of what one might call poetical alienation. He focused on the space of the book, seeing it as the true space in which exile and the promised land meet in poetry and in question. (This is summarized from the reader's description in A New History of French Literature, ed. Denis Hollier.) Very many of Jabes's books of prose and poetry have been translated into English, including The Book of Dialogue ( Wesleyan, 1987) and The Book of Margins (Chicago, 1993), both translated by Rosmarie Waldrop.

Reviews

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have for a long time been on good terms with words. But this does not mean that they always show a liking for me.

[Carly Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautifully constructed. Lots of philosophy, poetry, and visual creativity. Unfortunately, I picked this one up not knowing it was "part II". So . . . good read as a stand alone.

[Myhte]

Time is heavy.
We weighed the same,
wished for the same heights.

I rise but way up there is my soul trying to rise higher still.
Behind the sun, a yet lonelier sky.

[Jonah T · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read for jews. sometimes hard to get through because of how densely poetic it is, i.e. always more metaphor than narrative.

[javor · Rating 5 out of 5]

same thoughts as vol. 1. loved the evolving figures throughout. the critique of the law (i.e. in contradistinction to talmudic 'law') felt very benjaminian/agambenian viz. deactivation, new weak use for the law, etc. moses as a figure of subversion of the law; the book as self-destructive; law containing its own subversion; the silence of hashem in the face of abram; the wound of writing in the face of the shoah. simply so many cool ideas that resonated a lot with me, especially the displacement from static identity and the permanent exile of the jewish figure.

[Melanie Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aqui, a palavra é ferida, sangue e interrogação ininterrupta. Cheio de aforismos, o livro procura reconstruir o mundo a partir de estilhaços (a morte, a perda, o sagrado, o exílio judaico e o trauma do Holocausto).

[Henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3/5.0