Under this Blazing Light

by Amos Oz, Nicholas de Lange (Translator)

"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.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Israel, Middle East, Jewish

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Amos Oz (Hebrew: עמוס עוז‎; born Amos Klausner) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist and intellectual. He was also a professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba. He was regarded as Israel's most famous living author.

Oz's work has been published in 42 languages in 43 countries, and has received many honours and awards, among them the Legion of Honour of France, the Goethe Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award in Literature, the Heinrich Heine Prize and the Israel Prize. In 2007, a selection from the Chinese translation of A Tale of Love and Darkness was the first work of modern Hebrew literature to appear in an official Chinese textbook.

Since 1967, Oz had been a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Reviews

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bundle of very interesting essays.

[Evanston Public Library]

Since 1967 Oz has emphasized that the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs is "a classical tragedy, a dramatic conflict not between right and wrong, but between right and right, which will end in either a Shakespearean conclusion or a Chekhovian conclusion."

Oz, himself an Israeli Jew, elaborates that "we do not want a Shakespearean conclusion, with a vague poetic justice hovering over a stage with dead bodies. We want a Chekhovian conclusion, with all the players disillusioned and worried, but alive. Whoever sets his sights on total justice is seeking not life but death."

This collection of Oz's essays (energetically translated by Nick de Lange) highlights his political views, but also touches on contemporary literature. In the title piece Oz argues that the most enduring writing originates from a great culture's decay, rather than at its zenith, and that therefore a great culture feels empty to its own writers--and that Israel is still too young (in "blazing light") to produce great literature. Provocative stuff. (Jeff B., Reader's Services)

[Magda Prz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oz's political essays on the Israeli territory and its (complicated) relations with the neighbouring countries.
I especially liked the idea of the writer being the defender of the language and the language being an introduction to happenings of historical importance, i.e. "new order", "final solution" etc.
The essays are a great source of knowledge about Israel, yet they are a bit hermetic if you're not planning to visit or are only looking for sketches about the country.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine collection of essays on a wide variety of topics. Israel's finest writer is always refreshing.