Between Friends

Oz Lifts The Veil On Kibbutz Existence Without Palaver. His Pinpoint Descriptions Are Pared To Perfection. His People Twitch With Life. -- Scotsman In Between Friends, Amos Oz Returns To The Kibbutz Of The Late 1950s, The Time And Place Where His Writing Began. These Eight Interconnected Stories, Set In The Fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, Draw Masterly Profiles Of Idealistic Men And Women Enduring Personal Hardships In The Shadow Of One Of The Greatest Collective Dreams Of The Twentieth Century. A Devoted Father Who Fails To Challenge His Daughter's Lover, An Old Friend, A Man His Own Age; An Elderly Gardener Who Carries On His Shoulders The Sorrows Of The World; A Woman Writing Poignant Letters To Her Husband's Mistress--amid This Motley Group Of People, A Man Named Martin Attempts To Teach Everyone Esperanto. Each Of These Stories Is A Luminous Human And Literary Study; Together They Offer An Eloquent Portrait Of An Idea And Of A Charged And Fascinating Epoch. Amos Oz At Home. And At His Best. Translated From The Hebrew By Sondra Silverston -- The King Of Norway -- Two Women -- Between Friends -- Father -- Little Boy -- At Night -- Deir Ajloun -- Esperanto. Amos Oz ; Translated From The Hebrew By Sondra Silverston. First Published In Hebrew As Be'in Khaverim. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award: A “ gorgeous, rueful collection of eight linked stories” capturing the collective dreams of Israel in the 1950s ( Chicago Tribune ). These eight interconnected stories, set in the fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, draw masterful profiles of idealistic men and women enduring personal hardships in the shadow of one of the greatest collective dreams of the twentieth century. A devoted father who fails to challenge his daughter’s lover, an old friend, a man his own age; an elderly gardener who carries on his shoulders the sorrows of the world; a woman writing perversely poignant letters to her husband’s mistress. Each of these stories is a luminous human and literary study; together they offer an eloquent portrait of an idea, and of a charged and fascinating epoch. Award-winning writer Amos Oz, who spent three decades living on a kibbutz, is at home and at his best in this “lucid and heartbreaking” award-winning collection ( The Guardian ). “Oz lifts the veil on kibbutz existence without palaver. His pinpoint descriptions are pared to perfection . . . His people twitch with life.” — The Scotsman “A collection of stories . . . that boasts the sense, scope and unity of a novel . . . Breathtaking.” — Irish Examiner “A complex and melancholic vision of people struggling to transcend their individuality for the sake of mundanely idealist goals.” — The Times Literary Supplement 'On the kibbutz it's hard to know. We're all supposed to be friends but very few really are.' Amos Oz's compelling new fiction offers revelatory glimpses into the secrets and frustrations of the human heart, played out by a community of misfits united by political disagreement, intense dissatisfaction and lifetimes of words left unspoken. Ariella, unhappy in love, confides in the woman whose husband she stole; Nahum, a devoted father, can't find the words to challenge his daughter's promiscuous lover; the old idealists deplore the apathy of the young, while the young are so used to kibbutz life that they can't work out if they're impassioned or indifferent. Arguments about war, government, travel and children are feverishly taken up and quickly abandoned - and amid this group of people unwilling and unable to say what they mean, Martin attempts to teach Esperanto. At the heart of each drama is a desire to be better, more principled and worthy of the community's respect. With his trademark compassion and sharp-eyed wit, Amos Oz leaves us with the feeling that what matters most between friends is the invisible tie of our shared humanity "Oz lifts the veil on kibbutz existence without palaver. His pinpoint descriptions are pared to perfection. His people twitch with life."--Scotsman In Between Friends, Amos Oz returns to the kibbutz of the late 1950s, the time and place where his writing began. These eight interconnected stories, set in the fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, draw masterly profiles of idealistic men and women enduring personal hardships in the shadow of one of the greatest collective dreams of the twentieth century. A devoted father who fails to challenge his daughter's lover, an old friend, a man his own age; an elderly gardener who carries on his shoulders the sorrows of the world; a woman writing poignant letters to her husband's mistress--amid this motley group of people, a man named Martin attempts to teach everyone Esperanto. Each of these stories is a luminous human and literary study; together they offer an eloquent portrait of an idea and of a charged and fascinating epoch. Amos Oz at home. And at his best. Translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston "-- Provided by publisher Winner, National Jewish Book Award "[A] gorgeous, rueful collection . . . that lays bare the deepest human longings." ? Chicago Tribune In Between Friends , Amos Oz returns to the kibbutz of the late 1950s, the time and place where his writing began. These eight interconnected stories, set in the fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, draw masterly profiles of idealistic men and women enduring personal hardships in the shadow of one of the greatest collective dreams of the twentieth century. A devoted father who fails to challenge his daughter's lover, an old friend, a man his own age; an elderly gardener who carries on his shoulders the sorrows of the world; a woman writing perversely poignant letters to her husband's mistress. Each of these stories is a luminous human and literary study; together they offer an eloquent portrait of an idea, and of a charged and fascinating epoch. Amos Oz at home. And at his best. "Lucid and heartbreaking." ? Guardian (UK) "All Israeli life is here, rendered in loving detail." ? Mail on Sunday (UK)