It takes skill to write an engaging novel in which, for long stretches, nothing much happens.
Amos Oz is widely regarded as Israel’s greatest writer, and has won many international prizes. So, in the hands of an expert, this dreary tale of a dropped-out Masters degree student coming to terms with his demons in Jerusalem during the chill, rainy winter of 1959-60, is a masterclass in holding the reader’s attention.
Oz, a persistent advocate of the ‘two-state solution’ between Israel and the Palestinians, has a trenchant record of exploring uncomfortable truths about his homeland.
He does it again here – delivering a slight story, complete with stumbling romance, which nonetheless delves deep into the most awkward bits of Israeli history, Zionism, the origins of Christian-Jewish antagonism and the nature of betrayal.
If long musings about medieval Jewish scholars are your thing, you will be hooked. But, oh my goodness, it’s dour.
