To_The_End_of_the_Land_David_Grossman
2012 Longlist

To the End of the Land

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

Ora, a middle-aged mother, is on the verge of celebrating her son Ofer’s release from Israeli army service when he returns to the front for a major offensive. In a fit of preemptive grief and magical thinking, she sets out for a hike in the Galilee, leaving no forwarding information for the ‘notifiers’ who might darken her door with the worst possible news. Recently estranged from her husband Ilan, she drags along an unlikely companion: their former best friend and her former lover Avram, once a brilliant artistic spirit. Avram served in the army alongside Ilan when they were young, but their lives were forever changed one weekend when the two jokingly had Ora draw lots to see which of them would get the few days’ leave being offered by their commander – a chance act that sent Avram into Egpyt and the Yom Kippur War, where he was brutally tortured as a POW. In the aftermath, a virtual hermit, he refused to keep in touch with the family and has never met the boy.Now, as Ora and Avram sleep out in the hills, ford rivers and cross valleys, avoiding all news from the front, she gives him the gift of Ofer, word by word; she supplies the whole story of her motherhood, a retelling that keeps Ofer very much alive for Ora and for the reader, and opens Avram to human bonds undreamed of in his broken world. Grossman’s rich imagining of a family in love and crisis makes for one of the great antiwar novels of our time. (From Publisher

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR David
Grossman

David Grossman was born in Jerusalem, where he still lives. He is the bestselling author of numerous works of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature, which have been translated into thirty-six languages. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the French Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Buxtehuder Bulle in Germany.

David Grossman was born in Jerusalem, where he still lives. He is the bestselling author of numerous works of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature, which have been translated into thirty-six languages. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the French Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Buxtehuder Bulle in Germany.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Jessica
Cohen

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

About this book Colm Toibin wrote that “it is one of those few novels that feel as though they have made a difference to the world”; Amos Oz “I believe this is the essence of great literature”. Indeed it is one of the most powerful and moving novels ever written. Its intensity, sometimes, lyrical, sometimes brutal, drives us through unbearable states of loss and fear unveiled little by little, in the deeply human relations in which the characters engage themselves. It is a masterpiece, no doubt. Set in Israel between 1967 and 2000, To the End of the Land is the provocative and powerful story of how one family ‘s life has been shaped by war and fear. Managing to be at once epic and intimate, the novel weaves the details of domestic life into the tapestry of history and creates a humane and complex portrait of the generations traumatized by conflict. A powerful meditation on war, friendship and family. Deals with the looming fear of death that surrounds Israeli society. A book written straight from the author’s heart, that has the ability to change your life. The profound and moving novel depicts the impact of war on individuals. Full of human compassion, beautifully written. Grossman’s epic novel contrasts the tragedy of war with the powerful love of a mother in this tale of one woman’s life journey. When her son enlists in the Israeli army, Ora decides to hike in a remote area of Galilee. During this time she narrates the story of her son’s life and her failed marriage. Grossman’s own son died in war as the author wrote this novel – a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and love. Ora, once the object of romantic rivalry between two Israeli soldiers fighting the Yom Kippur War, evades the impending news of her own son’s death in combat, by hiking into isolated terrain. Grossman’s novel about a mother whose son has just rejoined the Israeli army, touches on universal themes of family ties, friendship and fear of loss.

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