Scenes from Village Life
Amos Oz author Nicholas de Lange translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:1st Nov '12
Should be back in stock very soon
A novel in stories from 'one of the greatest writers at work in the world' (Scotsman)
In this powerful, hynotic work Amos Oz peers into the darkness of our lives and gives us a glimpse of what goes on beneath the surface of everyday existence.
By the winner of the 2013 Franz Kafka Prize, previous winners of which include Philip Roth, Ivan Klima, Elfriede Jelinek, Harold Pinter and John Banville.
A teenage son shoots himself under his parents' bed. They sleep that night unaware he is lying dead beneath them.
A stranger turns up at a man's door to persude him that they must get rid of his ageing mother in order to sell the house.
An old man grumbles to his daughter about the unexplained digging and banging he hears under the house at night.
As each story unfolds, Amos Oz, builds a portrait of a village in Israel. It is a surreal and unsettling place. Each villager is searching for something, and behind each episode is another, hidden story. In this powerful, hynotic work Amos Oz peers into the darkness of our lives and gives us a glimpse of what goes on beneath the surface of everyday existence.
By the winner of the 2013 Franz Kafka Prize, previous winners of which include Philip Roth, Ivan Klima, Elfriede Jelinek, Harold Pinter and John Banville.
This is a dark book, with a dark vision of contemporary Israel… The whole, rich, disturbing mixture makes one feel as if something dark is digging away at the foundations, something unnameable ready to emerge. It is one of the most powerful books you will read about present-day Israel. -- David Herman * Jewish Chronicle *
These stories have both force and mystery, and they cast a quiet spell * Scotland on Sunday *
A powerfully bleak portrait of loneliness, confusion and cracked bonds * The Times *
These stories, in their humanity, may do more for Israel than any of the decisions we have been led to expect of its leaders in the months to come * New Statesman *
I enjoyed Amos Oz's Scenes From Village Life a great deal... it explores what is universal, what is entirely idiosyncratic, about daily life in Israel away from the obvious conflicts -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *
Oz's characters might be drawn from Chekhov: their lives seem an irresoluble muddle of sorrow, baffled hopes and missed chances; his compassion for them makes the reader care deeply about them, too. This is a wise, beautiful and enduring book -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Spectator *
Potent and uncanny -- Tom Sutcliffe * Independent *
The stories resemble an echo chamber of recurring themes, steeped in a strangeness and danger that lingers on like a dream' * Metro *
Admirably rendered in English by Oz's longtime translator, Nicholas de Lange, these linked stories prove achingly melancholy... It is like a symphony... There is, in each story, a particular chord or strain; but taken together, these chords rise and reverberate, evoking an unease so strong it's almost a taste in the mouth... Scenes From Village Life is a brief collection, but its brevity is a testament to its force. You will not soon forget it -- Claire Messud * New York Times *
Impressive and very affecting -- Karl Miller * Times Literary Supplement *
- Short-listed for Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2013 (UK)
ISBN: 9780099541363
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 17mm
Weight: 191g
272 pages