Fiction. Translated from the Hebrew by Nicholas de Lange and Yaacob Dweck. Afterword by David Shulman. This classic 1949 novella about the violent expulsion of Palestinian villagers by the Israeli army has long been considered a high point in Hebrew literature, as it has also given rise to fierce controversy over the years. Published just months after the end of the 1948 war (in which the author fought) the book—as famous for Yizhar's haunting, lyrical style as for its wrenchingly honest soldier's-eye view of the brutality of that war and, perhaps, all wars—has never before been translated into English. De Lange and Dweck's rendering captures with force Yizhar's unflinching portrait of Israel's primal scene. An absolute must for anyone interested in Middle Eastern literature and history.

Author Hometown: TEL AVIV ISR



About the author: Yizhar Smilansky (27 September 1916 - 21 August 2006), better known by his pen name S. Yizhar, was an Israeli writer and a great innovator in modern Hebrew literature. His pen name was given to him by the poet and editor Yitzhak Lamdan, when in 1938 he published Yizhar's first story "Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa" in his literary journal Galleons. From then on, Yizhar signed his works with his pen name.

Reviews:
Noah Efron in Haaretz
Mark Kamine in The Believer
Tsipi Keller @ (WORDS without BORDERS)
Rachel Donadio in The New York Times
John L. Knight @ Middle East Scrapbook
David N. Myers in The New Republic
Elias Khoury in Boston Review
Avishai Margalit in The New York Review of Books