His life was interesting, but not his memoir

He seems for forget what he's already told you, For example I got maybe a 3rd of the way in and he'd described his father's rejection of spirituality about 10 times in almost the same words. There is a great interview with one of his aunts about life in Eastern Europe and I kept hoping for more like that, but gave up. He tells you that his father constantly makes bad jokes and then he feels the need to share them with you. There's too much detail! We don't need to know about every item on his grandfather's desk. Once he describes a very ordinary kid lying on the driveway woolgathering in a way every kid on earth has watching the sun set in his neighborhood. He ends up describing in painful detail the exact colors as they change in the sunset. It is absolutely the most tedious passage I've ever read. I heard an interview with Oz and had great hopes, but they were dashed.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Engrossing

I think this book could have done with a bit of editing (parts tend to drag), but overall it is an engrossing account of the author's childhood in Israel just before statehood to the early 60s, with references to his later adult life. The death of his mother during his early adolescence is central to the narrative both in form and meaning. I can't imagine a more sensitive narrator than Stefan Rudnicki.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Heartbreaking, masterful

Much praise has been lavished on this memoir and all of it deserved. Let’s also salute the exquisite work of the translator -the English prose is gorgeous, elegant, pitch-perfect.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Extraordinary descriptions of a family story.

Deeply moving insights into Jerusalem at a remarkable period of time in Israeli history intertwined with a tragic and uplifting saga of a family .

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

A masterpiece

A beautiful story told in the most lovely way. I takes you to the profound psyche of a boy as he grows up. The story and history of Jewish people narrated with passion and magnificent details.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

An excellent literary work by Mr. Oz

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. His use of language, literary devices, and a love of words made me purchase a hard copy so that I could follow along. The reader’s voice complemented my visualization. I am looking forward to my next book by Amos Oz.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

About darkness and love - our lives.

If you never read another book, read this.It is about the essence of our existence.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

so beautiful!

this book is so beautiful. it is painful to read it knowing how awful today's book are.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

More Darkness Than Love

This is a terrible story of a boy growing up with a severely depressed mother, a sensitive, bookish and friendless boy, who understandably never got over the deep wound left by her suicide. The author freely acknowledges the anger that developed in him, and how it led him to renounce his father’s name, leave his father’s home, and try to start over in a kibbutz. But in this meandering long-winded memoir, that anger appears to cause the author to tell about his father’s every bad joke, sarcastic taunt, personality flaw and tic, every failure of his professional ambition, every politically incorrect view, and every bit of evidence that he gathered as a young boy of his father’s philandering while his mother lay in bed immobilized. Oz refuses to mention the name of his father’s second wife, although he is careful to tell us this marriage occurred a year after his mother’s death. His father’s death is described with all the sympathy and emotion of an autopsy report. This memoir, a tale more of darkness than of love, suggests that the author did not when he went to that Kibbutz get as far away as he would have liked.

could not put it down

excellent. description of characters brought them to life..narrator
was clear telling the story .
would recommend with enthusiasm