Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine [Hardcover]

Jonathan Garfinkel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2008

With lofty ideals, spectacular ambivalence, and endearing naiveté, Jonathan Garfinkel explores Israel and Palestine by talking to ordinary people.

Jonathan Garfinkel can’t make up his mind—not about his girlfriend, or Judaism, or Israel. After hearing about a house in Jerusalem where Jews and Arabs coexist in peace, he decides it’s time to venture there. In Israel, nothing is as he imagined it, and nothing is as he was taught. Garfinkel gives us the people behind the headlines: from secret assignations with Palestinian activists and an uninvited visit at an Arab refugee camp to Passover with Orthodox Jewish friends and finding the truth about the mythic coexistence house, Ambivalence is the provocative, surreal, and often hilarious chronicle of his travels. In this part memoir and part quest, Garfinkel struggles with the growing divisions in a troubled region and with the divide in his soul.

“Marvelous. Garfinkel deftly mines what it means to simultaneously belong, disavow, love, and loathe an identity, a culture, and a history.... A must-read.”—David Rakoff

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Raised in Toronto as a Conservative Jew, Garfinkel finds more perplexity than reassurance in his inherited faith, particularly after his progressive friends turn against Israel. But hope flickers when he hears about a house in Jerusalem where Palestinian and Jew live together amicably. So he leaves Canada to investigate this miraculous home. Besides, he needs fresh material for a commissioned play. However, when Garfinkel reaches Israel, events on the ground defy his lofty expectations and frustrate his playwriting instincts. Hardly a haven of amity, the Palestinian-Jewish home the author finally locates (after great difficulty) reflects rather than transcends the tensions running through a fractured land. Exceptionally broad empathies draw the author into probing conversations with a wide range of passionate voices—Israeli and Palestinian, religious and secular, militant and pacifist. Often painful, these exchanges expose the plight of displaced Palestinians, the fears of anxious Israelis. Garfinkel offers no clear strategy for resolving the tensions. But readers may discern a glimmer of progress in the mere presence of a listening ear. --Bryce Christensen

About the Author

Jonathan Garfinkel is a celebrated poet and play wright. He lives in Toronto. This is his first work of nonfiction.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st American Ed edition (August 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393066746
• ISBN-13: 978-0393066746
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, a fast read, personal, and involves unique stories., August 15, 2011

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Christopher M. Whitman Jr. "I can actually ch... (Marlborough, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine (Hardcover)

Jonathan Garfinkel does a good job spelling out in detail his personal journey from a traditional Jew in Toronto to traveling over all parts of Palestine. He has animated and human stories about sadness, depression, and hope. He does not try and gloss over stories, nor does he try and over hype them. He had a clear vision when he wrote this book and he succeeded in giving any reader of the book the feeling of having been involved with his life. He has inner conflicts through the book that make you think, and speaks very honestly. Cannot be more straight forward with that. If you have ever been here, in Palestine, or are involved in the conflict in anyway, it is a worthwhile read. It helps if you have this background, or better a knowledge of Hebrew, to understand some of the terms he uses. Good job

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming and meaningful, September 12, 2009

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Natania Rosenfed - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine (Hardcover)

This book surprised me. It started out seeming flippant and too-too clever, positively Woody Allenish. Then I understood there was a point to this, and gradually, I became more and more absorbed by the book and the author's frankness about his confusion. I share and relate to his confusion and appreciate his articulacy in laying it out. While this is no intellectually or politically profound intervention, it is deep in its way, well written, humane, and full of information most of us ambivalent Zionists would not ordinarily come across without also being put off by an author's militancy. Bravo Garfinkel!

4.0 out of 5 stars Honest, Searching, & Personal Look at the Isreal/Palestine Issue, November 12, 2008

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M. T. Vancampen (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine (Hardcover)

This is a heartfelt and searching book by an author attempting to come to terms with the Israel/Palestine question and the complexity of his own beliefs. We follow along with Garfinkel as he visits Israel and meets ordinary people on all sides of the issue and evaluates what he hears and sees and how it accords with what he has been taught/thought.