Elsewhere, Perhaps [Paperback]

Amos Oz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1985

Oz's fictional community of Metsudat Ram is a microcosm of the Israeli frontier kibbutz, where, held together by necessity and menace, the kibbutz-niks share love and sorrow under the guns of their enemies and the eyes of history. Translated by Nicholas de Lange in collaboration with the Author. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Hebrew (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Born in Jerusalem in 1939, Amos Oz is the author of numerous works of fiction and essays. His international awards include the Prix Femina, the Israel Prize, and the Frankfurt Peace Prize, and his books have been translated into more than thirty languages. He lives in Israel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (March 22, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156284758
• ISBN-13: 978-0156284752
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,497,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

AMOS OZ is a world-renowned novelist and essayist whose books include My Michael, To Know a Woman, Don't Call It Night, and The Same Sea. Most recently, his memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness, received the Koret Jewish Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely story, June 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Elsewhere, Perhaps (Paperback)

This was a quiet, unassuming story that draws one in, almost by surprise. A simple novel about the intertwined personal relationships of two families on a kibbutz; for all its lack of action or high drama, it was nonetheless a very satisfying read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surviving the Kibbutz, December 27, 2009

By 

Joseph Hazan Advanced Gyn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elsewhere, Perhaps (Paperback)

Amos Oz is a very accomplished novelist and here in a tour de force he brings to life the story of two families frustrated by situations beyond their control which
bring them pain, hope and struggle. His style is phenomenal and poetic. He is a first rate story teller. This truly enjoyable page-turner lets you peer into the inner lives of several individuals which probably are very similar to those Amos Oz
has known over the decades of living in the same Kibbutz. His knowledge and command
of history, geography and culture is also commendable. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to sample the works of this outstanding author who must receive a
Nobel Literature Prize soon.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Oz- The Kibbutz as "Our Town", August 7, 2007

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Elsewhere, Perhaps (Paperback)

One of the interesting features of this novel is the voice in which Oz writes. He writes in a kind of collective voice, as if the kibbutz were being described by its members, a kind of 'our Kibbutz' like Thorton Wilder's 'Our Town'. In adopting this voice Oz however presents things with a certain kind of innocence, and yet irony. He is making you see things the way the kibbutz members see them which is not necessarily the way he sees them, or he expects the reader to see them. Again, a certain distance and irony are in the writing.
Nonetheless the descriptions of the kibbutz, and the collective portrait he makes of the two families whose lives are at the heart of the story, are fascinating. He begins with the kibbutz poet Reuven Harish who has been betrayed his wife, now living in Germany. Harish is a conscienscious citizen and father, who after a time enters into a relationship with the wife of another kibbutz member, Ezra Berger. Berger a truckdriver Bible reader is one of three brothers, one a scholar, and the other living in Germany where Harish 's wife has absconded to. The beautiful daughter of Harish and his wife Ora is a central figure in the whole action of the book. Oz enters deeply into the intimate lives of the main characters. The collective voice is a gossip which explains why gossiping so important and necessary a source of social control on the kibbutz. The whole impression given of the work is mixed, for there is a mocking at kibbutz idealism and heroic ideals of itself while at the same time an understanding and affectionate portrait of it.
Oz's descriptions of people and of landscape are powerful and poetic.