A Perfect Peace [Paperback]

Amos Oz (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest in Translation | Publication Date: October 31, 1993

Set in Israel just before the Six-Day War, this novel describes life on a kibbutz, where the founders of Israel and their children struggle to come to terms with their land and with each other. Oz’s “strangest, riskiest, and richest novel” (Washington Post Book World). Translated by Hillel Halkin. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It is 1965, and Yonatan Lifshitz considers running away from the kibbutz in Israel where he was raised and has begun his own family. His departure is at the core of what PW called "a rich and moving novel about family conflict and about two generationsthe one that dreamed of an ideal society in Israel and the one that must inherit what they built and confront new realities."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Generation gaps on a kibbutz in 1965 Israel - as Oz (In the Land of Israel, The Hill of Evil Counsel) once again highlights the socio-political conflicts within the Israeli population, counterpointing the ideological tensions with domestic strain and sexual ambivalence. Yonatan Lifshitz, 26, was born and ragged on Kibbutz Granot; he is the son of kibbutz secretary Yolek - who, as a brawny Labor Party pioneer (Levi Eshkol, now P.M., is an old friend/rival), represents one prototype of young Israel's founding generation. Yonatan, however, is an introvert who recoils from all of the burly kibbutz values, disdaining work duties in the truck shed. He feels trapped - by family and society, by his childless marriage (wife Rimona has had two doomed pregnancies). And, in this "long and rainy winter between wars," he prepares to leave forever, silently rehearsing farewell speeches: "Father. Mother. Goodbye. . . You dressed yourselves in rags, and ate dry bread with olives, and worked like coolies all day long, and sang yourself hoarse every night, and lived in an ecstatic trance, and gave me a white, white room with a housemother in a white, white apron who fed me white, white cream to make me a clean, honest, hard-working Jewish boy with a soul of forged steel. . . You poor suffering heroes, you miserable messiahs of the Jews, you tame-souled tamers of the wilderness, you crazy saviors of Israel, you fucking maniacs, you tyrants with diarrhea of the mouth!" Meanwhile, confused father Yolek composes lamentation-letters to old friend Eshkol - about the decadent Israeli youth, "a new exile sprouting right under our nose." Meanwhile, too, Yolek's wife Hava bitterly muses on the pioneer-politician's failings as husband and father. Likewise, the kibbutz's assistant-secretary has little use for the Ben-Gurion proteges - "their concealed hatreds, their cunning, their self-induced illnesses, their endless recourse to Yiddish and quotes from the Bible." But there's also a newcomer to the kibbutz, young orphan Azariah Gitlin, Holocaust survivor/immigrant: he eagerly tackles kibbutz labor, talking nonstop of Jewish history; he becomes part of a strange menage a trois with Yonatan and Rimona - who now becomes pregnant. . . but by whom? (There's similar mystery about the paternity of Yonatan himself.) And though Yonatan does eventually flee from the kibbutz, wandering south to the Jordan border, he'll ultimately return, both resigned and inspired - and prepared to share Israel's future (Rimona's child) with Azariah and the kibbutz. Here, and elsewhere, Oz's ambitious interweaving of political themes with domestic ones is sometimes less than successful, over-reaching. Throughout, however, the interplay of voices and issues is fresh, provocative, fascinatingly complex - with shrewd close-ups of melancholy second-generation Israel, "an entirely different tribe," paradoxically rootless. (Kirkus Reviews )

It is 1965, and Yonatan Lifshitz considers running away from the kibbutz in Israel where he was raised and has begun his own family. His departure is at the core of what PW called "a rich and moving novel about family conflict and about two generationsthe one that dreamed of an ideal society in Israel and the one that must inherit what they built and confront new realities."
(Publishers Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156716836
• ISBN-13: 978-0156716833
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This hauntingly captivating novel explores our true nature, January 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Perfect Peace (Paperback)

A Perfect Peace is hauntingly captivating. It is set in Israel, yet its story will grip readers everywhere. The reason? By using its characters to represent the inner workings of our own souls, our very beings - it is relevant to all. In his story of a kibbutz in the mid 1960s, Oz is one of the first to deal with the issue that has arisen since dreams became reality in the establishment of the state of Israel: corruption. Oz observes with amazing detail the flaws within legendary figures, the harsh effects on the women and children, the treatment of arabs; in effect, what happens to all beautiful, idealistic dreams - human nature. Oz, in what distinguishes him as an author, goes beyond the issue to examine the very heart of the matter which is often forgotten, the true people involved. In this, A Perfect Peace is honest and uncompromising. The characters are all engaged in their own way of searching. They are all encompassed with a feeling of desperation. Yonotan is restless, as the son of the kibbutz secretary he feels the effects of being the first generation raised in the experimental ideals of kibbutz life. He is desperate for meaning and love. He feels, as we all do, isolated and a need to find peace within himself. He leaves because of the restraints of kibbutz life. Yolek, his father, must deal with having deeply hurt his wife and son. He is disturbed by the corruption of the state he worked so hard to bring into existance and shuts himself down because he cannot deal with the raging in his soul. Rimona, Yonotan's wife, is the only one who remains together despite the intense strageness around her. Many say she is not mentally stable, that she's a little off in the head. In reality, they are just trying to explain her simplistic approach to life, her immediate acceptance of everything. Inside, though, she is tortured by the loss of a baby daughter. Finally, Azariah. The newcomer to the kibbutz is full of ideals and flails wildly about looking for admiration and acceptance everywhere. While Yonotan looks for his peace in being on his own, Azariah looks for his in being accepted,and in others, Rimona, in normalcy and routine, Yolek in power and the fulfillment of dreams. All of the characters in Oz's rich drama illustrates the story of our own existance. The story of our desperation, our longings, our flaws, our quest for understanding, and most of all, our search for our own perfect peace. Whether or not it can be found, Oz doesn't say. But his portrayal of the search is what captivates us. A Perfect Peace is a beautiful novel that should be read by all who strive to understand.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tale that tells the soul, December 11, 2001

By 

rosa oncog (the Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Perfect Peace (Paperback)

This story bears with it one of the loftiest titles I have met in all of literature, which in fact is what made me pick up this book from the bookstore, besides how can a "perfect peace" not sting anyone's curiosity? Isn't what we thought we all wanted? Well, I have not read other Oz's works, but so far this has been satisfying.

I think the story runs in purely simple plots. It is the usual what-a-man-thinks-and-dreams kind of tale, he pursues it, he creates a turmoil within him and his society, he finally realizes his pursuit, and he comes back and concludes his life. However what makes this novel appealing is its way of narrating some chapters by the different personas, thus giving a reader a whole range of perspectives, and offering a story that is rich in ideas, less naive and more active.

And it all started with a man's search for his soul, or his irritation of his banal life, so to speak. So a certain Yonatan walks out from conventions, that is from his society, disappears and wanders to the enigmatic deserts of Israel; uncertain of what he is looking for except that he has to fill in some emptiness within him, However the arrival of Azariah Gitlin, a man who is similarly searching his meaning has found it at the kibbutz that Yonatan was going to leave. It turned out that this newcomer has filled in some of the void within Yonatan and the physical void that he would leave behind at the kibbutz. In the end, both of them found sharing each other's joy and love.

This is in fact an amusing cycle of events where life shows to us that a chink created by destiny will not remain cracked because life has always a way of patching up differences, and of reconciling angst. It tells us that we can all learn from each other's struggles because basically another man's actions will ultimately reflect our own. I feel that the story renders a lesson in life that is subtle and yet powerful. Reading it will take you to deserts, to fear, to strange relationships, to absurd ideas, and to pleasurable encounters with admirable and funny characters.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, June 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Perfect Peace (Paperback)

Having spent some time in Israel and having become more and more interested in the country and it's people I was excited to discover this book set in Israel, on a kibbutz. However, as I read, this book provoded me with a greater understanding of the complexities and the daily fears of the characters. Because Amos Oz has done such a wonderful job at interpreting the inner struggles and dreams of his characters it becomes a way to understand so much about the subject matter. I cannot reccomend this book highly enough. It is unique and expertly written. Read it.