The Same Sea [Hardcover]

Amos Oz (Author), Nicholas de Lange (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0151005729 | ISBN-13: 978-0151005727 | Publication Date: October 12, 2001 | Edition: 1

From the internationally acclaimed Israeli author, a unique novel
in verse that will take its place among the great books of our time.

The Same Sea is Amos Oz's most adventurous and inventive novel, the book by which he would like to be remembered. This is Oz free of convention--literary and otherwise. Prose leads to poetry, poetry to prose. The cast of characters ranges from a prodigal son to a widowed father who has taken in his son's enticing young girlfriend, who in turn sleeps with her boyfriend's close friend. The author himself receives phone calls from his characters, criticizing the way he portrays them in his novel. In this human profusion there is chaos and order, love and eroticism, loyalty and betrayal, and ultimately an extraordinary energy.

Reminiscent of Under Milk Wood for the range of its voices, its earthy humor, and its poignancy, The Same Sea is heartbreaking and sensuous, filled with classical echoes and Biblical allusions. Oz at his very best.

"I wrote this book with everything I have. Language music, structure everything that I have. . . . This is the closest book I've written. Close to me, close to what I always wanted. . . . I went as far as I could. --Amos Oz

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A meditation, a lamentation, a quest for meaning, a story of family love and of erotic longing, and a vibrantly poetic prose poem, this latest novel by one of Israel's preeminent writers ends with a tentative (but only tentative) affirmation about the future of his nation. That message is the subtle subtext of this narrative of intertwined lives. Albert Danon is a mild accountant whose beloved wife, Nadia, has died, and whose son, Rico, has exiled himself to Tibet, Bangladesh and other remote places where he is haunted by his mother's memory and by his conviction that "everyone... is condemned to wait for their own death locked in a separate cage." Another member of this restless, bitter generation, Rico's girlfriend, Dita, moves in with Albert when a shabby film producer cheats her of all her money. Suffused with lust and shame, Albert desires Dita, even while an elderly widow yearns for him; meanwhile, Dita sleeps with Rico's best friend. This small domestic comedy is expressed in musical language charged with lyric intensity, translated by de Lange in collaboration with the author. The free-form verse hovers on the edge of poetry, sometimes slipping into rhyme. A singing bird, the desert and the eternal sea are recurring images, and references to biblical passages add texture. The characters, including the narrator, live in the shadow of their own mortality and general fear. "We have wandered enough; it is time to make peace," the narrator muses. Perhaps, the reader feels, Nadia represents the lost dream of peace that hovers in the memory. In a prefatory statement, Oz (Panther in the Basement, etc.) writes that he thinks this book comes closest to what he wants to say. His eloquent message illuminates a book of classic resonance and haunting literary beauty. 9-city author tour. (Oct.)Forecast: Because of its unconventional format, hovering between prose and verse, this novel may depend on hand-selling to discriminating readers. Oz's existing audience, however, will respond to his usual mixture of cynicism and hope.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Celebrated Israeli novelist Oz gets daring here, blending prose and poetry in an exploration of the tensions among a wayward son, his widowed father, and the son's girlfriend. The characters even scold the author for his shortcomings.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (October 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151005729
• ISBN-13: 978-0151005727
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,817,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stetches the bounds of conventional fiction!, May 6, 2002

By 

M. T. Guzman "squeakychu" (Rockville, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Same Sea (Hardcover)

Accountant Albert Danon lives in the seaside town of Bat Yam, Israel. His wife, Nadia,dies of cancer. Their only son Rico, leaves Dita, his girl-friend in Israel, to travel through the mountains of Tibet and finds himself sleeping with Maria, a Portuguese woman. Meanwhile, Dita, who has been cheated of her money and left with no place to live, convinces Albert to let her stay with him.

Here's a poignant story of one family, each member or aquaintance trying as hard as possible to establish control of his life. That's not always as easy to achieve as it seems. The novel describes, in both in prose and poetry, how several people try to achieve that end. The novel slips so easily from prose into poetry and vice versa, that even readers who are not particularly interested in poetry may not mind this writing technique. Although it's a melancholy story, it's also an intriguing look at how several people relate to one another and how their goals at some times in their lives tend to either attract or repel others close to them. At one point, the author himself shows up as a character! That is really an interesting occurence and a situation not oftened encountered in most novels.

THE SAME SEA is not hard to read. However, because of the style in which it is written, it would lend itself to being read more than once. For sure, it deserves to be read at least a first time!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical and Poetic--Oz's finest work, October 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Same Sea (Hardcover)

I was blown away by this book--infused with sadness, longing and ache, all the while remaining a surreal, engrossing tale. It's very intersting how subtly Oz weaves his politics into the book, but never gets distracted from his character's emotional lives. A literary classic--this is the work of a master at the height of his powers.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful - ezeh yofi, April 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Same Sea (Hardcover)

This book is gorgeous. I disagree with the last reviewer who contends that Oz was too lazy to weave disparate strands of thought and expression into a book. Rather, I would suggest that each poem-page constitutes a ripple of consciousness, of awareness, of people and of Israel. I also think that the latitude this medium allows him with language lends itself very well to the story.

Approach the book with an open mind (prepared not to view stories linearly) and you will fall in love.