Hello
Gentle Reader,
Contemporary
Israeli prose literature has been dominated by the three mountains of the late
Amos Oz, David Grossman, and A. B. Yehoshua. All three writers were noted for
the gravitas they applied to writing as a literary expression of the highest linguistic
and cultural appreciation, but also as a platform in which social and political
concerns and atrocities can be routinely autopsied and examined for public consumption
and lead to a sense of inspiration to change, enlighten, or at the very least provide
some empathic understanding and extend the basic principles of human kindness. For
Amos Oz, this often met provide political commentary, lectures, articles, and
essays proposing and actively advocating for a two-state solution between
Israel and Palestine. David Grossman maintained a staunch unbiased perspective
regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has encouraged peaceful
resolutions, though rarely discussed it in his literary writings, but has been
an outspoken public figure on these issues, as well as unflinching journalist
whose maintenance and pursuit of truth and probity cannot be overlooked. In between
Amos Oz and David Grossman was the institution and monolith of A. B. Yehoshua, who’s
unapologetic and left leaning sympathetic perspectives were well known and
documented but also endeared him to the political softness of Western academia,
while his complex Faulkerian narratives provided a dynamic portrait of the
Israeli individual, their experiences, their landscapes, their complexities,
and their humanity; but was also highly appreciated for his mastery and
accomplishment of the Hebrew language, tapping into its natural incantations
for poetry, quenching the need and desire for an enriching language of beauty. It
is here that A. B. Yehoshua would be able to occupy the position of moral
authority and public conscious when it came to the exasperating continuation of
political follies within the Middle Eastern country. In his passing, the
Israeli president Isaac Herzog lamented Yehoshua as one of these greatest
authors of his generation, whose presence will be felt for generations of Israeli
writers to come, and whose work will be the testaments, the anchors, and the
foundations for generations yet to come, while adding:
“His works, which drew inspiration from
our nation’s treasures, reflected us in an accurate, sharp, loving and
sometimes painful mirror image. He aroused in us a mosaic of deep emotions.”
A.
B. Yehoshua is that special kind of writer, one of technical expertise, appreciation
for language, a love of narration and storytelling, but also a writer who is
able to grapple with humanistic and moralistic concerns without falling into cliché
or needless pontification. A. B. Yehoshua was able to turn the moralistic
concerns of the Israeli and Palestine situation into a palpable concern that is
complex and multifaceted.
There
is no denying that A. B. Yehoshua is a contemporary classic writer, who along
with Amos Oz, was often considered one of Israel’s foremost contenders for the
Nobel Prize for Literature.
Rest
in Peace, A. B. Yehoshua.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
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