Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics

Book review by Jane
As the title states, this book is a compilation of lectures on writing and political situation, especially in Israel. It is a short book; the library copy had 131 pages. Writing in the Dark, at least the first section, partially refers to the things that writers in countries that are not stable have to go through in order to transcend the violence. He explains that wars affected the language, as language gets narrower. This writer, David Grossman, writes in Israel. This book is the first one I have read from David Grossman. As you may suspect, he wrote spoilers in this book for his own and fiction that he has read. The spoilers made a point, and I still want to read the fiction he wrote. The spoilers did not tell the whole story. This writer is a deep thinker, and I would like to find out what kind of storyteller he is.

The second part of the book discusses political climate and the violence in Israel. David Grossman goes into detail about what having borders that are always changing has meant to the stability of Israel. He advocates pulling together with the Palestinians and other Arabs. He describes a time where there would be peace and what that peace would be like. He describes what war has taken from the people of Israel. He also talks about the lack of good leadership in Israel. The last speech, written after his son died in war in 2006, is heart wrenching to read.

I learned a few things about Judaism and Israel that I will not forget, some trivial and some profound. For instance, I learned what a luz bone is, and I thought that was quite a little tidbit of information that I will pass onto others in conversation (but not here—you must read the book). I also learned some of what Israel has gone through in just regular neighborhoods and the troubles they have had with nightmares. I may have heard of these things, but the idea of people screaming in their sleep to where you can actually hear it in the neighborhood where Holocaust victims lived, I think puts another face on the terror they experienced. This was everyday life. Terrorist activities Israel experiences are everyday life for them now.

One thing I would recommend to you, the reader is to sneak a peak at the last page of each chapter to see where and when the author gave the speeches. I found this helped me put in context what the author said. I will order some of David Grossman’s fiction after a few of my books come in from the library. I think I will read The Smile of the Lamb first, written in 1980s and then published in English more recently. Then, I will read See Under: LOVE: A Novel , written in the 1990s originally.

Jane.