To Know a Woman - Hardcover

Amos Oz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151904995 ISBN 13: 9780151904990

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991

Synopsis

Yoel Ravid devoted many years to the Israeli secret service, his uncanny instinct and ability to sense the truth making him an invaluable agent. Now widowed and retired, Yoel lives in a house in a Tel Aviv suburb with his mother, his mother-in-law, his daughter, and the haunting memory of his wife. Selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Translated by Nicholas de Lange. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.

About this title

About the Author

AMOS OZ (1939 – 2018) was born in Jerusalem. He was the recipient of the Prix Femina, the Frankfurt Peace Prize, the Goethe Prize, the Primo Levi Prize, and the National Jewish Book Award, among other international honors. His work has been translated into forty-four languages. 

Reviews

A provocative look into the mind of a 49-year-old former Israeli espionage agent who has retired following the accidental death of his wife, Oz's compelling psychological study raises but provides no easy answers to metaphysical questions. Respected in the secret service for his methodical working technique and self-control, Yoel Ravid is attempting to confront the unresolved issues of his marriage while remembering, almost despite himself, ``the rare, unexpected moments when the blackness of existence was momentarily illuminated.'' Fragments of memories and dreams--hallucinatory, mysterious--invade the ordered pattern of Yoel's daily routine. While Yoel beds his next-door neighbor (his uncharacteristic lack of circumspection is unconvincing), and tries to understand and protect his fragile teenage daughter, his inner life becomes more and more fevered until, turning down a summons from his former boss--which sends another agent to his death--he breaks through the shield separating him from real human contact. Recurrent references to incidents in Yoel's past that are never explained give this novel a lifelike credibility, but may disappoint readers who enjoy a story with revelations and closure. Yet Oz touches a universal chord in one man's anguished search for meaning in a country that is a microcosm of a chaotic, dangerous world.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151904995
• ISBN 13: 9780151904990
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262