2.11Kg of CO2
264 litre(s) of Water
0.0158 Tree(s)
1 book donated to global literacy projects
A Tale of Love and Darkness
A Tale of Love and Darkness
paperback
Published:
4 August, 2005
Description
Discover Amos Oz’s most iconic work in this extraordinary memoir that is at once a great family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation
*OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE*
‘A hero of mine, a moral as well as literary giant’ Simon Schama
Amos Oz's remarkable, moving story takes us on a seductive journey through his childhood and adolescence, along Jerusalem's war-torn streets in the 1940s and '50s and into a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. Caught between them is one small boy with the weight of generations on his shoulders.
Oz dives into 120 years of family history and paradox, the saga of a Jewish love-hate affair with Europe that sweeps from Vilna and Odessa, via Poland and Prague, to Israel. Farce and heartbreak, history and humanity make up this story of clashing cultures and lives, of suffering and perseverance, of love and darkness.
‘Oz’s greatest work…not only his autobiography, but in a way the biography of Israel before it was created’ David Grossman, Observer
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780099450030 |
| ISBN10 | 0099450038 |
| Number Of Pages | 528 |
| Item Weight | 362 g |
| Product Dimensions | 130 x 197 x 32 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Vintage Publishing |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
One of the funniest, most tragic and most touching books I have ever read. A testament to a family, a time and a place. * Guardian *
A masterpiece * Irish Times *
One of the most gripping, intense and moving autobiographies I have ever read. * Independent on Sunday *
It sweeps across 120 years of family history, weaving a tragi-comic saga of love and books, of Jewish life and immigrant life the world over, and of the universal madness of families. Read it now - I promise you won't read a more brilliant book in a long, long while. * Daily Mail *
Oz's account of his childhood is often very funny - and then profoundly moving, as he circles slowly round to confront the intolerable pain at the heart of it -- Michael Frayn * Week *
If you have 18 euros in your pocket and at least two days left to live, then you should do one more thing to die without regrets, and that is to read this book. * La Republica *
This lyrical saga...succeeds both as a revelatory tale of the artist as young man and a gripping portrait of the young Jewish state itself. * Miami Herald *
Detailed and beautiful...as he writes about himself and his family, Oz is also writing part of the history of the Jews... We are in the hands here of a capable, practiced seducer. * Los Angeles Times *
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Born in Jerusalem in 1939, Amos Oz was the internationally acclaimed author of many novels and essay collections, translated into over forty languages, including his brilliant semi-autobiographical work, A Tale of Love and Darkness. His last novel, Judas, was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017 and won the Yasnaya Polyana Foreign Fiction Award. He received several international awards, including the Prix Femina, the Israel Prize, the Goethe Prize, the Frankfurt Peace Prize and the 2013 Franz Kafka Prize. He died in December 2018.