Khirbet Khizeh
Product ID: 10286755
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"Exhilarating . . . How often can you say about a harrowing, unquiet book that it makes you wrestle with your soul?" ―Neel Mukherjee, The Times (London) It's 1948 and the Arab villagers of Khirbet Khizeh are about to be violently expelled from their homes. A young Israeli soldier who is on duty that day finds himself battling on two fronts: with the villagers and, ultimately, with his own conscience. Published just months after the founding of the state of Israel and the end of the 1948 war, the novella Khirbet Khizeh was an immediate sensation when it first appeared. Since then, the book has continued to challenge and disturb, even finding its way onto the school curriculum in Israel. The various debates it has prompted would themselves make Khirbet Khizeh worth reading, but the novella is much more than a vital historical document: it is also a great work of art. Yizhar's haunting, lyrical style and charged view of the landscape are in many ways as startling as his wrenchingly honest view of modern Israel's primal scene. Considered a modern Hebrew masterpiece, Khirbet Khizeh is an extraordinary and heartbreaking book that is destined to be a classic of world literature. Review: Extremely well written And heart wrenching - What can I say? The issue of Israeli occupation of Palestine has been going on since World war 2 and no one has been able to anything about it. This book highlights one soldier's conscience of the expulsion and exile of innocent Palestinians from their land. You must read it! Review: A must read - I am probably the one to blame for this not getting five stars. I just couldn't stomach some of the graphic content. I've never served in a military and reading something like this is such a touching and humanist viewpoint. I would recommend this book for a quick read that feels like you're reading about a lifetime.
| Best Sellers Rank | #266,839 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #274 in Jewish Historical Fiction #2,479 in 20th Century Historical Fiction (Books) #12,485 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 183 Reviews |
A**S
Extremely well written And heart wrenching
What can I say? The issue of Israeli occupation of Palestine has been going on since World war 2 and no one has been able to anything about it. This book highlights one soldier's conscience of the expulsion and exile of innocent Palestinians from their land. You must read it!
A**B
A must read
I am probably the one to blame for this not getting five stars. I just couldn't stomach some of the graphic content. I've never served in a military and reading something like this is such a touching and humanist viewpoint. I would recommend this book for a quick read that feels like you're reading about a lifetime.
N**N
His side, her side... The truth is somewhere in the middle
Heartfelt story of emotional and moral inner conflict as told in 1949 by an ordinary Israeli soldier of a unit charged w emptying an Arab village of Arab inhabitants who had been on this land, in this village for perhaps tens or hundreds of years... For the sake of creating the new State of Israel... The commentator then shifts his own story (2007) to the Arab villages in the occupied West Bank.. Suggesting that current day action by the Israeli government and settlers is still trying to irradicate the Palestinians to gain more land for Israel.. There is always more to the story still unfortunately unfolding btw the Israelis and the Palestinians... Was President Jimmy Carter right or not right when he tried to broker a broad peace btw the 2 warring parties as he prophesied the consequences of continued war... ????
J**A
A critical and beautifully-written novel about the first Israeli expulsion of Palestinians.
This novel was written by an Israeli soldier who participated in the expulsion of Palestinians from their villages in 1948. The writing is superb and shows how this particular soldier was overwhelmed by misgivings about what he was instructed to do.
S**H
Three Stars
My husband was underwhelmed by this book.
R**N
Hauntingly Beautiful and Emotionally Evocative
This novel is written in a simple, hauntingly beautiful style and describes one Israeli soldiers misgivings as his unit helps to displace Palestinians from their native village, during the early days of the State of Israel. However, there is nothng simple in the emotions that this story evokes in the reader, who can't help but sympathize with the protagonist's feelings of isolation and despair at the role he feels compelled to play, sending villagers into exile.
M**S
A transcendent argument, ethics of warfare
The story of the exile of the Palestinians from their lands in the first of Israel's wars - a process that is ongoing - and a portrayal of ongoing human indifference to the plight of others continues to resonate. It's unfortunate that all the extraordinary flexibility of English cannot duplicate the power of the original Hebrew; its allusions to biblical texts are barely shadowed in translation. When Moshe and Shlomo - Moses and Saul - begin to argue, readers get some hint of what may be going on in the original language - an argument that transcends time, tradition, the particular circumstances of a single - and singular - war.
C**0
A Must for Citizens in this chaotic
An excellent book written to reflect the real thoughts and feelings of young soldiers thrust into the hell that is war.
J**G
Must read
Great classic, beautiful prose, a slightly prophetic punch in the guts
P**A
Empathy for humans
Khirbet Khizeh is a short well written book where a soldier fights with and for his soul. He cannot deal with the way his own people are evacuating Palestinians from their villages.
M**S
Desert
The one calling in the desert, will he ever be heard ? And will the world ever learn from history ?
P**H
Five Stars
perfect
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