israeli | David F. Cooper

Israeli books: Ronit Matalon’s autobiographic novel The Sound of Our Steps

August 4, 2015

“A fictional and more literary tale of an Egyptian Jewish family’s diminished circumstances after immigrating to Israel is The Sound of Our Steps by Ronit Matalon, a novel published today in Dalya Bilu’s English translation by Metropolitan Books. In my New York Journal of Books review I praise it as a ‘beautifully written and skillfully translated book that rewards rereading.’” — from […]

Israeli books: Five Selves explores five inner lives

March 12, 2015

“…recommended to readers who enjoy interior prose and psychological literary fiction.” — from my review of Five Selves by Emanuela Barasch Rubinstein in New York Journal of Books. My additional remarks and excerpts from the book that appeared in a different and now defunct publication begin with the next paragraph. Israeli books: Five Selves explores five inner lives Five […]

Israeli books: Gail Hareven’s Lies, First Person is a visceral novel of ideas

February 13, 2015

“There are books that make us feel intensely and others that make us think deeply; one that does both is Gail Hareven’s opalescent and psychologically complex eleventh novel Lies, First Person (in the original Hebrew Hashkarim Ha’aharonim Shel Hagoof which literally translates as The Body’s Last Lies), which is only the second (The Confessions […]

Israeli books: Assaf Gavron’s The Hilltop is set in a West Bank settlement

October 17, 2014

“The Hilltop is recommended to all readers who enjoy a good story grounded in current events.” — from my New York Journal of Books review. Also see my examiner article, which begins with the next paragraph. Israeli books: Assaf Gavron’s The Hilltop is set in a West Bank settlement Israeli fiction writers have set their […]

Book review: In the Illuminated Dark: Selected Poems of Tuvia Ruebner

July 2, 2014

"Anglophone readers (especially those who also read Hebrew) will find both this handsome book’s bilingual presentation of Ruebner’s selected poems, and his heart wrenching backstory described by translator Rachel Tzvia Back in her informative introduction and endnotes, compelling reading."

David Grossman conveys parental bereavement in Falling Out of Time

March 25, 2014

“As moving as are each of these expressions of grief the cumulative effect of Falling Out of Time‘s nearly 200 pages is even more powerful. It certainly conveys bereaved parents’ pain to readers who have not suffered that loss and may help some mourning parents work through their grief, though others may feel it reopens […]

Book review: The Remains of Life by Zureya Shalev

December 11, 2013

From my NYJB review: “. . . readers prone to depression might consider acquiring a prescription for antidepressant medication before attempting to read The Remains of Love.” Additional remarks that appeared in a different and now defunct publication begin with the next paragraph. Israeli books: Zeruya Shalev’s 5th novel views family through a Freudian lens Israeli author […]