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The Thinking Heart: Essays on Israel and Palestine Audiobook
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Searing essays from International Booker Prize-winning Israeli author and long-time peace activist David Grossman carry us up to and through the cataclysm of Oct 7th and what followed
We know David Grossman's voice of ringing moral clarity from way back: since the late 1980s and The Yellow Wind, his classic work on the urgency of the two-state solution and the price paid by both occupier and occupied, he has been criticizing his country's government and pushing for paths to a lasting peace. Just after October 7th, 2023, he retreated inwards to ask himself anew these difficult and necessary questions about his beloved nation:
How could this massacre have happened?
How could the Netanyahu government, tangled in its web of scandals, have failed to protect its citizens?
And did October 7 and the war that followed take with it the last hope of a two-state solution?
In these eleven essays, which appeared in newspapers and journals at key moments when Grossman wanted to hold the government to account, he traces the failures leading up to that day and the ensuing war, enabled and abetted by a morally bankrupt party clinging to power. He documents the struggle being fought on both sides between those committed to conflict, and the many who want to live in peace and equality with their neighbors.
He asks what the meaning and purpose of a Jewish state can be, when the core values of Judaism, with its reverence for the dignity of each human life, are cast aside, and how his people, so accustomed throughout history to being in the minority, have not proved able to exist as a majority with the dignity and humanity that the job demands.
Ultimately, Grossman arrives at the most important question of all: Will there ever be a lasting peace in the region?
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"The Israeli author’s writes his texts as we know him: concise and confrontational. Without exception, his essays have a strong emotional charge…. Grossman experiences his Jewish identity in a humanistic way. He summarizes it in one sentence: ‘The only thing that is sacred is human life.’ ….Grossman finds the balance between extremes and puts his finger on the sore spots like no other. His essays are a universal plea for humanism, democracy, and peace. The author is never indignant or deliberately provocative. His collection of essays is a true revelation in the often one-sided reporting on the Middle East."
— Doorbraak (Netherlands)
Quotes
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Prophetic… Nothing conveys today's tragedy better than Grossman's rare voice.
— Neue Zuericher Zeitung (Germany) -
David Grossman, Israel's most important living author, concisely describes those responsible for Israel's social division. Some of the writing predates October 7, and it makes clear how torn Israeli democracy is, and who are the ones responsible for that.
— Die Welt am Sonntag (Germany) -
Grossman's clarity and analytical acuity are captivating. He captures the ossified standoff between Israelis and Palestinians. He pierces the hatred and hopelessness, the membrane becomes porous again, and possibilities appear. Grossman has unwavering trust in people and the possibility of life, in the face of all the suffering.
— Bavarian Radio 24 (Germany) -
The latest collection of David Grossman's essays confirms why his political commentaries are of such great value. Grossman has always recognized the depth and complexity of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, but he also has always shown empathy for the Palestinians and adhered to the ideal of peace. It is regrettable that the committee in Stockholm has not yet decided to award the Nobel Prize for Literature to a contemporary Israeli author like David Grossman, in support of a just cause.
— Salzburger Nachrichten (Germany) -
Read, shudder and cry! I fear that the Nobel Committee in Oslo will not find it appropriate to award a Nobel Prize to a Jewish writer at this time, but if anyone deserves it, I think it is David Grossman.
— Nieuw Wij (Netherlands) -
A small but great book….Collected in a book, these essays acquire greater strength: they show the militant soul of Grossman, a man and writer of great delicacy and strength, who looks with a very critical eye at the actions of the government and the ruling class of his country…. Faced with a conflict that seems destined to never end, Grossman, despite everything, manages to maintain hope in a future of peace.
— Ansa (Italy)
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About David Grossman
David Grossman was born in Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. His work has appeared in the New Yorker and has been translated into thirty languages. He is the recipient of many prizes, including the French Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Buxtehuder Bulle in Germany, Rome’s Premio per la Pace e l’Azione Umitaria, the Premio Ischia–International Award for Journalism, Israel’s Emet Prize, and the Albatross Prize given by the Günter Grass Foundation.
About the Narrators
Jessica Cohen was born in England, raised in Israel, and now lives in the United States. She has translated contemporary Israeli fiction, nonfiction, and other creative works, including David Grossman’s To the End of the Land and A Horse Walks in to a Bar, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.
Steven Jay Cohen has been telling stories his whole life, and has worked professionally as a storyteller since 1991. A classically trained actor, he has worked both on stage and behind the microphone for most of his career. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Steven now resides in scenic western Massachusetts.