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JEWISH BOOK ANNUAL
T
h e
A
r e t e
F
o u n d a t i o n
A
w a r d
The Rosendorf Quartet,
by Nathan Shaham, trans. by Dalya Bilu
(Grove Weidenfeld)
In
The Rosendorf Quartet,
Nathan Shaham has not only created
five extraordinary characters, but a multi-dimensional novel
that movingly dramatizes the complexities o f the human con
dition. The book is about many things: the refugee experience
o f European Jewry, the diverse and paradoxical threads woven
into the tapestry o f the State o f Israel, art and artists, and the
choices made and prices paid for the creative experience. It
is itself a work o f art that is meaningful on both literal and
symbolic levels. Most o f all, however, Shaham describes human
beings caught up in the most perplexing and difficult situation
o f all — trying to give meaning to an existence which perpetually
threatens to undermine all attempts at surety and stability.
HOLOCAUST
T
h e
L
e o n
J
o l s o n
A
w a r d
Escaping the Holocaust: Illegal Immigration to the Land of Israel,
1939-1944,
by Dalia Ofer (Oxford University Press)
Escaping the Holocaust,
by Dalia Ofer is a well-documented ac
count o f one o f the most heroic chapters in Jewish history dur
ing the Second World War. It describes in objective and schol
arly fashion the various rescue and immigration efforts orga
nized by the
Yishuv
between the outbreak o f the war and the
establishment o f the State. The author portrays these efforts
in the context o f world politics, focusing on the struggles o f
the persecuted and their rescuers as well as on the motivations
and policies o f those bent on destroying them or denying them
a haven.
ISRAEL
T
h e
M
o r r i s
J.
a n d
B
e t t y
K
a p l u n
A
w a r d
The Road Not Taken: Early Arab-Israeli Negotiations,
by Itamar
Rabinovich (Oxford University Press)
The Road Not Taken
is a careful work o f scholarship on the
theme o f the failure o f attempted negotiations between Israel
F ICT ION