Watch A.B.Yehoshua discuss Friendly Fire as he gives the closing talk of Jewish Book Week 2009.
A husband and wife spend a week apart over the Hanukkah holiday: Daniela visits her recently widowed brother-in-law who has insisted on staying in Africa on an obscure archaeological dig. She wants to revive early memories of her sister with him but, in ways she cannot begin to understand, he has been left wounded and raging following an earlier tragedy – a death by friendly fire. Amotz Ya’ari stays behind in Israel, rushing between his elevator engineering company, his son’s family, his grandchildren and his father. Life in the Ya’ari family is full, complicated and often humorous, but beyond it lies a fragile society deeply uneasy with itself and badly scarred, with each family harbouring its own ghosts. Ever-creative, A.B. Yehoshua’s short, interwoven chapters create a duet like narrative which penetrates deeply – too deeply for some – into human relationships. He taps into the psyche of the reader as he taps into the psyche of his country, and we emerge altered by what we have read.
Born in Jerusalem in 1936, A.B. Yehoshua is the author of nine novels and a collection of short stories. One of Israel’s top novelists, he has won prizes worldwide for all his novels, most recently the Italian Premio Roma for Friendly Fire. In recognition of his international reputation, he was shortlisted in 2005 for the first Man Booker International Prize. He lives in Haifa where he taught comparative literature for many years and continues to be an outspoken peace activist.
A. B. Yehoshua was nominated for:
