Nobel laureate Saul Bellow’s revealing interviews and meditations, steeped in history and literature, on the unique spirit and challenges of Israel
A Penguin Classic
A powerful, stimulating testament, To Jerusalem and Back is a rigorous attempt to come to grips with Israel’s history and future. Immersing himself in the landscape and culture of this “small state in perpetual crisis,” Bellow records the opinions, passions, and dreams of Israelis of varying viewpoints—Yitzak Rabin, Amos Oz, the editor of the largest Arab-language newspaper in Israel, a kibbutznik escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto—and adds his own reflections on being Jewish in the twentieth century. Saul Bellow’s journey is not merely an exploration of a very beautiful and very troubled city; it is a major literary work, and an urgently important one.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
“Bellow evokes places, ideas, people…on the edge of history, an inch from disaster, yet brimming with argument and words…. An impassioned and thoughtful book.” –The New York Times Book Review
“Essentially a plea for a greater understanding of the state of Israel by one of its most articulate admirers.” –The Times
Nobel laureate Saul Bellow’s revealing interviews and meditations, steeped in history and literature, on the unique spirit and challenges of Israel
A Penguin Classic
A powerful, stimulating testament, To Jerusalem and Back is a rigorous attempt to come to grips with Israel’s history and future. Immersing himself in the landscape and culture of this “small state in perpetual crisis,” Bellow records the opinions, passions, and dreams of Israelis of varying viewpoints—Yitzak Rabin, Amos Oz, the editor of the largest Arab-language newspaper in Israel, a kibbutznik escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto—and adds his own reflections on being Jewish in the twentieth century. Saul Bellow’s journey is not merely an exploration of a very beautiful and very troubled city; it is a major literary work, and an urgently important one.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Praise
By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
“Bellow evokes places, ideas, people…on the edge of history, an inch from disaster, yet brimming with argument and words…. An impassioned and thoughtful book.” –The New York Times Book Review
“Essentially a plea for a greater understanding of the state of Israel by one of its most articulate admirers.” –The Times
