An urgent appeal for peace in a time of growing war.
The noted Israeli novelist ponders the state of his corner of the world after Oct. 7, 2023.
Make no mistake, urges Grossman, the author of To the End of the Land and other novels: Israel is in a state of war, and “If I may hazard a guess: Israel after the war will be much more right-wing, militant, and racist.” This, says Grossman, is an unfortunate but logical outcome of Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigent view that Israel is alone in the world and that he’s the only one who can save the nation—unfortunate, Grossman notes, because, in his view, “we will probably not be able to win the next war on our own.” That next war may involve Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State, and the Yemeni Houthis, who are already enemies singly but who may decide to act in concert. “Even the IDF [the Israel Defense Forces] will not be able to withstand a simultaneous attack by several states—including Iran—on several fronts.” Israelis sense this, Grossman suggests, to the extent that the national mood has gone from confidence to “fragility and anxiety,” at least in part because the sense that the nation is fundamentally united is also gone: Leftists and rightists “view one another as an actual existential threat.” The fault for the conflict is not Israel’s alone, Grossman urges, but the opportunity to lead a movement for peace among neighbors lies there, in a state committed to some sort of national solution for Palestine rather than one willing to accommodate the present system of repression and “a total denial of reality.” This brief collection of occasional pieces never arrives at a fully developed thesis for solving the region’s present maladies, but it is both suggestive and provocative, especially in Grossman’s view that giving in to cynicism and apathy will lead to the obvious: “a short path to religious fanaticism, nationalism, fascism.”
An urgent appeal for peace in a time of growing war.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9798217007059
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Vintage
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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