Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics

For many politicians and activists, "reality" is a projection of fear, desire and illusion, and nowhere is this truer than in the Middle East. Israeli novelist David Grossman argues that literature is one way of overcoming falsehood through knowing the Other-literature with fully formed human characters, free of stereotypes and impersonality, endowed with the power to surprise even their creator. To know isn't necessarily to justify, but is a way of broadening sympathy and avoiding the dehumanization of enemies. Grossman, an advocate of a just peace between Israel and Palestine, writes persuasively of how a pervasive state of anxiety and danger has warped individuals and societies. If an acceptable peace is proclaimed tomorrow, years might pass before the toxins in the body public would work their way out of the system. (David Luhrssen)