Product Description

In this powerful novel by one of Israel's most prominent writers, Momik, the only child of Holocaust survivors, grows up in the shadow of his parents' history. Determined to exorcise the Nazi "beast" from their shattered lives and prepare for a second holocaust he knows is coming, Momik increasingly shields himself from all feeling and attachment. But through the stories his great-uncle tells him-the same stories he told the commandant of a Nazi concentration camp-Momik too, becomes "infected with humanity." Grossman's masterly fusing of vision, thought, and emotion makes See Under: Love a luminously imaginative and profoundly affecting work.AUTHORBIO: DAVID GROSSMAN is the author of two books of journalism, several children's books, a play, and six novels including his new novel, Be My Knife. He lives in Jerusalem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #160692 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312420697
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
This lengthy, highly ambitious, phantasmagoric treatment of the ineffable Holocaust is far less accessible than Grossman's critically acclaimed The Yellow Wind , nonfiction reportage that elucidated the West Bank imbroglio. What begins as a wrenching portrait of Momik, an emotionally scarred nine-year-old Israeli child of Holocaust survivors, and his warped fantasy world, soon metamorphoses into fiction penned by the adult Momik. Now a self-conscious, tortured writer, Momik the man believes he is the vessel for new prose by both Bruno Schulz, the legendary Polish-Jewish author murdered by the Nazis, and Momik's great-uncle, Anshel Wasserman, whose popular children's adventures are updated and distorted as Momik imagines him spinning tales for a Nazi commandant of a concentration camp. Although stylistically daring, the bulk of Grossman's novel never re-creates the pathos that introduced Momik the child. As Wasserman's story unfolds, "without any appreciable logic or trace of plot, without concern for the sacred unity of time and place," its appeal will elude many readers.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The author of the nonfiction The Yellow Wind ( LJ 4/15/88), a work about the Israeli-Palestinian dilemma that received much acclaim last year, now turns his hand to fiction. The year is 1959, and nine-year-old protagonist and narrator Momik--the only child of survivors of the Holocaust--dutifully copies all the exhortations of his parents and neighbors into a notebook. Grappling with such ominous terms as "over there," "the nasty beast," and "children of the heart," Momik learns to hide all his feelings and shield himself from all attachments. But eventually he is touched by humanity, learning that loving kindness exists alongside the horrors of history. An incredibly original and imaginative novel by one of Israel's truly gifted young writers. The Yellow Wind was one of LJ 's "Best Books of 1988." See the article in the January issue, p.40.
- Ed. -- Molly Abramowitz, Silver Spring, Md.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"In a few nearly mythic books, such as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Günter Grass's The Tin Drum, Gabriel García Máquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, large visions of history get hold in innovative ways. See Under: LOVE may be a worthy successor to this small but awesome canon."—Edmund White, The New York Times Book Review

"A world-class work of fiction, one of the most profound, compelling, and ingenious novels that I have read in years."—Tom LeClair, USA Today

"A dazzling work of imagination."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
-- Review

Customer Reviews

Not just a book, but an experience
Ever since I have read Avraham B. Yehoshua's "The Lover" I have been a keen reader of Israeli literature, among great Hebrew writers such as Yehoshua, Oz and Shabtai, who wisely construct a fascinating description of a fragmented country, quilted of religions, faiths, ideology and culture and scarred by war and trauma, Grossman still stands out as an amazing craftsmen of words, plot and memories. This book does not deal merely with the Holocaust, but with the inability to deal with this unbelievable atrocity by those who survived it, their children, and the world. Never have I read a such a sophisticated book, such a genius and original use of genres and plotlines, and yet readable and sweeping. It would have been described as a page turner, but it is impossible to read it without pausing to breathe deeply and ponder. However you feel about this book, one thing is for sure - You wont be the same person. In my opinion, reading this book has made me a better person.

Shocking, thrilling, amazing. A must.

See Under: Masterpiece
It was hard to read this novel. Grossman presents us with mysteries and references that require both faith and patience -- they are amply rewarded. Part of what delays the intrepid reader is the time required just to absorb, to make connections, to take deep breaths, to sob. The horror and disgust that one expects in a holocaust novel are there, but what pulls us up short are the compassion and, yes, love that emerge in the most unlikely places. It would be no help to read a synopsis of this book or to have a guide to its mysteries, because you read it in your heart and in the aqueous subconscious. Reading is always an act of love, a tryst of imagination with the writer. When it really goes well, when the miracle occurs, a child, a book is produced between them. It hovers luminously in the aether - real, profound, fleeting. See Under: Love invites us to into that relationship, helps us visualize it, and transforms our sense of what this world really is. There is plenty to study, learn, and analyze in Mr. Grossman's incredible work, but my first reading was a sacred experience. This book sat on my shelf for about eleven years. I gave a first edition of it to a young man obsessed with the holocaust who died a year later of a mysterious disease. I thought picking it up would mean acknowledging his absence - instead it reassured me of his presence. Prepare to be surprised.

Truly one of the best books I have ever read!
I am not much on book reviews, but I feel moved to tell everyone willing to listen how marvelous and seductively compelling this novel is. Every moment in the narrative is captured perfectly by Grossman's mixture of the esthetic and literary with the painful reality of the Holocaust. Please read it! I have no idea why this novel is not more widely known and more lavishly praised.