Praise for Runo Isaksen
Literature and War
In 15 discussions with acclaimed Israeli and Palestinian writers, Norwegian novelist Isaksen looks at the intersection of art and armed conflict in the Middle East to determine whether literature can play a role in helping one side to see the other. In narrative interviews with writers including David Grossman (The Yellow Wind), Amos Oz (perhaps Israel’s most famous), Meir Shalev, Mahmoud Shuqair and Liana Badr, Isaksen examines the obligation artists feel (or don’t feel) to help bring peace to the region, the differences between being an Israeli and being a Jew, the likelihood of true democracy in Israel, the meaning of exile in the minds of Palestinians and other weighty topics. The result is a number of sharp insights into the process, promise and limits of art in the face of war... This inquisitive guide illuminates the region in a fresh way, giving those already interested a new perspective and drawing in readers who might otherwise eschew modern Middle East history.
—Starred review, web pick of the week, Publishers Weekly
Editor Isaksen is a Norwegian novelist, active in Norwegian writers’ groups, increasingly interested in Israeli and Palestinian literature and curious about whether literature can bridge the divide between peoples at war.… In 2002 and 2003, he interviewed 15 Israeli and Palestinian writers to see if they believed that their writing could help reduce the hostility and fear infusing their societies.… The result is a series of fascinating conversations with writers of different ages, genders, and styles, linked by their common experience of life in a culture under siege.… This book will be of great value to readers with an interest in literature, and it provides sensitive insight into how writers approach their craft and how they view the social impact of their work in a volatile environment.
—Elizabeth R. Hayford, Library Journal
Isaksen’s important contribution can help us understand the possible roles that literature can play in the conflict in the Middle East.
—Aftenposten
There is no shortage, either at home or abroad, of in-depth analysis of the planet's most deadlocked conflict: that between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Nonetheless, Runo Isaksen’s discussions with a wide range of writers from the area is a rejuvenating and refreshing experience... Complete with a comprehensive bibliography, Literature and War stands out as a weighty and valuable preliminary study in what has been appropriately described as a Greek tragedy in modern wrapping.
—Bergens Tidende
A must for those who really want to understand what the conflict is about.
—VG