Rating: 
Summary: a gorgeous debut
Review: "Ten Thousand Lovers" is a haunting, lyrical love story. In the 1970's, Lily is a Canadian linguistics student in Israel and Ami is an Israeli army interrogator. They meet by chance and a difficult but passionate romance blossoms, in counterpoint to the violent conflict all around. The story is narrated by a middle-aged Lily, who interweaves the tale of the past with ruminations on her present life and the etymology and meaning of the story's most important words. "Ten Thousand Lovers" is unusual, well-written, and highly readable.
Rating: 
Summary: A compelling portrait of Israel in conflict with itself
Review: A young Canadian-Israeli woman student hitchiking in 1970's Israel gets picked up by a handsome, charming Army employee whose
particular work it is to interrogate Arab prisoners. Her first instinct is to run, but she is seduced by his charm and stays for dinner, and more. As she gets to know him, she points out the differences between American/Canadian interaction and Israel
social manners and styles, frequently breaking off to parse the
Hebrew words and phrases and compare their nuanced meanings to
equivalent English ones. This may sound dull, but it's not: it
is absolutely riveting in helping to respect the roadblocks
between two different genders, nationalities, and languages as
they move together. It is a book which reads easily. My
largest concern was that only one side of the Arab=Israeli conflict is shown sympathetically, and this is wildly unfair.
Rating: 
Summary: An Exquisite but One-Sided Fairy Tale
Review: As a left-leaning supporter of Israel who has long hoped for a peaceful, two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, I found this book deeply disturbing.
While the writing is beautiful and intelligent and easily worth five stars, the story is marred, in my opinion, by its simplistic analysis of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In the world of this novel, peace would be easily achievable if only Israel withdrew from the territories occuppied during the Six Day War, and good Israelis, who are conscious of the plight of the Palestinians, wind up dead, mad or in voluntary exile.
The book contains no reference to the fact that in the 70's, when this novel was set, the Palestinian leadership had the stated goal of destroying Israel, not creating a state alongside her.
As a literary love story, this novel succeeds brilliantly. As a moral fable, it helps perpetuate the dangerous fiction that Israel could have had an easy peace thirty years ago.
And that really is a fairy tale.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent view of Israeli-Palestianian Conflict
Review: Excellent view of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The book was an excellent representation of Israel in the 70's. Ravel brought historical events into the books tapestry -covering both Intifadas, the October War of 1973 and several others. She was able to give the reader a real view of how life could have been for both Israelis and their Palestinian counterparts. She drew the reader into the book, and made sure you did not want to stop reading. You develop attachments to the characters very quickly. Ravel did an awesome job, you will not want the book to be over when you are done.
Rating: 
Summary: Political commentary, not love story
Review: I agree with the reviewer who called this a one sided fairy tale. It is! I would have put this book down after the first chapter if not for my interest in the Hebrew language and Ravel's decision to include Hebrew etymology woven into the story. (Granted had it been any other language, I would have REALLY put the book back on the shelf). Ravel's political leanings are clear in this story and really frustrate me because someone with less knowledge of the situation would really get the wrong idea!
Rating:
Summary: Dmitry Markman
Review: I think it's very good book
I liked Hebrew words meaning/origin explanation too
I don't think I can share political view of the author, though
Rating:
Summary: Dmitry Markman
Review: I think it's very good book
I liked Hebrew words meaning/origin explanation too
I don't think I can share political view of the author, though
Rating:
Summary: Ten Thousand Thumbs Up for Ravel
Review: In 1980, Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai noted in a lecture that I attended the responsibility of the writer to help their reader understand the nuance of language. Language, he argued, was being appropriated by pundits and politicians in a manner that was systematically degrading the value of the "word".Edeet Ravel's first novel, a finalist for the Canadian Governor General's Award for literature is a lovely blend exploring language, love, and the rich contradictions of Israeli society in the late 1970s. While the novel has yet to appear in hebrew (I think), Ten Thousand Lovers is among the very first novels to explore the nuances and growing turmoil of Israeli society in the late 1970s. The novel also takes the reader on several insightful excursions on the meaning of hebrew and arabic words informing the dialogue and backdrop in the narrative. As someone who lived in Israel through much of the period, I found myself swept back to those days from the hitchhiking experiences (which have largely disappeared), to the carefree night life in Tel Aviv (which is still very real), to the confusing conversations over identity between Israelis, Israeli-Arabs, American and Candian Jews, Georgians, Yeminites, and Ethiopians. The politics of of an emerging occupation culture, which everyone who lived through those days fully appreciates, is wonderfully shared through the love relationship between Ami and Lily. In the past year or two a number of novels have explored the messy vitality of Israeli society (both jewish and arab) in the post 60's era. While not as rich and mature as A.B. Yehoshua's The Liberated Bride, or Open Heart, Ravel's first novel, is an amazing read for its female-centered characters, its insights and glimpses into the invisible realities of Israeli life. I hope she has another manuscript in the works. I can't wait to read it.
Rating:
Summary: A turbulent situation!
Review: Lily returns to Israel during the 1970's and meets handsome Army interrogator Ami. Although attracted to him, she is never quite at ease with the situations his job demand of him. Lily tells the story of her relationship with Ami while also revealing a bit about her present life in England through chapters which flip-flop through the time difference. In addition, there are significant lessons in Hebrew words which add to the flavor of the book and provide insight into Israeli attitudes. The author even adds one recipe to give the taste of the Mideast! Due to the increasing complexity of political turmoil in Israel and a tendency to be more mainstream, modern Israeli novelists increasingly tend to omit political leanings in their writing. No so Edeet Ravel. She weaves it into the very heart of her story with great eloquence. She expresses her views openly because one cannot live in Israel without revealing those feelings. Beyond that, however, is a more heartbreaking story. It's of how an Israeli woman feels in the company of a man who loves not only her but also his country and has an important duty to both. The end of the story is one of the most powerful that I have read in a novel in a long time, and how the author creates this atmosphere is for the reader to discover.
Rating:
Summary: A turbulent situation!
Review: Lily returns to Israel during the 1970's and meets handsome Army interrogator Ami. Although attracted to him, she is never quite at ease with the situations his job demand of him. Lily tells the story of her relationship with Ami while also revealing a bit about her present life in England through chapters which flip-flop through the time difference. In addition, there are significant lessons in Hebrew words which add to the flavor of the book and provide insight into Israeli attitudes. The author even adds one recipe to give the taste of the Mideast! Due to the increasing complexity of political turmoil in Israel and a tendency to be more mainstream, modern Israeli novelists increasingly tend to omit political leanings in their writing. No so Edeet Ravel. She weaves it into the very heart of her story with great eloquence. She expresses her views openly because one cannot live in Israel without revealing those feelings. Beyond that, however, is a more heartbreaking story. It's of how an Israeli woman feels in the company of a man who loves not only her but also his country and has an important duty to both. The end of the story is one of the most powerful that I have read in a novel in a long time, and how the author creates this atmosphere is for the reader to discover.
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