Rating: 
Summary: I'd Hoped for More Clarity
Review: "The Yellow Wind" is outdated - already. Also, I was expecting a more objective presentation about the lives of the current generation of Palestinians, as it seemed this would be. I was interested in the book because an Israeli wrote it, reviews said he was patriotic yet sympathetic and that the stories were the human side of Palestinian life -- at least that was my impression and what I'd hoped to read.
Grossman spent time living with Palestinians. I think he feels he did put aside his own preconceptions to learn about Palestian life from Palestinians. At first I, too, felt he succeeded. The first few chapters--each chapter is a sort of short narrative of its own--were well-crafted and combined history with in-the-moment accounts.
As I continued to read on, I couldn't help but feel Grossman's own view and anger come through. His anger wasn't, to me, generalized frustration, but patriotic and with a "pro-" and "anti-" feel to it. He writes of Palestinians that they've been taught for generations, that it's so ingrained as to be nearly inescapable, to feel and express hatred. So, too, I felt, Grossman couldn't see past his own bias. He could for certain individuals, but the deeper I read the more bias I sensed. This isn't inherently negative. What is negative about this portrait is that he proclaims non-partisanship, and seems to believe he is a neutral voice, but ultimately he isn't.
"The Yellow Wind" isn't bad, not horrible, and it's readable. It's worthwhile. But distinguishing lines between fact, fiction, humanity and nationalism became a bit too difficult -- such that I questioned, for example, his factual presentation of history or even observations at times. Given this less-than-required objectivity in order to render the book what it is, and that it is somewhat dated, I'd say it's not necessary reading. I realize I disagree with the other reviews. Perhaps due to the current time in history, it takes on a different feel, and I'm certainly open to feeling differently about Grossman's work in the future. But I felt it could have offered so much more, given how it came about--Grossman, an Israeli, living with Palestinians for awhile--but perhaps that, too, is inherent to the deep-rooted emotions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Rating: 
Summary: Critical acclaim for THE YELLOW WIND
Review: "A brilliant, searing examination of Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Journalist-novelist Grossman, like the prophet Jeremiah, delivers a harsh sermon to Israel: Give up the occupied territories captured in 1967 or face certain moral destruction. . . Each of the 18 finely crafted essays that make up the book is a gem of story-telling; beautiful, passionate, and profoundly disturbing." --William J. Drummond, Chicago Tribune"Invaluable. It should be alongside the road maps at Ben-Gurion Airport, for it is a map of the psychological distances that now separate not only occupier and occupied, but willing from unwilling conquerors." --Geraldine Brooks, The Wall Street Journal "THE YELLOW WIND is a novel contribution to the literature of the Israeli-Arab dispute because it navigates between the icebergs of political solutions, myth and guilt, choosing to skate on the thin cover of experience. Grossman records the voices, images, and impressions flowing beneath the ice. . . [He] is a filter, a prism, not only a camera or a tape recorder." --David Twersky, The Partisan Review "If there is one word for Grossman's faith, it is humanism. This word is in some dispute today; it is rare and awesome to come across the real thing." --Marshall Berman, The Nation "His report opens our eyes. . . He shows that on both sides of the conflict there are thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent human beings. And he puts us readers directly in touch with them." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times "[Grossman] saw what seems to me the essential point--that the story of the occupation is a story of honor and humiliation." --Avishai Margalit, The New York Review of Books "Grossman has written a great and terrible book. . . brilliant and eloquent." --Michelle Bisson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless Prose; Ever-Important
Review: "The Yellow Wind" doesn't need me to praise it. But I see few reveiws for it here. So, I must say that this book is more important today than when it was written in the late 80's. It shows all that has come to pass between ethnic rivals and it shows why. David Grossman is my hero, and will be yours too if you read this book, which is Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Contribution to Historiography
Review: An excellent read, and certainly the least biased book on the subject I've ever read. I was introduced to this book while reading a passage in THE OTHER ISRAEL written by Assaf Oron, a Sergeant Major in the Israeli Defense Force Reserves. Assaf is one of the reservists who has refused to serve in the occupied territories after years of serving there. In THE OTHER ISRAEL, Assaf wrote, "A copy of THE YELLOW WIND..., which had just come out, crossed my path. I read it, and suddenly it hit me. I finally understood what I had done over there [in the occupied territories]. What I had BEEN over there." This powerful passage taken in context moved me to buy and read the book that moved a soldier to completely change his outlook on the conflict, and I am so fortunate I did. Grossman's book is written from a uniquely humanist point of view in regard to what life is like for both Palestinians and Israeli citizens since 1967. He spent 7 weeks in the occupied territories, both in the camps and in the settlements to make a genuine attempt to see the immediate world around him through the Palestinian and Gush Emunim settlers' eyes. This book does not bog down with the intricacies and interpretations of various peace agreements, nor does it bother to delve into the well-known positions held by political leaders on both sides as so many other books on the subject do. Rather, Grossman focusses entirely on those who are most affected by the situation in the region: the people. The book was written originally in 1988, and has an afterward by the author written in April 2002. As Grossman says in his afterward, "Nothing has changed." This book is as fresh and revealing today as it was 15 years ago. I really gained a lot by reading this book. You will too.
Rating: 
Summary: Faces of the conflict
Review: David Grossman manages to do the seemingly impossible as he humanizes the conflict between the Jews and Arabs in Israel. An outstanding picture is drawn that shows the humanity of the conflict, both the ugly and beauty involved without any bias. A brief historical perspective is included to help further illustrate the ongoing problem. Grossman interviews and paraphrases his discussions along the way of his journey, seeking the truth without politicians interference from either side. The stories are for the most part heartbreaking, as Grossman explores and tells his revealed stories of the never ending conflict. Although written "early" on in the conflict, the issues and people are the same. Palestinians dispossesed, turned to bitter anger, further escalated by a Jewish authority that tries to mantain some order between the now, old adversaries. The book is insightful and unfortunatly prophetic of the current situation that now calls for a murder by one side in retaliation for another murder. The cycle is unending, the faces on the news all to real and Grossman revealed the faces long ago. He traveled throughout the country to gather the stories of those most affected by war. He talks to old and young alike as they complain and show their disdain, their fears and their little hope for a workable solution. The books raises many questions, often going deeper than the conflict itself, obviously there are no easy solutions.The cruely inflicted upon each group is part of the problem but the roots of the conflict date back to the partioning of the land and the changing landscape of the geography and it's inhabitants. This book is a very worthwhile read that is a fast page turner. Highly recommended for those interested in the conflict of the Middle East that seems to be the fuse of the powder keg.
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece
Review: David Grossman's "Yellow Wind" is superb with a richness and texture to his writing that is honesta nd sincere. Grossman was highly criticized for providing the Palestinian story but when one reads this text, it is all sides that he lies within and one can hear the injustices of both the Israeli and the Palestinian.
I think this text is wonderful and easy to read!
Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece
Review: David Grossman's "Yellow Wind" is superb with a richness and texture to his writing that is honesta nd sincere. Grossman was highly criticized for providing the Palestinian story but when one reads this text, it is all sides that he lies within and one can hear the injustices of both the Israeli and the Palestinian.
I think this text is wonderful and easy to read!
Rating:
Summary: A very talented writer and very poor moralist
Review: I remember the sensation this work made when it was first published. The Israeli left , the post- modern anti- Zionist elite waved this work as a flag against Israeli ordinary citizens, soldiers and political leaders.
Grossman is a highly skilled writer. His effort to look into ' West- Bank reality' in a supposedly even- handed way is however a thinly disguised anti- Jewish and pro- Palestinian rant. It is simplistic and it time and again is guilty of taking Arab propaganda ( even when delivered by individuals in interviews) at their word. At some point it almost becomes laughable. This is when Grossman dutifully uncritically records an old ( and therefore to Grossman necessarily wise) Arab who predicts( really threatens) the Jews with destruction if they do not leave the Holy Land to the Arabs.
So skeptical, so critical so seemingly sophisticated in its relation to Jews, and so simply gullible in relation to Arabs this work marks yet another watershed in the lemming - like march of the Israeli left to the sea.
Rating:
Summary: Red Sky at Morning...
Review: Israeli novelist David Grossman spent time on the West Bank talking to Palestinians and Jews about how their lives have been affected by a constant state of hostility and frustration. He doesn't waste much ink on the complex political forces at work; instead, he gives the issues a human face. He visits refugee camps, radical Zionist settlements, universities and kindergartens; he describes the humiliating searches at the Allenby Bridge (and how necessary they are); he interviews a Jewish lawyer who defends Palestinians caught in a Kafkaesque legal system. He finds people on both sides who want to listen to each other but never seem to connect, despite their best efforts. He asks the question, Can an occupying army also be moral, or does the act of occupation contradict morality? This book offers no easy solutions to the problems in that part of the world. In fact, although the book was written more than a decade ago, the situation has only gotten worse. But these essays remind us that there is always more than one side to a story, and that not every story has a happy ending. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Arab/Israeli relations; Grossman fleshes out the raw statistics we hear on the nightly news. I hope he eventually writes a follow-up that is more optimistic.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: This book is more important today than when it was orginally written, in 1988. It contains a new afterward by the author. The author, a journalist, gives his impressions, and relates various converstaions, as he travels all over the West Bank, and through parts of both Israel and Palestine. He presents views from both sides of the issue very well. The book is not about politics, or various peace agreements. It is about individual people's feelings. I have read many books on this topic, and this is one of the BEST. I feel that I understand MUCH better why all the peace agreements come to nothing. To sum it up in a nutshell, the extremists on both sides will EACH never accept less than ALL of the land-that is why nothing works.
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