Not Now, For The Last Three Thousand

All My Novels Are Rooted In Their Time And In Their Place. The Place Of My Novels Is Israel, Almost Without Exception. Almost Without Exception, My Novels Are Rooted In Israel Because That's The Place I Know Well. And, That's My Gutsy Advice To Any Young Writer: Write Only About What You Know Well. Don't Write About That Which You Don't Know.

I Know That A Translation Of A Work Of Literature Is Like Playing A Violin Concerto On The Piano. You Can Do This. You Can Do This Very Successfully On One Strict Condition: Never Try To Force The Piano To Produce The Sounds Of The Violin. This Will Be Grotesque.

Almost Every Modern Literary Form Existed In Hebrew Two Thousand Years Ago. And, Yes, It Existed Even During The Middle Ages.

The Palestinians Have No Other Land. They Are Absolutely Right About This. The Israeli Jews Also Have No Other Land And They Are Absolutely Right About This. It Is A Tragedy Of Two Peoples Claiming The Same Very Small Country - Very Small, About The Size Of New Jersey. And Both Of Them Are Right. Both Of Them Have No Other Homeland As Peoples. As Individuals, Maybe, But Not As A People.

I Wrote A Novel About Israelis Who Live Their Own Lives On The Slope Of A Volcano. Near A Volcano One Still Falls In Love, One Still Gets Jealous, One Still Wants A Promotion, One Still Gossips.