I’ve been thinking a lot about David Grossman ever since this Israeli author lost his 21-year-old son in the Lebanon war. This book of essays by the noted author talks to me. It tells me about how he views literature and how he sees his country. What he says in these pieces echoes deeply and sadly within my soul. The essay that most tore me to shreds was the very last one, not because it mentions his fallen son, but because it bemoans what the fate of Israel has become in the years since its creation. Both frightening and heart-rending, this book is one I recommend highly to anyone who cares about what happens in the future to the state of Israel.

By the way, in two of his essays, Grossman refers back to See: Under Love, a book he wrote about the Holocaust. It is a difficult book to read, not only because of its content, but also because of its writing style. Grossman states, in one of his essays how sorry he is that some people were not able to finish reading this book. He also mentions how important it was for him to write it. My reaction to his disappointment is now a firm determination to go back to See: Under Love and fully tackle it the next time I have it in my possession. ( )

Writing in the Dark is a collection of essays on literature and politics by David Grossman, possibly one of the world's best living writers. This slim volume contains only 6 essays, but there's more insight and intelligence packed into these 131 pages than resides in most books. In perfectly crafted prose, Grossman speaks personally and passionately about his writing life: "I write, and the world does not close in on me. It does not grow smaller. It moves in the direction of what is open, future, possible. I imagine, and the act of imagination revives me."

Many of these essays touch on Grossman's love of reading and the effect of literature on his life. In one essay, he describes reading a good book: "I read the book over the course of one day and night in a total frenzy of the senses, and my feeling--which now slightly embarrasses me--will be familiar to anyone who has been in love: it was the knowledge that this other person or thing was meant only for me."

In addition to writing and reading, a couple of these essays touch on politics, particularly in relation to Israel, but this is not a political book in the usual sense. Grossman clarifies, "I am not planning to talk 'politics,' but rather to address the intimate, internal processes that occur among those who live in a disaster zone, and the role of literature and writing in a climate as lethal as the one we live in."

Without a doubt, this is the best collection of essays I've read in years. I'm perplexed as to why this book has not received the attention it so clearly deserves.

This review also appears on my blog Literary License. ( )