To the End of the Land

by David Grossman

The group in general was quite enthusiastic about this book. All felt that the book was beautifully written and that the writer’s story of ORA -the main character-, her family and lover gave the reader an enlightening insight into the conditions of peopleliving permanently at war. Most of the group identified  strongly with the ORA. However, not all felt that the reactions of ORA rang true and many felt that the book was too long. Ittakes a long time before the reader gets the whole picture of the story and some members of the group would have liked the other war party’s living conditions to be exposed more.

The majority, however, felt that Grossmann had succeeded superbly in portraying the feelings of a Mother/ Woman. The book created long discussions among the group and each speaker brought new aspects of the book into the discussion showing the many levels on which the writer is communicating his message.  

To the End of the Land takes place in Israel and is a book about how continuous wars affect domestic life. Grossman takes us on a journey of love and fear that at times becomeoverwhelming.  Israel or you could say any society constantlyat war gets scarred on its soul; Grossmann describes these scarswith surgical precision. Grossmann uses the domestic situation of ORA, her husband ILAN and their two boys as the background for the development of the story.  When OFER the youngest son voluntarily goes back to fight during one of manyconflicts ORA is beset with emotions and premonitions and flees from Jerusalem not wanting to receive ‘ the message ‘.

She goes on a hike in the Galilee hills, bringing along her bestfriend and previous lover, AVRAM, who also is the best friendof ILAN and the father of OFER:

ORA feels that by writing and telling the story of her life to AVRAM she can keep her (their) son safe. She is convinced that as long as she thinks or talks about him he will stay alive. AVRAM has not wanted to know anything about their son previously. He has been on a mental and physical 'deroute' ever since his terrible experiences during the 1967 war. The hike improves his health and he increasingly gets interested in knowing about OFER.

Through their conversations Ora describes the feelings, she has had all her life, of undercurrent fear of loosing the ones sheloves.  She characterizes her two men and the relationship between them and her. ILAN her husband is good looking, sexy and logical and AVRAM her lover and sole mate is creativeand highly gifted.

The surrounding landscape is described with a lyrical intensity, which contrasts strongly the horrific experiences of her life. Her story reveals to the reader the loss of normality, whichevery family in a country permanently at war, like Israel,suffers. The children are in a way the property of the state and private emotions are nationalized.   All the situations ORA lives and tells in this book are results of the war and all the main characters except for OFER flee in different ways: ILAN goes on trips or lives away from the family in a hut in the back yard, AVRAM goes down mentally and wants contact with nobody. ORA defends herself   by taking refuge in her role as a MOTHER. Only OFER is not fleeing. He is the product of the war itself.

So for ORA the only stable thing in this life of non-certainty are the motherly or parental feelings and when her son then joins up again, she refuses to accept the possible outcome of his action. She clings to her emotions and uses them as a vehicle for keeping him safe.  She nearly succeeds. Through their conversations and her notes and AVRAM’S growing interest in OFER, their son becomes more and more safe in their minds and is in a sense born a second time.   Whether OFER actually survives is left open as the book ends with a reality check. The individual reader decides.

The parental feelings are superbly described and clearly felt by the writer, who himself lost a son in a conflict while writing thebook. His insight into the feelings of a woman/ wife/lover and MOTHER is remarkable.   ORA is MOTHER:

Contributed by Gitte