{"product_id":"the-silence-of-heaven-agnons-fear-of-god","title":"The Silence of Heaven: Agnon's Fear of God","description":"In The Silence of Heaven  the world renowned Israeli novelist Amos Oz introduces us to an extraordinary masterpiece of Hebrew literature that is just now appearing in English  S. Y. Agnons Only Yesterday. For Oz  Agnon is a treasure trove of a world no longer available to todays writers  yet deeply meaningful for his wonderment about God  the submerged eroticism of his writing  and his juggling of multiple texts from the historical Hebrew religious library. This collection of Ozs reflections on Agnon  which includes an essay on the essence of his ideology and poetics  is a rich interpretive work that shows how one great writer views another.  Oz admires Agnon especially for his ability to invoke and visualize the religious world of the simple folk in Eastern European Jewry  looking back from the territorial context of the Zionist revival in Palestine. The tragedy of Agnons visions  Oz maintains  lies in his perspicacity. Long before the Holocaust  Agnon saw the degeneration  ruin  and end of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe. He knew  too  that the Zionist project was far from being a secure conquest and its champions far from being happy idealists. Oz explores these viewpoints in a series of thick readings that consider the tensions between faith and the shock of doubt  yearnings and revulsion  love and hate  and intimacy and disgust.  Although Oz himself is interested in particular ideological questions  he has the subtle sensibility of a master of fiction and can detect every technical device in Agnons arsenal. With the verve of an excited reader  Oz dissects Agnons texts and subtexts in a passionate argument about the major themes of Hebrew literature. This book also tells much about Oz. It represents the other side of Ozs book of reportage  In the Land of Israel  this time exploring the ideologies of Jewish identity not on the land but in texts of the modern classical heritage. The Silence of Heaven hence takes us on a remarkable journey into the minds of two major literary figures.","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888864817205,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691036926","price":91.72,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_0691036926_abbae845-93e8-4ebc-8e01-dc950ef1ba20.jpg?v=1770340591","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-silence-of-heaven-agnons-fear-of-god","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}