Israeli Novelists Trivia Quiz

Answer: All of these

Shmuel Yosef Agnon was born in 1888 in Galicia. The son of a Chassid, he studied traditional Jewish subjects, as well as modern, European ones. He began writing at the age of eight. His Hebrew is complex and multi-layered, making use of traditional Jewish religious idioms, as well as motifs found in northern European folklore.

His writing, therefore, presents a considerable challenge to the translator. Agnon's novels include "Like Yesterday" and "The Bridal Canopy", as well as numerous short stories.

In 1966 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Israeli to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Agnon died in 1970.

Answer: His mother's suicide

Amos Oz was born in 1939 in Jerusalem. The author of numerous works of both fiction and non-fiction, he has been awarded both the Israel Prize for Literature and the Goethe Prize. His autobiography, "A Tale of Love and Darkness", has been beautifully translated by Nicholas De Lange. Oz's biography is sometimes funny, sometimes moving, and contains some marvelous descriptions of Jerusalem.

However, underlying the entire work is the tremendous personal tragedy suffered by Oz, an only child, at the age of twelve.

His sensitive and creative mother, plagued for years by depression, put an end to her own life.

Answer: She is his graduate student

Yehoshua's lengthy novel begins at Samaher's wedding in the upper Galilee, at which Rivlin and his wife are guests. Yehoshua, one of Israel's best-known novelists, examines the nature of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel, marriage, and identity in this book.

The story takes place primarily in Haifa and Jerusalem. In addition to tackling some of the major issues of our day, Yehoshua can also be quite funny. One of the more humorous scenes in the novel is the description of a door-to-door vacuum salesman.

Answer: Someone To Run With

"Someone To Run With" is the story of two teenagers in Jerusalem. Assaf, who has a summer job at the municipal dog pound, is entrusted with exercising a dog named Dinka. Dinka eventually leads Assaf to Tamar, a runaway determined to save her troubled brother. This fine novel was also made in a film. Tragically, Grossman's own son, Uri, was killed in the Second Lebanese War.

Answer: A homing pigeon

Meir Shalev's novel "A Pigeon and a Boy" intertwines two stories, both narrated by tour-guide Yair. One story is of Yair's own life - the dissolution of his marriage, his rediscovery of an old love, and his search for a home. The second story takes place during the Israeli War of Independence, when a young pigeon-handler working with the Palmach is present during ferocious fighting in Jerusalem. Only towards the end of the novel does the reader understand the relationship between the two narratives.

Answer: The Yom Kippur War (1973)

Haim Sabato teaches at the Yeshiva in Maale Adumin, outside of Jerusalem. Rabbi Sabato's first novel is the story of two reservists, Dov and Haim, called up during the Yom Kippur War, who take part in the fierce tank battles on the Golan Heights. The two friends become separated, and the novel is the story of Haim's search for his missing friend, told in a series of flashbacks.

Answer: Murder mysteries

Batya Gur, born in 1947, made her debut with "Saturday Morning Murder", which introduced her readers to detective Michael Ohayon. Gur's novel created a stir since it was not only a suspenseful mystery. "The Saturday Morning Murder" took place within the psychoanalytical circle in Jerusalem, and therapists in the Holy City were busy trying to pair up Gur's fictitious characters with their real-life counterparts! In her following five books, all of which starred Detective Ohayon, Gur used this technique. Sadly, Gur passed away from cancer in 2005, at the age of 57.

Answer: Homesick

"Homesick" takes place during the winter of 1995, around the time that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. The novel intertwines the narrative of four people living in the Castel, a village right outside of Jerusalem. Each narrator brings into play a different aspect of Israeli life - the bereaved parents of a fallen soldier, a young couple grappling with their religious identity, etc. Nevo is the grandson of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.

Answer: Dancing Arabs

Said Kashua was only twenty-eight when he wrote his prize-winning novel, "Dancing Arabs". Kashua's novel deals with questions of identity - in this case, a young, un-named man, torn between his roots in the Arab world and modern Israeli society. While Kashua's novel touches on painful issues, he is neither preachy nor overly political.

Answer: Naomi Ragen

American-born Naomi Ragen has lived in Israel since 1971. She has written numerous novels, including "The Sacrifice of Tamar", "Sotah", and "Jephte's Daughter", which deal with the lives of of ultra-Orthodox women. In addition to her novels, Ms. Ragen writes for several newspapers, is a sought-after speaker, and has written a play.

The wrong answers are all young, Jewish-American writers.