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Summary
Summary
Hailed as "The Great Israeli Novel" ( Time Out Tel Aviv) and winner of the prestigious Bernstein Prize, The Hilltop is a monumental and daring work about life in a West Bank settlement from one of Israel's most acclaimed young novelists.
On a rocky, beautiful hilltop stands Ma'aleh Hermesh C, a fledgling community flying under the radar. According to the government it doesn't exist; according to the military it must be defended. On this contested land, Othniel Assis--under the wary gaze of the neighboring Palestinian village--plants asparagus, arugula, and cherry tomatoes, and he installs goats--and his ever-expanding family. As Othniel cheerfully manipulates government agencies, more settlers arrive, and, amid a hodge-podge of shipping containers and mobile homes, the outpost takes root.
One of the settlement's steadfast residents is Gabi Kupper, a one-time free spirit and kibbutz-dweller, who undergoes a religious awakening. The delicate routines of Gabi's new life are thrown into turmoil with the sudden arrival of Roni, his prodigal brother, who, years after venturing to America in search of fortune, arrives at Gabi's door, penniless. To the settlement's dismay, Roni soon hatches a plan to sell the "artisanal" olive oil from the Palestinian village to Tel Aviv yuppies. When a curious Washington Post correspondent stumbles into their midst, Ma'aleh Hermesh C becomes the focus of an international diplomatic scandal and faces its greatest test yet.
By turns serious and satirical, The Hilltop brilliantly skewers the complex, often absurd reality of life in Israel, the West Bank settlers, and the nation's relationship to the United States, and makes a startling parallel between today's settlements and the kibbutz movement of Gabi and Roni's youth. Rich with humor and insight, Assaf Gavron's novel is the first fiction to grapple with one of the most charged geo-political issues of our time, and he has written a masterpiece.
Author Notes
Assaf Gavron is the author of seven books, and his fiction has been translated into ten languages. He has won the Israeli Prime Minister's Creative Award for Authors, the Book fur die Stadt award in Germany, and the Prix Courrier International award in France. The son of English immigrants, he grew up in a small village near Jerusalem and currently lives in Tel Aviv.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This memorable novel by Gavron (Almost Dead) follows the fate of a small, not-quite-legitimate Israeli settlement in the West Bank and its denizens. Othniel Assis and a few associates founded Ma'aleh Hermesh C in the recent past, both despite and with the aid of various Israeli bureaucracies. While the primary story line charts the course of the settlers' fight against the inevitable barrage of eviction notices and subsequent reversals, Gavron moves beyond simple political farce by weaving together the stories, both simple and complex, of individual characters. He particularly focuses on the kibbutznik brothers, the spiritual Gavriel Nehushtan and businessman Roni Kupper, who arrive at Ma'aleh Hermesh C at different times and in different circumstances. "Longing is the engine of the world,"¿ one character says. Indeed, Gavron's novel is marked by its great depth of feeling and its disparate themes, which are united by the longing of its characters. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Israeli settler Othniel just wants to grow some arugula, some tomatoes, and keep a goat. He wanders out of his settlement onto a hilltop overlooking the Judean desert and a Palestinian village and comes upon the ideal plot of land. Soon he's the unofficial leader of an illegal little settlement contending with a monstrous web of red tape. Israeli novelist Gavron (Almost Dead, 2010) populates this outlaw outpost with transfixing characters, focusing most on two kibbutz-raised brothers. Gabi came to the hilltop as a reborn intent on living simply and honestly with God. Roni is a fugitive from a misadventure in America. Both are risk-takers, but Roni, who quickly negotiates a deal to sell Palestinian olive oil, is calculating, while emotional Gabi is a victim of his demonically vengeful anger. As Gavron slowly reveals their rollercoaster pasts, life on the hilltop grows evermore imperiled as the rogue settlers finally provoke the wrath of the epically ambivalent authorities by triggering an international incident. This many-storied, funny, shrewd, and tender satire dives into the heart of Israel, a land of trauma and zeal, fierce opinions and endless deliberation. From failed marriages to governmental dysfunction to the tragic Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gavron's spirited desert saga embraces the absurd and the profound and advocates for compassion and forgiveness, even joy.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2014 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
"Above all, and omnipresent - the majestic landscape, the exalted landscape, the wild landscape that appeared to be crying out, and sometimes whispering, and also playing a melody: This is the desert. This is the Bible. This is Genesis." Gavron's structurally brilliant book, which won the 2013 Bernstein Prize (one of the most prestigious for an Israeli novel), tells the story of an Israeli hilltop settlement, Ma'aleh Hermesh C., on the West Bank. At the epicenter of an international struggle over the expansion of the Jewish state, Ma'aleh Hermesh has, in turn, a relationship between two brothers at its own epicenter: Gabi, the ascetic follower of Nachman of Breslov, and Roni, the outgoing, worldly older brother, who thinks religion is "an interesting social attempt to deal with the fact that all men are addicted to sex and violence." As the novel accelerates, the story of the two men fills in. Violence haunts the narrative, providing its emotional core. Critical is the relationship between the men of the settlement and an Arab olive farmer; the tragic fate of the olive grove provides the book with much of its resonance. Yet Gavron, who has six previous books to his credit, mishandles the ending, choosing to set the climactic scene on Purim, when the characters are dressed as figures from pop culture: Harry Potter, Michael Jackson, Pippi Longstocking. It's a discordant note, one that stands in contrast to the work's deepest themes. "During a lesson I once attended," a character tells us, "the rabbi said that longing is the engine of the world."
Kirkus Review
Writing with crisp insight and dry humor, Israeli author Gavron (Almost Dead, 2010, etc.) tells a lively tale of life in an embattled Jewish settlement on an arid, rocky West Bank hilltop in this award-winning novel.Gavron's sardonic yet sage story, which earned Israel's prestigious Bernstein Prize, focuses on an ever expanding community of observant Jews that populates the West Bank settlement Ma'aleh Hermesh C. Bit by bita new mobile home here, a spare room fashioned from a shipping container there, a new playground for the kids (funded by a deep-pocketed Miami macher), maybe some improvements for the synagogue or day care center (Jewish workmen only, please)these settlers, who consider themselves modern-day pioneers, gradually establish ever more permanent footing as the government either looks the other way, threatens to evacuate, or (despite the fact that the settlement may not officially exist) boosts their infrastructure and provides protection, depending on the moods and whims of those in power on any given day. Through it all, Ma'aleh Hermesh C's motley assortment of residents contends with the stuff of lifebabies are born, marriages break up, business ideas bloom and die, teenagers come of age and struggle to grasp where they stand. Within the vast cast of characters, two brothers, Roni and Gabi Kupper, orphaned as infants, raised on a kibbutz, are central. Gabi, the younger, has found his life derailed by uncontrollable ragesthe result of "a short-circuit in the brain," perhaps. Newly religious, and fervently so, he has come to the hilltop to seek sanctuary, absolution and maybe even, eventually, a sense of belonging. But what, precisely, is his elder brother, Roni, a secular Jew who worked as a high-stakes trader at a Wall Street hedge fund, seeking? Gavron lets Gabi's and Roni's stories unfold gradually, and in the midst of this wise and waggish tale, we may find ourselves feeling unexpectedly invested in these disparate brothers' fates. Slowly and incrementally, like those settlers on that craggy West Bank hilltop, Gavron's story gains a foothold in our hearts and minds and stubbornly refuses to leave. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Behind the headlines in the turbulent Middle East are ordinary people living their lives, raising families, and struggling to get ahead. Israeli author Gavron focuses on such individuals in a West Bank settlement. The novel begins when Othniel Assis stakes a claim on a remote patch of land and starts growing vegetables. Soon he is joined by others, among them brothers Gabi and Roni, whose personal histories are an important focus of the novel. The community continues to grow, babies are born, the years go by, but the settlement's status as an illegal entity lacking the necessary permits continues to endanger its existence. At some point, a high-ranking minister declares that they must evacuate, an order residents ignore as they have all previous orders. Then the army arrives and precipitates the final conflict. VERDICT Gavron expertly works with a large cast of characters to create a resonant portrayal of life at the center of one of the world's main trouble spots. His depiction of the community's religious practices and the reasonably sympathetic portrayal of the neighboring Arab village and their age-old lifestyle and customs are particularly effective. Despite the highly charged political and cultural arenas in which it is set, this novel, an award winner in Israel, is very funny and entertaining.-James Coan, SUNY at Oneonta Lib. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Hilltop The Convoy A hilltop. The earth light and still, almost barren: a brownish yellow, dotted with rocks and lonely olive trees, and, here and there, soft patches of green brought on by the rain. Cutting through the center of the hilltop ran a narrow and bumpy single-lane road. A trailer--a mobile home--attached to the back of a large truck slowly climbed and descended its winding path. A yellow Palestinian cab bearing a green license plate crawled along impatiently behind. And after the cab chugged an old and dusty white Renault Express, its rear window bearing stickers declaring MY GOLANI DOESN'T EXPEL JEWS; HEBRON--NOW AND FOREVER; and BRING THE OSLO CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE. Behind the wheel of the Renault sat Othniel Assis--bearded, wearing a large skullcap, just as dusty as his vehicle. Weeping miserably in a car seat in the back sat his youngest, three-year-old Shuv-el. He had dropped his packet of Bamba as they rounded one of the sharp bends, and neither he nor his father could pick it up off the floor of the car. Yellow crumbs from the peanut butter-flavored snack had stuck to one of the child's sidelocks. The fourth vehicle in the impromptu convoy that day on the rough road through the Judean hills was a military jeep, a David, carrying the section commander, Captain Omer Levkovich, along with his crew. The road rose sharply. The truck shifted down a gear; its engine screamed and carried the vehicle up the incline, the same slow pace of the herd of goats that ambled indifferently along the side of the road. The cabdriver mumbled something in Arabic, blew his horn, and pulled off a dangerous passing maneuver. Seconds later, one of the cab's tires blew--a dull thud, the sound of rubber being dragged across the tarmac, the car bouncing along the road, the driver's curses. The cab came to a halt, blocking the road. Out stepped Jeff McKinley, the Washington Post's Jerusalem correspondent, on his way to interview a high-ranking Israeli government minister who lived in a settlement some six kilometers from where they had stopped. McKinley looked at his watch and wiped a bead of sweat from his wide brow. The evening before, his father had told him about the snow that was falling in Virginia; here he was in February, already perspiring. He had ten minutes to get to the meeting at the minister's home. He couldn't wait for the flat to be fixed. McKinley handed the cabdriver a fifty-shekel note and walked off in the direction of the hitchhiking station he spotted a few dozen meters away. But, as if the perspiring, the time crunch, and his heavy breathing--a sign of his lack of fitness and an urgent need to diet--weren't enough, someone had beaten him to the station and was first in line for a ride. Dressed in a finely tailored suit, the man stood there with his arms folded across his chest, a large suitcase at his feet, a broad white smile on his face, uttering words in Hebrew that McKinley didn't understand. Before McKinley could reach the ride station, the dusty Renault signaled and pulled over. "Shalom, fellow Jews!" Othniel Assis called out. "Where are you headed?" the man with the suitcase asked the driver. "Ma'aleh Hermesh C.," Othniel Assis replied, glancing at the blue suit, and then into the man's eyes, which appeared weary. "For real? You're a star, bro," the man said, picking up his heavy suitcase from the faded tarmac. "Do me a favor, buddy," the driver said. "Help the kid--his Bamba fell onto the floor." Othniel then turned to the American. "What about you, dude?" he asked in Hebrew. "Can you get me anywhere near Yeshua, where Minister Kaufman lives?" McKinley responded in English. "What?" said Othniel. "Settlement?" McKinley said in an effort to simplify matters, after repeating his first question to no avail. "Settlement, settlement--yes!" Othniel smiled. "Please, please." McKinley's limited knowledge of the area didn't include the fact that its hilltops were home not only to Ma'aleh Hermesh and its two outgrowths, B. and C., but also to Givat Esther and its offshoots, to Sdeh Gavriel, and to Yeshua, where the minister resided. He squeezed into the backseat alongside the child. The convoy--a trailer home on a truck, a company commander and his crew in a jeep, and a dusty pickup, carrying a settler and his child and two hitchhikers, an American and an Israeli--turned onto a second road. This road was even narrower, and steeper, too, and so, once again, the two smaller vehicles were doomed to crawl along at the snail's pace dictated by the larger truck. Captain Omer's gray-green eyes remained firmly planted on the rear of the trailer, displaying a touch of apprehension at the thought of the vehicle's load detaching and crashing down on the jeep behind it. He glanced at his watch and then turned to gaze into the side mirror. "Tell me something, don't I know you from somewhere?" Othniel asked his Hebrew-speaking passenger. The man stared for some time at the driver's large head and at the wide skullcap that covered it. "I don't know," he replied. "My brother lives here with you, but we don't look alike at all." Othniel cast a quick look over his shoulder at the man with the black hair and then turned to focus on the road again. His passenger offered some assistance. "Gabi Kupper. Do you know him?" The driver frowned. "We don't have anyone by that name," he said. "We have a Gavriel. Gavriel Nehushtan. A great guy. A real prince. He works with me on the farm." "Nehushtan?" Roni Kupper replied, his turn to frown. The American journalist glanced impatiently at his watch. The slow climb up the hill ended at the entrance into Ma'aleh Hermesh A. The three vehicles drove through the gate, turned right at the traffic circle, and made their way through the well-established settlement with its stone homes, paved streets, and small commercial area comprising a winery, a horse ranch, and a carpentry workshop. They then headed across a desolate hilltop before reaching the trailers of the sister settlement Ma'aleh Hermesh B., beyond which the tarmac ended and a dirt road plunged steeply down into the wadi, traversed the dry riverbed, and began climbing up the other side. "All gone, Daddy!" Shuv-el announced, on finishing his Bamba. A sickly sweet stench filled the car. "Did you go, sweetie?" the father asked his son. "Holy crap!" hissed Roni Kupper. "What is this place?" Jeff McKinley did his utmost to refrain from retching. A yellow dust rose from the wheels of the vehicles into the crisp sky above and after snaking their way along for a while, they came to a water tower bearing a crudely drawn Star of David, followed immediately by an IDF guard tower, and finally the eleven trailers that made up the outpost, spread out along a circular road. Manning the guard post stood Yoni, the soldier, a rifle at an angle across his chest, his one hand on the butt, welcoming the arrivals in his Ray-Bans with a boyish smile on his face. An untamed landscape stretched out before them--the Judean Desert in all its splendor and beauty, with its arid hilltops and the Dead Sea tucked away at their feet, and beyond it, rising up on the horizon, the mountains of Moab and Edom. Occasional villages and settlements dotted the expanse of land, while farther in the distance stood the truncated summit of the Herodium and the homes of a large Palestinian town, some of which appeared wrapped in a giant gray concrete wall, like a gift that couldn't be opened. A large improvised sign stood just beyond the entrance to the outpost, the handwriting almost like a child's, in Hebrew and English, reading: "Welcome to Ma'aleh Hermesh C." Excerpted from The Hilltop: A Novel by Assaf Gavron All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
