It is a book I was waiting to read for a long time. Not necessarily for its title, but because I am still waiting for novels addressing in an intelligent, non-biased way the new intellectual realities in Israel and the genesis of the category of "The Settler" seems to be one of the most difficult to deal with in a 'normal', not-hysterical way. And either you love or you hate them, 'the settlers' are a very visible part of the nowadays Israeli reality. This book is a long waited beginning of a different way of writing about this sensitive topic, not only in Israel, and I am looking forward to more books covering the same issue.
The most enjoyable part for me regards the intellectual discussion regarding the failure of Gush Katif. For the main character of the book, Sarah, the 2005 tragic events were a turning point when she started to put everything under question, including her religious upbringing and the very deep roots of her Zionism. She continues to look for reason(s) and an alternative. Following the Rav Kook advice that it is a sparkle of holiness in everything, she found refuge at the Atlantis - the choice of the name is not accidental, as it refers to the disappearing continent with the same name - night club where she desperately tries to hide her past - the settlers were despised by the hip leftists clubber elites of Tel Aviv. But giving up your inner self, despite the provocative appearances - pants, unmodest clothes, smoking, drinking - is not easy and Sarah is looking for meaning. Recreating the spirit of Gush Katif - 'a utopia of Torah observance that lived out the highest biblical value of settling and serving the land of Israel' - is impossible also for her observant parents, and for many of those directly victims of the government juggling with the people's life. On the other end of the story, the peaceniks are nurturing the illusion that the state of Israel should make concessions for an equally illusory peace. The exchange of ideas regarding many important issues in this respect is very interesting and outlines common sense positions often ignored by the pathetic self-hate discourses.
The romance between Sarah and the rebel club owner Ziv Harel wasn't too appealing for me, although the process of her revealing herself is well outlined.
A book I recommend to anyone interested to read a different perspective on contemporary trends of ideas and movements in Israel. Personally, I am looking forward with curiosity about the next book by Orit Arfa.
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