חטופים

Watching Hatufim, the moving and chilling TV series about the return of two POWs to Israel after 17 years in Syrian captivity, I am reminded of the immense pain floating around in Israel and that hardly any family in that society has managed to avoid some huge personal drama. What I realised living in Israel in the early 90's is the intensely personal nature of politics there - in the sense that politics intrudes violently in everybody's personal life. It thus requires a huge amount of moral strength and intellectual detachment to rise above these dramas and look dispassionately at the issues. But this is what I expect from the people of the Book.

Walking in Wicklow

Today, Yom Kippur, we went walking up the river in Wicklow with Ilsa and Pierre. There was not a soul in sight, except a lone fishermen trying to catch trout. The sun was warm, the breeze was fresh, the light strong, the air light. Raffie, who also came, jumped and tunnelled through the weeds, fell into the river and climbed a rock. We walked for three hours, through the mud, the grass, the rocks, the bog. Around us bare mountains, above passing clouds and the sound of water all the way through.

Hisham Matar

"Anatomy of a Disappearance", the story of a boy who loses his father, kidnapped by Khaddafy thugs, feels so true that it reads like an autobiography. The language is so controlled, the emotions so tight, the scenes so vivid - the novel holds you in a grip.