Equivocal Dreams: Studies in Modern Hebrew Literature (review)

BookReviews 111 one is impressed by the dark message ofenduring tensions, suspicions, and expectations which have figured so centrally in Polish Jewish memory, experiences which, ironically enough, contributed to the survival of that Jewish community until its utter annihilation by the Nazis. So as not to seem negative throughout, Agnon, and Werses' account, takes note of positive and admiring attitudes by Jews ofPolish royalty-primarily ofKing Sobieski-and the positive, reciprocal relations between Jews and members of the nobility, for whom the Jews served a useful purpose. In so doing, some redressing of the balance is attained against the tensions and evil decrees emanating from the same sources. Though one can find examples ofgood relations between Jews and nobles, Agnon's stories reflect the often precarious situation of the Jew's dependence on the caprices of the nobleman and the extent to which he needed Jewish services, talents, and benefits. Though often not dependent on specific Jewish behavior, Christian views ofJews were also affected, implies Agnon (and Werses), by the Jews' practices limiting contact with their non-Jewish Polish community, whether because of limited linguistic skills, unfamiliarity with others' ways, or the suspicion among the groups. In this we discern the mutual demonization of the groups as being at the roots of many troubles, as one Other marginalized the other. The book is an excellent illustration of Werses' erudition in matters pertaining to Agnon and Jewish culture. Yet the study's brevity, while supported by many illustrations., does not do the author service. This reader also found the index ofworks discussed to be oflimited value, since page numbers to indicate location ofsuch discussions were left out. There is no doubt that the book makes for good reading. It is informative and offers a broad sampling of Agnon's fiction, Ora Wiskind's translation being generally natural and unobtrusive (except for a few scattered instances, as in her translation of"tinoket" as baby, while the term "young girl" would have been more fitting, p. 46). Stephen Katz Department ofNear Eastern Languages and Cultures Indiana University Equivocal Dreams: Studies in Modern Hebrew Literature, by Lev Hakak. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 1994. 195 pp. $19.95. This volume consists ofa variety ofpreviously published essays on Israeli fiction and poetry. The prose section includes four essays on S. Y. Agnon and one on A. B. Yehoshua. The section on poetry includes essays on David Vogel and Natan Alterman, Natan Zach, and Near Eastern poets in Israel. Hakak offers us apparently disparate articles on diverse 112 SHOFAR Spring 1997 Vol. 15, No.3 subjects, but the way he handles the specific themes selected for special treatment offers a unique overall approach to Hebrew literary texts. Thus, for example, in his first essay on "The Motifofthe Cock in a Simple Story by S. Y. Agnon," Hakak focuses on a seemingly marginal issue. The strategic contexts in which the rooster appears and its numerous appearances suggest with cumulative force of consistency that it is a key metaphor. In Hebrew cock or rooster, "gever," refers to masculinity. Focusing on specific key images and endowing them with psychological meaning is a technique that helps clarifY especially difficult passages in this story and Agnon's work in general. Drawing on Freudian theories, Hakak interprets "Another Face" as a thin coverup for the characters' pent-up longings and unexpressed desires. The debate about the unreliable narrator in S. Y. Agnon is evoked in Hakak's treatment of"Another Tallit." Drawing on Arnold Band's Nostalgia and Nightmare, Hakak suggests that the unreliable, apologetic narrator represents the modem secular Jew tom from his traditional roots and longing to recover them. In an intriguing article on "In the Forest and In the City" and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations Hakak surveys similarities and differences that suggest that Agnon may have been aware ofDickens' presentation of innocence, social indictment, and personal judgment. II) addition to known influences like Hamsun, Gogol, and Flaubert, we may add Dickens to a list of European authors whose work shaped Agnon's modem interpretation ofJewish life. Hakak offers two possible interpretations ofNatan Zach's "A Poem to Wise Lovers," stressing the need for the reader's active participation: "The...