Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the state of Israel, this imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they succeed in pioneering a new life in a new land over three generations. The Blue Mountain transcends its time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, while never failing to entertain and engage the reader. "Shalev's colorful, feisty characters and vibrant prose animate this indelible depiction of the birth of a nation." -- Publishers Weekly "A vast, and vastly funny, epic; a deeply felt and moving expression of complex emotions." -- Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love --This text refers to the Paperback edition. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Passionate, ribald and tender, bursting with dozens of interwoven tales, this lushly nostalgic novel (a bestseller in Israel) records the loves, hates, infidelities, feuds and enterprises that fuel one community over three decades. It also gently laments the eclipse of the pioneer spirit in modern Israel. Orphaned at age two when a bomb thrown by Arab terrorists kills his sleeping parents, Baruch Shenkar is raised by his grandfather, a Russian Jewish immigrant and founding father of a cooperative village in Palestine. Now a mortician reflecting on the many people he has buried, narrator Baruch mulls over questions that still haunt him: Why did rumors circulate that Grandfather Ya'akov Mirkin killed Grandmother Feyge? Whatever became of Uncle Efrayim, who, before he mysteriously vanished, was renowned for carrying an enormous bull named Jean Valjean on his back? Shalev's colorful, feisty characters and vibrant prose animate this indelible depiction of the birth of a nation. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Around the turn of the century many idealistic Jews left Russia to settle in Palestine; their efforts laid the groundwork of the modern state of Israel. The Blue Mountain, a best seller in Israel, focuses on four of these pioneers--three young men and the girl they all love--who settle down to farm the Jezreel valley. The strange four-way relationship they form will powerfully affect succeeding generations. Shalev's novel is complex and densely structured, moving back and forth in time, hinting at slowly revealed secrets. His characters are stubborn, argumentative, full of quirks and crotchets, irritating but believable individuals. History here has not been prettied up; the novel at times is as awkward and uncompromising as its main characters. Overall, a demanding but often gripping look at what it costs to make dreams a reality. -Beth Ann Mills, New Rochelle P.L., N.Y. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.