My Michael, by Amos Oz is an excellent book, translated from the Hebrew by Nicholas de Lange. The novel is a metaphor for the state of discontent between Hannah and her husband Michael Gonen, and the decline of their marriage. It is also a metaphor for the underlying theme of the discord within the State of Israel during the 1950s. Oz ties the two themes together masterfully.

Hannah is the narrator, and we view the marriage through her blurred eyes, whether through her dreams or wakeful moments.

“I AM WRITING this because people I loved have died. I am writing this because when I was young I was full of the power of loving, and now that power of loving is dying. I do not want to die.

I am thirty years of age and a married woman. My husband is Dr. Michael Gonen, a geologist, a good-natured man. I loved him.”

Hannah is a dreamer, and has extremely vivid nightmares. Her dream state alternates between wakeful hours and sleep. She is a depressed woman and sees much of life in grey tones. Life is dreary and filled with rote and drudgery. She likes the idea of being ill, feeling that illness evokes its own form of freedom and power. She views Michael as being an ordinary and unremarkable individual. Given all that he physically does within the marriage, he is remarkable in many aspects.

Michael, meanwhile seems to bear all the strife within the marriage, in a seemingly patient manner. He is the essence of good will. He does all the housework, all of the mundane chores, and takes care of their infant son, while simultaneaously tending to Hannah’s needs. He accomplishes all of this while attending a university full-time in order to obtain a Doctorate Degree in Geology. He is heavily burdened, physically and emotionally. This constant daily routine begins to aggravate his own health.

Throughout all of this, Hannah still considers him to be an unremarkable individual. That, in and of itself, is remarkable, as far as her thought process goes. She has issues, major issues, and can’t snap out of her depressive, psychological situations. She exudes emotional drama within her illnesses, being the classic antagonist. She appears to be high-strung and euphoric at times, causing herself complete mental and physical exhaustion. Her doctor has told her to rest, not talk, not move, and avoid the drama she creates. If anyone is unremarkable (not including her extreme dreams and fantasies), it would be the narrator.

My Michael moves back and forth, in time, from Hannah’s dream state to her moments of acute awareness. Many of her dreams include twins from her childhood, Arab boys who she seems to be able to exert a strange power over. She likes the thought of having power, even if it is a power controlled by illness. In fact, she feels she has control over Michael, constantly referring to him as “my” Michael, within the pages of the book, implying a state of ownership.

Amos Oz has the ability to understand the depth of emotions that people have. It is almost an innate sense within him, and it shows in his incredible writing skills. His own personal childhood background has given him empathy and insight into the core and abundance of human emotion.

Oz infuses descriptive language in order to demonstrate the conflicts of identity, not only between married individuals, but also the conflicts within a nation striving to find its identity within the marriage of diverse cultures. From diverse cultures and their ideals, to familial bonds, to war and conflict, we find it all inside the pages of My Michael. Oz is brilliant in evoking the labors individuals take in their search for peace and serenity, within the walls of a nation’s struggles with the same issues.

My Michael is not a book to read if you want a light, airy story. It’s depressive overtones don’t allow for that. But, that doesn’t mean I’m inferring any negative connotations. On the contrary, the book is excellent, and Oz is at his finest in blending discord in personal relationships, such as marriages of wives and husbands, within the ongoing daily social discontent of a nation. I highly recommend My Michael.

~~~~~~

Jew Wishes for inner peace.