17. Exodus

Exodus. Leon Uris. 1958. 610 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The airplane plip-plopped down the runway to a halt before the big sign: WELCOME TO CYPRUS.

Don't read Exodus expecting a grand, sweeping love story between a man and a woman. It is not a romance. I didn't go into it thinking it was a romance, but, at the same time you could isolate a few chapters here and there and get the wrong impression. I have--as of the writing of this review--not seen the film adaptation. I don't know if the movie portrays it as a great romance or not. 

The novel focuses on the birth of the nation of Israel in the twentieth century. While there are plenty of flashbacks (and more flashbacks) most of the action occurs 1946-1948. The nation of Israel is without a doubt the main character. Probably. I suppose one could argue that the main character is collectively speaking the Jewish people. This novel is ALL ABOUT the conflict. The opposing views, the ongoing struggles that surround the 'birth' of Israel. We get glimpses from all viewpoints.

Of course, there are a few (human) main characters. Kitty Fremont, an American nurse who only reluctantly goes to Palestine, is one of the main characters. At the beginning, she is a bit clueless. Why would any Jewish person--she wonders--choose to go to Palestine and 'rough it' in that country where they are not wanted when they could settle in America (for example) and have an 'easy' time of it. Why struggle in a harsh land where you both men and women will have to fight, fight, fight, fight, and fight some more to stay? She doesn't get the appeal of Palestine for the Jews. Of course, at the beginning, she still sees Jews as "other" or odd. She feels saddened and sympathetic to the plight of Jews after learning of the Holocaust, but she doesn't particularly like or understand. I'd describe her as sympathetic from a distance. But she finds herself thrown right in the middle. She meets a young Jewish teen, Karen, and there is an instant bond (at least on her side). Karen becomes her family--unofficially. She dreams of wooing Karen away from her hopes and dreams of settling in Palestine and settling down with Karen back in America. She only goes (or mainly goes) to Palestine because she is following Karen.

Of course, that's only half the equation. Kitty Fremont is also oddly enamored with Ari Ben Canaan. She would never in a hundred million years say "I have a crush on Ari Ben Canaan." But she finds him mesmerizing to a certain degree. And it is mutual. She isn't his ideal either--far from it. She's an American woman whose values, beliefs, and culture are so removed from his own. But they find themselves circling each other, reluctant to admit perhaps that there is something going on...

But this is not a romance. I repeat, not a romance. Don't pick this one up thinking Kitty and Ari have this GREAT love affair. It is politics and war; war and politics.

It is about a nation and the people who are willing to give their all--even their very lives--to see her come into being and thrive.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews