The Hope

The book was entertaining, but really surface I thought. And, I was angered by the treatment of the Israeli attacks on a clearly marked American military ship in International waters. That alone is sufficient to give this work a pass.

This is billed as a historical fiction novel of Israel. It takes place during the period between that country’s founding in 1948 through the 1967 Six Day War. Given the history of Israel, I was expecting the book to be mostly a story about war, political conflict and intrigue. Some of it contains all of that, but quite a lot of it deals the private lives of the 4 main characters and their family members. The plot is basically good and it’s well researched. It is also spot on historically accurate, but it is also way too much boring soap opera to suit my tastes and not nearly enough of the history aspect. It’s fairly well written but due to Herman Woulk’s less than clear writing style it’s sometimes hard to follow. A lot of the history surrounding some events is not properly explained properly. His frequent use of Yiddish and Hebrew phrases adds to the difficulty. Some of these phrases are translated but many of them are not, so readers not familiar will struggle with this. I found the parts dealing with Israel’s various conflicts to be entertaining but unfortunately I was unable to handle the soap opera component, so I did not finish reading it... which is rare for me. I am sure that this book is just the ticket for a lot of people. I am just not one of them.

Many others have summarized the content of this work of historical fiction so I will only add my thoughts. As far as the historical portion of this book goes Wouk appears to have thoroughly vetted his material - it is accurate and unbiased. Some reviewers seem to feel it is one-sided and does not depict the Arab point of view, however, it was not intended to. Through the inclusion of fictional characters Wouk gives the reader the sense of actually living in Israel during the early days of the country and underscores the need of the Jewish people, throughout history and especially in light of the holocaust, to have a permanent home of their own. I am not Jewish but I admire their guts and have at times been ashamed that our US government is not a more loyal ally. The highlight of the entire book is the entering of the Old City and the dancing and singing at the wall. If your mind has already been closed to the idea of a Zionist state you probably will not be moved and it is doubtful you will enjoy the book at all. The battle scenes are exciting, the fictional characters interesting (especially Don Kishote) and the political struggles explained in a way that was easy to understand. I think the stories of some of the fictional Israelis could have been fleshed out a little bit more but the only real negative for me is the fixation with the character of Emily Cunningham. There was actually a point in the book where I wished it was just non-fiction and thought about leaving it unfinished. I'm not saying she shouldn't have been included at all but her personal life, her thoughts and feelings were explored in much greater depth than many of the Israeli characters and there was a definite ick factor in her relationship with Zev Barak (middle aged man meets 12 year old girl...). I'm glad I stuck with it though and look forward to reading The Glory.

Before reading this book, the only other books I read by this author were “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance” - a two volume saga of a family engulfed by the second world war. With this book (and its follow up “The Glory”, which I have not yet read), it’s very obvious that Herman Wouk is copying the exact same formula and using it here. This book details the Jews’ struggle after they returned to their homeland in 1948, and all of its bullying Arab neighbors that want to evict and annihilate their neighbors for the sole reason that they’re Jewish.

Being that the author is Jewish himself and was alive and well during these events, it’s very obvious that he’s a perfect person to write about such events which take place from 1948 up until the 6 Day War in 1967. It helps that Mr. Wouk is an outstanding writer, as he does the narrative justice by incorporating fact with fictional characters. Like the previously mentioned books, he also adds some of the famous Israelite figures to his story. Some of the major ones include David Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and Golda Meier among several others. This book really isn’t their story, however. He doesn’t use these people as mere historical references in the book. No, they actually interact with the main (fictitious) heroes of the story in order to give to reader a better understanding of the feelings and the conflicts that existed.

Our two main heroes are young, twenty somethings at the beginning of the story (this is so we can grow old with them through this books’ 20 year tenure as well as the follow up book). Zev Barak and Don Kishote are our protagonists. Actually “Don Kishote” isn’t his real name – he has several names/monikers throughout the book – a Hebrew thing, I guess, and I really don’t remember his many other labels. We see our two heroes on the battlefield, with the above mentioned real people, and their limited home lives as well. All of this is good, but it’s the personal lives of these two individuals that sapped a lot of the enjoyment out of this book for me.

SPOILER ALERT: Now, perhaps my standards of morality are higher than many, but I don’t like reading about characters that I am supposed to admire get engaged in frivolous infidelities. Zev, for example has a beautiful wife and beautiful children. Well, one day when Zev travels to the United States, he meets an associate that has a 12 year old daughter. The young girl is obviously very smitten with this young chap about 10 years her senior. So, she follows him around, corresponds with him and makes sure she’s available every time he visits the States to confer with her father. As the years go by, she’s no longer 12, and the innocent infatuation seems to turn into an unhealthy obsession. Zev is aware of it. Does he put an end to it? No, he does not. So obviously, as history teaches us time in time again, her feelings are eventually reciprocated and Zev is well down the path of marital infidelity. What’s really sad is it never seems to really bother him, and there never seems to be any unhappiness with his wife that would warrant such unforgivable behavior. Oh sure, he knows it’s wrong and he wrestles a bit with his conscious from time to time, but I lost a lot of respect for this character that I’m supposed to like.

Don Kishote has somewhat similar romantic issues as well, and at times it feels like Herman Wouk feels he can’t quite tell a great story without involving elements of sleazy soap operas (this happened as well with his two World War II books). The whole romantic tryst element seemed to make me appreciate this book a bit less than I had hoped. It’s not that I don’t enjoy personal stories with the action, I just wish his characters could have had a bit more moral guidance with some of their choices. Maybe I’m a prude, but I don’t find myself thinking this after many books.

My conclusion is that this book was “good” yet not “great”. Sadly, I’m in no real rush to read the follow up novel any time soon. I would recommend that you start with “Winds of War” and then “War and Remembrance” first. I seem to recall that each of those books were either close to, or more than 1,000 pages. They were worth it though. This work was only about 650 pages, and, sadly it seemed a lot longer.

Although written as a novel, The Hope provides an excellent and well researched account of Israel’s struggles to survive despite being surrounded by hostile neighbors determined to destroy the tiny nation. Specifically, it an account of military prowess against enormous odds. The author includes Israel’s political leaders in the story and the costly errors that were made. It is an amazing story that should be better known than it is.

This author has to rank up there with the absolute best of all writers. I was brought up a Catholic and went to Catholic schools. Sad to say they never touched on the struggles of the Jewish People. It was truly a Shame that the did not touch on this subject. Thankfully as an adult and being a military wife I had a lot of time on my hands with deployments and such, I turned to books and started to read a lot of books that went into the lives of Jewish People and needless to say I learned a great deal. I continued reading and went for a long spell with reading all about these interesting people. I did read Inside Outside and came away with a new feeling. Winds of War and War and Remembrance were just captivating. At the end of The Glory I now see why, this man is a genius when it comes to researching his material. Great Works and Great reads. Thank you Herman Wouk

It is a good presentation of the military conflicts of the Israel State from the beginning war with the Arab countries. The political parts are not easy to follow. The Hebrew and Yiddish terms are hard to follow even though many are translated into English, not all of them are and that makes the story hard to follow. Some of the fictional characters are brought into the story without a complete explanation of their status. It is hard to understand why some of the fictional characters act the way they do, Particularly Yael Luria and Yossi Yitzan. It would help if Yossi's feelings and thoughts were developed more. A reader of "The Hope" should also read the sequel "The Glory". There should be a third book covering the time period from the end of "The Glory" to the present era.

The story of two nations which sprang from two half brothers will have sides. This one tells it from Israel's perspective. Yet the fiction helps give feeling and context to an amazing story. Even those who do not believe God works miracles or cares about Israel or even exists, cannot read the history of how this country sprang up in its old land without thinking of miracles.

This saga from 1948 to 1967 gives blood and flesh to mysteries of war. It is sometimes clumsy in the romances and sometimes long and detailed in the war epics,but we'll worth the read to get a flavor of how history unfolded for Israelis living there at the time.

Some authors start to lose their touch as they age, but others just keep getting better. Herman Wouk had been both published and famous for many years when this book first came out in 1993, and I found it a wonderful surprise when I finally caught up with it this summer. It combines history - history written as adventure and intrigue - with well-conceived characters who grow and change as the plot unfolds through three Israeli wars. Each is a war for survival against daunting odds, and many of the characters not only remember the Holocaust, but survived it.

Author Wouk brings to this epic his own solid personal understanding of what it means to be a Jew, and that is the heart of this story. He successfully conveys that meaning from the viewpoint not only of observant Orthodox Jews (which he is), but from the viewpoints of less conservative Jews, Jews who practice their faith only when something prompts them, and even agnostics who nevertheless wholeheartedly identify themselves with their ancestors and their reclaimed homeland. For me this brings his characters alive. He also gets the women right - something male novelists of his generation (my father's) seldom manage. The history is meticulous. I'm glad I bought THE GLORY, too, and now I'm going to go start reading it!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author LOVE, JIMMY: A MAINE VETERAN'S LONGEST BATTLE

Mr. Wouk can't be beat for historical fiction! This novel was so well researched that I had to keep reminding myself that it WAS fiction. Anyone who has a passion for Israel's struggles, enjoys great characterization, is interested in complex war and political battles, and wants to read a fantastic book, read "The Hope" .

I got from "The Hope" exactly what I expected to. An interesting tale backed up by solid historical events. The book is no substitute for non-fiction military history, but it does reveal the passion behind the founding of Israel. Mr. Wouk makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is a Zionist, so if you are looking for a balanced telling of the conflict look elsewhere. It is not that the book is anti-Arab; it is just that Arabs hardly exist at all. They are talked about, but never form characters.

The book does give a great insider feel that made me feel I could understand what was going through the minds of many actual and made-up characters that inter-mingle throughout the book. I would not call the book sappy, but it does spend almost as much time on the love life of the main characters as it does the political/warfighing events of the time.

The book takes a while to get going and never seems to be in a rush. The pace takes is time, so do not look for a quick read

Mr Wouk obviously spent a lot of time in Israel researching the book, and the feel for the different regions and sub-cultures really comes out. If you like history and are looking for something a bit heavier than beach books, but are not quite ready for a 1200 page academic tome on mid-east history than "The Hope" may be for you

The two part series by Herman Wouk should be remembered as a classic, covering the birth of Israel, with both its faults and its reminder that the survival of that nation may be considered supernatural. The characters are human... not super heros, but ordinary people with ordinary desires and ordinary faults, placed in an extraordinary setting - the birth and growth of a nation. The author's approach works well, as we follow several families through the events ranging from the announcement of Israel's independence through the major events in that nation's history. Good setting, good reading.

Well-written, thoroughly researched - another masterpiece by an outstanding historian and author. After "Wind of War" and "Remembrance" I had very high expectations and disappointed I certainly wasn't.

This epic work by Herman Wouk takes place in Israel from the 1948 War of Independence to the 1967 Six Day War .Both remarkable testaments to the strength of the Jewish people and The State of Israel
We meet real characters who played a key role in the history of Israel such as David Ben-Gurion,Moshe Dayan,,Rafael Eitan,Yitzhac Rabin,Ariel Sharon and other great leaders
Against this backdrop we read about the lives of several men and women who are the key characters in the story:
Zev Barak-Viennese Jew who becomes an Israeli General and military attache to Washington
His strong and long suffering wife Nakhama
Yael Luria-ambitious and energetic blonde beauty
The mercurial paratroop commander -Don Kishote
The good hearted and religious Shayna Matisdorff
Sam Pasternak-the cynical Mossad supersleuth
Benny Luria the solid and committed Airforce commander
And Emily Cunningham-the intelligent and mysterious daughter of a CIA bigwig
The history of Israel during this period is traced in fascinating detail but the personal interactions do tend to be overplayed a little
Nevertheless the message remains loud and clear about the remarkable beleaguered and tiny State of Israel who continues to survive against overwhelming odds and the immoral machinations of the international establishment

Herman Wouk is best-known for two works, The Caine Mutiny (which grew out of his service in the U.S. Navy in WW2) and the two-volume WW2 saga that he wrote later, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. The former I read in high school, and really ought to re-read sometime (because I don't think I got as much as I could have from it) while the latter I read a few years later. While I thought it good, the second half was something of a let-down from the first book. I also thought the inclusion of a fake history of the war to be a bit gratuitous: if you need such a thing, either write your own or get permission to use someone else's. The present book is the author's attempt to do the same thing he did for the U.S. in WW2, only this time his topic is the state of Israel, and the scope is from the War of Independance to the Six Day War in 1967.

The back cover of the book tells you of a large cast of characters, but it's frankly a bit misleading. Mention of four men and three women is made, but of the men only two--Zev Barak and Yossi Nitzan are real characters in the book. Nitzan, by the way, is known as "Don Kishote"--the Hebrew spelling and pronunciation of "Don Quixote"--throughout the book. The other two characters on the back of the book (Sam Pasternak and Benny Luria) are much less evident in the story. Pasternak's only in the plot occasionally, and after a brief appearance at the beginning of the story, Luria dissappears until pretty much the end.

So the book's about Barak and Nitzan. Nitzan starts out a paratrooper, then transfers to the armored branch of the army, while Barak starts out a tanker, so you get the tanker's view of the wars--at least those where Israel had tanks, because of course in 1949 they didn't have any at all.

The back cover also speaks of the women these men love, and here it's more honest. Nitzan starts out in love with Shayna, a deeply conventional and religious woman, but he has a fling with Yael (who coincidentally is the sister of the Benny who's almost completely absent from the plot) and winds up marrying her. After this happens, she pretty much dissappears from the plot also, because she moves to Los Angeles to be a successful businesswoman. The author seems to want to provide a picture of American society, and at least some commentary on the difference between Israeli and American society--and what he presents isn't that flattering to Israel.

Barak, meanwhile, is married to Nakhama. Though she's supposed to be a supporting character, she's in the book as much as Sam Pasternak is, and more than Benny Luria. Zev Barak travels to America repeatedly, and meets with a shadowy government adviser named Christian Cunningham. He in turn has a daughter, and Zev and she have a long-distance love affair over the years that's really the center of the book in many ways, and certainly the most interesting part of the plot.

I generally enjoyed this book. It's hard for an author to know how much of this stuff to include and how much to cut out: since there's no real central plot, just side-stories that could be published separately as stand-alone pieces, it could just go on and on. Here, the author opted for something shorter than The Winds of War--slightly less than 700 pages, as opposed to over 1000. I don't know whether this is a good choice or not. Perhaps what was left on the editing room floor was the rest of Benny Luria's story and more about Sam Pasternak. Whether that would have improved the story or just made it drag I can't judge.