Forest Dark: A Novel - Softcover

Krauss, Nicole

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062431005 ISBN 13: 9780062431004

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2018

Synopsis

National Bestseller

A New York Times Notable Book of 2017

Named Best Book of 2017 by Esquire, Times Literary Supplement, Elle Magazine, LitHub, Publishers Weekly, Financial Times, Guardian, Refinery29, Popsugar, and Globe and Mail

"A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration." --Philip Roth

"One of America's most important novelists" (New York Times), the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The History of Love, conjures an achingly beautiful and breathtakingly original novel about personal transformation that interweaves the stories of two disparate individuals--an older lawyer and a young novelist--whose transcendental search leads them to the same Israeli desert.

Jules Epstein, a man whose drive, avidity, and outsized personality have, for sixty-eight years, been a force to be reckoned with, is undergoing a metamorphosis. In the wake of his parents' deaths, his divorce from his wife of more than thirty years, and his retirement from the New York legal firm where he was a partner, he's felt an irresistible need to give away his possessions, alarming his children and perplexing the executor of his estate. With the last of his wealth, he travels to Israel, with a nebulous plan to do something to honor his parents. In Tel Aviv, he is sidetracked by a charismatic American rabbi planning a reunion for the descendants of King David who insists that Epstein is part of that storied dynastic line. He also meets the rabbi's beautiful daughter who convinces Epstein to become involved in her own project--a film about the life of David being shot in the desert--with life-changing consequences.

But Epstein isn't the only seeker embarking on a metaphysical journey that dissolves his sense of self, place, and history. Leaving her family in Brooklyn, a young, well-known novelist arrives at the Tel Aviv Hilton where she has stayed every year since birth. Troubled by writer's block and a failing marriage, she hopes that the hotel can unlock a dimension of reality--and her own perception of life--that has been closed off to her. But when she meets a retired literature professor who proposes a project she can't turn down, she's drawn into a mystery that alters her life in ways she could never have imagined.

Bursting with life and humor, Forest Dark is a profound, mesmerizing novel of metamorphosis and self-realization--of looking beyond all that is visible towards the infinite.

About this title

Review

"Brilliant, inventive and ambitious."--USA Today

"She writes insight and revelation better than just about anyone working today...While Krauss' genius has long been evident, of her four books this one cuts closest to the bone. The woods may be dark but Krauss' gorgeous sentences light our way through."--O Magazine

"Strange and beguiling...a mystery that operates on grounds simultaneously literary and existential...metaphysical and emphatically realistic...It's a perfectly Kafkaesque vision, almost uncanny enough to be sublime."--Ruth Franklin, Harper's Magazine

"Lucid and exhilarating...Elias Canetti once wrote of Kafka that he sought, above all, to preserve his freedom to fail. In this spirit, Krauss, an incisive and creative interpreter of Kafka, allows Nicole and Epstein to regain their own freedom to fail. This particular freedom should never be taken lightly. It's a great gift not only to her characters, but to her readers."--Peter Orner, New York Times Book Review (cover feature)

"A triumphant new novel...that suggests a determination to stretch conventional narrative in unconventional directions...Krauss' prose balances precision and grace...This author is incapable of writing a sentence that does not seem chiseled to perfection...In Forest Dark, Nicole Krauss has once again mastered a light touch in pursuit of weighty themes."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Krauss expertly intertwines musings on theology and the life of Franz Kafka in this beautifully written follow-up to the National Book Award finalist The Great House."--Buzzfeed

"Forest Dark finds Krauss at the top of her game. It is blazingly intelligent, elegantly written, and a remarkable achievement."--Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven (The Guardian review)

"Krauss's elegant, provocative, and mesmerizing novel is her best yet. Rich in profound insights and emotional resonance...Vivid, intelligent, and often humorous, this novel is a fascinating tour de force."--Publishers Weekly (starred review and boxed)

"One of the bravest and most original writers of her generation... Forest Dark--the best new novel I've read this year...Krauss' intrepid journey into this forest reveals great secrets, involving the tales we tell as we whistle in the dark."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Entrancing and mysterious...Krauss reflects with singing emotion and sagacity on Jewish history; war; the ancient, plundered forests of the Middle East; and the paradoxes of being. A resounding look at the enigmas of the self and the persistence of the past." --Booklist (starred review)

From the Back Cover

In the wake of his parents' deaths, his divorce from his wife of more than thirty years, and his retirement from the New York legal firm where he was a partner, Jules Epstein has felt an overwhelming need to give away everything he owns, alarming his children and perplexing the executor of his estate. With the last of his wealth, he travels to Israel in search of something he can create in memory of his parents. In Tel Aviv, he is sidetracked by an American rabbi planning a reunion for the descendants of King David who insists that Epstein is part of that storied dynastic line. He also meets the rabbi's daughter, who convinces Epstein to become involved in her film about the life of David being shot in the desert.

But Epstein isn't the only seeker embarking on a metaphysical journey that dissolves his sense of self, place, and history. Leaving her family in Brooklyn, a young, well-known novelist arrives at the Tel Aviv Hilton, where she has stayed every year since birth. Struggling to begin a new book, and troubled by a failing marriage, she hopes that the hotel can unlock a dimension of reality that has been closed off to her. But when she meets a retired literature professor who proposes a project she can't turn down, she's drawn into a mystery that alters her life in ways she could never have imagined.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0062431005
• ISBN 13: 9780062431004
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304