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For Two Thousand Years

The Classic Novel

Author Mihail Sebastian
Foreword by Mark Mazower
Translated by Philip Ó. Caellaigh
Ebook
Other Press
On sale Sep 12, 2017 | 240 Pages | 9781590518779
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A Jewish student is caught between anti-Semitism and Zionism in this Jewish fiction masterpiece by a Holocaust survivor, set in Romania before WW2.

“A fiery coming-of-age story . . . which wrestles with the question of how one should live in the face of hatred.” —Wall Street Journal

This literary masterpiece revives the ideological debates of the interwar period through the journal of a Romanian Jewish student caught between anti-Semitism and Zionism. Although he endures persistent threats just to attend lectures, he feels disconnected from his Jewish peers and questions whether their activism will be worth the cost. Spending his days walking the streets and his nights drinking and conversing with revolutionaries, zealots, and libertines, he remains isolated, even from the women he loves. From Bucharest to Paris, he strives to make peace with himself in an increasingly hostile world.

For Two Thousand Years echoes Mihail Sebastian’s struggles as the rise of fascism ended his career and turned his friends and colleagues against him. Born of the violence of relentless anti-Semitism, his searching, self-derisive work captures a defining moment in history and lights the way for generations to come—a prescient, heart-wrenching chronicle of resilience and despair, resistance and acceptance.
© Costica˘ Acsinte Archive, Roma
Mihail Sebastian was born in Romania in 1907 as Iosef Hechter. He worked as a lawyer and writer until anti-Semitic legislation forced him to abandon his public career. Having survived the war and the Holocaust, he was killed in a road accident in early 1945 as he was crossing the street to teach his first class. His long-lost diary, Journal 1935–1944: The Fascist Years, was published to great acclaim in the late 1990s. View titles by Mihail Sebastian

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A Jewish student is caught between anti-Semitism and Zionism in this Jewish fiction masterpiece by a Holocaust survivor, set in Romania before WW2.

“A fiery coming-of-age story . . . which wrestles with the question of how one should live in the face of hatred.” —Wall Street Journal

This literary masterpiece revives the ideological debates of the interwar period through the journal of a Romanian Jewish student caught between anti-Semitism and Zionism. Although he endures persistent threats just to attend lectures, he feels disconnected from his Jewish peers and questions whether their activism will be worth the cost. Spending his days walking the streets and his nights drinking and conversing with revolutionaries, zealots, and libertines, he remains isolated, even from the women he loves. From Bucharest to Paris, he strives to make peace with himself in an increasingly hostile world.

For Two Thousand Years echoes Mihail Sebastian’s struggles as the rise of fascism ended his career and turned his friends and colleagues against him. Born of the violence of relentless anti-Semitism, his searching, self-derisive work captures a defining moment in history and lights the way for generations to come—a prescient, heart-wrenching chronicle of resilience and despair, resistance and acceptance.

Author

© Costica˘ Acsinte Archive, Roma
Mihail Sebastian was born in Romania in 1907 as Iosef Hechter. He worked as a lawyer and writer until anti-Semitic legislation forced him to abandon his public career. Having survived the war and the Holocaust, he was killed in a road accident in early 1945 as he was crossing the street to teach his first class. His long-lost diary, Journal 1935–1944: The Fascist Years, was published to great acclaim in the late 1990s. View titles by Mihail Sebastian

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