At the turn of the eighteenth century, a writer—a Jew—enters an English country manor, where he has been invited to read through the night to his host until the gentleman falls asleep. What unfolds then are seemingly unconnected stories covering a vast array of topics—from incest to madness to a poetic competition in the court of George III. And what emerges by the end is a breathtaking tapestry in which past and present, imagination and truth, are intricately woven together into one remarkable whole.

Goldberg: Variations

Literature & Fiction

JOSIPOVICI, Gabriel

United States

Ecco

Answers questions as to whether the Bible is in fact one book of a collection of writings, the type of book it is, and whether it stands as a coherent piece of literature

The Book of God: A Response to the Bible

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

Is the Bible one book or a collection of writings? If it is a book, does it stand as a coherent piece of literature? Building on the recently renewed interest in biblical narrative associated with Erich Auerbach, Northrop Frye, and Robert Alter, Gabriel Josipovici here sets out to answer these and other equally fascinating questions. Developing his argument through close textual analysis, Josipovici draws on his deep knowledge and appreciation of medieval and modern art and literature and on his personal understanding of the possibilities of narrative. His beautifully written book not only lifts literary-biblical criticism to a new level but also makes the Bible accessible to our secular age. "This is a book to be grateful for: thoughtful, deeply felt, and beautifully written."—David Lodge, Independent 
"Full of such insights, which deserve and need to be pondered by both literary critics and Biblical scholars of the traditional sort."—John Barton, London Review of Books " His book is easy, intimate and direct, partly because he has digested all his learning, partly because his dissatisfaction with his predecessors' solutions never belittles them, and partly because his own readings are those of a cultivated contemporary who, though respectful, is not awestruck. Whatever he turns to, he illuminates."—The New Yorker "His urbane style, shrewd discernment, subtle humor, and above all, his passion for words lead us to listen in fresh ways."— Walter Brueggemann, Theology Today "As 'A Response to the Bible,' The Book of God is fresh and energetic, scattering insights in all directions, making original and unexpected connections between the Bible and such modern authors as Proust, casting new light upon such questions as the Bible's place in Western culture, the nature of its authority, the unity and discontinuities of the text, and the need for a perspective that at once transcends and unites historical-theological and aesthetic interpretation."—Northrop Frye

Touch

In this new book, a preeminent literary thinker muses over the central question of how we can feel at home in the world, given that the world is independent of and indifferent to our wishes. Drawing on books and films, cultural history and his own experiences, Gabriel Josipovici argues that it is possible to feel comfortable in the world and in our relationships with others only if we value touch over sight, if we respect distance but also work to overcome it.Josipovici moves from a Charlie Chaplin film to passages from Proust, from the world of sport to the world of addiction, from medieval pilgrimages to the cult of relics, from a wedding photograph of his grandparents to some of Chardin's most enigmatic paintings. Through these seemingly disparate topics he provides engaging and wise commentary on connection and communication in life. Contrasting the senses of sight and touch, Josipovici notes that although sight seems to give us the totality of what we behold, it is only when we walk or feel our way across the distances that things become more than images and begin to constitute the world in which we, as touchers and not mere observers, are included. If we depend on sight - which seems to offer a frictionless domination over reality - we may avoid the pains and uncertainties of living, but we also lose our involvement with life.

Is it possible to create art freely today and yet produce works that are more than merely decorative or commercial? asks Gabriel Josipovici in this wide-ranging book. The suspicion that art is both frivolous and deceptive has a relatively short history, he explains, and he turns to works created in "cultures of trust"-Homer, the Hebrew Bible, Dante, and Shakespeare-in order to understand Romantic suspicion.

On Trust: Art and the Temptations of Suspicion

The quality of today’s literary writing arouses the strongest opinions. For novelist and critic Gabriel Josipovici, the contemporary novel in English is profoundly disappointing—a poor relation of its groundbreaking Modernist forebears. This agile and passionate book asks why.
Modernism, Josipovici suggests, is only superficially a reaction to industrialization or a revolution in diction and form; essentially, it is art coming to consciousness of its own limits and responsibilities. And its origins are to be sought not in 1850 or 1800, but in the early 1500s, with the crisis of society and perception that also led to the rise of Protestantism. With sophistication and persuasiveness, Josipovici charts some of Modernism’s key stages, from Dürer, Rabelais, and Cervantes to the present, bringing together a rich array of artists, musicians, and writers both familiar and unexpected—including Beckett, Borges, Friedrich, Cézanne, Stevens, Robbe-Grillet, Beethoven, and Wordsworth. He concludes with a stinging attack on the current literary scene in Britain and America, which raises questions about not only national taste, but contemporary culture itself.
Gabriel Josipovici has spent a lifetime writing, and writing about other writers. What Ever Happened to Modernism? is a strident call to arms, and a tour de force of literary, artistic, and philosophical explication that will stimulate anyone interested in art in the twentieth century and today.

What Ever Happened to Modernism?

British & Irish

A personal, penetrating, and polemical account of what Modernism is and how contemporary literature has failed it The quality of today’s literary writing arouses the strongest opinions. For novelist and critic Gabriel Josipovici, the contemporary novel in English is profoundly disappointing—a poor relation of its groundbreaking Modernist forebears. This agile and passionate book asks why.
Modernism, Josipovici suggests, is only superficially a reaction to industrialization or a revolution in diction and form; essentially, it is art coming to consciousness of its own limits and responsibilities. And its origins are to be sought not in 1850 or 1800, but in the early 1500s, with the crisis of society and perception that also led to the rise of Protestantism. With sophistication and persuasiveness, Josipovici charts some of Modernism’s key stages, from Dürer, Rabelais, and Cervantes to the present, bringing together a rich array of artists, musicians, and writers both familiar and unexpected—including Beckett, Borges, Friedrich, Cézanne, Stevens, Robbe-Grillet, Beethoven, and Wordsworth. He concludes with a stinging attack on the current literary scene in Britain and America, which raises questions about not only national taste, but contemporary culture itself.
Gabriel Josipovici has spent a lifetime writing, and writing about other writers. What Ever Happened to Modernism? is a strident call to arms, and a tour de force of literary, artistic, and philosophical explication that will stimulate anyone interested in art in the twentieth century and today.

In this brilliant new book, a preeminent literary thinker muses over the central question of how we can feel at home in the world, given that the world is independent of and indifferent to our wishes. Drawing on books and films, cultural history and his own experiences, Gabriel Josipovici argues that it is possible to feel comfortable in the world and in our relationships with others only if we value touch over sight, if we respect distance but also work to overcome it. Josipovici moves from a Charlie Chaplin movie to passages from Proust, from the world of sport to the world of addiction, from medieval pilgrimages to the cult of relics, from a wedding photograph of his grandparents to some of Chardin's most enigmatic paintings. Through these seemingly disparate topics he provides engaging and wise commentary on connection and communication in life. Contrasting the senses of sight and touch, Josipovici notes that although sight seems to give us the totality of what we behold, it is only when we walk or feel our way across the distances that things become more than images and begin to constitute the world in which we as touchers and not mere observers are included. If we depend on sight―which seems to offer a frictionless domination over reality―we may avoid the pains and uncertainties of living, but we also lose our involvement with life. Lucid, imaginative, and daring, Josipovici's book will inspire and, yes, deeply touch us all.

Arts & Photography

William Shakespeare's Hamlet is probably the best-known and most commented upon work of literature in Western culture. The paradox is that it is at once utterly familiar and strangely elusive—very like our own selves, argues Gabriel Josipovici in this stimulating and original study. Moreover, our desire to master this elusiveness, to “pluck the heart out of its mystery,” as Hamlet himself says, precisely mirrors what is going on in the play; and what Shakespeare's play demonstrates is that to conceive human character (and works of art) in this way is profoundly misguided. Rather than rushing to conclusions or setting out a theory of what Hamlet is “about,” therefore, we should read and watch patiently and openly, allowing the play to unfold before us in its own time and trying to see each moment in the context of the whole. Josipovici’s valuable book is thus an exercise in analysis which puts the physical experience of watching and reading at the heart of the critical process—at once a practical introduction to a great and much-loved play and a sophisticated intervention in some of the key questions of theory and aesthetics of our time.

Hamlet: Fold on Fold

Dramas & Plays

An omnivorous selection of critical essays gathering observations on Post-Reformation theology's interpretation of the Bible; the Modernism of Dante and Wordsworth; French literature and criticism, particularly Proust, Blanchot, Beckett, Barthes, Derrida, Robbe-Grillet. Included is the full text of four Northcliffe Lectures given at Univ. College, London, in 1981, which focus on Sterne, Shakespeare, and the last writings of Kafka. Contains many passages of untranslated French. No subject index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Text and Voice: Essays 1981-1991

St.Martin's Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by JOSIPOVICI, Gabriel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by JOSIPOVICI, Gabriel

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by JOSIPOVICI, Gabriel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Goldberg: Variations

The Book of God: A Response to the Bible

The Book of God: A Response to the Bible

Touch

On Trust: Art and the Temptations of Suspicion

What Ever Happened to Modernism?

What Ever Happened to Modernism?

Touch

Hamlet: Fold on Fold

Text and Voice: Essays 1981-1991