The Harvest

by Meyer Levin

THE HARVEST is the great, definitive novel of the creation of the Jewish state and the triumphant efforts of the Jewish people to survive and become a nation. In 1972, the Los Angeles Times called Meyer Levin "the most significant American Jewish writer of his time." Norman Mailer referred to him as "one of the best American writers working in the realistic tradition." In addition, Ernest Hemingway called Levin's book CITIZENS "a fine American novel -- one of the best I ever read." Is it any wonder then that the work of Meyer Levin is considered to be among the finest and most important of any twentieth century writer? In the historical novels THE SETTLERS (1972) and THE HARVEST (1978), Levin wove an epic tale of pioneering life in the early Palestine settlements. The works were the culmination of decades of research, and reviewers hailed the duo as the author's masterwork, a Jewish WAR AND PEACE.

Genres: Fiction, Israel, Historical Fiction

672 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1978

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.6 or 3.7.

I liked this book, but I would. It appealed to my interests. It taught me things. It felt familiar.

I'm a fan of historical fiction and this felt so... real. So likely. Much of it, of course, is based on reality, but the weaving of the family stories, of the true and the imagined, worked.

Levin has a talent for telling a story without overdoing it. He doesn't get too bogged down in detail, but still paints the picture. His prose isn't overly emotional, but still makes you feel things. He knows how to move the story along.

For anyone interested in learning about a very specific period in the development of the Jewish state, I'd recommend this book. It explains the true feelings of the locals, the hardships, the emotion, the necessity.

[Rita Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Harvest, Meyer Levin, was loaned to me by a friend. Published in 1978, I thought it would be an OK read because she had recommended it. As it turned out, it is a book full of so many hidden truths and insights that a reader is constantly alert to something new. It begins in the late twenties in what is now Israel and thereabouts, transporting readers to America and Jewish communities in Chicago, and on to the founding of Israel with the intrigues between Arabs, Jews and the British mandate, from the early 1920s until the newborn state of Israel in 1948. It is full of Jewish history and folklore, told in novel form that takes readers into the lives and families in Israel and America. It's a book to savor, and to see as historical.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved both this book and the one it follows, "The Settlers". It's a shame these books are no longer in print. I'd love to find newer/better copies to replace mine.