Israeli author's book among Amazon's 'Best of 2010'

David Grossman's 'To the End of the Land,' ranked eight in website's list of top 100 editors' picks; placed between books by Stieg Larsson, Patti Smith

Ynet|Published: 12.09.10 , 15:15

Israeli author David Grossman's book "To the End of the Land," translated into English by Jessica Cohen, was ranked number eight on the 'Best Books of 2010' list published by the Amazon website.

Grossman's book, which was published last September, is in good company between Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," ranked in seventh place, and "Just Kids" by Patti Smith, which tells the story of her complex relationship with legendary photographer Robert Mapplethorpe – ranked ninth on the list.

David Grossman (Photo: Koby Kalmanovich)

The book that topped Amazon's list was Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which describes the life of a poor woman who unknowingly contributed to the research of cancer due of her unique medical condition.

In Amazon's editorial review of Grossman's book, Tom Nissley writes: "To the End of the Land is a book of mourning for those not dead, a mother's lament for life during a wartime that has no end in sight. At the same time, it's joyously and almost painfully alive, full to the point of rupture with the emotions and the endless quotidian details of a few deeply imagined lives.

"Grossman builds an overwhelming portrait of, as one character says, the 'thousands of moments and hours and days' that make 'one person in the world,' and of the power of war to destroy such a person, even – or especially – when they survive its cruel demands."

The website's readers also gave the book positive feedback, rating it with an average of four stars.