{"title":"Books by Robert Alter","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780300250176","title":"Amos Oz – Writer, Activist, Icon","description":"An intimate portrait illuminating the life and work of Amos Oz, the award-winning Israeli writer and activist  “Concise and compelling.”—Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal   Amos Oz (1939–2018) was one of Israel’s most prolific and prominent writers, as well as a regular contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the author of dozens of novels, essay collections, and novellas written between 1965 and shortly before his death.      In this first published biography of Oz, the celebrated translator, literary critic, and biblical scholar Robert Alter explores Oz’s relationship with his family, beginning with the suicide of his mother, Fania Klausner, when he was twelve years old, and goes on to review his time in Kibbutz Hulda, which he entered at fourteen following his separation from his father, Arieh Klausner; his family’s right-wing Zionism; his writing career; his activism in support of a pluralistic Israel; and his work as an international lecturer.      In examining Oz’s life and work, Alter brings together testimony from Oz and his circle, as well as close readings of his central works, to present the inner world and public persona of Amos Oz.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232261157237,"sku":"9780300250176","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300250176_374c833a-7be5-4331-8507-b4dc5cde3749.jpg?v=1786012371"},{"product_id":"9780393337044","title":"The Book of Psalms – A Translation with Commentary","description":"A cornerstone of the scriptural canon, the Book of Psalms has been a source of solace and joy for countless readers over millennia. This timeless poetry is beautifully wrought by a scholar whose translation of the Five Books of Moses was hailed as a “godsend” by Seamus Heaney and a “masterpiece” by Robert Fagles. Alter’s The Book of Psalms captures the simplicity, the physicality, and the coiled rhythmic power of the Hebrew, restoring the remarkable eloquence of these ancient poems. His learned and insightful commentary illuminates the obscurities of the text.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56288130204021,"sku":"9780393337044","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780393337044_827742d3-8183-4fff-8256-d7f27b95ef5a.jpg?v=1786013394"},{"product_id":"9780465022557","title":"The Art of Biblical Narrative","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this radical approach to the Bible, an acclaimed Hebrew scholar and translator looks at the Old Testament with a fresh perspective.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a fundamental return to its narrative prose, Robert Alter translates this section of the Bible through the eyes of a literary critic. He considers the Bible as literary text, guiding readers to approach scripture in a profoundly thoughtful way, proving himself to be a timeless poet in his field.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56289617412469,"sku":"9780465022557","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780465022557_8dd6dc88-89d9-4969-8d70-267c112c8dc7.jpg?v=1786013806"},{"product_id":"9780465022564","title":"The Art of Biblical Poetry","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a renowned literary scholar, the definitive guide to the poetry of the Hebrew Bible \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Intelligent, precise and exciting\" (Peter Levi, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Renowned literary expert Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible has electrified readers worldwide. In his classic \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e, Alter radically expands the horizons of biblical scholarship by recasting the Bible as not only a human creation but a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e, his companion to the seminal \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Narrative\u003c\/i\u003e, Alter investigates the use of Hebrew poetry in the Bible. He analyzes the compact, complex, and exciting rhythms of Hebrew and the larger poetic form and poetic achievement of the Hebrew Bible. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Including passages from Alter's own critically acclaimed biblical translations, \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e is an indispensable tool for understanding the Bible and its poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56289944437109,"sku":"9780465022564","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780465022564_b9f0102b-7363-4ed2-9f02-460728e09266.jpg?v=1786013807"},{"product_id":"9780691209142","title":"The Art of Bible Translation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award for Lifetime Achievement, a \"hugely entertaining and irreverent\" (Adam Gopnik, \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker) \u003c\/i\u003eaccount of the art of translating the Hebrew Bible into English\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this brief book, award-winning biblical translator Robert Alter offers a personal and passionate account of what he learned about the art of Bible translation during the two decades he spent completing his own English version of the Hebrew Bible. Showing why the Bible and its meaning can be brought to life in English only by re-creating the subtle and powerful literary style of the original text, Alter discusses the principal aspects of biblical Hebrew that any translator should try to reproduce: word choice, syntax, word play and sound play, rhythm, and dialogue. In the process, he provides an illuminating and accessible introduction to biblical style that also offers insights about the art of translation far beyond the Bible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294347374965,"sku":"9780691209142","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780691209142_01b6811a-2aff-47c5-8ea8-3ba88242a296.jpg?v=1786015327"},{"product_id":"9780393320770","title":"The David Story","description":"Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311743349109,"sku":"9780393320770","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780393320770_6ef4a5fc-c2a8-4255-a642-bbc06f4b2f0a.jpg?v=1786014178"},{"product_id":"9780393333930","title":"The Five Books of Moses – A Translation with Commentary","description":"Through a distinguished career of critical scholarship and translation, Robert Alter has equipped us to read the Hebrew Bible as a powerful, cohesive work of literature. In this landmark work, Alter's masterly translation and probing commentary combine to give contemporary readers the definitive edition of The Five Books. Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation and the Koret Jewish Book Award for Translation, a Newsweek Top 15 Book, Los Angeles Times Favorite Book, and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311743676789,"sku":"9780393333930","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780393333930_4a37b475-bc37-4621-af38-d075429d66f7.jpg?v=1786013361"},{"product_id":"the-hebrew-bible-a-translation-with-commentary","title":"The Hebrew Bible – A Translation with Commentary","description":"A masterpiece of deep learning and fine sensibility, Robert Alter’s translation of the Hebrew Bible, now complete, reanimates one of the formative works of our culture. Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466613858677,"sku":"9780393292497","price":120.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780393292497.jpg?v=1785654671"},{"product_id":"the-invention-of-dialogue-in-the-bible","title":"The Invention of Dialogue in the Bible","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Dialogue in the Bible\u003c\/i\u003e is an examination of the Bible's use of dialogue, a feature of literary writing often seen in prose, drama, and verse. Perhaps best known for its use in novels, it reflects characters' temperaments, social and educational backgrounds, their psychology, and their relationships with their interlocutors—and its use is rarely acknowledged within the narratives of the Bible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComparing a wide range of dialogue specimens in the Hebrew Bible with examples from the works of writers such as Henry Fielding, George Eliot, Henry James, and E. M. Forster, author Robert Alter demonstrates that all the features we attribute to the dialogue in novels are also present in that of the Bible. Alter speculates that the principal reason for this innovation is the fact that the Bible's narratives were composed not orally, nor in verse, but in prose. While verse's formal requirements do not allow the flexibility that is crucial for novelistic dialogue, prose allows a writer to manipulate language and reshape syntax to reflect the character of the speakers, their relationships, and the narrative moment. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn insightful look into one of Western culture's most important texts, \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Dialogue in the Bible \u003c\/i\u003ewill be a useful resource for anyone studying the Bible, religion, literature, or narratology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682881839477,"sku":"9780253076861","price":31.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57499142783349,"sku":"9780253076854","price":80.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780253076861_a7622afe-555b-40a2-b705-4254e0d364d5.jpg?v=1792511707"},{"product_id":"the-language-of-fiction","title":"The Language of Fiction","description":"A master class in the language of fiction and a vivid reminder of how great novels can enrich our lives. What distinguishes the prose of great novels? How have celebrated novelists shaped language into a lasting source of insight and aesthetic pleasure? In The Language of Fiction, Robert Alter—one of our most distinguished literary critics—explores the literary devices and techniques novelists have used to write fiction that is illuminating, surprising, and a delight to read. Drawing on a lifetime of close reading, Alter guides readers through the writing of Jane Austen, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Vladimir Nabokov, Saul Bellow, and more. With his characteristic clarity and sensitivity, Alter shows how these writers make use of word choice, metaphor, rhythm, perspective, and syntax in crafting the language of their novels. He carefully explains, for example, how James Joyce introduces invented words in Ulysses to represent the mind of a husband tormented by the thought of his wife’s unfaithfulness, how Willa Cather uses figuration in her otherwise austere O Pioneers! to establish the felt world in which her story will unfold, and how Ann Patchett uses shifting perspectives in Bel Canto to explore the layered nature of language. The Language of Fiction shows what true mastery of literary style looks like, something AI may imitate but cannot create. It offers not only a path to more attentive reading but a guide to writing itself, revealing how the prose of great writers can deepen our understanding, expand our inner lives, and inspire us to write with greater precision and power.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57499362394485,"sku":"9780674308374","price":18.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780674308374.jpg?v=1790001103"},{"product_id":"the-art-of-biblical-narrative","title":"The Art of Biblical Narrative","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the celebrated translator of the Hebrew Bible Robert Alter, the classic book on the Bible as literature, now updated with a new preface.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A groundbreaking study that encourages us to look beneath the theological surface of the biblical text to glimpse its beating heart.” —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the National Jewish Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Narrative\u003c\/i\u003e, renowned critic and translator Robert Alter radically expands our view of the Bible by recasting it as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. Alter describes how the Hebrew Bible's many authors used innovative literary techniques—from dialogue to artful repetition to recurrent motifs—to tell one of the greatest stories of all time: the revelation of a single God. In so doing, Alter shows, these writers reshaped not only history, but also the art of storytelling itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow updated with a new preface, \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Narrative\u003c\/i\u003e is an indispensable contribution to biblical and literary scholarship alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504916341109,"sku":"9781541609273","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781541609273.jpg?v=1786953834"},{"product_id":"the-art-of-biblical-poetry","title":"The Art of Biblical Poetry","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom a renowned literary scholar, the definitive guide to the poetry of the Hebrew Bible, updated with a new preface.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Intelligent, precise and exciting.” —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Poetry,\u003c\/i\u003e renowned literary scholar Robert Alter radically expands the horizons of biblical scholarship by recasting the Bible as not only a human creation, but a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In this companion to the classic \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Biblical Narrative\u003c\/i\u003e, Alter takes his analysis beyond narrative craft to investigate the distinctive workings of Hebrew poetry in the Bible. 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