The Hill of Evil Counsel

The three short stories comprising Amos Oz’s The Hill of Evil Counsel (1976) are set in a northwestern neighborhood of Jerusalem in the months just before the birth of the nation of Israel. The stories are narrated by three different characters, two boys and one dying doctor, as they reflect on their lives at the end of the British Mandate, their home under constant onslaught from rival Middle Eastern nations. The stories reflect on the feeling of doom that comes from this kind of massive political upheaval and include historical and political figures from the time alongside fictional characters.

In the first two stories in the collection, Oz describes the world from the perspective of two young boys who are witnesses to the tumult of both their nation and their families. In the first story, the narrator is a boy named Hillel, who is overweight, timid, and uncertain about the world. His parents are clearly mismatched, both in their sexuality and temperament, leading to a strange atmosphere in the home. Meanwhile, Hillel is experiencing the doom at the end of the British mandate, as Jews in Jerusalem question what will come next for their city. British soldiers are conducting house searches, and revolutionaries are hiding in basements and caves. The symbolism of his feuding parents mirrors the outside world, as all the authority figures in Hillel's life struggle to find peace with each other.

Another boy, Uri, narrates the second story. Unlike Hillel, Uri is more aggressive—he enjoys daydreaming about the annihilation of all the enemies of Israel. Uri is an internal character; whose fantasies often remain in his own head—this becomes strange for him when the conflict comes to his own door in the form of a revolutionary hiding in his father's place of work. Uri did not expect his father, a passive and unassuming printer, to be involved in political conflict. One day, Uri discovers that his father has invited Mr. Levi to come to live in the print shop, to hide from British soldiers. Soon, the print shop also becomes the home for stored explosives, and Uri finds a war is being staged under his own roof.



In the final story of the collection, the narrator is a grown man—a doctor who is dying and writing letters to his girlfriend who has left Jerusalem for New York. In these letters, the doctor is pessimistic, offering a clearer description of the city's atmosphere and his own feelings of dread. The doctor's girlfriend, meanwhile, is practicing psychology in the safety of New York City. The doctor's own struggle with mortality is mismatched with the vitality of his girlfriend, to paint a portrait of two opposing continents and realities.

An Israeli novelist and professor, Amos Oz was an advocate for the two-state solution during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He wrote more than 40 books in his lifetime, including short story collections, novels, essay collections, and books for children. His books have been translated into 45 languages and published worldwide. He received a Franz Kafka Prize, a Legion of Honor, an Israel Award, and many other awards and nominations. He died in 2018, in his home country of Israel.