2
THE OPENING ACT
AUGUST 4�11, 2021
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EDITOR
Lisa Britton
Go! Editor
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Sarah Smith
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RAISING THE CURTAIN
ON THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
What We’re Into
M
y favorite author has got
to be Leon Uris. His book
“Exodus” I read after learning
the book’s movie theme on the
piano and I wanted to know
what it was about. I saw the
movie but, like they often say,
the book is so much better. At
more than 500 pages, it goes
into much greater detail.
“Exodus” is the story of the
modern settling of Jews in the
Holy Land — at least since the
late 1800s — and their work
and fi ght to reestablish the
nation of Israel. It’s about how
they bought land from Arab
landowners, reclaimed what
was then worthless desert or
swamp and turned it into — in
most cases — valuable farm-
land.
As the British-occupied
Mandate for Palestine between
the world wars, it served as
a place Jews could come as
persecution and anti-Semitism
increased in Europe. Then,
despite British opposition, they
got the U.N. to vote on a parti-
tion plan to divide what was left
of the Palestine Mandate (the
Brits unilaterally gave the lion’s
share to establish the Hashem-
ite Kingdom of Transjordan in
the early 1920s) between Jews
and Arabs. The Jews favored
the partition plan but the Arabs
in the mandate did not and, like
their Nazi allies, strove to kill the
Jews. They were aided by all Is-
rael’s neighbors, but they failed
and modern Israel was born.
I realized “Exodus” was fi ction
based on fact, but it sparked my
interest in the modern Middle
East, so I began reading to learn
which parts of “Exodus” were
fact and which were Leon Uris’
fi ction. It also led me to read
other books on the subject, as
well as others by Uris.
An American Jew, Uris started
his best-selling novels with
“Battle Cry,” based on his service
with the U.S. Marine Corps in the
Pacifi c during World War II. My
next favorite of Uris’ books is
“Mila 18,” taken from the back-
story of one of the characters in
“Exodus” who had fought in and
survived the Warsaw Ghetto dur-
ing World War II.
Also among his works are
“The Angry Hills,” the story of
the Greeks fi ghting the Nazis
in WWII; “Exodus Revisited,”
his documentary look at Israel;
“Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin,”
focusing on the Berlin Airlift;
“Topaz,” a Cold War drama; “The
Third Temple” (with Strike Zion
by William Stevenson); “QB VII,”
a British court case about a war
criminal from the Holocaust; “Ire-
land, A Terrible Beauty” (with Jill
Uris); “Trinity,” about the confl ict
in Ireland; “Jerusalem: A Song
of Songs” (with Jill Uris); “The
Haj,” an excellent eff ort to tell the
Arab side during Israel’s rebirth;
“O’Hara’s Choice,” about U.S.
Marines in the 1800s; plus “Mitla
Pass,” “Redemption” and “A God
in Ruins.”
I’ve read most of these mul-
tiple times and my only regret
is that Uris died in 2003 and
there are no more of his works to
read. But then, I can always read
some again.
— BILL BRADSHAW, WALLOWA
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