Yaakov Shabtai ( he, יעקב שבתאי; March 8, 1934 – August 4, 1981) was an Israeli novelist, playwright, and translator.

Biography

Shabtai was born in 1934 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. In 1957, after completing military service, he joined Kibbutz Merhavia, but returned to Tel Aviv in 1967.Shabtai, Yaakov – Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century
''Bookrags,'' accessed July 14, 2011 His daughter,

Hamutal Shabtai Hamutal Shabtai ( he, חמוטל שבתאי; born 1956) is an Israeli psychiatrist and novelist who wrote a 1997 dystopian science fiction novel, ''2020'', that foresaw the COVID-19 pandemic and many of the circumstances surrounding response to th ...

, wrote a science fiction novel that foresaw the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Another daughter, Orly, is a clinical psychologist.Israeli Author Wrote a Book on the 2020 Pandemic 23 Years Ago

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

His brother Aharon Shabtai is a poet and translator from Ancient Greek. Shabtai died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1981.

Literary career

His best known work is ''Zikhron Devarim'' (1977), published in English in 1985 as ''

Past Continuous ''Past Continuous'' is a 1977 novel originally written in Hebrew by Israeli novelist Yaakov Shabtai. The original title, Zikhron Devarim ( he, זכרון דברים) is a form of contract or letter of agreement or memorandum, but could also be t ...

''. Written as a single paragraph, it was the first novel in vernacular

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Although the story is told in separate sentences, there is no separation into chapters.Jewish Virtual Library, Yaakov Shabtai
/ref> In its English translation the novel received international acclaim as a unique work of modernism, prompting critic Gabriel Josipovici of

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

to name it the greatest novel of the decade, comparing it to

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous ...

's ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

''. Shabtai was a well-known playwright, author of ''Crowned Head'' and ''The Spotted Tiger''. He translated many plays into Hebrew, including works by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

. Other works by Shabtai include ''

Uncle Peretz Takes Off ''Uncle Peretz Takes Off'' (הדוד פרץ ממריא, ''Ha-Dod Peretz Mamree'' in Hebrew), is a collection of short stories by Israeli writer Yaakov Shabtai. An English translation by Dalya Bilu was published in 2004. The stories present a gal ...

'', a collection of short stories, and ''

Past Perfect The pluperfect (shortening of plusquamperfect), usually called past perfect in English, is a type of verb form, generally treated as a grammatical tense in certain languages, relating to an action that occurred prior to an aforementioned time i ...

'' (''Sof Davar''), a continuation of ''Past Continuous'' in terms of narrative and style, published

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

ly. In 2006 a collection of early stories was published under the title ''A Circus in Tel Aviv''. Shabtai's daughter Hamutal recalls him pacing the house reciting passages from his books to hear how they sounded.

Awards and recognition

* In 1978, Shabtai was awarded the Bernstein Prize (original Hebrew novel category), which was the inaugural year of the prize. * In 1978, he was awarded the Kinor David Prize for Plays. * In 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Agnon Prize for literature. * In 1999, the Tel Aviv Municipality named a street after him.

Published works

Works translated into English

* ''

'' (''Zikhron Devarim'', He: זכרון דברים)

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...

, 1985, * ''

'' (''Sof Davar'', He: סוף דבר)

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

, 1987, * ''

'' (''Ha-Dod Peretz Mamri'', He: הדוד פרץ ממריא) Overlook, 2004,

Other works

*''The Wondrous Journey of the Toad'' (''Ha-Masah Ha-Muflah Shel Ha-Karpad'', He: המסע המופלא של הקרפד; Children's book), 1964. *''Poems and Ballads'' (''Shirei HaZemer'', lit. The Song of Songs), 1992. *''The Spotted Tiger and Other Plays'' (''Namer Havarburot Ve-Aherim''), 1995. *''Crowned Head and Other Plays'' (''Keter Ba-Rosh Ve-Aherim''), 1995. *''A Circus in Tel Aviv'' (''Kirkas be-Tel Aviv'', short stories, some alternate versions of stories from ''Uncle Peretz Takes Off''), 2006.

References

External links

Yaakov Shabtai
at the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
Yaakov_Shabtai
News and updates about Yaakov Shabtai {{DEFAULTSORT:Shabtai, Yaakov 1934 births 1981 deaths Writers from Tel Aviv Israeli male novelists Jewish dramatists and playwrights Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli translators Bernstein Prize recipients 20th-century translators 20th-century Israeli novelists 20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Israeli male writers French–Hebrew translators