MY FATHER'S HOUSE

Put this alongside of Koestler's Thieves in the Night -- not, perhaps so profound a book, intellectually, but a book with an emotional appeal greater than the Koestler book, and, like the Koestler book, giving the reader a sense of what life is like in modern Palestine. Here we have Jews and Arabs finding mutual understanding possible. Here we see new cities and old- and institutions set up to meet the problems of Europe's vast tragic horde of Displaced Persons, victims of concentration camps. The story chiefly concerns the bitter search of young David, victim of concentration camp, for his father. When the family was herded with other Jews into the square in Cracow to be shipped to the furnaces, David ran away into the forests and lived a life as a hunted creature until he was captured. Then -- with ""peace""- again escape, this time from Europe with other illegals to Palestine, sure there he would find his family. Memory had dimmed- he was not certain of details- but he ran away from the well-meaning people who wanted to help- tracking down, illusive clues to various people of his name. When -- beaten by disappointment- he learns that his whole family is dead, he escapes into a psychic infancy. Ultimately, there's a turn to hope for a future, a new life at last accepted. An absorbing and unusual book.