Regardless of the specific plot, there is a great deal of consistency between the early stories and Yehoshua's later work. In each of the stories [included in the retrospective collection Ad Horef 1974] there is the theme of withdrawal from the surrounding society and the isolation of an individual, usually self-imposed. This underlying idea is skillfully handled by the author and in some cases adds a considerable amount of tension to the narrative of an ostensibly banal story. While in many cases there is a stressed allegorical-political element to a story, the underlying theme of isolation turns it into more than merely sophisticated polemics. This element is added subtly to each work but in each case is there for the reader to discern.

My only criticism of this collection is that the ten stories together become a bit too much to take at one sitting. Yehoshua's short stories, as...