Short Synopsis
Mihail Sebastian's classic 1934 novel delves into the mind of a Jewish student in Romania during the fraught years preceding World War II.

Full Synopsis
This literary masterpiece revives the ideological debates of the interwar period through the journal of a Romanian Jewish student caught between anti-Semitism and Zionism. Although he endures persistent threats just to attend lectures, he feels disconnected from his Jewish peers and questions whether their activism will be worth the cost. Spending his days walking the streets and his nights drinking and conversing with revolutionaries, zealots, and libertines, he remains isolated, even from the women he loves. From Bucharest to Paris, he strives to make peace with himself in an increasingly hostile world.

For Two Thousand Years echoes Mihail Sebastian's struggles as the rise of fascism ended his career and turned his friends and colleagues against him. Born of the violence of relentless anti-Semitism, his searching, self-derisive work captures a defining moment in history and lights the way for generations to come—a prescient, heart-wrenching chronicle of resilience and despair, resistance and acceptance.

"Mihail Sebastian’s 1934 novel, For Two Thousand Years . . . proves to be remarkably pertinent to our time and place. . . . I can’t help thinking that Mihail Sebastian is sending us a message across the generations." ---New York Times

"Vance's narration imbues the unnamed narrator with curiosity about life, and the story's autobiographical tone is helped along by the realism Vance brings to it."

"Vance's narration imbues the unnamed narrator with curiosity about life, and the story's autobiographical tone is helped along by the realism Vance brings to it."---AudioFile

"Aptly narrated by Simon Vance." ---Carol Baldwin's Blog

“His prose is like something Chekov might have written – the same modesty, candor, and subtleness of observation.” ---Arthur Miller

“For Two Thousand Years wonderfully captures the sense of prewar Romania in all its sophistication, its beauty, and its horror . . . I love Sebastian’s courage, his lightness, and his wit.” ---John Banville, author of The Sea

“Mordant, meditative, knotty, provocative . . . More than a fascinating historical document, it is a coherent and persuasive novel . . . Philip Ó Ceallaigh’s translation is highly convincing and sweeps us along with its protagonist’s emotional shifts.” ---Toby Lichtig, Financial Times

“Eerily prophetic . . . a brilliant translation of a most unusual novel.” ---Eileen Battersby, Irish Times