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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A 57-year-old stand-up comedian gives a 2-hour performance. What starts as a ‘regular’ act (though offensive and vulgar) soon turns into a dark evening as he starts unloading in front of the audience and reveals stories from his past – making the audience uncomfortable as his traumatic experiences take center-stage.
✰
A HORSE WALKS INTO A BAR is surely a very unique book. It is not a funny book, nor do I think it is supposed to be. The narrative drags on and on but the plot remains stuck. There are no chapters, very few text breaks and reading this book almost makes me feel out of breath as if I’m caged and I must put it down to feel at ease again. It’s a very strange feeling – and the only reason I found the will to read through it was the curiosity as to how the 2-hour act ends (and that it was only 200 pages).
✰
Like many award winners (this being the Man Booker International Prize 2017 winner), it is very ‘clever’ – but I am not sure if I really enjoyed reading it.
🍃WHY CAN'T I DISMISS THIS AS A BAD BOOK?🍃
Because I think this feeling – it was deliberate on the author’s part. That feeling of wanting to put the book down was the same as that of walking out during his stand-up comedy routine in the book. The author wants to tell me – “If you stay till the end, you will get the pay off”. And that is what keeps me undecided on whether I ‘like' this book or not – if ‘liking’ is something a book as morbid as this one warrants.
✰
It’s not gonna take up much time of your life – so I do think it is worth experiencing. But don’t expect to...‘like’ it.
More reviews on my Instagram
✰
A HORSE WALKS INTO A BAR is surely a very unique book. It is not a funny book, nor do I think it is supposed to be. The narrative drags on and on but the plot remains stuck. There are no chapters, very few text breaks and reading this book almost makes me feel out of breath as if I’m caged and I must put it down to feel at ease again. It’s a very strange feeling – and the only reason I found the will to read through it was the curiosity as to how the 2-hour act ends (and that it was only 200 pages).
✰
Like many award winners (this being the Man Booker International Prize 2017 winner), it is very ‘clever’ – but I am not sure if I really enjoyed reading it.
🍃WHY CAN'T I DISMISS THIS AS A BAD BOOK?🍃
Because I think this feeling – it was deliberate on the author’s part. That feeling of wanting to put the book down was the same as that of walking out during his stand-up comedy routine in the book. The author wants to tell me – “If you stay till the end, you will get the pay off”. And that is what keeps me undecided on whether I ‘like' this book or not – if ‘liking’ is something a book as morbid as this one warrants.
✰
It’s not gonna take up much time of your life – so I do think it is worth experiencing. But don’t expect to...‘like’ it.
More reviews on my Instagram
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Here it is now – a shared flicker that no one but the two of us, I hope, can detect. You came, his look says. Look what time has done to us, here I am before you, show me no mercy.
I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this book, to be honest. Like most Booker Prize winners, it is undoubtedly very clever, but can I say I actually enjoyed reading it? Not really.
There have been a number of reviews and comments saying "I don't really like stand-up comedy, but..." or "I do like stand-up comedy so..." but I really think liking or not liking stand-up comedy has nothing to do with whether you will like this book. A stand-up routine in a comedy club in Israel works as a framing device for this story to be unveiled, but it is not funny, nor does it seem like it's supposed to be.
A comedian called Dovaleh G begins his routine to laughter and applause, but it very soon begins to fall apart as his jokes become ever less funny, ever more personal. Many themes are covered in this short book about a man falling apart on stage - friendship, betrayal, revenge, Israel, the Holocaust, to name a few.
The rambling style of narrative, punctuated by unfunny jokes, made for a difficult and tiring read. Dovaleh was sometimes too annoying to be interesting, though I will say that perseverance pays off when we finally discover the truth behind his personal angst. I think the most interesting aspect throughout - and what probably enabled me to read to the end - was the inclusion of the first person narrator in the audience. We know almost immediately that Dovaleh knows this person and that there is going to be some story behind their shared glances.
I finished the book feeling satisfied at having read it. Some books don't feel worth the effort put in to make it to the end, but I appreciated this one more when I looked back over it. It just seems wrong to give a book more than three stars when it was so difficult to push through.
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“A horse walks into a bar” by David Grossman is a great book - a tightly written story of reactions to death and regrets in life
Patika. Interesants veids, kā varonis monologā atklāj savus pārdzīvojumus visiem. Jāatzīst, ka vienbrīd tiešām arī man kļuva garlaicīgi, bet zāli līdz ar citiem skatītājiem neatstāju-biju no tiem, kas patiesi gribēja uzzināt: KAS tad īsti ir atgadījies ar šo komiķi bērnībā? (jāatzīst, ka biju gaidījusi lieaaaalāku viņa notikumu un pārdzīvojumu. :) )
I don't think I've ever realised before that so much of modern comedy is essentially a comedian having an existential crisis on stage. That conceit forms the basis of A Horse Walks into a Bar, with the main character, comedian Dovaleh Greenstein, addressing facets of contemporary Israeli culture as well as his personal demons.
Almost from the very start, the comedy show that frames the narrative is on a knife edge. It's a cruel kind of comedy, on the nastier end of humour.
There is something of a mob mentality to the incitement of the comic show crowd, but the laughter can just as quickly turn to anger, as the audience demand their blood and flesh in the form of jokes and funny anecdotes. More cutting than the sneering audience , however, is the self-flagellation of the two aging men at the heart of this story, which transforms the scene from comedy into tragedy.
Almost from the very start, the comedy show that frames the narrative is on a knife edge. It's a cruel kind of comedy, on the nastier end of humour.
There is something of a mob mentality to the incitement of the comic show crowd, but the laughter can just as quickly turn to anger, as the audience demand their blood and flesh in the form of jokes and funny anecdotes. More cutting than the sneering audience , however, is the self-flagellation of the two aging men at the heart of this story, which transforms the scene from comedy into tragedy.