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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The beginning and middle were good but the ending was a little weaker than the other two parts. Really liked the main character. Overall I think it was a good book but could've shorter, a little less confusing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is like a train wreck. I felt like I couldn't look & yet I couldn't look away either. I was yanked in fairly quickly to a stream-of-consciouness style (a stream-of-stand-up-comedy-ness monologue) that's quick, & harsh, & brutal, & funny, & touching, & uncomfortable. And using the conceit of the observer to see, really see, the storyteller, the comedian, the one sharing his guts on the stage, puts you in a prime seat in the audience, as uncomfortable & as stifling as it might be. Uncomfortable in a bad way. Uncomfortable in a good way. And I cried. Certainly a unique book & one I will not quickly forget.
I must give hearty praise to translator Jessica Cohen too. As claustrophobic as this feels (like you're really stuck in a dive bar watching a comedian that veers between humor & very uncomfortable talk) & as fast as it feels (just like you're listening to the pace of a comedian as he acts & reacts in relation to the audience), it's as if she has channeled all the energy & tension & funneled it into the English translation. Just bravo.
I must give hearty praise to translator Jessica Cohen too. As claustrophobic as this feels (like you're really stuck in a dive bar watching a comedian that veers between humor & very uncomfortable talk) & as fast as it feels (just like you're listening to the pace of a comedian as he acts & reacts in relation to the audience), it's as if she has channeled all the energy & tension & funneled it into the English translation. Just bravo.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm glad this was a short book because I struggled to get through its 200 pages. The start of the book was grating; Dov G's stand-up act is something to suffer through -- unless you put down the book or walk out as many of Dov's audience does. The middle is better; the bad jokes fade into the background as Dov gets into the telling of his life story. More audience members walk out (understandably; it's supposed to be a comedy show not a one-man primal scream exhibition) but for the reader, the narrative picks up pace, energy, and direction as it moves toward the climax -- which for me then fell flat. The ending was sad, I had sympathy for little Dov, but it didn't feel that the trauma of the climax measured up to all the angst and build-up in Dov's lead-up.
It's a well-written book, hence the 3 stars rather than the 2 you might have expected reading the prior paragraph. Maybe if I had more context around Israeli history and society I'd better appreciate Grossman's tale.
It's a well-written book, hence the 3 stars rather than the 2 you might have expected reading the prior paragraph. Maybe if I had more context around Israeli history and society I'd better appreciate Grossman's tale.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
“- Pice, tu esi vienreizēja.
- Tā tu man teici.
- Tā es tev teicu?
- Es vienreiz raudāju un tu nāci pa ielu...
- Kāpēc tu raudāji?
- Mani sita. Un tu teici...
- Kāpēc tevi sita?
- Par to, ka es neaugu, un tu iznāci gar to māju pie gāzes baloniem...
- Uz rokām?
- Kā tad, un tu teici, ka esot pilnīgi vienreizēja, un ja es viņu dēļ raudot, tad tu to redzot kājām gaisā, un tad iznāk, ka es viņu dēļ smejos.
- Un tu to atceries?
- Man par tām sāpēm ir piešķirta gara atmiņa.”
Jāsaka godīgi - lēnām, lēnām mocīju, un tikai tāpēc, ka vietām mans iekšējais klauns sasmējās, nenosviedu to tur, kur paņēmu... vai vēl ļaunāk. Taču, jo tālāk lasīju, jo dziļāk ielasījos - emocionāli. Man patika.
- Tā tu man teici.
- Tā es tev teicu?
- Es vienreiz raudāju un tu nāci pa ielu...
- Kāpēc tu raudāji?
- Mani sita. Un tu teici...
- Kāpēc tevi sita?
- Par to, ka es neaugu, un tu iznāci gar to māju pie gāzes baloniem...
- Uz rokām?
- Kā tad, un tu teici, ka esot pilnīgi vienreizēja, un ja es viņu dēļ raudot, tad tu to redzot kājām gaisā, un tad iznāk, ka es viņu dēļ smejos.
- Un tu to atceries?
- Man par tām sāpēm ir piešķirta gara atmiņa.”
Jāsaka godīgi - lēnām, lēnām mocīju, un tikai tāpēc, ka vietām mans iekšējais klauns sasmējās, nenosviedu to tur, kur paņēmu... vai vēl ļaunāk. Taču, jo tālāk lasīju, jo dziļāk ielasījos - emocionāli. Man patika.
If there's one genre that is difficult to translate, it's jokes, and Jessica Cohen has created magic with her translation from the Hebrew. The translation is not only fluid and natural, it just never makes its presence felt. I also loved the German and Hebrew sentences left untranslated in the dialogues (not many), the world should not be reduced to monolingualism, nor be normative.
The form of this story is challenging, Grossman went all experimental in this. The book opens in a comedy club in Netanya, and the story follows the stand-up comedy act of Dovaleh who is going to give one heck of a strange performance.
The twists and turns of this live show are narrated by Avishai, a retired judge with whom Dovaleh was acquainted as a teen and who was invited out of the blue by Dovi, after decades of having lost touch.
What happened to Dovi since they last saw each other, and what has pushed him to open up to an audience of strangers who just came for jokes, are what the story will slowly reveal.
What I loved about Grossman is that he explicitly stated my role in this: he turned me into an audience member who could walk out of the experience at anytime, as easily as I could have walked out the door of the club. It's a thought provoking take on our reading experience in relation to the author who knows this can happen but cannot help her or his style of delivery. Dovi is desperate to be listened to, and to get out of his mind and body, a deeply wounding story. But will his audience stay?
It a challenging frame to adopt for a novel, and Grossman anticipates the exasperation of the reader all the way with little tricks that show his precise awareness of the timing & effect of his narration. I was exasperated many times but it's a short novel (200 pages), and it was rewarding to stick it to the end.
The form of this story is challenging, Grossman went all experimental in this. The book opens in a comedy club in Netanya, and the story follows the stand-up comedy act of Dovaleh who is going to give one heck of a strange performance.
The twists and turns of this live show are narrated by Avishai, a retired judge with whom Dovaleh was acquainted as a teen and who was invited out of the blue by Dovi, after decades of having lost touch.
What happened to Dovi since they last saw each other, and what has pushed him to open up to an audience of strangers who just came for jokes, are what the story will slowly reveal.
What I loved about Grossman is that he explicitly stated my role in this: he turned me into an audience member who could walk out of the experience at anytime, as easily as I could have walked out the door of the club. It's a thought provoking take on our reading experience in relation to the author who knows this can happen but cannot help her or his style of delivery. Dovi is desperate to be listened to, and to get out of his mind and body, a deeply wounding story. But will his audience stay?
It a challenging frame to adopt for a novel, and Grossman anticipates the exasperation of the reader all the way with little tricks that show his precise awareness of the timing & effect of his narration. I was exasperated many times but it's a short novel (200 pages), and it was rewarding to stick it to the end.
So my experience was kinda the reverse of what a lot of reviews are saying. While everyone says the book builds up and becomes incredible as the story progresses, I felt like it mostly just lost steam. I was intrigued for the first 50-60%, but then it started feeling tired. Perhaps I was just too disconnected from the characters and the story being told, but this didn't work for me