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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a sad book. Wonderfully and engagingly written, and reveals just enough about the characters to keep you wanting more. Deserves analysis - I feel there's definitely quite a bit of symbolism in here (the parrot references, the kid's insistence on walking upside down, him dissociating into swarms of ants...). I wonder how much of the symbolism I have lost in the translation.
The book is about one night (about 2hrs) in the life of a comedian, who performs his stand-up routine for a childhood friend, now a retired judge. The judge is our narrator - or rather, the character through which we view the evening and the events of both of their childhoods. The comedian sought the judge to view this performance and deliver him a few sentences at the end about what the judge REALLY saw - in essence, some judgement of his life, or what he offered others in his performance.
Throughout the evening, the narrator tells the story of the day that he discovers he's an orphan, interspersed with jokes and the recollections of the Judge. The Judge laments that he did not become a better friend to the comedian, and thinks about how much he could have eased his suffering, while the comedian simply seems grateful for all that the judge offered him (they do not converse for much of the book [the performance], but there seems to be no malice exchanged through their complicated medley of significant glances). The narrator goes to an Israeli army camp, where he suffers at the hands of his peers, and leaves once he discovers that he's become an orphan. He is transported to Jerusalem for the funeral by a Jokester and his sister - who feed him and distract him, and ostensibly begin his career in comedy. He doesn't know which of his parents has died until he arrives at the funeral -- and he spends the time on the way there somehow tallying up his parents' faults, in a judgy way that causes himself to blame himself for the death of his mother. His mother is a Holocaust survivor and had significant mental health issues, and attempted suicide several times (he referenced the scars on her arms and her erratic behavior) - ostensibly this time she completed the act. He breaks down when he finds out, and runs from his father (upside down, on his hands), who from then on he regards as half a person.
This story is told with significant interludes for jokes and personal internal monologue, which adds to the story and lengthens it in ways that feel meaningful rather than fluffy. He also breaks to abuse himself - slapping himself and punching himself in the face, which the judge metaphorically states is a form of union with his father, who beat the comedian as a child. The judge also uses this time to reminisce on his lost love - who died three years ago, and we know little about, but who he thinks about often throughout the evening.
The comedian is also clearly now suffering from some disease - perhaps prostate cancer - and knows this will be his last performance. Throughout, the audience slowly leaves, dissatisfied with the comedian's storytelling and wanting instead a steady diet of jokes. At the end, a few people remain save the judge, another figure from the comedian's childhood, a girl who may be his daughter, and a tall woman who leaves the Judge a note on her way out (implied romantic interest). The judge and the comedian discuss, as the judge drafts his few sentences - the comedian concludes his show to the empty hall - and then the book ends.
Truly, a good read. I feel it's worthy of analysis in a class, and I'd recommend it.
The book is about one night (about 2hrs) in the life of a comedian, who performs his stand-up routine for a childhood friend, now a retired judge. The judge is our narrator - or rather, the character through which we view the evening and the events of both of their childhoods. The comedian sought the judge to view this performance and deliver him a few sentences at the end about what the judge REALLY saw - in essence, some judgement of his life, or what he offered others in his performance.
Throughout the evening, the narrator tells the story of the day that he discovers he's an orphan, interspersed with jokes and the recollections of the Judge. The Judge laments that he did not become a better friend to the comedian, and thinks about how much he could have eased his suffering, while the comedian simply seems grateful for all that the judge offered him (they do not converse for much of the book [the performance], but there seems to be no malice exchanged through their complicated medley of significant glances). The narrator goes to an Israeli army camp, where he suffers at the hands of his peers, and leaves once he discovers that he's become an orphan. He is transported to Jerusalem for the funeral by a Jokester and his sister - who feed him and distract him, and ostensibly begin his career in comedy. He doesn't know which of his parents has died until he arrives at the funeral -- and he spends the time on the way there somehow tallying up his parents' faults, in a judgy way that causes himself to blame himself for the death of his mother. His mother is a Holocaust survivor and had significant mental health issues, and attempted suicide several times (he referenced the scars on her arms and her erratic behavior) - ostensibly this time she completed the act. He breaks down when he finds out, and runs from his father (upside down, on his hands), who from then on he regards as half a person.
This story is told with significant interludes for jokes and personal internal monologue, which adds to the story and lengthens it in ways that feel meaningful rather than fluffy. He also breaks to abuse himself - slapping himself and punching himself in the face, which the judge metaphorically states is a form of union with his father, who beat the comedian as a child. The judge also uses this time to reminisce on his lost love - who died three years ago, and we know little about, but who he thinks about often throughout the evening.
The comedian is also clearly now suffering from some disease - perhaps prostate cancer - and knows this will be his last performance. Throughout, the audience slowly leaves, dissatisfied with the comedian's storytelling and wanting instead a steady diet of jokes. At the end, a few people remain save the judge, another figure from the comedian's childhood, a girl who may be his daughter, and a tall woman who leaves the Judge a note on her way out (implied romantic interest). The judge and the comedian discuss, as the judge drafts his few sentences - the comedian concludes his show to the empty hall - and then the book ends.
Truly, a good read. I feel it's worthy of analysis in a class, and I'd recommend it.
Man Booker be damned, I just did not enjoy this at all.
This was a phenomenal book that was almost physically painful to read. A thoroughly brilliant, unenjoyable experience.
dark
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You start to laugh and then halfway through you realize you should be crying. It's the psychology of political comedy in Israel.
A 57 year old Israeli stand-up comedian, Dov Greenstein, performs what he announces as his final show, in a bar/restaurant in the small town of Netanya, Israel. We see him from the POV of an audience member who we soon learn is someone he knew from childhood and lost contact with until Dov called out of the blue to ask him to the show.
Dov is apparently known for his off-the-wall and very profane humour. And this show starts off that way, but with a hint that it won't end as such. Sure enough, humour soon takes a backseat to a narrative from Dov's childhood that has marked him and (it's implied) made him who he is now.
This started off something like Catch-22 with the humour very sharp and prevelant and foreshadowing something serious, then along the way it became more like a Spalding Gray monologue where the humour, still present, but overtaken by darkness. Ultimately it's about grief and trauma and what we carry from childhood that shapes us for better and worse.
The writing is remarkable for its quality of Dov's voice and the sharp observations made by our POV audience member (and the translation is probably even be better - the slang and vernacular and tone of Dov's "act" require nothing short of genius to truly capture) and the stuff that's intended as funny is in fact very funny. But it's not a book that can be enjoyed per se. Instead it's like watching someone on stage self-inflict injury.
Which, I gather, is the entire point.
Dov is apparently known for his off-the-wall and very profane humour. And this show starts off that way, but with a hint that it won't end as such. Sure enough, humour soon takes a backseat to a narrative from Dov's childhood that has marked him and (it's implied) made him who he is now.
This started off something like Catch-22 with the humour very sharp and prevelant and foreshadowing something serious, then along the way it became more like a Spalding Gray monologue where the humour, still present, but overtaken by darkness. Ultimately it's about grief and trauma and what we carry from childhood that shapes us for better and worse.
The writing is remarkable for its quality of Dov's voice and the sharp observations made by our POV audience member (and the translation is probably even be better - the slang and vernacular and tone of Dov's "act" require nothing short of genius to truly capture) and the stuff that's intended as funny is in fact very funny. But it's not a book that can be enjoyed per se. Instead it's like watching someone on stage self-inflict injury.
Which, I gather, is the entire point.
Insult comic works out his childhood issues during the course of a one-night stand-up routine while being witnessed by an estranged childhood friend whom he has invited to the show.
Picks up about halfway through once it gets to the issue of the main story, but was otherwise a bit of a slog for me.
The parrot joke was pretty funny though ;)
Picks up about halfway through once it gets to the issue of the main story, but was otherwise a bit of a slog for me.
The parrot joke was pretty funny though ;)
A sad story told by the voice of a comedian, a book where we learn how far can you bring something if you tell it in a funny way. I would have loved to understand some Jew/Israeli things more, but in the end they are not fundamental to the story. A different Grossman, but still worthy.
Una storia triste raccontata da un comico, un libro dove tocchiamo con mano quanto é possibile raccontare se lo facciamo in modo divertente. Mi sarebbe piaciuto capire alcune cose tipiche della cultura ebrea/israeliana di piú, ma non erano fondamentali per la storia. Un Grossman diverso dal solito, ma che vale comunque la pena leggere.
THANKS TO EDELWEISS FOR THE PREVIEW!
Una storia triste raccontata da un comico, un libro dove tocchiamo con mano quanto é possibile raccontare se lo facciamo in modo divertente. Mi sarebbe piaciuto capire alcune cose tipiche della cultura ebrea/israeliana di piú, ma non erano fondamentali per la storia. Un Grossman diverso dal solito, ma che vale comunque la pena leggere.
THANKS TO EDELWEISS FOR THE PREVIEW!
don't know how to review a book like this one.
I don't want to, either. Ugh, what to do? I feel that if I review it the book may lose something of its magically personal touch.
In this book, the reader becomes part of the audience to Dovalah's stand up comedy act. As does a friend from his more youthful days. The reader witnesses his life playing out right in front of them, his haunting tragedies and the cruel life lessons he was forced to learn at so young an age. It was almost as though this was Dovalah's first attempt to try to come to terms with his miserable life's story.
Like members of the audience, right until the end, you're not sure whether to stick around- you don't always feel comfortable. I stayed to see the end- out of curiosity, mostly. I can't answer whether it was worth it, that is a subjective opinion and one you should reach for yourself. Makes me think why I attempted this review in the first place- or any review for that matter.
I received this book through NetGalley.
I don't want to, either. Ugh, what to do? I feel that if I review it the book may lose something of its magically personal touch.
In this book, the reader becomes part of the audience to Dovalah's stand up comedy act. As does a friend from his more youthful days. The reader witnesses his life playing out right in front of them, his haunting tragedies and the cruel life lessons he was forced to learn at so young an age. It was almost as though this was Dovalah's first attempt to try to come to terms with his miserable life's story.
Like members of the audience, right until the end, you're not sure whether to stick around- you don't always feel comfortable. I stayed to see the end- out of curiosity, mostly. I can't answer whether it was worth it, that is a subjective opinion and one you should reach for yourself. Makes me think why I attempted this review in the first place- or any review for that matter.
I received this book through NetGalley.