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atomic_doodles 's review for:
A Horse Walks into a Bar
by David Grossman
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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
This is basically you, as the reader, following the breakdown of a man named Dovaleh as he staggers through what is supposed to be an evening of stand up comedy. The humour is never good, the jokes are always straddling the line of propriety and political correctness, and they often cross right over into offensive. Seemingly sensitive subjects like Israel, the Holocaust, the Palestinians, are treated with shocking crassness.
There are many points in this book where I was tempted to up and leave, much like the audience in the book gets up and leaves. However, I think it's structured in a really brilliant way in that, the longer you stay, like the audience in the book itself, the more of Dovaleh you get to see. It is not an easy book to read, and I am not entirely sure what kept me going. By the time I had reached the middle however, I was invested in it. I wanted to know more about this little boy, about what happened to him, about why he grew into a man who was okay with punching himself for a few uncomfortable laughs from a bunch of strangers. I felt like I really had to force myself through some parts of the book, yet it never quite occurred to me to stop reading it, to give up on it. It was oddly compelling, which I suppose is a feat in itself. And finishing it gave me a real sense of relief, like feeling the water dribbling out of your ears after being logged in for hours.
At the end of it though, I think the book fails to truly deliver on its potential. The pain of a boy being bullied, with a fraught relationship with his father, and a complicated one with his mother doesn't truly come through. The friend's guilt for being a self absorbed kid, in a way kids often are self absorbed, falls a little flat. The best part of the book is the tension of the drive from the camp to the funeral, and you can really feel each agonising beat of time that the young Dovaleh spends wondering which of his parents he has lost.
After I finished the book, I messaged the friend who recommended it to me and told him I felt conflicted about the book. That it had made me think and I was not entirely sure I was happy about where my mind went. He responded, "I guess then it did its job". Which about sums it up, I think.
There are many points in this book where I was tempted to up and leave, much like the audience in the book gets up and leaves. However, I think it's structured in a really brilliant way in that, the longer you stay, like the audience in the book itself, the more of Dovaleh you get to see. It is not an easy book to read, and I am not entirely sure what kept me going. By the time I had reached the middle however, I was invested in it. I wanted to know more about this little boy, about what happened to him, about why he grew into a man who was okay with punching himself for a few uncomfortable laughs from a bunch of strangers. I felt like I really had to force myself through some parts of the book, yet it never quite occurred to me to stop reading it, to give up on it. It was oddly compelling, which I suppose is a feat in itself. And finishing it gave me a real sense of relief, like feeling the water dribbling out of your ears after being logged in for hours.
At the end of it though, I think the book fails to truly deliver on its potential. The pain of a boy being bullied, with a fraught relationship with his father, and a complicated one with his mother doesn't truly come through. The friend's guilt for being a self absorbed kid, in a way kids often are self absorbed, falls a little flat. The best part of the book is the tension of the drive from the camp to the funeral, and you can really feel each agonising beat of time that the young Dovaleh spends wondering which of his parents he has lost.
After I finished the book, I messaged the friend who recommended it to me and told him I felt conflicted about the book. That it had made me think and I was not entirely sure I was happy about where my mind went. He responded, "I guess then it did its job". Which about sums it up, I think.