A review by director_lydon
סוס אחד נכנס לבר by David Grossman, דויד גרוסמן

1.0

To Mr. Grossman's credit, I'm pressed to think of a more difficult art to replicate in literature than stand-up comedy. His conception of the show as a delicate tightrope act between spectator and performer is apt, to which anybody who's seen someone bomb onstage can attest. And indeed this terse-yet-dense story essentially amounts to a 190-page bum gig that devolves into a psychological implosion flavored with an infusion of Kafkaeque guilt. That said, the insights one might glean from gazing at the wreckage were completely absent for me. The only observation Grossman seems to stand firmly behind is that a traditionally lighthearted pasttime can serve, paradoxically, as an ideal medium to explore our bleakest memories. It's true, but hardly groundbreaking. I'm very open to the notion that, between the novel's fluid structure and cultural nuance, I'm overlooking crucial subtext. But, like in comedy, not much can be done if you just don't get the punchline.