pickI‘m glad I finished the book because the last novella (I think we have 3 novellas here rather than a novel) brings Nevo‘s thoughts & themes to the fore and there were a few ‘a-ha now I get it‘ moments. Overall, the first & second story are a bit forced & the sex scenes range from despicable to weird. The last story‘s familial conflicts were what I could relate to most & also found most interesting. Overall, this is not a great but an ok book.
pickIn the first case of the Avraham Avraham Series, a teenage boy,Ofer, disappears without a trace.Told alternating from Ze‘ev,the boy‘s creepy& strange neighbor, &Avraham‘s perspective,Ofer always remains a mystery as neither the parents nor the few people who knew him have much to say about Ofer-except Ze‘ev.But is he a reliable witness?The story with its focus on complex characters rather than filled with action&red herrings is very Israeli.
Remember what I read to you in the first class, that excerpt from Kafka's letter?" Michael closed his eyes and quoted from memory: " "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If he book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading it for? "
so-soEvocatively and calculatingly told, the writing in here is sublime. Slow-revealing storylines were interesting, but too many questions were left unanswered...
pickThree families live in an elegant residential building. One member in each makes a heart-wrenching confession and paints a vivid and diverse image of Israeli society. I was most touched by the third story, so poignant and heartbreaking.
"The three floors of the psyche do not exist inside us at all! Absolutely not! They exist in the air between us and someone else, in the space between our mouths and the ears we are telling our story to."
#Alphabetgame #LetterW @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
I fell under the spell of this novel, an odd romance in a British controlled pre-Israel full of WW2 refugees, cultural mixtures, and all the conflicting unsettled forces.
Other special W‘s:
Ward Six and Other Stories-Anton Chekhov
The Warmth of Other Suns-Isabel Wilkerson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle-Shirley Jackson
Woman of Rome: A Life of Elsa Morante-Lily Tuck
Casey helped me read a comic from my Litsy stack before bed last night. I‘m gonna have to seek out Rutu Modan‘s short comics now, because this was very well done. I also really appreciated the interview at the end for the insight it gave me into the Israeli comics scene.
pickI loved this just as much upon rereading as I did 15 years ago when the English translation (from Hebrew by Noah Stollman) first came out. It‘s been so long that I didn‘t even remember what happened… That‘s a bonus! Because it‘s a pageturner with surprises, about ordinary people in Tel Aviv. Nuanced character development, all the feels, & absolutely gorgeous clear-line artwork, similar to the style in Tintin comics.
If she hadn‘t died at fifty, she might have lived to be a hundred.
I just came across this book which I received from a member of #LibraryThing over ten years ago! I thought it was about time to read it so I began it today for a LibraryThing challenge to read a book by an #Israeli or Palestinian author.
