Arafat's Elephant

by Jonathan Tel

Set in and around Jerusalem, now, in the past, and in the future, this remarkable collection introduces us to a wide range of complex some extraordinary in their ordinariness; others lifted from the pages of history; still others with lives given significance simply because of where they are or who they're with at a single moment in time. We meet a young religious Jewish woman who loses herself in thought and wanders off en route to her arranged marriage, a would-be Islamic terrorist who offers assistance to American vacationers, an Internet millionaire doing his military service, a torturer who writes children's books, an elderly couple rediscovering their love in a coffee factory, and Moshe Dayan while he's having his glass eye fitted. These are stories that will give you pause, make you think, challenge your preconceptions. Stories that, while deceptively simple and hauntingly beautiful, form a rich and complex portrait of a conflicted land and the glorious variety of its inhabitants.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2002

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

You will notice that every description of this book talks about Israel. That is because Tel is masterful at setting the scene and choosing an interesting backdrop, and the location of these stories is probably the biggest selling point for the book.

This collection of short stories is set entirely in Israel, but the stories are otherwise unrelated and run the gamut of plots - love, mystery, humor. They're all written well from a technical standpoint, but my problem with the book is that the author (and hence the reader) seems distanced from the tales - I felt no emotional reaction at all. Thinking back on the stories now, I find myself questioning my initial two-star rating and saying, "but this one was interesting; and remember this one!; and that one was so unusual" - but then I flip open the book again and remember the experience of reading each, and there's just no spark. It's not a bad book, but nothing I can particularly recommend, either.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What these stories all have in common is Israel, a place so packed with polarity and conflict that bizarre juxtapositions are ordinary. A terrorist on his mission is waylaid by a tourist couple asking for a photograph. An orthodox girl's rendez-vous with destiny is derailed by a commonplace transaction. The richness and variety of these bizarre collisions of the mundane is Tel's theme. It's a step back from the pathos or politics that it would be easy to fall into regarding the conflicts there. Narrated in cool, articulate, humane and often funny prose, the tales play expertly with different formats to reveal how minor the differences of stylistic posturing actually are.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have admired Tel’s work since I read ‘The Human Phonograph’ when it won both the Commonwealth Short Story award and the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank award, and it was for this reason that I got all his books, ‘Arafat’s Elephant’ being the first one. Tel’s ability to write about a place—Israel in this instance—in a way that makes it feel alive and real is admirable. His characters move in an almost ethereal manner and that works sometimes but not always. The language is beautiful and the structure of the sentences is so simple yet brilliant. That being said, this collection was pretty good except for a few stories that weren’t as seamless.

Would recommend it for someone who has an interest in Israel and wants to familiarise themselves with Tel’s work.

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for A Story About a Bomb
By Jonathan Tel

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant and a-political, Arafat's Elephant is a collection of short stories more interested in characters that populate our world than the divisive politics and bias that usually comes with the mention of Arafat.

While the title is misleading, having nothing to do with Palestinians nor their struggle, Arafat's Elephant is a book that will leave you thinking deeper into the conclusions that Tel refuses to draw for you; his stories never quite drawing to a complete close. There are certainly moral issues brought up in this book, as well as social standards and societal norms, but in his writing Tel does not give away his thoughts on the matter, nor draw any moral lines or reasoning into the "right" or "wrong" of any of his complex, colourful characters. In a few short pages he brings alive a number of people in daily lives, all of them experiencing something extraordinary in a completely ordinary way.

It is an unassuming book full of grace that will force you to think about daily interactions differently, and a look into life with a Jerusalem backdrop completely void of politics, conflict, and occupation.

As someone recently returned from the West Bank, I at first held a grudge against this book for being so incredibly unbiased and apolitical. It has since grown on me as I realized this book could be set anywhere - it's not about the region or the struggle, but a character study of inherently interesting people who just happen to be living amongst one of the most intense ongoing conflicts in the modern world.

Pick it up, and chip away at it slowly. Part of Tel's talent is in the details that he barely mentions.

[Carol Catinari · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting book of short stories. Can't wait to discuss them at Book Club this month.

I'm looking forward to book club discussion... plenty to talk about. My rating will probably go up. I'd like to hit three and a half now.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark, cynical view of life, but interesting in light of it's setting.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

These short stories set in Israel were well written and provided an interesting look at a different culture. A good read.