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El poeta de Gaza
A un agente de inteligencia israelí, gris y taciturno, le encomiendan una nueva y delicada misió debe acercarse a una escritora, activista por la paz, con el pretexto de tomar unas clases de escritura. El objetivo es utilizarla para llegar a un viejo poeta de Gaza, íntimo amigo de la escritora y enfermo de cáncer terminal. Esta peculiar misión, cuyo motivo verdadero no se revela hasta el final, desencadenará en el agente una crisis moral y psicológica que afectará profundamente su vida familiar, su sentido de la lealtad y hasta los propios cimientos de su existencia.
Publicada originalmente en 2009, El poeta de Gaza marcó el inicio de una serie de novelas que convirtieron a Sarid en una de las voces principales de la literatura hebrea contemporánea y en las que disecciona los elementos más candentes de la sociedad israelí la violencia militar, la memoria histórica y el trauma familiar y colectivo.
Publicada originalmente en 2009, El poeta de Gaza marcó el inicio de una serie de novelas que convirtieron a Sarid en una de las voces principales de la literatura hebrea contemporánea y en las que disecciona los elementos más candentes de la sociedad israelí la violencia militar, la memoria histórica y el trauma familiar y colectivo.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
18 people are currently reading
650 people want to read
About the author
Yishai Sarid
11 books66 followersYishai Sarid (Hebrew: ישי שריד) is an Israeli author, novelist and lawyer. His second book, Limassol, became an international best-seller. His fourth book, The Third, became a major subject of public and literary discussion in Israel and won the Bernstein literary award. Sarid works full-time as an attorney, formerly as a public prosecutor and now privately.
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March 13, 2022
UNO SCOMODO INCARICO
Il primo film sul Mossad che mi viene in mente è il notevole “Munich” di Steven Spielberg, 2005, con un cast d’eccezione: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassowitz, Yves Attal, Mathieu Amalric, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Ciarán Hinds, Geoffrey Rush, Michel Lonsdale, Moritz Bleibtreu.
Qui sotto, altri film sul Mossad, l’intelligence israeliana.
Bella la trama e bella l’ambientazione.
Israele. Agente del Mossad si alterna tra interrogatori brutali nei sotterranei della centrale e delicate missioni: in questo caso, agganciare una scrittrice israeliana fingendosi un aspirante romanziere bisognoso di lezioni private, attraverso lei far uscire da Gaza un poeta palestinese malato terminale per il cui tramite mirare al figlio, terrorista internazionale sotto copertura.
Sarid sa dar vita alla sua terra: Tel Aviv prima di tutto, ma anche Gerusalemme, e il Mar Morto, e le strade che l’attraversano. Sa far sentire sulla pagina il caldo e intuire la luce che domina quel paese, pulsare l’umanità di quella parte di mondo.
Sceglie di lasciare il protagonista senza nome, come se la lotta tra etica e dovere, tra umanità e patriottismo, rendesse incerta la sua identità.
Inventa il bel personaggio del suo capo, Chaim.
Poco noto, ma molto buono è “Les patriotes – Storie di spie” di Eric Rochant, il creatore dell’eccezionale serie tv francese “Le bureau des legends”. Protagonista Yvan Attal, attore, ma anche sceneggiatore e regista, francese nato a Tel Aviv. Film del 1994.
Poi, però, secondo me si smarrisce in altri aspetti importanti.
Ho trovato schematico il rapporto tra la spia e sua moglie, troppo sbrigativo lo sviluppo.
Un po’ troppo cliché, o forse fasulli, i due co-protagonisti: la bellissima scrittrice, molto gauche caviar (forse nel suo caso, visto che i soldi non le circolano nelle tasche così tanti da giustificare il caviale, si potrebbe coniare il termine gauche huitres), e anche il sensibile dolce tollerante poeta palestinese.
Anche la soluzione del caso lascia amaro in bocca, di quelli ad hoc per salvare capra e cavoli (oppure, per avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca).
”The Debt – Il debito” di John Madden, 2010. Con Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Tom Wilkinson, Marton Csokas, Ciarán Hinds, Sam Worthington.
Però, le ultimissime pagine rialzano la qualità del romanzo, che ritorna a essere bello e affascinante.
Il dramma dell’ufficiale del Mossad non è solo un tormento personale: è quello del suo intero paese dilaniato e diviso fin dalla sua nascita.
”The Assignment – L’incarico” di Christian Duguay, 1997, con Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Kingsley.
Il primo film sul Mossad che mi viene in mente è il notevole “Munich” di Steven Spielberg, 2005, con un cast d’eccezione: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassowitz, Yves Attal, Mathieu Amalric, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Ciarán Hinds, Geoffrey Rush, Michel Lonsdale, Moritz Bleibtreu.
Qui sotto, altri film sul Mossad, l’intelligence israeliana.
Bella la trama e bella l’ambientazione.
Israele. Agente del Mossad si alterna tra interrogatori brutali nei sotterranei della centrale e delicate missioni: in questo caso, agganciare una scrittrice israeliana fingendosi un aspirante romanziere bisognoso di lezioni private, attraverso lei far uscire da Gaza un poeta palestinese malato terminale per il cui tramite mirare al figlio, terrorista internazionale sotto copertura.
Sarid sa dar vita alla sua terra: Tel Aviv prima di tutto, ma anche Gerusalemme, e il Mar Morto, e le strade che l’attraversano. Sa far sentire sulla pagina il caldo e intuire la luce che domina quel paese, pulsare l’umanità di quella parte di mondo.
Sceglie di lasciare il protagonista senza nome, come se la lotta tra etica e dovere, tra umanità e patriottismo, rendesse incerta la sua identità.
Inventa il bel personaggio del suo capo, Chaim.
Poco noto, ma molto buono è “Les patriotes – Storie di spie” di Eric Rochant, il creatore dell’eccezionale serie tv francese “Le bureau des legends”. Protagonista Yvan Attal, attore, ma anche sceneggiatore e regista, francese nato a Tel Aviv. Film del 1994.
Poi, però, secondo me si smarrisce in altri aspetti importanti.
Ho trovato schematico il rapporto tra la spia e sua moglie, troppo sbrigativo lo sviluppo.
Un po’ troppo cliché, o forse fasulli, i due co-protagonisti: la bellissima scrittrice, molto gauche caviar (forse nel suo caso, visto che i soldi non le circolano nelle tasche così tanti da giustificare il caviale, si potrebbe coniare il termine gauche huitres), e anche il sensibile dolce tollerante poeta palestinese.
Anche la soluzione del caso lascia amaro in bocca, di quelli ad hoc per salvare capra e cavoli (oppure, per avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca).
”The Debt – Il debito” di John Madden, 2010. Con Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Tom Wilkinson, Marton Csokas, Ciarán Hinds, Sam Worthington.
Però, le ultimissime pagine rialzano la qualità del romanzo, che ritorna a essere bello e affascinante.
Il dramma dell’ufficiale del Mossad non è solo un tormento personale: è quello del suo intero paese dilaniato e diviso fin dalla sua nascita.
”The Assignment – L’incarico” di Christian Duguay, 1997, con Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Kingsley.
October 26, 2025
Yishai Sarid’s Limassol is a taut, psychologically rich novel that transcends the conventions of the espionage thriller. Beneath its fast-paced plot and covert operations lies a deeply unsettling exploration of morality, emotional suppression, and the human cost of living in a state of perpetual conflict.
At the heart of the story is an unnamed intelligence officer whose professional life revolves around surveillance, manipulation, and torture. His emotional detachment—essential for his role—has corroded his personal relationships, leaving his marriage fractured and his sense of self hollowed out. Sarid uses this protagonist’s internal disintegration to mirror the broader moral decay of a society gripped by fear and entrenched in violence.
The agent’s mission—to infiltrate the life of Hani, a celebrated poet with ties to a wanted figure—forces him into intimate proximity with individuals who live outside the shadows he inhabits. Through Daphna, a writer and Hani’s close friend, the agent gains access to a world of psychological nuance and artistic vulnerability. This immersion begins to unravel his rigid sense of duty, awakening a long-dormant capacity for empathy.
Sarid deftly portrays the ethical ambiguity of intelligence work, where the boundaries between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, are constantly shifting. The agent’s journey is not just a professional assignment but a moral crucible. As he becomes more entangled with Hani and Daphna, he is compelled to confront the question: do the ends ever truly justify the means?
The novel is set in a region marked by tension and volatility, an atmosphere that permeates every page. The use of violence, deception, and constant surveillance reflects a society conditioned by fear, where ethical compromise is not an exception but a norm. Sarid does not sensationalize this reality; instead, he presents it as a quiet, persistent force that shapes both public policy and private lives.
This moral complexity extends into the realm of family dynamics, which play a crucial role in the narrative. The agent’s own fractured family, along with those of the people he surveils, serve as intimate barometers for the larger societal condition. These personal relationships—often strained, broken, or tragically intertwined—underscore the human toll of political and military agendas.
It should not be overlooked that the use of violence and deception may arise as a direct consequence of a persistent and deeply rooted fear—one shaped by the continual threat of sudden and devastating attacks. While such fear does not serve to justify acts of brutality, it offers a critical lens through which to understand the moral concessions made in the pursuit of security.
The climax, set in the Cypriot city of Limassol, crystallizes the agent’s internal conflict. Faced with a choice between professional success and a reclaimed sense of compassion, he must decide what kind of man he wants to be. It’s a moment that encapsulates the novel’s central tension: the struggle to remain human in a system that demands emotional detachment and moral compromise.
At the heart of the story is an unnamed intelligence officer whose professional life revolves around surveillance, manipulation, and torture. His emotional detachment—essential for his role—has corroded his personal relationships, leaving his marriage fractured and his sense of self hollowed out. Sarid uses this protagonist’s internal disintegration to mirror the broader moral decay of a society gripped by fear and entrenched in violence.
The agent’s mission—to infiltrate the life of Hani, a celebrated poet with ties to a wanted figure—forces him into intimate proximity with individuals who live outside the shadows he inhabits. Through Daphna, a writer and Hani’s close friend, the agent gains access to a world of psychological nuance and artistic vulnerability. This immersion begins to unravel his rigid sense of duty, awakening a long-dormant capacity for empathy.
Sarid deftly portrays the ethical ambiguity of intelligence work, where the boundaries between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, are constantly shifting. The agent’s journey is not just a professional assignment but a moral crucible. As he becomes more entangled with Hani and Daphna, he is compelled to confront the question: do the ends ever truly justify the means?
The novel is set in a region marked by tension and volatility, an atmosphere that permeates every page. The use of violence, deception, and constant surveillance reflects a society conditioned by fear, where ethical compromise is not an exception but a norm. Sarid does not sensationalize this reality; instead, he presents it as a quiet, persistent force that shapes both public policy and private lives.
This moral complexity extends into the realm of family dynamics, which play a crucial role in the narrative. The agent’s own fractured family, along with those of the people he surveils, serve as intimate barometers for the larger societal condition. These personal relationships—often strained, broken, or tragically intertwined—underscore the human toll of political and military agendas.
It should not be overlooked that the use of violence and deception may arise as a direct consequence of a persistent and deeply rooted fear—one shaped by the continual threat of sudden and devastating attacks. While such fear does not serve to justify acts of brutality, it offers a critical lens through which to understand the moral concessions made in the pursuit of security.
The climax, set in the Cypriot city of Limassol, crystallizes the agent’s internal conflict. Faced with a choice between professional success and a reclaimed sense of compassion, he must decide what kind of man he wants to be. It’s a moment that encapsulates the novel’s central tension: the struggle to remain human in a system that demands emotional detachment and moral compromise.
Read
June 13, 2017I’m currently reading a book about hawks and their prey so my thoughts on this bleak story about the Israeli secret police and their hunt for Palestinian terrorists is a little influenced by the hawk story. In comparison to the secret police and their methods, the hawk, although the scourge of many smaller birds, appears as utterly noble, utterly beautiful, even heroic and while I understood the moral questions regarding the price of survival which Yishai Sarid has examined in Limassol, the novel left me feeling hollow and empty. The entire story seemed as dry and dead as the carcass of a woodpigeon picked clean by a hawk.
September 6, 2011
This IS a BOOK I READ!!!
blah blah blah
[image]
I just wanted this review to look like almost every other review in my update feed right now. FUCK. sigh.
Elizabeth, thank you for this book. I doubt I ever would have read it or paid much attention to it if you hadn't brought it with you on one of your New York visits.
I don't really get the blurbs on the novel though. Different reviewers call it a detective novel, another calls it and Israeli Notes from Underground, and the front cover copy says it's in the tradition of le Carre (add your own accent grave or the other one over the e, or don't, it's pretentious for an Englishman to take on a very French sounding name, so I recommend calling him John the Carre where you pronounce Carre as if it were the flop Broadway musical adapted from the novel of a sort of popular horror novelist from Maine.)
This novel isn't either of the first two, but I will accept that there are shades of The Spy who Came in from the Cold here. I won't accept this being like the Smiley novels though (was Smiley in TSWCIFTC? I think so, but he's not really a main character, yes. Yes, he was because I remember his character being in the movie. I enjoyed that movie quite a bit, I think more than I enjoyed the book. Maybe you will watch it one day if you haven't already, and maybe you will read this book. I wouldn't stop you if you were going to do either).
But Notes from Underground? I don't think whatever Zman Yershalayim has ever read the book. I have. Three times, and I don't see any real similarities here. I do usually call it Notes from the Underground though. That is incorrect. I typed it that way the first time I said the title of the book a few paragraphs above, you wouldn't have known that if I didn't tell you. Not because you are a poor reader (but you may in fact be a shitty reader, or a great one, I can't say, this review wasn't written only for you, you solipistic bastard (that's if you thought I was calling you a poor reader, if you realized I wasn't personally calling you a name ignore the last hundred or so words) but because I went back and fixed it.
Holy shit, can you believe that I'm trying to pass off this rambling nonsense as a review?
Because you (yes you, whomever you are) aren't me you don't see the messages people have recently been writing when I ask them to write something in order to be considered to be my friend (note to non-friends---I don't accept friends of people I don't know who just write "something". I realize that my question, Write something begs to be answered in such a way, but I don't respond to it. I don't decline you, I just put you on a probationary indecision realm. Or I do nothing. I leave you with the 17 other people who wrote 'something'), because you aren't me etc., you don't know that people have been telling me they enjoy my 'reviews' even though I don't seem to review the book I'm talking about...
....look out. here it comes.....
Plot Synopsis
A high-ranking official in the Israeli secret service is handed a new brief: go undercover as an aspiring novelist to befriend Dauphna, an Israeli writer, and her friend Hanai, a renowned Palestinian poet. The target is Hani's son Yotam, a wanted terrorist leader. As the undercover agent becomes ingrained in Dauphna and Hani's lives, his own well-entrneced sense of right and wrong is clouded. The writers have awoken feelings he thought were long dead. Yet his sense of duty and the haits of a lifetime in the military propel the agent to go ahead with his deceptions and lay a trap for Yotam.A spelling binding novel that takes the reason on a tumultuous journey through the conflicted Israeli mind
(note to reader, I only cut and pasted this shit. I'm not responsible for the typo in the almost dead center of the review. Nor the one at the end in the penultimate or final lines of the synopis.)
I'd slap a spoiler tag around that synopsis, but it doesn't FUCKING matter, it's close to the blurb on the book (sans typos) and it's at the top of the screen next to the picture of the book (unless you aren't reading this review in the way I imagine you are, because there are ways you could read this review where you wouldn't necessarily have the book description on the same page as the review).
It's a book about an interrogator who kills a dude and then punches another dudes teeth in because homeboy number 2 said something rude. And he is also doing this thing where he pretends to be a write to befriend this MILF novelist who is friends with this Arab poet who has a son who is a terrorist. And the novelist woman has a son who is a junkie who sometimes sings Morrissey songs to himself, but we are never told which ones, which is a bummer because it would make for something I could talk about and go on a tangent about. And this son made me think of my friend who really liked Morrissey and heroin and who DIED not from liking Morrissey too much but, surprisingly, because of the heroin.
These people I just mentioned, they are all characters and stuff happens. If you like books about Israeli interrogators, MILF novelists, cancer-ridden Arab poets, terrorist organizers and people who remind me of my friend Matt then you will love this book!!!!!
Stay tuned for my next infrequent review where I may in fact talk about something substantial, possibly the book I'm 'reviewing' or possibly how I feel about something unrelated to the book. Or maybe I'll just ramble on again. You'll never know though unless you keep paying constant attention to me and do nothing else with your life except wait for me to write something new!!!
blah blah blah
[image]
I just wanted this review to look like almost every other review in my update feed right now. FUCK. sigh.
Elizabeth, thank you for this book. I doubt I ever would have read it or paid much attention to it if you hadn't brought it with you on one of your New York visits.
I don't really get the blurbs on the novel though. Different reviewers call it a detective novel, another calls it and Israeli Notes from Underground, and the front cover copy says it's in the tradition of le Carre (add your own accent grave or the other one over the e, or don't, it's pretentious for an Englishman to take on a very French sounding name, so I recommend calling him John the Carre where you pronounce Carre as if it were the flop Broadway musical adapted from the novel of a sort of popular horror novelist from Maine.)
This novel isn't either of the first two, but I will accept that there are shades of The Spy who Came in from the Cold here. I won't accept this being like the Smiley novels though (was Smiley in TSWCIFTC? I think so, but he's not really a main character, yes. Yes, he was because I remember his character being in the movie. I enjoyed that movie quite a bit, I think more than I enjoyed the book. Maybe you will watch it one day if you haven't already, and maybe you will read this book. I wouldn't stop you if you were going to do either).
But Notes from Underground? I don't think whatever Zman Yershalayim has ever read the book. I have. Three times, and I don't see any real similarities here. I do usually call it Notes from the Underground though. That is incorrect. I typed it that way the first time I said the title of the book a few paragraphs above, you wouldn't have known that if I didn't tell you. Not because you are a poor reader (but you may in fact be a shitty reader, or a great one, I can't say, this review wasn't written only for you, you solipistic bastard (that's if you thought I was calling you a poor reader, if you realized I wasn't personally calling you a name ignore the last hundred or so words) but because I went back and fixed it.
Holy shit, can you believe that I'm trying to pass off this rambling nonsense as a review?
Because you (yes you, whomever you are) aren't me you don't see the messages people have recently been writing when I ask them to write something in order to be considered to be my friend (note to non-friends---I don't accept friends of people I don't know who just write "something". I realize that my question, Write something begs to be answered in such a way, but I don't respond to it. I don't decline you, I just put you on a probationary indecision realm. Or I do nothing. I leave you with the 17 other people who wrote 'something'), because you aren't me etc., you don't know that people have been telling me they enjoy my 'reviews' even though I don't seem to review the book I'm talking about...
....look out. here it comes.....
Plot Synopsis
A high-ranking official in the Israeli secret service is handed a new brief: go undercover as an aspiring novelist to befriend Dauphna, an Israeli writer, and her friend Hanai, a renowned Palestinian poet. The target is Hani's son Yotam, a wanted terrorist leader. As the undercover agent becomes ingrained in Dauphna and Hani's lives, his own well-entrneced sense of right and wrong is clouded. The writers have awoken feelings he thought were long dead. Yet his sense of duty and the haits of a lifetime in the military propel the agent to go ahead with his deceptions and lay a trap for Yotam.A spelling binding novel that takes the reason on a tumultuous journey through the conflicted Israeli mind
(note to reader, I only cut and pasted this shit. I'm not responsible for the typo in the almost dead center of the review. Nor the one at the end in the penultimate or final lines of the synopis.)
I'd slap a spoiler tag around that synopsis, but it doesn't FUCKING matter, it's close to the blurb on the book (sans typos) and it's at the top of the screen next to the picture of the book (unless you aren't reading this review in the way I imagine you are, because there are ways you could read this review where you wouldn't necessarily have the book description on the same page as the review).
It's a book about an interrogator who kills a dude and then punches another dudes teeth in because homeboy number 2 said something rude. And he is also doing this thing where he pretends to be a write to befriend this MILF novelist who is friends with this Arab poet who has a son who is a terrorist. And the novelist woman has a son who is a junkie who sometimes sings Morrissey songs to himself, but we are never told which ones, which is a bummer because it would make for something I could talk about and go on a tangent about. And this son made me think of my friend who really liked Morrissey and heroin and who DIED not from liking Morrissey too much but, surprisingly, because of the heroin.
These people I just mentioned, they are all characters and stuff happens. If you like books about Israeli interrogators, MILF novelists, cancer-ridden Arab poets, terrorist organizers and people who remind me of my friend Matt then you will love this book!!!!!
Stay tuned for my next infrequent review where I may in fact talk about something substantial, possibly the book I'm 'reviewing' or possibly how I feel about something unrelated to the book. Or maybe I'll just ramble on again. You'll never know though unless you keep paying constant attention to me and do nothing else with your life except wait for me to write something new!!!
November 22, 2017
חוקר שב״כ במרוץ אחר פצצה מתקתקת מתנסה במקביל בחקירה לא שגרתית אחרי סופרת פעילת שלום. חייו הולכים ומתרסקים בעודו פועל להצלת האחר (הציבור, ערבי מעזה, נרקומן מקיסריה), מתרסקים ונבנים מחדש ככל שהוא חוצה גבולות ושובר את הכללים ומצמצם את מבטו מהכלל אל הפרט.
רומן מרוכז מאוד (כ- 100 עמודים בגירסה האלקטרונית) שום מילה לא מיותרת, אבל נראה שהמחיר הוא שחלק מהדמויות היו מעט קלישאתיות, ובכל זאת אין תחושה של חוסר, קצבי ודי סוחף.
רומן מרוכז מאוד (כ- 100 עמודים בגירסה האלקטרונית) שום מילה לא מיותרת, אבל נראה שהמחיר הוא שחלק מהדמויות היו מעט קלישאתיות, ובכל זאת אין תחושה של חוסר, קצבי ודי סוחף.
January 15, 2021
הזמן הוא התקופה הנוראית של פיגועי ההתפוצצות. גיבור הספר הוא חוקר שב"כ שנשלח ליצור קשר עם דפנה, סופרת תל-אביבית, בעודו מעמיד פנים שהוא רוצה לכתוב רומן הסטורי על סוחר אתרוגים. בהמשך הספר נגלה מדוע ומה בדיוק כוחות הבטחון רוצים ממנה. לסופרת יש גם ילד נרקומן. במקביל מסתובב בארץ מחבל עם חגורת נפץ, וחוקר השב"כ משתתף בחקירות כדי לנסות לגלות היכן הוא נמצא. שפיותו מדרדרת, יחסיו עם אישתו וילדו מתפוררים. בכל מקום שהוא נמצא בו, בכל דבר שהוא עושה, "הפצצה המתקתקת", הפחד מפיגוע שאותו לא יצליח למנוע, רודפים אותו ומשפיעים עליו. הוא רואה הכל דרך הפריזמה הזו - בודק איך השומר בודק את הנכנסים לקניון, נוסע בתל אביב וסופר מקומות שבהם היו פיגועים. כולו שקוע בעבודה, כמכור לסם, כבן הנרקומן של דפנה. מסביבו מוצגות אלטרנטיבות אחרות - אשתו שמקבלת קידום ועוברת בלעדיו לבוסטון, מפקדו שהאמונה והדת מחזיקים אותו, מסיבה של הבוהמה התל אביבית, וסיפורו של סוחר האתרוגים עצמו - שנוסע ליוון ומשאיר מאחוריו ארץ השרויה בגיהנום, אך הוא לא מצליח להתנתק ולהיגמל. כשגויס לשב"כ היה שמאלני, סטודנט להסטוריה, והדיסוננס בין אמונותיו לפני ואמונותיו כרגע, ובין המציאות האמיתית למציאות שהוא מדמיין לעצמו, מתעצם ומתעצם עד שמתפרץ. ספר קודר וחזק.
June 15, 2013
Splendid. This one was shortlisted for the Impac Award in 2012 and is another one to thank Daunt Books in London for promoting. Thank heavens for small publishers.
A power-packing little novel that really captures the troubling, Janus face of the Israel that I (still, often awkwardly) love. On the one hand, we see a disturbing world of sophisticated surveillance, paranoia, brutality and covert war (“We use satellites to smell the belch of some guy in Jenin after his meal of hummus with beans and onions”). On the other, we’re also reminded of the story behind that fear, as our protagonist says of the target’s worldview: “We are the sons of apes who will be turned to mincemeat”.
(Sticking with primates actually, I love this summation of the conflict: “We are two tribes of gorillas hitting one another. Like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, only our sticks are more advanced”).
It doesn’t spare our protagonist either or give us obvious winners. He’s jaded and brutal and a borderline Meursault in his lack of feeling. We know he can write and he had artistic aspirations, making him a great, ambiguous lead (I love the feeble idea of the etrog merchant: why would you indeed import etrogs from Greece?). Yet he is redeemed – giving us something that is ultimately, possibly optimistic.
Some great portraits here too: Hani – that quiet depth and dignity, overlaying a barely repressed sense of anger. Daphna: yep, seen her (I love it how our narrator keeps going on about her amazing legs. I found that very believably Israeli actually). Yotam, Daphna’s impossible son: nothing to do with the conflict, and I was reminded of that line (Herzl or Weizmann or someone) about ‘our Jewish State with our own Jewish criminals’. Step forward, ‘our Jewish junkie’. (NB I’d happily live in an A-frame in Caesarea).
And it’s funny too. A couple of moments really made me laugh: our protagonist and Haim ‘looked like a couple of Venetian blind installers’; someone ‘looked like a fat clerk in a post office’.
So, very enjoyable. I love David Grossman and Amos Oz, but here’s something very contemporary and forceful. I wish we saw more of its kind.
A power-packing little novel that really captures the troubling, Janus face of the Israel that I (still, often awkwardly) love. On the one hand, we see a disturbing world of sophisticated surveillance, paranoia, brutality and covert war (“We use satellites to smell the belch of some guy in Jenin after his meal of hummus with beans and onions”). On the other, we’re also reminded of the story behind that fear, as our protagonist says of the target’s worldview: “We are the sons of apes who will be turned to mincemeat”.
(Sticking with primates actually, I love this summation of the conflict: “We are two tribes of gorillas hitting one another. Like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, only our sticks are more advanced”).
It doesn’t spare our protagonist either or give us obvious winners. He’s jaded and brutal and a borderline Meursault in his lack of feeling. We know he can write and he had artistic aspirations, making him a great, ambiguous lead (I love the feeble idea of the etrog merchant: why would you indeed import etrogs from Greece?). Yet he is redeemed – giving us something that is ultimately, possibly optimistic.
Some great portraits here too: Hani – that quiet depth and dignity, overlaying a barely repressed sense of anger. Daphna: yep, seen her (I love it how our narrator keeps going on about her amazing legs. I found that very believably Israeli actually). Yotam, Daphna’s impossible son: nothing to do with the conflict, and I was reminded of that line (Herzl or Weizmann or someone) about ‘our Jewish State with our own Jewish criminals’. Step forward, ‘our Jewish junkie’. (NB I’d happily live in an A-frame in Caesarea).
And it’s funny too. A couple of moments really made me laugh: our protagonist and Haim ‘looked like a couple of Venetian blind installers’; someone ‘looked like a fat clerk in a post office’.
So, very enjoyable. I love David Grossman and Amos Oz, but here’s something very contemporary and forceful. I wish we saw more of its kind.
January 10, 2011
John le Carré this is not. Honestly, I think it was poorly translated, the prose felt incredibly stiff. (Note to translators: avoid the word "very" in English. It is a very boring word.) And I get that the protagonist is emotionally detached as a result of his job and it's a metaphor for Israeli society, but riding it this long... it's relying on the form. It's not good fiction.
It's almost enough to turn me off of translated fiction. Thank goodness I'm still reading Pevear & Volokhonsky's edition of Anna Karenina.
It's almost enough to turn me off of translated fiction. Thank goodness I'm still reading Pevear & Volokhonsky's edition of Anna Karenina.
May 31, 2016
ספר מצוין, אם כמה בכמה מקומות משום מה הרגשתי כאילו חסר משפט או שניים לחבר בין קטעי מחשבה או רצף הסיפור. אהבתי ששריד לא מרח את הסיפור והצליח להעביר אותו על פני 180 עמודים גם עם פיתוח דמויות ומצבים קשים שעברו
May 9, 2012
The annual longlist of the Dublin Impac awards provides a rich source of titles from around the world that I would otherwise never hear of. That is how I came across this book which has since made it on to the short list. It is the tale of an Israeli secret service man who specializes in interrogation. He is just a guy, doing his job, protecting the good guys from the bad guys. And that's his justification for his willful blindness to the cruelties he helps perpetuate. But his marriage and interior life are crumbling, and we watch it happen in slow motion as he desperately tries to maintain his professional rigor in another assignment. We simultaneously want him to succeed because we can identify with his personal travails, but we also want him to fail because his objectives seem abhorrent. Israel and Cyprus are exotic settings to a Canadian. Good read. 3 1/2 ***.
September 8, 2014
Limassol is just another one of those boring old crime/thriller stories about a disaffected, world-weary male protagonist (yawn) who can’t communicate (yawn) whose marriage is falling apart (yawn) and he’s trapped in a moral quagmire (yawn). Ok, this time the male protagonist is an Israeli secret service agent, and ok, this time the setting is Israel and all the geopolitical angst that goes with that, but at the end of the day, it’s a tired old plot with tired old characterisation that’s been done to death.
January 10, 2011
I dug it, but wasn't blown out of the water by it. Maybe too little happened? I mean, in le Carre county, things go slow, but at least stuff happens. Great atmosphere, though. Just wanted it to be longer and, well, punched-up a bit more. Not that it needed more fist fights, just more external conflict than purely internal conflict. Or something.
September 14, 2014
Excelente lectura, de las que no puedes soltar, el autor no te deja respiro y se lo agradeces, me gusta el final, mucho.
January 12, 2021
An interrogator for the Israeli Security Service struggles with guilt when his questioning crosses the line and a prisoner ends up dead. Counseled by his supervisor, a caring religious wise man he is told to rest and spend time with his wife and young son. His family life is unsatisfying and doomed to fail. Having once taken a class in creative writing he is chosen for an undercover operation involving an attractive middle aged Israeli novelist and her sick dying friend, a Palestinian poet.
Limassol is a fast moving read with well crafted characters and believable action. It captures the tension and conflict of the main character as he struggles with inner guilt and unfulfilled desires. For readers who may have recently watched the Netflix series, Fauda, this is somewhat reminiscent.
Limassol is a fast moving read with well crafted characters and believable action. It captures the tension and conflict of the main character as he struggles with inner guilt and unfulfilled desires. For readers who may have recently watched the Netflix series, Fauda, this is somewhat reminiscent.
November 3, 2025
אחד הספרים העצובים והמדכדכים שקראתי עם סיום הזוי ומטופש מאוד.
June 28, 2015
Superb thriller set in contemporary Israel, featuring a memorably sympathetic anti-hero. A secret service agent in the employ of the Zionist state, he is struggling to hold on to his humanity even as he smashes open Palestinian mouths and deploys interrogation techniques right out of Abu Ghraib in the mad race to stop suspected suicide bombers. In the middle of it all, with his family life spinning rapidly out of control, he gets an assignment: lure a highly prized Palestinian operative out into the open from Syria, and eliminate him. How that plot unfolds is the story of Limassol, the title deriving from the name of the Cypriot port which actually does not make an appearance until very late in the book.
For this really is a book about Israel and the morally corrupting effects of open-ended oppression. Sarid delivers superb atmospherics: widescreen panoramas of the ancient holy land and the cloying horror of a sun-bleached security state. A fine cast of supporting characters include the spymaster Haim, an observant Orthodox Jew; the dying Arab poet Hani; Nukhi, a druglord and a voluptuary, all Moldovan whores and Turkish baths; and at the heart of the story, the writing teacher Daphna and her drug-addled son Yotam, with both of whom our hero gets progressively, hopelessly entangled...
*
On the evidence of this book, Yishai Sarid is a genuine talent in the "thoughtful thriller" genre, and I am somewhat surprised that much more hasn't been made of him. Hopefully Europa or a publishing house like Peirene (who introduced me to the hard-boiled angst of Jan van Mersbergen a few months ago) will pick up the rest of Sarid's work. Writing this good deserves the widest exposure.
For this really is a book about Israel and the morally corrupting effects of open-ended oppression. Sarid delivers superb atmospherics: widescreen panoramas of the ancient holy land and the cloying horror of a sun-bleached security state. A fine cast of supporting characters include the spymaster Haim, an observant Orthodox Jew; the dying Arab poet Hani; Nukhi, a druglord and a voluptuary, all Moldovan whores and Turkish baths; and at the heart of the story, the writing teacher Daphna and her drug-addled son Yotam, with both of whom our hero gets progressively, hopelessly entangled...
*
On the evidence of this book, Yishai Sarid is a genuine talent in the "thoughtful thriller" genre, and I am somewhat surprised that much more hasn't been made of him. Hopefully Europa or a publishing house like Peirene (who introduced me to the hard-boiled angst of Jan van Mersbergen a few months ago) will pick up the rest of Sarid's work. Writing this good deserves the widest exposure.
June 4, 2012
I thought that reading seven of the ten titles on the 2012 Best Translated Book Award (yes Stone Upon Stone, I swear I’m still coming for you at some point) might burn me out a little from wanting to read translated works for a bit, but then along came Limassol as part of the IMPAC Awards shortlist and I was instantly intrigued for several reasons. First, it isn’t every day I get to read a novel that was translated from Hebrew, second, the chance to be inside the head of an Israeli secret police interrogator for an entire novel seemed utterly fascinating to me, and third, well I’ll be honest here, of the ten novels shortlisted this was a the shortest and therefore seemed like the quickest and easiest place to make a quick dent in the list.
The action in Limassol isn’t fast and furious; instead it’s much more cerebral. The protagonist is and ordinary citizen going to work every day to fight for a cause he believes in to protect this country at any cost? Being an interrogator a torturer doesn’t necessarily make you an all-around bad guy? I phrase these as questions because from the very first page author Yishai Sarid certainly wants the reader to begin to think through just how far they would go if placed smack in the middle of similar circumstances. In fact, so much of Limassol depends on just how much the reader is willing to accept and how far they’re willing to go on the protagonist’s (is he nameless, he feels nameless) journey of self-discovery.
READ MORE:
http://www.opinionless.com/book-revie...
The action in Limassol isn’t fast and furious; instead it’s much more cerebral. The protagonist is and ordinary citizen going to work every day to fight for a cause he believes in to protect this country at any cost? Being an interrogator a torturer doesn’t necessarily make you an all-around bad guy? I phrase these as questions because from the very first page author Yishai Sarid certainly wants the reader to begin to think through just how far they would go if placed smack in the middle of similar circumstances. In fact, so much of Limassol depends on just how much the reader is willing to accept and how far they’re willing to go on the protagonist’s (is he nameless, he feels nameless) journey of self-discovery.
READ MORE:
http://www.opinionless.com/book-revie...
September 6, 2014
Novela aguilisima, te atrapa desde el principio. El peor sufrimiento que puede ocasionar, a un ser humano, es tener graves contradiciones en su pensamiento. A este personaje de los servicios secretos que penetra hasta sus ultimas consecuencias para lograr un objetivo marcado. Los demas personajes desde su esposa que pierde, a la maestra que busca con el objeto que le enseñe a escribir y que poco a poco logra su confianza, amiga entrañable de el poeta que viene de Gaza en fase terminal, a quie tambien por su mision hace que se encuentre con su hijo el terrorista en Limassol. Haim su jefe en los servicios secretos, frio calculador.
Todos personajes perfectamente desarrollados en la novela. Hacia mucho que no me enganchaba de tal manera que no te puedes desprender del Libro. Muy recomendable.
Todos personajes perfectamente desarrollados en la novela. Hacia mucho que no me enganchaba de tal manera que no te puedes desprender del Libro. Muy recomendable.
November 30, 2021
Pues, para ser el primer autor israelí que leo, me ha gustado. Muy interesante su propuesta literaria, me gusta mucho cómo introduce el conflicto israelí sin forzarlo. La narración es ágil, y me agradan bastantes frases del libro. Consejo: no esperen una novela de suspenso, no lo es. Sin embargo, hay mucha profundidad y relevancia en lo que se cuenta. Nada mal.
May 13, 2024
(2.5-3) No ha estado mal. El final me ha parecido que tenía un cierre muy rápido y te enteras del objetivo en los últimos capítulos...pero aún así me han gustado las reflexiones que expresa el protagonista israelí respecto a la violencia y el abuso de poder, además de como puede afectar a su vida familiar.
December 28, 2013
No sé cómo llegó este libro a mis manos. La reseña en e libro llamó mi atención y decidí leerlo. Al principio es interesante, pero no llega ni a la mitad, cuando lo inverosímil se impone. No entiendo tanta recomendación. Es una buena manera de malgastar el tiempo.
October 16, 2019
זה הספר הראשון של ישי שריד שניתקלתי בו.
זהו סיפורו של חוקר שב״כ, שהתחיל בקריירה כאדם הומני ונחמד, בעל דעות די שמאליות. עם הזמן, הנחקרים והפיגועים נראה שאיבד הרבה מיכולת השליטה העצמית והאמפתיה. כעת החוקר נמצא במשימה סודית, בא הוא נפגש עם דפנה, יועצת כתיבה, במסווה של סופר מתחיל הנאבק במחסומי כתיבה. דפנה היא כמובן שמאלנית בעלת חברים ברשות הפלסטינית, ודרכה הוא מעוניין להגיע לחשוד שדפנה בקשר עם אביו. החוקר נשוי ואב לילד, אינו מחובר למשפחתו, עבודתו באה במקום הראשון (ובעצם היחיד).
אהבתי מאוד את סגנון הכתיבה, את הסיפור ואת הדמויות. סגנון הכתיבה מרוחק ומאופק ברובו, מה שמתאים מאוד לדמות המרכזית. כמו גם שהבן שלו מכונה הילד, ואיננו יודעים את שמו כלל לאורך כל העלילה. בהחלט היה מעניין לראות את התפתחות הדמויות ואת הקונפליקט הפנימי של הדמות המרכזית בסיפור הזה. התעוררותו של החוקר למצב הנפשי ולחוסר האנושיות שלו בהחלט מרשימה.
הספר מעורר סוגיות אתיות, כמו גם עד כמה האדם עשוי להתדרדר לחוסר הומניות תחת תנאים המאפשרים זאת.
כמעט 4 כוכבים.
זהו סיפורו של חוקר שב״כ, שהתחיל בקריירה כאדם הומני ונחמד, בעל דעות די שמאליות. עם הזמן, הנחקרים והפיגועים נראה שאיבד הרבה מיכולת השליטה העצמית והאמפתיה. כעת החוקר נמצא במשימה סודית, בא הוא נפגש עם דפנה, יועצת כתיבה, במסווה של סופר מתחיל הנאבק במחסומי כתיבה. דפנה היא כמובן שמאלנית בעלת חברים ברשות הפלסטינית, ודרכה הוא מעוניין להגיע לחשוד שדפנה בקשר עם אביו. החוקר נשוי ואב לילד, אינו מחובר למשפחתו, עבודתו באה במקום הראשון (ובעצם היחיד).
אהבתי מאוד את סגנון הכתיבה, את הסיפור ואת הדמויות. סגנון הכתיבה מרוחק ומאופק ברובו, מה שמתאים מאוד לדמות המרכזית. כמו גם שהבן שלו מכונה הילד, ואיננו יודעים את שמו כלל לאורך כל העלילה. בהחלט היה מעניין לראות את התפתחות הדמויות ואת הקונפליקט הפנימי של הדמות המרכזית בסיפור הזה. התעוררותו של החוקר למצב הנפשי ולחוסר האנושיות שלו בהחלט מרשימה.
הספר מעורר סוגיות אתיות, כמו גם עד כמה האדם עשוי להתדרדר לחוסר הומניות תחת תנאים המאפשרים זאת.
כמעט 4 כוכבים.
January 25, 2023
Un libro con buenas imágenes, por momentos románticas de Israel. Interesante la perspectiva nacionalista del deber que tiene el personaje principal; de entendemos el terror de los atentados. Rápido en cuanto al desenlace y hacia donde se dirige, sin embargo muchas veces no entiendo este hartazgo que el personaje siente sobre su deber y teniendo un escape latente, irse con su familia a otro país, decide no hacerlo y quedarse con sus nuevas amistades. Creo que es un libro cumplidor y hasta ahí.
Creo que el escritor podría traer cosas interesantes en el futuro. Este es su segundo libro. Por el momento se queda corto. ¿O acaso será mi sentimiento anti israelí aflorando? #FreePalestina
Creo que el escritor podría traer cosas interesantes en el futuro. Este es su segundo libro. Por el momento se queda corto. ¿O acaso será mi sentimiento anti israelí aflorando? #FreePalestina
December 20, 2021
The Israeli version of the Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Not that the writing is like Le Carre. This book is much more direct and downright brutal at times. (Not just the security service; the protagonist's wife gets brutal when she feels it's necessary.) The protagonist is no Alec Leamas but he has the same worn out feeling, the inability to just play the game any more. Well written and I really did not know how it was going to end until it did.
October 13, 2023
This was an interesting book to read as it was translated from French to English. I was intrigued with the story and as someone who is pretty public on social media, I was taken with this focus on the topic. de Vigan does an excellent job exploring the past, present and even future of the media we consume and the public ways we show up online. It left me with a lot to think about. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars.
October 4, 2021
Najsłabsza z tej serii ,a szkoda, bo w pewnym momencie było naprawdę ciekawie.
April 21, 2024
Corprenedor: reflexió atemporal sobre l'enemic i la guerra i els seus mètodes... i tanmateix tan actual i contemporània. Ajuda a entendre la cruesa i complexitat de la barbàrie a Gaza. #llegits
March 16, 2017
Well, it has many ingredients to be a good book; it is just a bit too undercooked and short. The characters are mostly 2 dimensional and stereotypical. Also there is an underlying tear-jerkeriness that I did not appreciate. But the structure of the story is pretty good. Also, it shows the dead-end of workaholic tendencies very well. As a workaholic that was a good cautionary tale.
September 22, 2025
Novela d’espies senzilla que et fa entendre una part de la realitat entre Israel i Palestina dels últims anys
May 11, 2024
Emozionante e struggente per i sentimenti che trasmette di due popoli che hanno le stesse paure e gli stessi desideri.
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