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Lili
Two complete opposites are thrown into an unlikely relationship. One may be holy, the other - an abused woman offered for sale with a blade at her throat... Truth that dons a parable, now, under the pen of Nobel Prize nominee Shlomo Kalo, this story is ready to be told.In the ruined underbelly of the city of Jaffa, an ascetic named Adon stumbles upon a prostitute named Lili – tied, gagged, and within an inch of her life. Adon makes the impulsive decision to save her life, little knowing that the girl, who he intends to part with as soon as he has delivered her to safety, carries more danger with her than he could possibly anticipate.
Vibrant, dynamic, unique, and utterly unforgettable, LILI is the story of a man who changes the world around him, one soul at a time.
Shlomo Kalo delivers another thought-provoking masterpiece that explores the zeniths of man’s compassion and the depths of his depravity. A master storyteller, Kalo narrates a razor-sharp tale of love, spirituality, and the stories that life is built upon.
"Lili is an ambitious, sweeping book, especially moving at the end...Shlomo Kalo is, obviously, a writer of talent, vision and significant accomplishment." Daniel Menaker, HarperCollins
Scroll up and grab your copy of LILI today!
Vibrant, dynamic, unique, and utterly unforgettable, LILI is the story of a man who changes the world around him, one soul at a time.
Shlomo Kalo delivers another thought-provoking masterpiece that explores the zeniths of man’s compassion and the depths of his depravity. A master storyteller, Kalo narrates a razor-sharp tale of love, spirituality, and the stories that life is built upon.
"Lili is an ambitious, sweeping book, especially moving at the end...Shlomo Kalo is, obviously, a writer of talent, vision and significant accomplishment." Daniel Menaker, HarperCollins
Scroll up and grab your copy of LILI today!
- GenresFiction
424 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 27, 2015
"Lili" by Shlomo Kalo is a spectacular novel for mature readers who have open minds. I mention this because the author presents two characters who are honest, courageous and empathetic. Moreover, both characters are honest, courageous and empathetic outside of any ethnic roots. They're free spirits without brands or boundaries. In short, they're as rare as clean urban air. Imagine how difficult it is to present an authentic guru or angel of mercy. How do authors describe such rare birds when most readers have never met their like in all their lives?
# Shlomo Kalo manages to do so with dramatic flair, by showing rather than telling.
# "Lili" is not a fantasy. The narrative is as firm as solid as the chair you're sitting on. It takes place in Jaffa sometime in the early 1980s. The story is told in the 1st-person by Anon whose children have grown up and left home. He has by choice separated from his wife. Anon works at a downtown office. He is well regarded by his boss and co-workers, though his duties and subsequent income are modest.
# As the book opens, he withdraws 5,000 shekels in cash to buy a new apartment. On the way from the bank to see the owner, he runs across a back-alley drama. A pimp is about to sublet his star hooker to three other low-lifes. The low-lifes are having second thoughts about paying a premium (3,000 shekels) for a hooker the pimp claims will earn more than any three of theirs. All the participants are strangers to Anon. Sensible folks would walk away, telling themselves they want no part of such criminal larceny. But Anon stays and watches, not so much out of curiosity, but from a deep commitment to accept all the life throws his way. When pimp threatens to cut the young girl with a razor blade, Anon throws 5,000 shekels on the table and says he'll buy the hooker.
# Anon unties the bundle containing the hooker whose name is Lili. He tells her she's free to go. This begins a bittersweet relationship. As Lili warns him, he has become bonded by proxy to her pimp.
# Anon also hangs out with an endearing café owner and his conniving brother, with an odd-ball family who have six unwed daughters, with Arab-Israeli fishermen, Christian clergy, with nosy neighbors, with a real estate tycoon, with underworld thugs and, of course, the vengeful pimp. Nothing fazes him. He exhibits an inner calm that makes people want to unburden their woes for his ears. Anon is a patient listener. When he DOES speak, it's to the point and honest as water in a mountain stream.
# This novel reminds me of a fleshed-out version of "Cold Mountain", a collection of poems by Han Shan. Yet Shlomo Kalo has gone one better. He has given us a super rendition of a true angel of mercy. There is no one to compare with Lili in all the literature. Lili is pure magic with no sleight of hand.
# Shlomo Kalo manages to do so with dramatic flair, by showing rather than telling.
# "Lili" is not a fantasy. The narrative is as firm as solid as the chair you're sitting on. It takes place in Jaffa sometime in the early 1980s. The story is told in the 1st-person by Anon whose children have grown up and left home. He has by choice separated from his wife. Anon works at a downtown office. He is well regarded by his boss and co-workers, though his duties and subsequent income are modest.
# As the book opens, he withdraws 5,000 shekels in cash to buy a new apartment. On the way from the bank to see the owner, he runs across a back-alley drama. A pimp is about to sublet his star hooker to three other low-lifes. The low-lifes are having second thoughts about paying a premium (3,000 shekels) for a hooker the pimp claims will earn more than any three of theirs. All the participants are strangers to Anon. Sensible folks would walk away, telling themselves they want no part of such criminal larceny. But Anon stays and watches, not so much out of curiosity, but from a deep commitment to accept all the life throws his way. When pimp threatens to cut the young girl with a razor blade, Anon throws 5,000 shekels on the table and says he'll buy the hooker.
# Anon unties the bundle containing the hooker whose name is Lili. He tells her she's free to go. This begins a bittersweet relationship. As Lili warns him, he has become bonded by proxy to her pimp.
# Anon also hangs out with an endearing café owner and his conniving brother, with an odd-ball family who have six unwed daughters, with Arab-Israeli fishermen, Christian clergy, with nosy neighbors, with a real estate tycoon, with underworld thugs and, of course, the vengeful pimp. Nothing fazes him. He exhibits an inner calm that makes people want to unburden their woes for his ears. Anon is a patient listener. When he DOES speak, it's to the point and honest as water in a mountain stream.
# This novel reminds me of a fleshed-out version of "Cold Mountain", a collection of poems by Han Shan. Yet Shlomo Kalo has gone one better. He has given us a super rendition of a true angel of mercy. There is no one to compare with Lili in all the literature. Lili is pure magic with no sleight of hand.
May 9, 2017
This book was so bad and so pretentious i didn't even make it half way through. It actually made me angry that it wasted my time reading that much of it. Ostensibly, it was supposed to be about the title character, Lili, but she only appears on rare occasions. Those occasions are interesting and her character deserves more attention, but most of the book is about a self-proclaimed monk who bounces around from person to person proclaiming drivel and acting superior to everyone he meets. I'm sure this was intended to be similar to Kahlil Gilbran's Prophet, but the philosophy espoused here is so light-weight that it belongs on Oprah. It was sort of a cross between gnosticism and new age crap. In short, pretentious is almost too mild a word to describe this idiocy. I do wonder what happened to Lili, but i'm certainly not going to subject myself to another few hours of reading hell in order to find out.
April 7, 2017
I was overwhelmed by the book. It was the first time I read a novel with quite a tight and gripping plot which I could have enjoy even if it hadn't had any plote at all. The author so beautifully and lively describes the characters that you feel you are following the very lives of real people. And there some dramas here. Very interesting writing, very interessting protagonists: the singular narrator, an ascetic who never desriminate anyone what so ever, and the young prostitute, Lili, who is very hard not to fall in love with becuase of her gradually revealed inner purity, loyality and total ablity to sacrifice, to recieve and understand what is faith and mainly to love under all circumstences that might get brutal.
Very much recommended!
Very much recommended!
January 27, 2016
i couldn't get into this book. It was just flat for me. I kepted flipping thru chapters in hope it would get better, but it didn't.
Can't recommend this book. It just wasn't interesting. Low life's, monks, prostitutes, and uninteresting people. I don't know how it received higher rates.
Can't recommend this book. It just wasn't interesting. Low life's, monks, prostitutes, and uninteresting people. I don't know how it received higher rates.
October 16, 2015
An innocent prostitute lands from a murky world of menace into a relationship with an ascetic of untainted purity. I love how this purity reigns throughout the suspenseful plot and from which point of view presents the dynamics of many different characters leading to unexpected conclusions.
The main character, the ascetic, Adon, translates to Master, has the eyes to see the surprising depths of the human condition surface up from within the figures he meets along the way. Portraying harsh contradictions in character and atmosphere with purity, sensitivity and gentleness rising from the depths of the most seemingly crude and repelling of figures whereas the pious and seemingly pure are not necessarily so, although interestingly all are portrayed to hold within them in one way or another the same spirited yearning. Adon’s habit of piercing through their many layers provides levels of depth to the story accompanied by sensitive changes in moods.
This is a wonderful book, written in a sensitive yet realistic way. The depiction of the images is very human on the background of a multicolored city laden with abundance of human experiences as Jaffa.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and warmly recommend it.
The main character, the ascetic, Adon, translates to Master, has the eyes to see the surprising depths of the human condition surface up from within the figures he meets along the way. Portraying harsh contradictions in character and atmosphere with purity, sensitivity and gentleness rising from the depths of the most seemingly crude and repelling of figures whereas the pious and seemingly pure are not necessarily so, although interestingly all are portrayed to hold within them in one way or another the same spirited yearning. Adon’s habit of piercing through their many layers provides levels of depth to the story accompanied by sensitive changes in moods.
This is a wonderful book, written in a sensitive yet realistic way. The depiction of the images is very human on the background of a multicolored city laden with abundance of human experiences as Jaffa.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and warmly recommend it.
June 18, 2016
I think I wrote about LILI - the kindle edition. certainly one of the most beautiful moving novels I have ever read in my whole life. This is certainly a literary and a human masterpiece!
I read both the Hebrew original in its two different editions (the first one was called in translation "As a Scarlet Thread") and the English superb translation.
Don't dare missing this book!
One warning: it does not suit readers who despise faith or brag their atheism. All the res,t I assume, will be much impressed by it.
I read both the Hebrew original in its two different editions (the first one was called in translation "As a Scarlet Thread") and the English superb translation.
Don't dare missing this book!
One warning: it does not suit readers who despise faith or brag their atheism. All the res,t I assume, will be much impressed by it.
February 1, 2017
I read the original Hebrew version of the title and I am familiar also with the English translation. I could not put it down. Literarily. I remember that I took the book with me to work because I had more than an hour drive by bus where I could read it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews