A Good Place for the Night: Stories

by Savyon Liebrecht, Sondra Silverston

Thematically linked stories about Israelis in love and in trouble far away from homeby the author of the acclaimed Apples from the Desert . Savyon Liebrecht, one of Israel's most distinguished and popular authors, has won an avid readership in the U. S. for her rich, believable fiction about affairs of the heart. Her newest collection includes seven long stories named for placesMunich, America, Tel Aviv, Hiroshimaand features Israelis abroad, women and men in love and in trouble far away from home. A woman living congenially in Hiroshima for nine years becomes involved in a love triangle with an American and a Japanese, and learns with chilling finality that she can never be at home in this city of the Japanese holocaust. The tables turn on an Israeli journalist, in Munich to cover the trial of a Nazi war criminal, when he becomes a witness to anti-Arab violence and to the murder of a beautiful Muslim woman he has secretly desired. In these searing stories setting becomes an accomplice to fate, and history intrudes into the heat of passion. In the end, A Good Place for the Night makes us realize that we are all wanderers, and the safe haven of "home" is only an idea.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Savyon Liebrecht was born in Munich, Germany, in 1948, to Holocaust survivor parents. She studied philosophy and literature at Tel Aviv University and started publishing in 1986. She has received awards for two of her TV scripts, the Alterman Prize (1987), the Amelia Rosselli Prize for Mail Order Women (Italy, 2002) and the Maior-Amalfi Award for A Good Place for the Night (Italy, 2005); as well as Playwright of the Year for her successful plays, It's All Greek to Me (2005), and Apples in the Desert (2006). In 2009, she received the WIZO Prize (France).

Reviews

[Siv30 · Rating 4 out of 5]

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/מקום...

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review, because it's nothing like what I would normally read. It was a gift, something that gathered dust on a bookshelf until I needed something light to take with me on a trip.

Let me say this, A Good Place for the Night is anything but light. The first two stories, America and Kibbutz, were particularly thought provoking. I didn't exactly enjoy them, but they did grab my attention and hold it tight. I'd rate them 3 stars, maybe 4. Towards the end of the book, I either lost interest or the stories just got exponentially worse. Most likely a bit of both. The last story (the title story!) was, in my opinion by, far the worst. It was painful to read, both because I am not at all a fan of the thinly veiled Holocaust motifs and the clearly symbolic, but confusing as heck, apocalyptic backdrop. It left a bitter aftertaste.

I wish I would have skipped about half the stories in this book. It would have been a better read over all.

[Caley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story in this collection is impressively strong. The characters are vivid and memorable which is always a challenge when penning a solid short story. But after that, the rest of the collection suffers from serious flaws. The flashback sequences that Liebrecht attempts to inject are so terribly disjointed and poorly done that I was left totally confused at certain points. Transitions on the whole are completely lacking. What's worse, at some points, the stories veer off into bizarre, symbolic parallel universes (that's as best as I can describe it), which are ineffective and frankly boring. 2 stars. I won't be reading any more from this author.

[Amiad]

סיפורים ארוכים ולא ברורים.

[Or Lowi · Rating 3 out of 5]

קובץ סיפורים זה, נפתח בכמה מן הסיפורים הקצרים היפים ביותר שראתי, אך ההמשך שלו לא עומד באותו רף. כל אחד מהסיפורים עוסק במיקום במיקום מסוים ובקשר שלו לדמות הראשית. כל הסיפורים עוסקים בקשר משפחתי, בבגידות ושקרים וניתן לומר כי אלו המוטיבים המרכזיים המחברים בין הסיפורים השונים. לליברכט סגנון כתיבה מאוד מעניין. בתחילת כל סיפור, הכל מאוד לא מובן ונכתב במרומז. אך יש לה את היכולת לסחוט את הקורא רגשית שאין בעיני להרבה סופרים. לכן, הסיפורים הטובים מוצלחים מאוד ומרגשים מאוד, והסיפורים הפחות טובים נשארים עם קו עלילה לא ברור במיוחד. אך רק בעבור אותם רגעים קסומים שקורים בעיקר בארבעת הסיפורים הראשונים, אשמח לקרוא סיפורים נוספים של ליברכט ואמליץ גם על ספר זה.
לא לפספס את: ״קיבוץ״. מרגש ומחניק עד דמעות. העלילה כתובה בצורה נפלאה והקונספט ממומש לעילא. אחד הסיפורים הקצרים הטובים ביותר שקראתי.
אפשר לוותר על: ״ירושלים״. הוא מאין סיפור המשך לאחד מהסיפורים היותר מוצלחים במקבץ זה, אבל אני לא הצלחתי להבין אותו או את הנחיצות שלו לאותו סיפור מקור.

[tohar✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Jennifer W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't read short stories, I don't feel that they flush out the characters well enough. I found that to be mostly true in this book, as well. I thought the first story was very well done. The last story gave me the creeps. I thought the story about the journalist covering the Nazi trial would have been a lot more interesting, but it seemed too short to really get into any of the more emotional aspects (although I did really like the ending of that one). Overall, a quick read, but further proves why I don't care for short stories.

[Kimchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was amazed by the author's ability to conjure complex psychological behaviors for her characters. The last story (A Good Place for the Night) sent shivers down my spine. But, as with most short story compilations, I felt that some of them were too short-lived and left me hanging.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting collection of short stories, some of them are pretty dark.

[Anita Greenwald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really don't like short stories. Liebrecht's writing was terrific though. Different, and interesting. Each story centers on a place. He's an Israeli contemporary writer. Highly recommended.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Interesting, actually. I just can't get into it right now. Might try again at a later date.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction L717g 2005