The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

TK

Eileen Battersby's take:

Israeli writers David Grossman and Amos Oz are potential Nobel laureates; both are represented on the longlist with fine novels, neither of which should win. David Grossman’s A Horse Walks into a Bar (translated by Jessica Cohen) is a courageous, new departure for the always interesting Grossman. His narrator is a despairing, veteran stand-up comic who confronts his life one night during a routine which exhausts and intrigues his audience, even repels others. One of my Books of 2016, it should reach the shortlist.

When I see a newly translated novel at my local library I usually check it out, whether I have heard of it or not. But when I saw the title of this one I passed it over, since I seriously dislike most jokes, puns and many comedians' routines. Well, I did pick it up and read the blurb saying that it was about an aging standup comedian, which turned me off further. Imagine my surprise when it came up on the MBI longlist this week! I rushed back to the library to retrieve it only to find it unavailable and with a long waiting list. Luckily, it is one of the few Long listees that is available on Kindle so I clicked that "purchase" button and read it in one fell swoop last night....WOW!

First, I have to say that one doesn't have to enjoy comedy routines to like this book. Many of Dov's (The comedian)jokes are patronizing, inappropriate and just plain mean, but what fun to wince, groan and boo along with the audience, which I actually felt a part of. This interest was due to the use of a complex first-person narrator, a member of the audience who has a mysterious relationship to Dov , more of which we will learn later. Without giving any spoilers away, I will say that the entire action of the novel takes place within the 2 hour span of the comic routine, which takes place in what seems to be a rather rundown nightclub.

Having only the one narrator, Grossman is able to formulate a complex and multi-stranded plot. We are able to simultaneously listen to the comedian, view the audience's reaction, and read the thoughts and history of both the narrator sitting in the audience and the man on the stage. IT IS QUITE A SHOW, and you will be able to see from the start why I couldn't quit reading this and will be thinking about it for some time!

Short list? Possibly, tho I am leaving the jury out til I read more of the contenders.

peg wrote: "When I see a newly translated novel at my local library I usually check it out, whether I have heard of it or not. But when I saw the title of this one I passed it over, since I seriously dislike m..."

Nice one. I was growing unsympathetic due to the few reviews I saw.

peg wrote: "When I see a newly translated novel at my local library I usually check it out, whether I have heard of it or not. But when I saw the title of this one I passed it over, since I seriously dislike m..."

It's also a lesson in not having pre-conceived judgments and that one should give everything a chance :)

Yep! That's why I am SO glad I have started following these translated prize lists. My second year of reading all the contenders but my first year of reviewing them, which makes it so much more interesting. ; ). More to come!

Interesting interview with the translator - including the issues she had with the very first line:

http://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/...

Thanks, Paul. That whole discussion about translating jokes is very interesting.

Indeed - looking forward to reading this one

Very very impressed with this - the author walks a tightrope with the risk of losing his readers as Dovaleh gradually loses his audience, but it grabbed me to the end.

In a way it was the opposite of a page turner for me, but in a good way, as I didn't want it to end so slowed down while reading it.

Also in my top 3 and with only one book to go it will stay there.

Yes - definitely one for my shortlist. I need to have a serious think now as I have 8 books for a list of 6 and I don't know which 2 to drop. That's the reverse of the problem I had with the main Booker list last year.

Neil wrote: "Yes - definitely one for my shortlist. I need to have a serious think now as I have 8 books for a list of 6 and I don't know which 2 to drop. That's the reverse of the problem I had with the main B..."

I would say pick only one from The Unseen, Swallowing Mercury and Fish Have No Feet (hint, the former, hint hint) - problem solved.

Neil wrote: "That's the reverse of the problem I had with the main Booker list last year"

:-) Think we need a new name - the Highly Restricted and Inferior Booker or something to acknowledge the lower quality caused by restricting it only to English language originals.

That's the way I am thinking at the moment. Judas will be there (I know that already and I am only a quarter through it), so I will update my list soon to finalise my shortlist.

What are your thoughts concerning the ending?

I really liked the book, very intense, but I didn't quite get
(view spoiler)[ why choosing between his parents and being right, had to poison the rest of his life - was the disease he was suffering from supposed to symbolize this?
I thought for a long time that both his parents had died-
thus the reason for calling him an orphan (hide spoiler)]

I know the shadow jury of bloggers, who weren't universally taken with the book, felt the ending was an anti-climax.

(view spoiler)[I took it that he was racked with guilt over the fact that during the time he was waiting to find or which parent had died, he had ultimately chosen his mother and so implicitly wished his father dead.

Although I think it would have worked better if he had made the "correct" choice as then his guilt would have surely been stronger for having implicitly caused the death of his father.

The illness I took as unrelated but the prompt for him to revisit his life via this final confessional stand-up routine.

I thought there was a fascinating echo of Grossman's most famous work, To the End of the Land. There a mother of a Israeli conscript caked up to active service flees to the Galilean wilderness. Her logic is that if no one can find her to tell her her son has been injured or killed in the conflict, then he must not have been injured or killed and so must be safe. There is a Schrodinger's Cat element to both, ie until I know, it hasn't happened. (hide spoiler)]

Loved the book but I agree the ending was a bit....flat.

you sort of expected something spectacular

I actually preferred that there wasn't some surprise twist ending but I can see for some it was like an extended gag with a rather weak punchline.

Still one of my favourites on the list though.

Maybe it was just me, but I was willing it to end something like it did - it felt more authentic to me.

Yes agreed

I still liked it a lot Paul - i guess like Dovaleh's audience we didn't quite get what we expected ;-)

I read it (or listened to it, technically) this past weekend and agree that the ending was anti-climatic. (view spoiler)[I wonder if there was a challenge with the translation of 'orphan' as in English it generally means the death of both parents, and I was not sure if it is the same in Hebrew. It definitely led me to believe that both parents had died until the reveal. (hide spoiler)] It reminded me a lot of the magnificent play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill which has almost the exact same premise, although with Billie Holiday and not a comedian.

An interview with Grossman on the current situation in Israel:

https://qantara.de/en/article/israeli...