tyunka's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bellacooperman's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful collection of short stories in the fantastical mode, but fantastic without any ambiguities or rough edges--a clear set of bizarre and impossible rules. In one story a man has "car concentrate", which if you just add water it becomes a car. In another a clone factory raises a Hitler and sells the rights to kill him. What makes it different than other stories like this is how emotionally rich many of the characters are and how much depth there is to the relationships depicted in miniature and strange worlds that Etgar Keret creates.
I should say, I read these over the course of several months, it is not a set of stories you would want to binge read.
I should say, I read these over the course of several months, it is not a set of stories you would want to binge read.
hanazet's review against another edition
5.0
"Anjeli nikdy nezlyhávajú. Je takmer nemožné zlyhať, ak ste čistá duša bez túžob a potrieb. A Cvi sa nemohol zbaviť pocitu, že presne to je: neúspešný anjel. Pláva v jazere pokoja a cnie sa mu sa vírmi a vlnami. Niečo s ním nebolo v poriadku, o čo sa nemohol podeliť s inou dušou. Tento problém bol iba jeho a ak nenájde spôsob, ako ho vyriešiť, skončí v pekle."
Tak toto bolo vynikajúce. Ešte raz: VYNIKAJÚCE. Nemám rada nadužívané spojenie "baví ma", ale tu to neviem vystihnúť lepšie: Etgar Keret ma šialene baví. Či už rozoberá vzťahy, používa čierny humor alebo ide do roviny sci- fi (tu mi pripomína geniálneho Teda Chianga), absolútne všetko od neho beriem a užívam si to.
"Peklo bolo plné duší, ktoré žili, akoby nebolo zajtrajška, a až keď umreli, zistili, že musia zaplatiť za svoje hriechy. Cvi nechcel byť prvý, kto tam príde čistý ako sneh len preto, lebo sa mu nepodarilo nájsť kúsok svojho šťastia ani tu v raji."
Keret píše s úžasnou ľahkosťou, a tak sa mu darí aj náročné témy, nefunkčné vzťahy, ťažké pocity, etické otázky, nedostatky spoločnosti a človeka či dokonca chmúrne predpovede podať spôsobom, ktorý nedeprimuje a citovo neničí, a stále postrčí k zamysleniu. Žasnem, ako elegantne sa mu darí veci predložiť a inteligentne či vtipne vypointovať. Etgar Keret totiž patrí k majstrom pointy. Moje top tejto zbierky sú V noci, Okná, Tabula rasa, Goodeed a naj je Rebrík.
"Anjeli nikdy nesnívajú. Najbližšie k snívaniu sú, keď hľadia do prázdna. A prvá vec, ktorú sa Cvi musel naučiť, bola - ako hľadieť do prázdna, ako nasmerovať svoje videnie od konkrétneho k abstraktnému a v žiadnom prípade ho nenechať dospieť na to nešťastné miesto, kde začne porovnávať svoj minulý hmotný život so svojou súčasnou vznešenou existenciou."
Tak toto bolo vynikajúce. Ešte raz: VYNIKAJÚCE. Nemám rada nadužívané spojenie "baví ma", ale tu to neviem vystihnúť lepšie: Etgar Keret ma šialene baví. Či už rozoberá vzťahy, používa čierny humor alebo ide do roviny sci- fi (tu mi pripomína geniálneho Teda Chianga), absolútne všetko od neho beriem a užívam si to.
"Peklo bolo plné duší, ktoré žili, akoby nebolo zajtrajška, a až keď umreli, zistili, že musia zaplatiť za svoje hriechy. Cvi nechcel byť prvý, kto tam príde čistý ako sneh len preto, lebo sa mu nepodarilo nájsť kúsok svojho šťastia ani tu v raji."
Keret píše s úžasnou ľahkosťou, a tak sa mu darí aj náročné témy, nefunkčné vzťahy, ťažké pocity, etické otázky, nedostatky spoločnosti a človeka či dokonca chmúrne predpovede podať spôsobom, ktorý nedeprimuje a citovo neničí, a stále postrčí k zamysleniu. Žasnem, ako elegantne sa mu darí veci predložiť a inteligentne či vtipne vypointovať. Etgar Keret totiž patrí k majstrom pointy. Moje top tejto zbierky sú V noci, Okná, Tabula rasa, Goodeed a naj je Rebrík.
"Anjeli nikdy nesnívajú. Najbližšie k snívaniu sú, keď hľadia do prázdna. A prvá vec, ktorú sa Cvi musel naučiť, bola - ako hľadieť do prázdna, ako nasmerovať svoje videnie od konkrétneho k abstraktnému a v žiadnom prípade ho nenechať dospieť na to nešťastné miesto, kde začne porovnávať svoj minulý hmotný život so svojou súčasnou vznešenou existenciou."
nereacaelum's review against another edition
4.0
He quedado muy sorprendida, para bien, con este libro. Lo leí por impulso, porque me llamaron la atención el título y la imagen de cubierta, pero no ha sido lo que esperaba. Desde el principio el estilo de autor me ha gustado, sin necesidad de ser muy grandilocuente para tratar temas diferentes, con historias que no tienen una moraleja clara muchas veces. Pero a partir del séptimo relato (Ventanas) ya me ha atrapado hasta el final. Los toques de ciencia ficción, las vueltas de tuerca, la sensación de que comprendes mucho a los personajes aunque no tengáis nada en común y ni ellos mismos se comprendan. Ha habido algunos que me han gustado un poco menos, pero otros me han encantado (Escala, Hongo, Tabula rasa...) y lo compensa con creces.
Original, interesante, crea una atmósfera que me ha atrapado. Empiezo muy bien mi año con esta como primera lectura.
Original, interesante, crea una atmósfera que me ha atrapado. Empiezo muy bien mi año con esta como primera lectura.
thomasvtair's review against another edition
2.0
no perché sarebbe stato anche bello se non fosse per la costante oggettificazione della donna. poi non capisco la persistente necessità di menzionare il sesso in quasi ogni racconto ( esclusi quelli dove non c’è una donna, chiaro ) quando non assolutamente è rilevante per la storia, odio gli uomini !
bookly_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm. Keret's latest collection translated into English lacked a certain quality that I valued in his past work—or it picked up qualities along the way that I didn't care for. This is the first time I've felt Keret's work was overtly and overly masculine; the collection's stories melded together in the sameness of their juvenile, vaguely misogynistic narrators. This collection made me feel like I was trapped in the smug, self-righteous head of a J.D. Salinger-type. Not my cup of tea.
I respectfully disagree with the reviewers who felt that "Tabula Rasa" had something to do with invalidating Holocaust victims or depicting a sympathetic Hitler. I felt it had, in fact, nothing to do with Hitler and was entirely about clones and the ethics of the modern day: How do we treat the clones, robots, etc in our modern world? Currently we dehumanize and enslave them. There were too many stories in this collection about aliens, clones, and other humanoid figures for Hitler-maybe-wasn't-that-bad to be the theme of "Tabula Rasa." In Jewish Boston, Keret confirms this: 'Keret wrote the story empathically from the point of view of the clone and described the clones in general as “21st-century Jews. They are automatically judged—they don’t have any rights. ... When I was a child, in school, they told us that no matter what the tragedy is, you should never compare it to the Holocaust. I said that to my late father who is a Holocaust survivor. He said that by looking at the Holocaust as a measure, it makes his tragedy useful. I don’t want my history to be in a mausoleum. I want it to feel that it has some kind of function that it can stop other bad things from happening."'
I don't necessarily agree with everything he said above, but it's clear that internalized antisemitism wasn't the motivation behind that story.
However, the fact that this collection deals with the abuse of humanoids and yet is simultaneously his most masculine collection may be why it didn't resonate to me. In "Windows," an imprisoned man is (possibly?) later revealed to be a computer program. The man is the central narrator, and yet the computer programs that predominate in modern life are all female-presenting: Siri, Cortana, Alexa, etc. To not once consider the gendered aspects of the humanoids we enslave just makes the collection seem superficial to me.
My favorite story was the title story, "Fly Already," which was the only one that captured that simultaneous hope-and-despair feeling I value so much in both Keret and Vonnegut.
Overall this collection didn't really do it for me, but it did motivate me to reread Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, my favorite of his work available in English.
I respectfully disagree with the reviewers who felt that "Tabula Rasa" had something to do with invalidating Holocaust victims or depicting a sympathetic Hitler. I felt it had, in fact, nothing to do with Hitler and was entirely about clones and the ethics of the modern day: How do we treat the clones, robots, etc in our modern world? Currently we dehumanize and enslave them. There were too many stories in this collection about aliens, clones, and other humanoid figures for Hitler-maybe-wasn't-that-bad to be the theme of "Tabula Rasa." In Jewish Boston, Keret confirms this: 'Keret wrote the story empathically from the point of view of the clone and described the clones in general as “21st-century Jews. They are automatically judged—they don’t have any rights. ... When I was a child, in school, they told us that no matter what the tragedy is, you should never compare it to the Holocaust. I said that to my late father who is a Holocaust survivor. He said that by looking at the Holocaust as a measure, it makes his tragedy useful. I don’t want my history to be in a mausoleum. I want it to feel that it has some kind of function that it can stop other bad things from happening."'
I don't necessarily agree with everything he said above, but it's clear that internalized antisemitism wasn't the motivation behind that story.
However, the fact that this collection deals with the abuse of humanoids and yet is simultaneously his most masculine collection may be why it didn't resonate to me. In "Windows," an imprisoned man is (possibly?) later revealed to be a computer program. The man is the central narrator, and yet the computer programs that predominate in modern life are all female-presenting: Siri, Cortana, Alexa, etc. To not once consider the gendered aspects of the humanoids we enslave just makes the collection seem superficial to me.
My favorite story was the title story, "Fly Already," which was the only one that captured that simultaneous hope-and-despair feeling I value so much in both Keret and Vonnegut.
Overall this collection didn't really do it for me, but it did motivate me to reread Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, my favorite of his work available in English.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
«תקלה בקצה הגלקסיה» (faille au bord de la galaxie) par Etgar Keret (אתגר קרת). Traduction de l'hébreu de Rosie Pinhas-Delpuech.
heronchild's review against another edition
0 stars I hated it and ofc it’s written by a man
ravenchild's review against another edition
0 stars I hated it and ofc it’s written by a man