A review by bookchew
סוס אחד נכנס לבר by David Grossman, דויד גרוסמן
4.0
Listened to the audiobook, which is one of the best works of vocal narration I've ever heard. Narrator Joe Barrett delivers a masterful performance throughout.
I can't believe David Grossman has managed to capture humanity in a stand-up set, and a stand-up set in a novel. Every micro expression of both the performer and his audience is so pitch perfect, it's like being in the room, watching the thing unfold. The emotional roller coaster ride that we take in the intimate space of the comedy club is matched only by the intimate space of memory--that of the narrator (Avishai) and the comedian (Dovaleh G)--as the performer painstakingly debases himself before an impatient audience.
This is one of those novels that I wish I had written. It's a masterpiece. I've only knocked off one star because I felt this impossible surge of tension building throughout the book, and was convinced it would land--either as a punchline or a tragic sucker punch. But in the end, the novel ends more quietly than I had expected. It ends with grace, and skill, but just a few steps away from satisfying the expectations that I had built.
Recommendation: listen to this on audiobook, and binge it if possible. Because all of the action takes place in one scene (a basement club in Netanya, Israel), it seems like the tragicomic peaks and valleys of the comic's exhilarating, brutal, dynamic, and exhausting set should be enjoyed in one go, over the course of an evening, just as he's telling it.
I can't believe David Grossman has managed to capture humanity in a stand-up set, and a stand-up set in a novel. Every micro expression of both the performer and his audience is so pitch perfect, it's like being in the room, watching the thing unfold. The emotional roller coaster ride that we take in the intimate space of the comedy club is matched only by the intimate space of memory--that of the narrator (Avishai) and the comedian (Dovaleh G)--as the performer painstakingly debases himself before an impatient audience.
This is one of those novels that I wish I had written. It's a masterpiece. I've only knocked off one star because I felt this impossible surge of tension building throughout the book, and was convinced it would land--either as a punchline or a tragic sucker punch. But in the end, the novel ends more quietly than I had expected. It ends with grace, and skill, but just a few steps away from satisfying the expectations that I had built.
Recommendation: listen to this on audiobook, and binge it if possible. Because all of the action takes place in one scene (a basement club in Netanya, Israel), it seems like the tragicomic peaks and valleys of the comic's exhilarating, brutal, dynamic, and exhausting set should be enjoyed in one go, over the course of an evening, just as he's telling it.