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פתאום דפיקה בדלת
"תראה, אני מנסה להתפלמס. שום תראה, רוטן המזוקן ודורך את האקדח, או סיפור או כדור בראש. אני מבין שאין ברירה.
שני אנשים יושבים בחדר, אני מתחיל, פתאום נשמעת דפיקה בדלת.
המזוקן מזדקף. לרגע נדמה לי שהסיפור תפס אותו, אבל הוא לא. הוא מקשיב למשהו אחר. מישהו באמת דופק בדלת."
פתאום דפיקה בדלת הוא קובץ הסיפורים החמישי של אתגר קרת.
שני אנשים יושבים בחדר, אני מתחיל, פתאום נשמעת דפיקה בדלת.
המזוקן מזדקף. לרגע נדמה לי שהסיפור תפס אותו, אבל הוא לא. הוא מקשיב למשהו אחר. מישהו באמת דופק בדלת."
פתאום דפיקה בדלת הוא קובץ הסיפורים החמישי של אתגר קרת.
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Etgar Keret
130 books2,353 followersBorn in Ramat Gan in 1967, Etgar Keret is a leading voice in Israeli literature and film. His books have been published in over four dozen languages and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde and The New Yorker, among others. His awards include the Cannes Film Festival's "Caméra d'Or" (2007), the Charles Bronfman Prize (2016) and the prestigious Sapir Prize (2018). Over a hundred short films and several feature films have been based on his stories. Keret teaches creative writing at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Since 2021, he has been publishing the weekly newsletter "Alphabet Soup" on Substack.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 885 reviews
August 2, 2018
I’ve been wanting to read more works by Etgar Keret ever since I finished The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that this particular collection had a lot more short stories that resonated with me than the aforementioned one.
Exuding a rare combination of depth and accessibility, Keret's tales overflow with absurdity, humour, longing and compassion, and though their circumstances are often strange and surreal, his characters are defined by a familiar and fierce humanity.
My favorite stories and moments include:
1. Lieland:
“He made up these lies in a flash, never thinking he’d have to cross paths with them again.”
A pathological liar discovers one day that all the lies he tells come true. The sheer attention to details paid in here blew me away. Also, any story starting with a dream will have my utter and complete attention.
2. Simyon:
Follows our main character, Orit, going to a morgue to identify the dead body of her husband, whom she only married to get out of serving in the IDF. Her marriage was fictitious but nonetheless interesting to read about in this swift story.
3. A Good One:
I'm including this story in my list for the sheer fact that the clap-back Gershon gave this lowly New York security guard for mocking his Israeli accent was phenomenal. In case you're interested here's the full of it:
“Well, open it already,” Mustache continued. “You know what open means, sir?” And he quickly spelled the word. “I know what open means,” Gershon replied, clutching the attaché case to his chest with both hands. “I also know what closed means, and nominal yield, and oxymoron. I even know the second law of thermodynamics and what Wittgenstein’s tractatus is. I know lots of things you’ll never know, you arrogant little nothing. And one of those amazing secrets you’ll never get to host under the very thin skin of your brain is what I have in my attaché case. Do you even know who I am? Why I came here today? Do you even know anything about existence? The world? Anything beyond the number of the bus that takes you here and home every day, beyond the names of the neighbors in that dark, crummy building you live in? “Sir …” Jacket tried to stop the flow with pragmatic politeness, but it was too late. “I look at you,” Gershon went on, “and in a second I see your whole life story. Everything’s written right there, on that receding hairline of yours. Everything. The best day of your life will be when the basketball team you root for wins the championship. The worst day will be when your fat wife dies of cancer because your medical insurance doesn’t cover the treatment. And everything that comes between those two moments will pass like a weak fart so that at the end of your life, when you try to look back, you won’t even be able to remember what it smells like …”
This one's not to be trifled with.
4. What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?:
This following story is set around Yonatan’s idea for a “brilliant documentary,” where it’s him and his little camera, knocking on people’s doors to ask a single question: “If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for.”
And one particular response that he got really struck me to the core:
“A Holocaust survivor with a number on his arm asked very slowly, in a quiet voice—as if he’d been waiting for Yoni to come, as if it weren’t an exercise at all—he’d been wondering (if this fish didn’t mind), would it be possible for all the Nazis left living in the world to be held accountable for their crimes?”
My life goal is to see this go through.
And the story wrapped up quite unexpectedly after that, but that’s something I’ve come to expect with Etgar Keret. From stories without a concise ending to discussing parallel universes, Suddenly, a Knock on the Door left me with a lot of food for thought.
3.5/5 stars
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
Exuding a rare combination of depth and accessibility, Keret's tales overflow with absurdity, humour, longing and compassion, and though their circumstances are often strange and surreal, his characters are defined by a familiar and fierce humanity.
My favorite stories and moments include:
1. Lieland:
“He made up these lies in a flash, never thinking he’d have to cross paths with them again.”
A pathological liar discovers one day that all the lies he tells come true. The sheer attention to details paid in here blew me away. Also, any story starting with a dream will have my utter and complete attention.
2. Simyon:
Follows our main character, Orit, going to a morgue to identify the dead body of her husband, whom she only married to get out of serving in the IDF. Her marriage was fictitious but nonetheless interesting to read about in this swift story.
3. A Good One:
I'm including this story in my list for the sheer fact that the clap-back Gershon gave this lowly New York security guard for mocking his Israeli accent was phenomenal. In case you're interested here's the full of it:
“Well, open it already,” Mustache continued. “You know what open means, sir?” And he quickly spelled the word. “I know what open means,” Gershon replied, clutching the attaché case to his chest with both hands. “I also know what closed means, and nominal yield, and oxymoron. I even know the second law of thermodynamics and what Wittgenstein’s tractatus is. I know lots of things you’ll never know, you arrogant little nothing. And one of those amazing secrets you’ll never get to host under the very thin skin of your brain is what I have in my attaché case. Do you even know who I am? Why I came here today? Do you even know anything about existence? The world? Anything beyond the number of the bus that takes you here and home every day, beyond the names of the neighbors in that dark, crummy building you live in? “Sir …” Jacket tried to stop the flow with pragmatic politeness, but it was too late. “I look at you,” Gershon went on, “and in a second I see your whole life story. Everything’s written right there, on that receding hairline of yours. Everything. The best day of your life will be when the basketball team you root for wins the championship. The worst day will be when your fat wife dies of cancer because your medical insurance doesn’t cover the treatment. And everything that comes between those two moments will pass like a weak fart so that at the end of your life, when you try to look back, you won’t even be able to remember what it smells like …”
This one's not to be trifled with.
4. What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?:
This following story is set around Yonatan’s idea for a “brilliant documentary,” where it’s him and his little camera, knocking on people’s doors to ask a single question: “If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for.”
And one particular response that he got really struck me to the core:
“A Holocaust survivor with a number on his arm asked very slowly, in a quiet voice—as if he’d been waiting for Yoni to come, as if it weren’t an exercise at all—he’d been wondering (if this fish didn’t mind), would it be possible for all the Nazis left living in the world to be held accountable for their crimes?”
My life goal is to see this go through.
And the story wrapped up quite unexpectedly after that, but that’s something I’ve come to expect with Etgar Keret. From stories without a concise ending to discussing parallel universes, Suddenly, a Knock on the Door left me with a lot of food for thought.
3.5/5 stars
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
June 18, 2019
Heaven and Hell
These are just two examples of Etgar Keret’s imaginative and playful short stories that are included in this excellent collection of almost 40 short and darkly absurd stories.
Keret’s stories are never banal or obvious, but they are always comically redemptive, uplifting and optimistic, even in the darkest of situations.
Etgar Keret is an extraordinary talent. He takes you to heaven and to hell with his ingenious stories. And even in hell, he finds humour and hope.
These are just two examples of Etgar Keret’s imaginative and playful short stories that are included in this excellent collection of almost 40 short and darkly absurd stories.
Keret’s stories are never banal or obvious, but they are always comically redemptive, uplifting and optimistic, even in the darkest of situations.
Etgar Keret is an extraordinary talent. He takes you to heaven and to hell with his ingenious stories. And even in hell, he finds humour and hope.
August 9, 2016
Etgar Keret became known to me in 2008 when I happened across an excellent interview with him in a 2006 edition of The Believer. I liked what he had to say in that piece, so I picked up a book of his stories (The Nimrod Flipout: Stories). His style of writing was a marked difference from so many of the MFA graduate story writers that I had come to enjoy and respect - that differentiation was a good thing. Some of his stories are three pages, two pages long. His ability to write a handful of paragraphs that are funny, meaningful and sometimes heartbreaking is nothing shy of miraculous. I enjoyed his first couple of story collections (translated from Hebrew) and was very happy that I had read that Believer piece before tackling that first story. You can really sense Keret working through some serious shit in those first two books of stories - like Vonnegut circling the Dresden bombing dragon in his early novels before slaying it in Slaughterhouse-Five. So I have been looking forward to Keret's next collection to chart his maturity as a writer and to see what new creations his beautiful mind unleashes. This collection was released in 2012, and with all of the other great fiction I have been devouring (thanks to you good people here), Keret fell off my radar until this week.
This collection of 35 stories shows a giant step forward in Keret's writing ability. His dark sense of humor and economical style of writing are very much on display here; there's also a deeper glare into the void that Keret wrestles. More specifically, and from that Believer interview, here's a glimpse into Keret's approach to life:
Yeah, that does sound pretty bleak, now that I re-read it, but you have to trust me that Keret takes that feeling as bedrock given - and then does exactly through his stories what he says in that last sentence. It's just that he isn't willing to sugarcoat any of it. Love or hate these stories, they bang a gong. They will not go quietly, and since Keret has you flipping pages those pages anyway, he'll try to expose that sacred cow of yours and make you ask yourself just why it is so sacred. And then laugh whilst you ponder.
Highly recommended for fans of short stories, and I also suggest reading The Believer interview first if you've not read anything by Keret (available for free in its entirety here: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200...
This collection of 35 stories shows a giant step forward in Keret's writing ability. His dark sense of humor and economical style of writing are very much on display here; there's also a deeper glare into the void that Keret wrestles. More specifically, and from that Believer interview, here's a glimpse into Keret's approach to life:
"I think that any authentic feeling one has of life should be a feeling of defeat. It’s a losing game. You’re going to die. Civilization is going to end. Our society is in decline, and we should feel OK about it because Roman society was in decline and before it the Assyrian one was, and they disappeared off this earth and we will disappear too. If you really grasp what is going on, in some sort of way, you should feel some desperation. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t love your life or try to improve it."
Yeah, that does sound pretty bleak, now that I re-read it, but you have to trust me that Keret takes that feeling as bedrock given - and then does exactly through his stories what he says in that last sentence. It's just that he isn't willing to sugarcoat any of it. Love or hate these stories, they bang a gong. They will not go quietly, and since Keret has you flipping pages those pages anyway, he'll try to expose that sacred cow of yours and make you ask yourself just why it is so sacred. And then laugh whilst you ponder.
Highly recommended for fans of short stories, and I also suggest reading The Believer interview first if you've not read anything by Keret (available for free in its entirety here: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200...
February 11, 2014
I LOVE this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My very favorite short story is:
"What Do We Have in Our Pockets"
I also wanted to cry in "What Animal are You"?
I had a very challenging time understanding "SHUT". I read it 4 times --- (I 'think' I get it)....lol
"Creative Writing", "Unzipping", "Suddenly A Knock On the Door", "Upgrade".....etc. etc. etc.......
These SHORT stories are funny and sad -playful & mature -loving and insightful -strange -fresh- sweet- unpretentious -and a little like sticky-taffy-candy which requires patience when chewing!
My very favorite short story is:
"What Do We Have in Our Pockets"
I also wanted to cry in "What Animal are You"?
I had a very challenging time understanding "SHUT". I read it 4 times --- (I 'think' I get it)....lol
"Creative Writing", "Unzipping", "Suddenly A Knock On the Door", "Upgrade".....etc. etc. etc.......
These SHORT stories are funny and sad -playful & mature -loving and insightful -strange -fresh- sweet- unpretentious -and a little like sticky-taffy-candy which requires patience when chewing!
January 15, 2015
Wow, what a ride! Loved it.
Wildly inventive. It's like literary Silly Putty that's been smushed up against color comics, peeled off and then stretched and pulled. It kind of looks the same as the real thing but is weirdly distorted. In a way that is more interesting and alive than the original.
And then it makes you smile.
Wildly inventive. It's like literary Silly Putty that's been smushed up against color comics, peeled off and then stretched and pulled. It kind of looks the same as the real thing but is weirdly distorted. In a way that is more interesting and alive than the original.
And then it makes you smile.
February 18, 2016
Vào 1 đêm trời không trăng không sao, đang ngủ ngon thì ở ngoài hiên "đột nhiên có tiếng gõ cửa". Đứng trước cửa là 1 thằng nhóc đeo khuyên tai và cả khuyên mũi cùng 1 bên mắt "bầm tím". Nó ngay lập tức chĩa máy quay vào mặt tôi và hỏi "bạn sẽ ước gì từ con cá vàng?". Tôi rất muốn cho nó bầm con mắt còn lại vì nửa đêm nửa hôm tới cửa nhà người ta nói những câu vớ vẩn chưa kể nhìn mặt chắc chỉ bằng nửa tuổi tôi mà dám xưng bạn. Nên xưng là anh thì tốt hơn (không nên xưng chú vì chú nghe rất già). Thấy tôi toan đóng sập cửa, nó hỏi thêm câu nữa "chúng ta có gì trong túi?". Chúng ta là chúng ta quái nào ở đây? Tôi trả lời là khi ngủ tôi chẳng mang gì trong túi vì tôi toàn ngủ nude :3
Thằng bé cười sặc sụa và hỏi "gần đây nó cứng một cách phi thường" đúng không? Không hiểu sao giọng điệu trong câu này giống như thôi miên vậy. Tôi ú a ú ớ loạn thần. Sau đó nó bảo hãy đi theo nó, nó sẽ dẫn tôi tới "những vũ trụ song song".
Chẳng hiểu sao mà tôi ngoan ngoãn nghe lời. Cả 2 đi trên 1 chiếc "xe buýt to màu xanh". Trên đường đi nó tự giới thiệu nó tên là "Simyon" và nó là 1 "cậu bé lịch sự". Thật ra tôi chưa từng nghĩ mình sẽ đi vũ trụ bằng phương tiện là xe buýt, đi vũ trụ thì đáng lẽ ra là ngồi trên 1 quả tên lửa hoặc ngồi trong toilet thì có vẻ đúng hơn.
Chiếc xe buýt đỗ xịch trước 1 tòa nhà nguy nga tráng lệ đượm màu "huyền bí". Ở bên trong có vẻ người ta đang ăn tiệc. Điều kỳ lạ là trên bàn tiệc chỉ có bánh "pudding" và mấy "quả ổi".
Các bà các mẹ sồn sồn vừa ăn vừa buôn chuyện về bói toán, về "nghiệp xấu", về cách chữa bệnh "chảy mũi", về việc "nâng cấp" vòng 1, về biện pháp làm co "búi trĩ" hoặc về sáng tác mới nhất của Sơn Tùng Mông - To Phết.
Giữa không gian tiệc tùng có bày 1 sân khấu trên đó là 1 thằng hề. Cậu nhóc bầm mắt bảo tôi là thằng hề chỉ biểu diễn vào "tháng chín quanh năm" thôi (trong khi bây giờ mới có tháng 2).
Thằng hề này có vẻ đang biểu diễn ảo thuật. Nó "tóm đuôi chim cu cu" và úm ba la, abcxyz...con chim cu cu biến thành con vịt bầu. Cả khán phòng vỗ tay rần rần và cười "một trận ra trò" mặc dù tôi chẳng thấy có gì buồn cười lắm. Tiếng cười bỗng dưng chuyển thành tiếng hú. Các bà các mẹ gào lên và tự lột da ra ("cậu bé lịch sự" gọi đó là quá trình "lột vỏ"). Sau khi lột thì ai cũng biến thành người ngoài hành tinh giống với tạo hình thường thấy của holywood : đầu to, mắt trố, chân tay có màng, lưỡi dài, mồm rộng. Quá sợ hãi Tôi lao vào căn phòng gần nhất khóa kín cửa lại. 1 ngày, 2 ngày, 1 tuần, 2 tuần trôi qua. Suốt khoảng thời gian ấy, bên ngoài đều im lặng như tờ. Thế rồi "đột nhiên có tiếng gõ cửa"...
Một câu chuyện rất xàm xàm, xạo quần theo phong cách Keret (và thực chất sáng tác dựa trên sườn là nhưng nhan đề của chính Keret). Keret thích viết ra những thứ vô nghĩa theo cách rất có nghĩa, rất chi là bậc thầy :3
Thực tế mà nói thì viết review dài loằng ngoằng như này cho tuyển tập truyện ngắn (nói chuẩn hơn là cực ngắn) giống như 1 sự mỉa mai :3
Mà xét cho cùng thì đây cũng chẳng phải review, chẹp, nói nhảm thôi :3
Thằng bé cười sặc sụa và hỏi "gần đây nó cứng một cách phi thường" đúng không? Không hiểu sao giọng điệu trong câu này giống như thôi miên vậy. Tôi ú a ú ớ loạn thần. Sau đó nó bảo hãy đi theo nó, nó sẽ dẫn tôi tới "những vũ trụ song song".
Chẳng hiểu sao mà tôi ngoan ngoãn nghe lời. Cả 2 đi trên 1 chiếc "xe buýt to màu xanh". Trên đường đi nó tự giới thiệu nó tên là "Simyon" và nó là 1 "cậu bé lịch sự". Thật ra tôi chưa từng nghĩ mình sẽ đi vũ trụ bằng phương tiện là xe buýt, đi vũ trụ thì đáng lẽ ra là ngồi trên 1 quả tên lửa hoặc ngồi trong toilet thì có vẻ đúng hơn.
Chiếc xe buýt đỗ xịch trước 1 tòa nhà nguy nga tráng lệ đượm màu "huyền bí". Ở bên trong có vẻ người ta đang ăn tiệc. Điều kỳ lạ là trên bàn tiệc chỉ có bánh "pudding" và mấy "quả ổi".
Các bà các mẹ sồn sồn vừa ăn vừa buôn chuyện về bói toán, về "nghiệp xấu", về cách chữa bệnh "chảy mũi", về việc "nâng cấp" vòng 1, về biện pháp làm co "búi trĩ" hoặc về sáng tác mới nhất của Sơn Tùng Mông - To Phết.
Giữa không gian tiệc tùng có bày 1 sân khấu trên đó là 1 thằng hề. Cậu nhóc bầm mắt bảo tôi là thằng hề chỉ biểu diễn vào "tháng chín quanh năm" thôi (trong khi bây giờ mới có tháng 2).
Thằng hề này có vẻ đang biểu diễn ảo thuật. Nó "tóm đuôi chim cu cu" và úm ba la, abcxyz...con chim cu cu biến thành con vịt bầu. Cả khán phòng vỗ tay rần rần và cười "một trận ra trò" mặc dù tôi chẳng thấy có gì buồn cười lắm. Tiếng cười bỗng dưng chuyển thành tiếng hú. Các bà các mẹ gào lên và tự lột da ra ("cậu bé lịch sự" gọi đó là quá trình "lột vỏ"). Sau khi lột thì ai cũng biến thành người ngoài hành tinh giống với tạo hình thường thấy của holywood : đầu to, mắt trố, chân tay có màng, lưỡi dài, mồm rộng. Quá sợ hãi Tôi lao vào căn phòng gần nhất khóa kín cửa lại. 1 ngày, 2 ngày, 1 tuần, 2 tuần trôi qua. Suốt khoảng thời gian ấy, bên ngoài đều im lặng như tờ. Thế rồi "đột nhiên có tiếng gõ cửa"...
Một câu chuyện rất xàm xàm, xạo quần theo phong cách Keret (và thực chất sáng tác dựa trên sườn là nhưng nhan đề của chính Keret). Keret thích viết ra những thứ vô nghĩa theo cách rất có nghĩa, rất chi là bậc thầy :3
Thực tế mà nói thì viết review dài loằng ngoằng như này cho tuyển tập truyện ngắn (nói chuẩn hơn là cực ngắn) giống như 1 sự mỉa mai :3
Mà xét cho cùng thì đây cũng chẳng phải review, chẹp, nói nhảm thôi :3
December 29, 2012
#7 Favourite Read of 2012
My only previous experience with Keret was the brilliant and beautiful movie Wristcutters: A Love Story based on his novella Kneller's Happy Campers so when this brand new collection of short stories was offered to me by a local bookseller I had no hesitation in buying it.
And I am so glad I did, as it was a revelation, completely unlike anything else I've read. His stories are often strange and slightly fantastical, funny, dark, impressive and affecting. This is a serious work that apparently exhibits all of Keret's usual trademarks in it's study of the human condition.
It was once written about Haruki Murakami that he captures the common ache of the contemporary heart and head and I think the same can be said about this collection from Etgar Keret. He presents a series of poignant moments of isolation, loss, fear and confusion that I couldn't help but identify with and marvel at the skill displayed in creating them.
In a series of amazing experiences the highlight of the collection for me has to be the story Teamwork. It somehow felt more true than reality and at the same time completely heartbreakingly sad.
I have no hesitation in forcing this book in to the hands of everyone I know and hunting out more of his work translated in to English.
My only previous experience with Keret was the brilliant and beautiful movie Wristcutters: A Love Story based on his novella Kneller's Happy Campers so when this brand new collection of short stories was offered to me by a local bookseller I had no hesitation in buying it.
And I am so glad I did, as it was a revelation, completely unlike anything else I've read. His stories are often strange and slightly fantastical, funny, dark, impressive and affecting. This is a serious work that apparently exhibits all of Keret's usual trademarks in it's study of the human condition.
It was once written about Haruki Murakami that he captures the common ache of the contemporary heart and head and I think the same can be said about this collection from Etgar Keret. He presents a series of poignant moments of isolation, loss, fear and confusion that I couldn't help but identify with and marvel at the skill displayed in creating them.
In a series of amazing experiences the highlight of the collection for me has to be the story Teamwork. It somehow felt more true than reality and at the same time completely heartbreakingly sad.
I have no hesitation in forcing this book in to the hands of everyone I know and hunting out more of his work translated in to English.
March 4, 2022
Judging by all the 4&5 star reviews, I was clearly missing something here, as for me this began as a huge disappointment.
Unlike the glowing reviews on the back cover, I didn't see much maturity on display here, more the opposite in fact. Neither was the authors renowned humour apparent, although many stories began like the start of a good joke - "A man and his son walk into an acupuncturists' treatment room", they invariably ended like bad ones, with no punch line. "There's nothing stranger than hearing a Chinese man speak Hebrew". ( both extracts are from the story 'Snot').
Other reviews use words like 'moving' and 'understated', again I had to disagree, to me they were immature, felt deliberately rushed, and lacked feeling. I kept moving to the next story, looking for a profoundly affecting tale, hoping to be proved wrong, but kept getting the 'Emperors New Clothes' feeling that there was nothing here to see.
Then I read "What do we have in our pockets", a charming tale, just a couple of pages long, and I was moved by the melancholy beauty of it. It reminded me of David Gaffney's 'Sawn off Tales', and is already possibly one of my favourite short stories of all time. And that was it. One fleeting beacon of brilliance in a vast sea of mediocrity.
Another GR reviewer and massive Keret fan even agreed that this is best avoided as an introduction to his work, and perhaps that's the case. However, I couldn't remember any of the other stories in this book a minute after I'd finished them, and it's only that one great story that stops me from giving this 1 star.
Unlike the glowing reviews on the back cover, I didn't see much maturity on display here, more the opposite in fact. Neither was the authors renowned humour apparent, although many stories began like the start of a good joke - "A man and his son walk into an acupuncturists' treatment room", they invariably ended like bad ones, with no punch line. "There's nothing stranger than hearing a Chinese man speak Hebrew". ( both extracts are from the story 'Snot').
Other reviews use words like 'moving' and 'understated', again I had to disagree, to me they were immature, felt deliberately rushed, and lacked feeling. I kept moving to the next story, looking for a profoundly affecting tale, hoping to be proved wrong, but kept getting the 'Emperors New Clothes' feeling that there was nothing here to see.
Then I read "What do we have in our pockets", a charming tale, just a couple of pages long, and I was moved by the melancholy beauty of it. It reminded me of David Gaffney's 'Sawn off Tales', and is already possibly one of my favourite short stories of all time. And that was it. One fleeting beacon of brilliance in a vast sea of mediocrity.
Another GR reviewer and massive Keret fan even agreed that this is best avoided as an introduction to his work, and perhaps that's the case. However, I couldn't remember any of the other stories in this book a minute after I'd finished them, and it's only that one great story that stops me from giving this 1 star.
August 5, 2013
“Tell Me A Story” opens this book of short stories, as a writer called Etgar Keret is forced at gunpoint to make up a story on the spot by a home invader. As more characters are introduced – a survey taker, a pizza delivery man, all of whom turn up at his door in succession like in a sitcom – each of them enter his flat, pull out a weapon and demand a story. This sense of playfulness and originality runs through a lot of the short stories in Keret’s latest collection, “Suddenly, A Knock On The Door”.
Keret’s stories move fluidly between literary styles from surrealism, like in the first story, to magical realist like in “Lieland”. In this story a man who has told lies his entire life discovers – via a gumball machine – that a land exists where all of his lies are reality. Every unfortunate character from this man’s made-up stories lives in Lieland. The handicapped cousin he used as an excuse for being late to work one time? He lives in Lieland. Hundreds of lies made real in this strange land. Other stories in this vein include “Unzipping” where a woman discovers a zip on her boyfriend’s tongue and, upon unzipping it, reveals a similar-looking man but with an entirely different personality.
Though these stories are enjoyable for their inventiveness and imagination, Keret’s other types of stories involve everyday settings and people to equal effectiveness. “Cheesus Christ” is one such story where a man’s dying words in a fast food restaurant sets off a chain of events for everyone involved with the business, centred around the inclusion of a non-cheese hamburger to the menu. In “Teamwork” a father believes that his very young son wants him to kill his mother-in-law (or is that just his imagination and own dark desires?) and concocts a brutal plan of murder. In one of the simplest (conceptually speaking) stories here, “What Do We Have In Our Pockets?”, he has his character list what he has in his pockets, and why they’re always full. The last line in the story is gently moving and brilliant. In “Healthy Start”, a comedic and absurdist story, a lonely man sits and waits in a café each morning for any strangers that look like they’re looking for someone and then pretends to be that someone, adopting their identity for the duration of the breakfast.
But the best stories in this collection are the ones that mix surrealism and magical realism into the everyday to create something truly different. “What Animal Are You?” takes the original perspective of an author being filmed by a German film crew, writing the story we’re reading while pretending to be really writing and telling the reader about his young son’s game of asking people what animal they are. The story takes an unusually heartfelt turn as it becomes clear that this simple game isn’t understood by his parents but is by random hookers visiting a lonely widower in a nearby apartment. Then the story becomes deeply unnerving when a horror element is thrown in at the very last moment.
A lot of these stories – and there are a lot, nearly 40 in this collection – are mostly quite short at 4-5 pages each, but contain an astonishing amount of story. So much is going on in them as Keret wastes no time in setting the tone, the characters, and the story that he only needs a few pages to tell an affecting, memorable tale. Which isn’t to say that every story here is a triumph: for every well written, imaginative story is another that is trying for the same thing, but not quite accomplishing it. However the stories that do work more than make this collection worth picking up in order to read a unique voice and enormously talented writer creating magic in just a few brief pages over and over again.
Keret’s stories move fluidly between literary styles from surrealism, like in the first story, to magical realist like in “Lieland”. In this story a man who has told lies his entire life discovers – via a gumball machine – that a land exists where all of his lies are reality. Every unfortunate character from this man’s made-up stories lives in Lieland. The handicapped cousin he used as an excuse for being late to work one time? He lives in Lieland. Hundreds of lies made real in this strange land. Other stories in this vein include “Unzipping” where a woman discovers a zip on her boyfriend’s tongue and, upon unzipping it, reveals a similar-looking man but with an entirely different personality.
Though these stories are enjoyable for their inventiveness and imagination, Keret’s other types of stories involve everyday settings and people to equal effectiveness. “Cheesus Christ” is one such story where a man’s dying words in a fast food restaurant sets off a chain of events for everyone involved with the business, centred around the inclusion of a non-cheese hamburger to the menu. In “Teamwork” a father believes that his very young son wants him to kill his mother-in-law (or is that just his imagination and own dark desires?) and concocts a brutal plan of murder. In one of the simplest (conceptually speaking) stories here, “What Do We Have In Our Pockets?”, he has his character list what he has in his pockets, and why they’re always full. The last line in the story is gently moving and brilliant. In “Healthy Start”, a comedic and absurdist story, a lonely man sits and waits in a café each morning for any strangers that look like they’re looking for someone and then pretends to be that someone, adopting their identity for the duration of the breakfast.
But the best stories in this collection are the ones that mix surrealism and magical realism into the everyday to create something truly different. “What Animal Are You?” takes the original perspective of an author being filmed by a German film crew, writing the story we’re reading while pretending to be really writing and telling the reader about his young son’s game of asking people what animal they are. The story takes an unusually heartfelt turn as it becomes clear that this simple game isn’t understood by his parents but is by random hookers visiting a lonely widower in a nearby apartment. Then the story becomes deeply unnerving when a horror element is thrown in at the very last moment.
A lot of these stories – and there are a lot, nearly 40 in this collection – are mostly quite short at 4-5 pages each, but contain an astonishing amount of story. So much is going on in them as Keret wastes no time in setting the tone, the characters, and the story that he only needs a few pages to tell an affecting, memorable tale. Which isn’t to say that every story here is a triumph: for every well written, imaginative story is another that is trying for the same thing, but not quite accomplishing it. However the stories that do work more than make this collection worth picking up in order to read a unique voice and enormously talented writer creating magic in just a few brief pages over and over again.
May 24, 2019
Keret'in okuduğum ikinci kitabı oldu sanırım. Geçen günlerde ikinci kez okuduğum Tanrı Olmak İsteyen Otobüs Şoförü ile kıyaslayınca bundaki hikayeleri daha fazla sevdim. Ben peşpeşe okudum ama hikayeleri farklı zaman dilimlerinde yavaş yavaş okumak daha keyifli olabilir.
November 15, 2020
Керет е забавен, тъжен и гениален както винаги.
April 17, 2012
Etgar Keret can do more in three or four pages than many short story writers can in stories that border on novellas. There are nearly three dozen stories that span just 188 pages, yet many are simply brilliant.
The eponymous and first story starts with a directive: “Tell me a story.” Under gunpoint, the narrator – Etgar – is ordered to make up a story. He is interrupted early on: “That’s not a story…That’s an eyewitness report. It’s exactly what’s happening here and now. Exactly what we’re trying to run away from. Don’t you go and dump reality on us like a garbage truck. Use your imagination, man, create, invent, take it all the way.”
I quoted that passage at length because it’s really the raison d’etre of the collection. Etgar, an Israeli writer, leaves the politics and the moral quandaries to others such as David Grossman, Amos Oz and Nathan Englander. His stories focus on the escape from reality through stories that stretch and define us.
Some – as would be the case with any collection – are better than others. I’ll call out a few: Lieland, where the subjects of lies become real, is one of my favorites. The protagonist, Robbie, learns that his lies live and thrive in another dimension and he meets his “lies come alive” simply by turning a handle.
Teamwork, another fine story, starts like this: “My son wants me to kill her. He’s still young and doesn’t express this perfectly yet, but I know exactly what he’s after.” The “her” refers to his maternal grandmother; he is the product of divorce and a brutal plan is soon imagined by his obsequious father. Or take another story: Unzipping; in it, the narrator finds a small zipper under her lover’s tongue; when she pulls it, he opens up “like an oyster” with a second man revealed. One more: Mourner’s Meal. a very recent widow opens up her failing restaurant the morning after his funeral, and gains connection with a group of strangers.
Not all the stories succeed as well; it makes me wish there were a way I could rate this a 4.5. But the ones that DO shine are so luminous that it is hard for me not to rate upward.
The eponymous and first story starts with a directive: “Tell me a story.” Under gunpoint, the narrator – Etgar – is ordered to make up a story. He is interrupted early on: “That’s not a story…That’s an eyewitness report. It’s exactly what’s happening here and now. Exactly what we’re trying to run away from. Don’t you go and dump reality on us like a garbage truck. Use your imagination, man, create, invent, take it all the way.”
I quoted that passage at length because it’s really the raison d’etre of the collection. Etgar, an Israeli writer, leaves the politics and the moral quandaries to others such as David Grossman, Amos Oz and Nathan Englander. His stories focus on the escape from reality through stories that stretch and define us.
Some – as would be the case with any collection – are better than others. I’ll call out a few: Lieland, where the subjects of lies become real, is one of my favorites. The protagonist, Robbie, learns that his lies live and thrive in another dimension and he meets his “lies come alive” simply by turning a handle.
Teamwork, another fine story, starts like this: “My son wants me to kill her. He’s still young and doesn’t express this perfectly yet, but I know exactly what he’s after.” The “her” refers to his maternal grandmother; he is the product of divorce and a brutal plan is soon imagined by his obsequious father. Or take another story: Unzipping; in it, the narrator finds a small zipper under her lover’s tongue; when she pulls it, he opens up “like an oyster” with a second man revealed. One more: Mourner’s Meal. a very recent widow opens up her failing restaurant the morning after his funeral, and gains connection with a group of strangers.
Not all the stories succeed as well; it makes me wish there were a way I could rate this a 4.5. But the ones that DO shine are so luminous that it is hard for me not to rate upward.
July 17, 2013
¿Que quién es Etgar Keret? Pues para mí es la gran esperanza de la literatura contemporánea. Y sí, soy capaz de soltar semejante elogio y quedarme tan tranquila. Podría decir que Edgar Keret es un escritor israelí que se caracteriza por su originalidad y por la frescura de su estilo, pero no le estaría haciendo justicia. Cuando ya pensaba que estaba todo inventado y estaba convencida que todos los autores contemporáneos que pretenden ser originales acaben siendo cansinos, me encuentro con este hombre que me demuestra que estaba equivocada. Puede hablar de los temas de siempre (relaciones entre hombres y mujeres, padres e hijos, la soledad y la sensación de ir a la deriva) pero lo hace de una forma que parece completamente nueva.
‘De repente llaman a la puerta’ es una colección de cuentos impecable. Se trata de cuentos realmente breves (hay 37 cuentos en un total de unas 200 páginas, así que haced la cuenta), pero esta brevedad no impide que estos cuentos sean intensos y profundos, todo lo contrario. Keret tiene un estilo particular, ágil y fresco, con toques fantásticos y metaficcionales, con un sentido del humor sutil y amargo y a veces también absurdo, y una capacidad para la melancolía exquisita. Sus cuentos son originalísimos, inesperados, te llevan por caminos que cuando empiezas a leer no puedes ni sospechar, porque están llenos de giros imprevisibles y deliciosos. De verdad que es algo realmente diferente, unos relatos que incorporan lo fantasioso y sobrenatural de una forma totalmente realista, que mezclan a la perfección humor y tristeza, que encuentran el equilibrio justo entre la originalidad formal y la de fondo, y que sin duda te emocionan.
‘De repente llaman a la puerta’ es una colección de cuentos impecable. Se trata de cuentos realmente breves (hay 37 cuentos en un total de unas 200 páginas, así que haced la cuenta), pero esta brevedad no impide que estos cuentos sean intensos y profundos, todo lo contrario. Keret tiene un estilo particular, ágil y fresco, con toques fantásticos y metaficcionales, con un sentido del humor sutil y amargo y a veces también absurdo, y una capacidad para la melancolía exquisita. Sus cuentos son originalísimos, inesperados, te llevan por caminos que cuando empiezas a leer no puedes ni sospechar, porque están llenos de giros imprevisibles y deliciosos. De verdad que es algo realmente diferente, unos relatos que incorporan lo fantasioso y sobrenatural de una forma totalmente realista, que mezclan a la perfección humor y tristeza, que encuentran el equilibrio justo entre la originalidad formal y la de fondo, y que sin duda te emocionan.
March 2, 2018
Keret’ten akıllı ve sıra dışı öyküler içeren bir kitap daha. Tarzı ve dili çarpıcı. Çok beğendim.
“Bazen diyorum içtenliğine karşılık vermeye çalışarak, hayat bir tuzakmış gibi geliyor bana. Farkında olmadan içine girdiğin ve birden etrafına kapanan bir şey. Ve bir kez içine girmişsen, hayatın içine girmeyi kastediyorum, kaçış yoktur. İntihar dışında belki, ki gerçek anlamda bir kaçıştan çok teslimiyettir bence. Ne demek istediğimi anlıyoru musun?”
“Bazen diyorum içtenliğine karşılık vermeye çalışarak, hayat bir tuzakmış gibi geliyor bana. Farkında olmadan içine girdiğin ve birden etrafına kapanan bir şey. Ve bir kez içine girmişsen, hayatın içine girmeyi kastediyorum, kaçış yoktur. İntihar dışında belki, ki gerçek anlamda bir kaçıştan çok teslimiyettir bence. Ne demek istediğimi anlıyoru musun?”
June 23, 2019
Etgar Jeret je jedan od najpoznatijih savremenih izraelskih pisaca, a njegova zbirka kratkih priča ''Iznenada neko pokuca na vrata'' moj prvi susret sa njegovim stvaralaštvom - i bio je to jedan voma prijatan susret.
Keretove kratke priče odišu atmosferom svakodnevnice, predstavljaju virenje kroz ključaonicu u intimne svjetove protagonista, čije sudbine i doživljaji su ponekad naizlged obični, a ponekad na granici nestvarnog i bajkovitog, ponekad su tužne i prepune tihe čežnje, a ponekad duhovite i apsurdne.
A ono što ovu zbirku čini kvalitetnom je što u njoj nema ničeg previše i ničeg premalo, sve je dozirano sa mjerom: u nekim pričama možemo samo da naslutimo kraj, u nekima zamišljeni krajevi vode ka nastavku života iza zatvorenih vrata.
Iako njegove priče najčešće govore o negativnim emocijama, one ni na trenutak ne ostavljaju onaj gorki ukus egzistencije, jer ih nadograđuje ljepšim emocijama poput empatije, pa čak i ravnodušnosti, koja donosi mir i smiješi se u lice prolaznosti života i problema koje donosi.
Keretove kratke priče odišu atmosferom svakodnevnice, predstavljaju virenje kroz ključaonicu u intimne svjetove protagonista, čije sudbine i doživljaji su ponekad naizlged obični, a ponekad na granici nestvarnog i bajkovitog, ponekad su tužne i prepune tihe čežnje, a ponekad duhovite i apsurdne.
A ono što ovu zbirku čini kvalitetnom je što u njoj nema ničeg previše i ničeg premalo, sve je dozirano sa mjerom: u nekim pričama možemo samo da naslutimo kraj, u nekima zamišljeni krajevi vode ka nastavku života iza zatvorenih vrata.
Iako njegove priče najčešće govore o negativnim emocijama, one ni na trenutak ne ostavljaju onaj gorki ukus egzistencije, jer ih nadograđuje ljepšim emocijama poput empatije, pa čak i ravnodušnosti, koja donosi mir i smiješi se u lice prolaznosti života i problema koje donosi.
May 17, 2018
Mấy mẩu chuyện có ngắn có dài, đọc vào bao ảo, cứ như thể ông tác giả là tên dở người rỗi hơi lắm ý, mà càng đọc lại càng thấy ghiền rồi rốt cuộc không dứt ra được :D Truyện ngắn gì đâu mà ngộ ngộ, điên điên, hài hài mà cuốn hút vãi ^^
May 16, 2016
Etgar Keret, who I've been lucky enough to hear speak in an intimate setting, is a surrealist. He's an expert at taking the mundane and making it extraordinary. Keret, an Israeli Jew who often draws ire from the Israeli right for his leftist political views and criticism of Israel's policy against Palestinians, is a charming man who loves to shock. When he was speaking to my group, he talked about his crazy dad's relationships with prostitutes and the mafia in Italy after surviving the Holocaust and his equally crazy siblings. His brother lived in a treehouse in Thailand, and his sister became an Orthodox Jew after growing up in a secular family. His mischievous smile and unapologetic jibes immediately endeared him to everyone in the audience, even non-readers.
Keret's sense of dry humor dominated his talk and dominates his stories. He told us that when we read, we train the weakest muscle in our bodies, empathy. And that principle clearly directs his writing, which portrays emotional characters who end up in unfortunate, or too fortunate, situations. Comedy or tragedy ensues, and you can't help feeling empathetic. One minute you'll be sad, but the next you'll be laughing your ass off in a coffee shop and an old lady'll give you the evil eye, and you'll just smirk back. Keret always put me in a mood. His writing destroys apathy. He told us that art's job is to advocate for humanity, to make an effort to show that people can be/are good. Writing for him is catharsis, where he can make fun of the bad in the world and infuse some joy and some irony in our sometimes tedious, sometimes devastating lives.
Keret's stories exemplify modern Israel, the most political place I've ever been. You can't cross the street without someone yelling to you about the political situation, about Netanyahu, the Palestinians, or the Israeli Defense Forces. His characters are always out for something new, something different, a feeling I got as I traveled around Israel and the West Bank. Read Keret's stories. You'll shake your head with a smirk, laugh out loud, scoff, and shake your head in disgust, but that's his point. To just celebrate being alive.
Keret's sense of dry humor dominated his talk and dominates his stories. He told us that when we read, we train the weakest muscle in our bodies, empathy. And that principle clearly directs his writing, which portrays emotional characters who end up in unfortunate, or too fortunate, situations. Comedy or tragedy ensues, and you can't help feeling empathetic. One minute you'll be sad, but the next you'll be laughing your ass off in a coffee shop and an old lady'll give you the evil eye, and you'll just smirk back. Keret always put me in a mood. His writing destroys apathy. He told us that art's job is to advocate for humanity, to make an effort to show that people can be/are good. Writing for him is catharsis, where he can make fun of the bad in the world and infuse some joy and some irony in our sometimes tedious, sometimes devastating lives.
Keret's stories exemplify modern Israel, the most political place I've ever been. You can't cross the street without someone yelling to you about the political situation, about Netanyahu, the Palestinians, or the Israeli Defense Forces. His characters are always out for something new, something different, a feeling I got as I traveled around Israel and the West Bank. Read Keret's stories. You'll shake your head with a smirk, laugh out loud, scoff, and shake your head in disgust, but that's his point. To just celebrate being alive.
March 3, 2020
Много живи и пъстри разкази.
September 16, 2017
Contro il logorio della vita moderna
Racconti brevi, a volte brevissimi, geniali e molto spesso surreali, con una vena di umorismo nero davvero interessante e originale. Forse quello che più colpisce nel libro di questo autore è la capacità di utilizzare una chiave ironica, un tono leggero e trasognato, per affrontare una realtà che anche quando risulta molto dura in termini personali (lutti , separazioni, solitudine…), unita al logorio della vita moderna (spaesamento metropolitano) e immersa per di più in un contesto sociale difficile (le città israeliane) sembra quasi un contorno che accompagna le storie invece che forgiarle. Di solito i personaggi, immersi in una quotidianità cupa, sfuggono o tentano di sfuggire al loro destino tramite delle evasioni di fantasia in cui tutto viene trasfigurato oniricamente. Esemplare in questo senso è il racconto “universi paralleli” forse uno dei più riusciti del libro anche se è dura solo un paio di pagine. Keret sembra mettere in pratica in maniera straordinariamente efficace la lezione (americana) di Italo Calvino sulla leggerezza: la realtà drammatica e a volte tragicamente grottesca e beffarda riesce ad essere affrontata solo tramite lo sguardo lieve e sinceramente umoristico dell'autore. Storie di solitudini, di rapporti sentimentali difficili, di diversità tragiche e al tempo stesso amaramente comiche. Non raramente ci si avvicina al cinismo e al pessimismo esistenziale e lo si sfiora delicatamente come a volerlo assaporare a piccole dosi, quasi fosse un’attrazione irresistibile, per poi immediatamente allontanarsene inorriditi. Come un bimbo che ascolta la fiaba di Cappuccetto Rosso e si terrorizza quando il lupo divora nonna e nipotina....raccontamela ancora mamma!
Racconti brevi, a volte brevissimi, geniali e molto spesso surreali, con una vena di umorismo nero davvero interessante e originale. Forse quello che più colpisce nel libro di questo autore è la capacità di utilizzare una chiave ironica, un tono leggero e trasognato, per affrontare una realtà che anche quando risulta molto dura in termini personali (lutti , separazioni, solitudine…), unita al logorio della vita moderna (spaesamento metropolitano) e immersa per di più in un contesto sociale difficile (le città israeliane) sembra quasi un contorno che accompagna le storie invece che forgiarle. Di solito i personaggi, immersi in una quotidianità cupa, sfuggono o tentano di sfuggire al loro destino tramite delle evasioni di fantasia in cui tutto viene trasfigurato oniricamente. Esemplare in questo senso è il racconto “universi paralleli” forse uno dei più riusciti del libro anche se è dura solo un paio di pagine. Keret sembra mettere in pratica in maniera straordinariamente efficace la lezione (americana) di Italo Calvino sulla leggerezza: la realtà drammatica e a volte tragicamente grottesca e beffarda riesce ad essere affrontata solo tramite lo sguardo lieve e sinceramente umoristico dell'autore. Storie di solitudini, di rapporti sentimentali difficili, di diversità tragiche e al tempo stesso amaramente comiche. Non raramente ci si avvicina al cinismo e al pessimismo esistenziale e lo si sfiora delicatamente come a volerlo assaporare a piccole dosi, quasi fosse un’attrazione irresistibile, per poi immediatamente allontanarsene inorriditi. Come un bimbo che ascolta la fiaba di Cappuccetto Rosso e si terrorizza quando il lupo divora nonna e nipotina....raccontamela ancora mamma!
June 25, 2018
3,5* stele în fapt.
Un scriitor despre care nu știam nimic și l-am descoperit după ce Humanitasul i-a publicat un volum de memorii. Versatil, jucăuș, ironic, extrem de inovativ și creativ în a înscena personaje și situații, Etgar Keret pare să fie unul dintre scriitorii de proză scurtă la modă în literatura mondială.
Sunt multe proze despre contextul social, politic, intim al familiilor din Israel. Cele mai bune, însă, sunt cele absurd-fantastice, chiar SF. Despre spații asemeni unui purgatoriu, populate însă de personajele inventate în minciuni. Despre un bărbat care decide să trăiască restul vieții cu ochii închiși, într-o lume imaginară care o dublează pe cea reală, la fel de banală și plină de probleme. Și tot așa...
Merită citit volumul, sunt și proze slabe sau nesemnificative, însă e un prozator care te face să râzi și să-l admiri. Punctul lui forte constă în a crea personaje și situații, nu neapărat în stil sau tehnică literară.
Un scriitor despre care nu știam nimic și l-am descoperit după ce Humanitasul i-a publicat un volum de memorii. Versatil, jucăuș, ironic, extrem de inovativ și creativ în a înscena personaje și situații, Etgar Keret pare să fie unul dintre scriitorii de proză scurtă la modă în literatura mondială.
Sunt multe proze despre contextul social, politic, intim al familiilor din Israel. Cele mai bune, însă, sunt cele absurd-fantastice, chiar SF. Despre spații asemeni unui purgatoriu, populate însă de personajele inventate în minciuni. Despre un bărbat care decide să trăiască restul vieții cu ochii închiși, într-o lume imaginară care o dublează pe cea reală, la fel de banală și plină de probleme. Și tot așa...
Merită citit volumul, sunt și proze slabe sau nesemnificative, însă e un prozator care te face să râzi și să-l admiri. Punctul lui forte constă în a crea personaje și situații, nu neapărat în stil sau tehnică literară.
March 15, 2015
”Un accendino, una pastiglia per la tosse, un francobollo, una sigaretta un po’ storta, uno stuzzicadenti, un fazzoletto di tessuto, una penna, due monete da 5 shekel. E questo è solo una piccola parte di ciò che ho in tasca. Che c’è quindi da meravigliarsi che sia così gonfia? Un sacco di gente me l’ha fatto notare. “Ma cosa cavolo hai in tasca?” mi domanda. Di solito non rispondo, mi limito a sorridere, a volte faccio persino una risatina educata. Come se mi si raccontasse una barzelletta. Se la gente insistesse a chiedermelo probabilmente mostrerei tutto quello che ho, magari spiegherei anche perché devo avere tutta quella roba addosso, con me, sempre. Ma non lo fa. Domanda, sorride o ridacchia, c’è un momento di imbarazzato silenzio e poi si cambia argomento.
Il fatto è che ho scelto con cura tutto ciò che ho in tasca, così da essere sempre preparato. È tutto lì perché, all’occorrenza, io possa trovarmi in una posizione di vantaggio. A dire il vero le cose non stanno proprio così. È tutto lì perché, all’occorrenza, io possa non trovarmi in una posizione di svantaggio. Che vantaggio potrei infatti trarre da uno stuzzicadenti o da un francobollo? Ma se, per esempio, una bella ragazza – anzi, non bella, carina però, oppure una ragazza dall’aspetto normale ma con un sorriso affascinante che ti fa mancare il fiato – mi chiedesse un francobollo, o magari non me lo chiedesse, ma si ritrovasse in una strada in una notte di pioggia con una busta senza francobollo vicino a una buca delle lettere e mi domandasse se per caso so dove c’è un ufficio postale aperto a quell’ora e poi tossicchiasse per il freddo (e anche un po’ per la disperazione perché, nel profondo del cuore, lei sa che non c’è nessun ufficio postale aperto nei dintorni, e certamente non a quell’ora), in quel momento, il momento della verità, lei non mi chiederebbe “Ma che cavolo hai in tasca” ma mi sarebbe grata per il francobollo. Forse non mi sarebbe esattamente grata, però sfodererebbe un sorriso affascinante. Un sorriso affascinante in cambio di un francobollo. Sarei disposto a fare la firma per una simile eventualità in qualsiasi momento, anche se il prezzo dei francobolli salisse alle stelle e quello dei sorrisi crollasse.
Dopo avermi sorriso lei mi ringrazierebbe ancora, avrebbe un nuovo colpetto di tosse per il freddo, ma anche un po’ per l’imbarazzo, e io le offrirei una caramella. “Cos’altro hai in tasca?” domanderebbe lei con garbo, senza “cavolo” e senza sarcasmo, e io risponderei senza esitare: tutto ciò di cui hai bisogno, amore mio. Tutto ciò di cui avrai mai bisogno.
Ecco, adesso lo sapete. Questo è tutto ciò che ho in tasca: una piccola occasione di non rovinare tutto. Piccola. Non buona, e nemmeno probabile. Lo so, non sono uno stupido. Una minuscola occasione che, nel caso la felicità arrivi, io possa accoglierla con un “sì” anziché con un “mi dispiace, non ho una sigaretta/uno stuzzicadenti/una monetina per la macchinetta delle bibite”. Questo è ciò che ho in questa mia tasca gonfia e imbottita: una piccola occasione di dire “sì” e di non provare poi rammarico.”
Ecco, sono racconti così. Più abbozzi che narrazione compiuta, spesso intrisi da una forte vena surreale e, quasi sempre, da una grande tristezza mascherata da umorismo. Però non sono per niente male. No, proprio per niente male.
Vi prevale un senso di profonda solitudine, di incertezza, quasi una “voglia” di fuggire o una “non voglia” di restare. Quasi. Sono troppo brevi per poter meglio definire le emozioni, nonché i personaggi. Più che altro, attimi, sensazioni e suggestioni. Come di chi vive una vita provvisoria. Oddio … a dire il vero, tutti viviamo una vita provvisoria, ma queste sono, come forse le avrebbe potute definire Bulgakov, vite che diventano “improvvisamente provvisorie”. Oppure sempre "in transito", come la signorina Holly Golightly.
Alcuni però, va detto, sono anche abbastanza inconcludenti, persino per l’ambito e il taglio narrativo scelto.
Come si suol dire: se son rose, fioriranno. :-)
Il fatto è che ho scelto con cura tutto ciò che ho in tasca, così da essere sempre preparato. È tutto lì perché, all’occorrenza, io possa trovarmi in una posizione di vantaggio. A dire il vero le cose non stanno proprio così. È tutto lì perché, all’occorrenza, io possa non trovarmi in una posizione di svantaggio. Che vantaggio potrei infatti trarre da uno stuzzicadenti o da un francobollo? Ma se, per esempio, una bella ragazza – anzi, non bella, carina però, oppure una ragazza dall’aspetto normale ma con un sorriso affascinante che ti fa mancare il fiato – mi chiedesse un francobollo, o magari non me lo chiedesse, ma si ritrovasse in una strada in una notte di pioggia con una busta senza francobollo vicino a una buca delle lettere e mi domandasse se per caso so dove c’è un ufficio postale aperto a quell’ora e poi tossicchiasse per il freddo (e anche un po’ per la disperazione perché, nel profondo del cuore, lei sa che non c’è nessun ufficio postale aperto nei dintorni, e certamente non a quell’ora), in quel momento, il momento della verità, lei non mi chiederebbe “Ma che cavolo hai in tasca” ma mi sarebbe grata per il francobollo. Forse non mi sarebbe esattamente grata, però sfodererebbe un sorriso affascinante. Un sorriso affascinante in cambio di un francobollo. Sarei disposto a fare la firma per una simile eventualità in qualsiasi momento, anche se il prezzo dei francobolli salisse alle stelle e quello dei sorrisi crollasse.
Dopo avermi sorriso lei mi ringrazierebbe ancora, avrebbe un nuovo colpetto di tosse per il freddo, ma anche un po’ per l’imbarazzo, e io le offrirei una caramella. “Cos’altro hai in tasca?” domanderebbe lei con garbo, senza “cavolo” e senza sarcasmo, e io risponderei senza esitare: tutto ciò di cui hai bisogno, amore mio. Tutto ciò di cui avrai mai bisogno.
Ecco, adesso lo sapete. Questo è tutto ciò che ho in tasca: una piccola occasione di non rovinare tutto. Piccola. Non buona, e nemmeno probabile. Lo so, non sono uno stupido. Una minuscola occasione che, nel caso la felicità arrivi, io possa accoglierla con un “sì” anziché con un “mi dispiace, non ho una sigaretta/uno stuzzicadenti/una monetina per la macchinetta delle bibite”. Questo è ciò che ho in questa mia tasca gonfia e imbottita: una piccola occasione di dire “sì” e di non provare poi rammarico.”
Ecco, sono racconti così. Più abbozzi che narrazione compiuta, spesso intrisi da una forte vena surreale e, quasi sempre, da una grande tristezza mascherata da umorismo. Però non sono per niente male. No, proprio per niente male.
Vi prevale un senso di profonda solitudine, di incertezza, quasi una “voglia” di fuggire o una “non voglia” di restare. Quasi. Sono troppo brevi per poter meglio definire le emozioni, nonché i personaggi. Più che altro, attimi, sensazioni e suggestioni. Come di chi vive una vita provvisoria. Oddio … a dire il vero, tutti viviamo una vita provvisoria, ma queste sono, come forse le avrebbe potute definire Bulgakov, vite che diventano “improvvisamente provvisorie”. Oppure sempre "in transito", come la signorina Holly Golightly.
Alcuni però, va detto, sono anche abbastanza inconcludenti, persino per l’ambito e il taglio narrativo scelto.
Come si suol dire: se son rose, fioriranno. :-)
July 4, 2021
Ova mi je još bolja i zrelija od Sedam dobrih godina. Nevjerovatno je zanimljiva i očaravajuća svojim ritmom i nepredvidivošću. Sjajan je Keret, ali baš, baš izuzetan i potpuno jedinstven, bez pretjerivanja. Mislim da nikad ranije nisam čitala ništa slično. Nemojte ga zaobići!
September 4, 2016
i've just finished reading this book. this is stories collection by one of my fav author, an israeli writer named etgar keret. i love his stories; they're very very short and hit right on the spot, like a bullet shot by a world's number one sniper. his stories are funny, too. you can find a glimpse of israel's culture here, and the war. and also, love stories. i love it when he writes love stories. they make you feel hurt, but then they heal you with their comforting words. that is etgar keret way of writing; first he shows you the most bitter part of life, then he says to you, like an old friend, that in the end everyhing's gonna be okay.
September 4, 2018
Loved it! Mi-a plăcut fiecare povestire, frază, cuvânt. Keret e un maestru al cuvintelor și al construcției de povestiri. Volumul cuprinde proze scurte și foarte scurte, amuzante și ironice. Firește că nu am îndrăgit fiecare personaj din cartea asta pentru că nu aveam cum să empatizez cu toți, însă nu am dat peste vreo povestire cu personaje inspide sau pe care să nu o fi citit cu sufletul la gură. Recomand tuturor iubitorilor de proză scurtă, fără excepție!
March 2, 2020
Typical Keret, an edgy, irreverent, absurdist, and at times surreal collection of short stories that examine the human condition.
November 3, 2020
დაახლოებით სამი კვირა მოვანდომე ამ კრებულის წაკითხვას და რავიცი რა... ყოველ მგზავრობაზე ან უსაქმურობისას მახალისებდა და მართობდა.
რამდენიმე მოთხრობა განსაკუთრებით კარგი იყო, ერთი მოთხრობა „ბუასილი“ - წლების წინ მოვისმინე, ხმამაღლა, წიგნების ფესტივალზე, სულაკაურის სტენდთან და მაგის მერე ვინ იცის უკვე მერამდენედ წავიკითხე. დღეს ეს კრებული უფრო მეტია, ვიდრე „ბუასილი“ :დდ
სხვა რაღა უნდა ვთქვა, დარწმუნებული ვარ ყველას გაგიხალისებთ და ხანდახან დაგაფიქრებთ კიდეც ეს კრებული. მაგარი, ძალიან მაგარი მწერალია კერეთი, ზუსტად იცის როგორ უნდა წააკითხოს მკითხველს წიგნი.
რამდენიმე მოთხრობა განსაკუთრებით კარგი იყო, ერთი მოთხრობა „ბუასილი“ - წლების წინ მოვისმინე, ხმამაღლა, წიგნების ფესტივალზე, სულაკაურის სტენდთან და მაგის მერე ვინ იცის უკვე მერამდენედ წავიკითხე. დღეს ეს კრებული უფრო მეტია, ვიდრე „ბუასილი“ :დდ
სხვა რაღა უნდა ვთქვა, დარწმუნებული ვარ ყველას გაგიხალისებთ და ხანდახან დაგაფიქრებთ კიდეც ეს კრებული. მაგარი, ძალიან მაგარი მწერალია კერეთი, ზუსტად იცის როგორ უნდა წააკითხოს მკითხველს წიგნი.
April 2, 2015
What kind of short stories are these?
That's a good question. For one thing, they are short short stories. Most of them are two to four pages long. There are 35 short stories in 185 pages. A story is over before you know what hit you.
They may be fables. I just looked up the definition. But not in the sense of "etiology"--explaining why things are the way they are, as in Aesop's. They're not allegories with some hidden meaning. Parables? Maybe, in that they do touch on morality, but, again, is that the main thrust? I don't think so.
Just deserts, as in people getting what they deserve? Maybe for some of them, but, no, I don't think so, since a number of them deal with suffering and not what's deserved.
I think these stories take something the author has noticed and follow it all the way to the end. What if? The conclusion is often a surprising twist that gets the reader in the gut. As such they are extremely creative. These stories aren't "psychological" in the conventional sense, instead painting some stark reality we would easily not see, would prefer not to see. If they were longer maybe they could be Twilight Zone episodes.
These stories are very male. If there is a lonely and unhappy character who has been left behind, it's usually a man. When a female book club participant commented on the sex and violence, one of the male attendees responded with what exclusively male settings are (were?) like, i.e., serving in the military. In that sense they are the reverse of the typical romance novel. (But what do I know about romance novels?--and they are not really comparable in other ways, either.)
As I mentioned, I read this for the book club, or otherwise wouldn't have been likely to pick up a short-story collection. So once again being in a book club encouraged me to stretch my reading horizons.
These stories made me think that maybe I could write one.
February 4, 2017
Tôi chưa đọc cuốn nào khác của Etgar Keret. Riêng cuốn này không thuyết phục được tôi. Một ít truyện thực sự xuất sắc, nhất là câu truyện khơi mào cho cái nhan đề "Đột nhiên có tiếng gõ cửa", song bên cạnh đó có không ít truyện mà, với tôi, không có gì đặc sắc về ý tưởng, hoặc chỉ được triển khai một cách nửa vời, tạo cảm giác về sự lười biếng của người kể chuyện (điều này hoàn toàn khác với khi tác giả, một cách hữu ý, chừa lại đủ nhiều khoảng trống cho người đọc tự lấp đầy. Ranh giới giữa một khoảng trống được hữu ý chừa ra cho người đọc lấp đầy và một khoảng trống hẫng hụt bởi không có cái đáng lẽ ra phải có, ranh giới đó khá tinh tế và không phải lúc nào cũng dễ phân biệt, đúng vậy, nhưng không phải là không thể phân biệt).
Có thể tôi sẽ có cảm nhận và đánh giá khác về Etgar Keret nếu có cơ hội đọc một cuốn khác của tác giả này. Có thể cuốn này không phải là điểm khởi đầu tốt để biết về Etgar Keret. Tiếc rằng, cho đến khi cơ hội đó đến, tôi còn hơi quá nhiều sách khác đáng để tôi đọc.
Kể cả những nhà văn thuộc hàng xuất sắc nhất cũng có thể cho ra những tác phẩm tương đối làng nhàng nếu so với những tác phẩm xuất sắc nhất của họ. Trong hai tập truyện ngắn của Roberto Bolaño được dịch ra tiếng Anh, "Last Evening on Earth" và "The Return", bên cạnh một số truyện có thể gọi là kiệt tác, có những truyện không xuất sắc - không tồi so với truyện của các nhà văn xoàng hơn, có thể, nhưng không xuất sắc. Tập truyện "Cancroregina" của Tommaso Landolfi, cũng vậy. Sẽ là cơ duyên đẹp nếu cuộc gặp đầu tiên giữa ta, người đọc, và nhà văn, là qua một trong những tác phẩm xuất sắc nhất của nhà văn. Còn, nếu chuyện ấy không xảy ra, sẽ là điều đẹp nếu ta có đủ nhẫn nại và thời gian để, một lúc nào đó trong tương lai, dành cho nhà văn ấy một cơ hội khác. Cũng tương tự như khi ta dành cho một người đàn ông/đàn bà nào đấy cơ hội thứ hai, sau khi cuộc gặp đầu khiến ta thất vọng.
Có thể tôi sẽ có cảm nhận và đánh giá khác về Etgar Keret nếu có cơ hội đọc một cuốn khác của tác giả này. Có thể cuốn này không phải là điểm khởi đầu tốt để biết về Etgar Keret. Tiếc rằng, cho đến khi cơ hội đó đến, tôi còn hơi quá nhiều sách khác đáng để tôi đọc.
Kể cả những nhà văn thuộc hàng xuất sắc nhất cũng có thể cho ra những tác phẩm tương đối làng nhàng nếu so với những tác phẩm xuất sắc nhất của họ. Trong hai tập truyện ngắn của Roberto Bolaño được dịch ra tiếng Anh, "Last Evening on Earth" và "The Return", bên cạnh một số truyện có thể gọi là kiệt tác, có những truyện không xuất sắc - không tồi so với truyện của các nhà văn xoàng hơn, có thể, nhưng không xuất sắc. Tập truyện "Cancroregina" của Tommaso Landolfi, cũng vậy. Sẽ là cơ duyên đẹp nếu cuộc gặp đầu tiên giữa ta, người đọc, và nhà văn, là qua một trong những tác phẩm xuất sắc nhất của nhà văn. Còn, nếu chuyện ấy không xảy ra, sẽ là điều đẹp nếu ta có đủ nhẫn nại và thời gian để, một lúc nào đó trong tương lai, dành cho nhà văn ấy một cơ hội khác. Cũng tương tự như khi ta dành cho một người đàn ông/đàn bà nào đấy cơ hội thứ hai, sau khi cuộc gặp đầu khiến ta thất vọng.
November 30, 2016
Brilliant, mind-stretchingly imaginative, funny, sad, wonderful stories that sparkle so brightly your psyche lights up.
The last book I read, Bernie Sanders's Our Revolution , concluded by saying something very profound: that as a species, we are suffering from a lack of imagination. What he was referring to was our inability to imagine the real possibility of creating, ourselves, a new way of living. There is something so orderly about going from reading Our Revolution to Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by an Israeli author who lives in tumult yet embodies alive imagination. The stories are not only so unpredictable they had me moaning and yelling “Oh god!” but sometimes they are even about the imagination they are jumpstarting. In a story called “A Good One,” a man has invented a board game called “Stop—Police” that “stimulates [a kid] to find his own solutions,” he tells the toy manufacturer he is pitching to. “You can think of this game as a sort of path of Rorschach blots that encourage you to use your imagination as you progress toward your goal—to win. (116)”
Our Revolution and Suddenly, A Knock on the Door have nothing obvious in common; one is a heavy political treatise and the other is a little book of potent short-short stories. But, for me, the second is medicine prescribed by the first: the stories are "a knock on the door" that compels the reader's imagination to Wake Up!
The last book I read, Bernie Sanders's Our Revolution , concluded by saying something very profound: that as a species, we are suffering from a lack of imagination. What he was referring to was our inability to imagine the real possibility of creating, ourselves, a new way of living. There is something so orderly about going from reading Our Revolution to Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by an Israeli author who lives in tumult yet embodies alive imagination. The stories are not only so unpredictable they had me moaning and yelling “Oh god!” but sometimes they are even about the imagination they are jumpstarting. In a story called “A Good One,” a man has invented a board game called “Stop—Police” that “stimulates [a kid] to find his own solutions,” he tells the toy manufacturer he is pitching to. “You can think of this game as a sort of path of Rorschach blots that encourage you to use your imagination as you progress toward your goal—to win. (116)”
Our Revolution and Suddenly, A Knock on the Door have nothing obvious in common; one is a heavy political treatise and the other is a little book of potent short-short stories. But, for me, the second is medicine prescribed by the first: the stories are "a knock on the door" that compels the reader's imagination to Wake Up!
October 27, 2021
Keret este un autor nou pentru mine și clar mi-ar plăcea să îi văd abilitățile extinse într-un roman, chiar dacă unele dintre povestirile de-aici mi-au rămas total străine. Am tot recitit fragmente din câteva, am stat și m-am gândit bine, dar nu am reușit decât să găsesc micile ironii, nu și mesajul central. Însă cele pe care am reușit să le descifrez mi s-au părut concise, acide, realiste, amuzante pe alocuri.
Colecția lui de personaje este dintre cele mai ciudate și colorate, pe care le-am găsit într-o antologie de povestiri. Peștisori care îndeplinesc dorințe, câini care... se ocupă de erecția stăpânului, perechi de gemeni care se căsătoresc, adunări de diverse naționalități, criminali, afaceriști, femei părăsite, oameni care își uită visurile după ce descoperă puterea banilor, cupluri aflate într-un punct de cotitură etc. Nici temele alese nu sunt mai terne: migrație, consumerism, alienare, divorț, teama de singurătate, rasism, efectele unei conștiințe vinovate, corporatism și discrepanțele dintre generații sunt doar câteva.
În fine, am lăsat in articol una dintre povestiri, ca să vă faceți o idee despre cum scrie Keret! Aici: https://bit.ly/3Cl148K.
,,În timp ce agonizez, îmi amintesc de toți cei pe care i-am omorât, de expresia care li s-a întins pe față înainte ca sufletul să le iasă prin urechi. Se prea poate ca toți să mă aștepte furioși acolo, pe partea cealaltă. Simt un ultim spasm puternic în trup, ca un pumn care s-a strâns cu forța peste inimă. Să mă aștepte, măcar de m-ar aștepta. O să-mi fie drag să-i mai omor o dată.''
Colecția lui de personaje este dintre cele mai ciudate și colorate, pe care le-am găsit într-o antologie de povestiri. Peștisori care îndeplinesc dorințe, câini care... se ocupă de erecția stăpânului, perechi de gemeni care se căsătoresc, adunări de diverse naționalități, criminali, afaceriști, femei părăsite, oameni care își uită visurile după ce descoperă puterea banilor, cupluri aflate într-un punct de cotitură etc. Nici temele alese nu sunt mai terne: migrație, consumerism, alienare, divorț, teama de singurătate, rasism, efectele unei conștiințe vinovate, corporatism și discrepanțele dintre generații sunt doar câteva.
În fine, am lăsat in articol una dintre povestiri, ca să vă faceți o idee despre cum scrie Keret! Aici: https://bit.ly/3Cl148K.
,,În timp ce agonizez, îmi amintesc de toți cei pe care i-am omorât, de expresia care li s-a întins pe față înainte ca sufletul să le iasă prin urechi. Se prea poate ca toți să mă aștepte furioși acolo, pe partea cealaltă. Simt un ultim spasm puternic în trup, ca un pumn care s-a strâns cu forța peste inimă. Să mă aștepte, măcar de m-ar aștepta. O să-mi fie drag să-i mai omor o dată.''
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