Love sentence Sarah Shiloh (Poalim Library Publishing)
From the first word we understand that destruction has occurred.
We don't know what the disaster is, but the characters speak brokenly, as do their belongings and the corners of their homes.
Objects and corners of the house have a life of their own.
Between a story about a rack that tiredly carries coats and scarves and misses the character that once lived in the house, and the ceiling that feels loftier than the floor that is frequently dirty - the reader asks himself if the objects and the corners of the house speak for the characters, or if they have a life of their own.
love sentence,
Throughout the book, a sewing machine, a mirror, a piano, scraps of information about the characters slowly build for us the framing of what happened between the walls of the house.
The book is well written, sometimes feels like an artistic performance.
It even provokes thought - what do my objects feel, what stories will they tell?
On top of that, the author touches on a topic that until a few years ago was considered taboo in Israeli society.
However, the power of the secret described in the book, along with a heavy description of destruction, prepares the reader for a complicated plot that is difficult to comprehend.
There is a feeling that there is no way to fix what was - there is no way to rebuild.
In the end, despite the difficulty and sorrow described as justice - this is not what you expected to read.
There is even slight anger that you have been "cheated" as a reader.
home round trip |
Ila Dekal (published by two)
Liora is an angry, rebellious character who is looking for her place in the world.
Maybe that's why she is the only one who manages to identify and decipher a surprising secret about her family.
In the historical novel "The Home and Back" we are exposed to a complicated and fascinating family story, moving between three generations and three countries - France, Egypt and finally Israel.
The author touches ancient worlds in an authentic way, and the feeling is as if she is thrown into an old world - to the market and the sea in Alexandria, to a father who is in a hurry to marry his first born to a sharecropper, to the tensions that accompanied the Jews in Egypt before the declaration of the establishment of the state, to its migration and to the kibbutz.
Home round trip, photo: none
The plot is phenomenal, but the execution is lacking.
Sometimes there is even a feeling of failure - they told me the plot of the story, but they did not touch the depth of things.
Let me experience the anger when the character is forced to fulfill a mitzvah that he hates, that he does not want to fulfill;
Let me experience the pain of separation from the family and the joy of being reunited;
Let me feel the moments as if they are happening in front of my eyes while reading the lines.
Because of this, there were points in the book where it was clear that a comprehensive investigation was conducted, but in practice the things were written in a matter-of-fact and emotionless way.
Morality
Yonatan Zaks (Magid Publishing)
One of the wisdoms of the book is the way in which basic assumptions that accompany our lives are presented from a different angle, which raises questions about the right way to live life.
How few books renew our perspectives on life, and how much the writer Jonathan Sachs was able to renew.
The writer examines the effect of the transition from "I" to "we" on the individual's happiness and well-being, how it affects internal and social morality and how it can be strengthened.
The book is readable and accessible, and many fascinating examples are given in it - for example, it tells about Stephen King, who tried to write a novel and had great difficulty doing so.
He finally completed a manuscript, felt it wasn't working, threw it in the trash and went for a walk, while considering abandoning his dream of becoming a writer.
When he returned, he found that his wife had saved the manuscript and was reading it.
She claimed that he was not bad at all, but needed editing and tightening and she would help him with that.
This is how the novel "Carrie" was used, which became a bestseller and was adapted into a movie.
In doing so, Zakes demonstrated to us the importance of the significant other in a person's life, and also challenged the great weight that we attribute to "self-esteem" - "There is no bound person who allows himself from the house of the forbidden" (Berachot G-d 2).
Morality, photography: none
During one of my wanderings in the bookstores, one of the sellers pointed to the book and said to me: "It's something different, it's a different depth."
Many times I receive recommendations for books, while embracing the plot or the way the book is written, when in practice, when reading, it is not apparent.
Here, it was exactly what she described - another depth.
How I hate to write this, but as true as it is - this is a must read.
fire stones
Avi Primor (Yediot Books Publishing)
A convoy of Turkish cavalry marches outside Nadia and Dimitri's modest home and disturbs their rest.
This is how we first meet the young couple who came to Odessa in Israel in the middle of the 19th century, when the city was small, poor and conservative.
The couple is exposed to a Templar cleric with whom they build a business partnership, which includes a Muslim businessman and a Jewish newspaper owner.
The group is leading a fundamental change in Palestine - among other things, bringing carriages from Egypt to connect Jerusalem and Jaffa.
The book "Stones of Fire" by the former Israeli ambassador is magical, because it touches on historical moments that are hardly recorded in Israeli fiction.
While the Ottoman rule is shown in the cruel holocaust it perpetrated on the Armenian people, or in the difficulties it caused the Jews who wanted to live in their country, in the book we are exposed to the period of their rule in Palestine over a long period of years.
Firestones, photo: none
In the book, we walk through the alleys of Jerusalem, which are cleaned by the residents of Jerusalem after the garbage has been piled up for weeks, all in order to pay respect to a distinguished guest - the emperor of the Austrian Empire who is about to arrive in the city.
We see in our mind's eye the emperor riding his horse, with heavy stones under him, recognizing an impressive building that is not covered by a roof and asking the breadwinners of the Jewish community who are celebrating around him: "Why does the building not have a roof?".
The Jews, embarrassed to admit that they did not have enough money to complete the construction of the synagogue, struggle with what to say, until finally one answers gracefully: "The synagogue has removed its hat before His Imperial Majesty."
The writing in the book is simple, sometimes it seems as if a grandfather is telling a story to his grandchildren.
But as the years progress, more and more historical events are shown, and less the lives of the characters and how they grow within the events.
Towards the end it feels like reading a history book rather than a historical novel, and that's a miss.
What started with loud fanfare, ended with the sound of weak obedience.
Justice
Yehuda Weizen (Dehak Publishing)
"Justification of Justice" is a poem where the words are played with storm alongside pain.
In every line comes an ancient tune, a lament - Oya, what did we have?
- who recall the old pain of the destruction of the first and second Temples, the loss of the free Jew who walks in his country with his back straight.
The poem is recited with bated breath, and is a reminder of what happened in Israel during Operation Guard of the Walls - disturbances among the Jews.
It is never pleasant to talk about that period, certainly bluntly, certainly in the era of "political correctness", but yes, there were riots here, and no, you must not get used to it.
The poet chose to take us to the brutal lynching in Bat Yam, where Jews attacked an Arab, and analyze what was behind that moment.
Next to the title of the book of poetry, "Justification of Justice", and the feeling of the persecuted Jew, it seems that the author justifies the terrible act.
However, in the correspondence that he reveals at the end of the poem with the editor of "Haaretz", Alof Ben, he explains to him that his intention is to try to understand and show what happens to humans when they are oppressed, an attempt to reveal the animal soul.
Justice, photo: illustration: Avivit Levy
Either way, this is a hard poem that is penetratingly written, evoking connection alongside antagonism.
The cover of the book is accompanied by a picture of a Jew by the artist Marc Chagall.
In my view of his picture, the Jew is presented with harsh stigmas that accompany the Jew throughout the generations - a long nose, a long beard, a sly, cunning look.
In this too, Wiesen presents a statement: what was, what is now, what may be taken away.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us