By Dr. Steve Rubin / Special to the BJV
Summer passes quickly in the Berkshires, but fall has its own unique beauty. There is still time for outdoor reading should you so choose. But whether you’re indoors or sitting on the back porch, here are two (very different) recommendations. The first is a novel oddly titled, A Horse Walked into a Bar by one of my favorite Israeli novelists, David Grossman—arguably that country’s preeminent contemporary author. The second is the recently published, Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land, by Rachel Cockerell.
A Horse Walked into a Bar was first published in Israel in Hebrew in 2014 and in English (translated by Jessica Cohen) in 2017. Grossman’s short novel is often funny, but just as often sad and touching—and always compelling. Winner of the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, the novel takes the form of a stand-up comic's monologue (hence the title), but delves into the personal history of the narrator, revealing past abuses, regrets, and present insecurities. Grossman also has something to say (subtly) about the state of Israel in the 21st century. NPR described A Horse Walked into a Bar as a novel “as beautiful as it is unusual, and it’s nearly impossible to put down.” I couldn’t agree more. Read this intense, beautifully written short novel. See if you agree.
Melting Point is the first work by Rachel Cockerell, a young (thirty-year-old) London-based British writer. It is a work of nonfiction that cleverly blends family memoir with news reports and commentary of the day. The first section—through speeches, letters, and news reports — delineates the period of early Zionism and the key figures of that movement: Theodor Herzl, Stefan Zweig, Israel Zangwill, among others. The second part contains the written memoirs of Cockerell’s own family before and after the Jewish state came into existence. The final section chronicles the founding of Israel in 1948 and the reactions of journalists, columnists, and politicians throughout the world. What is apparent, and perhaps the most moving part of this impressive volume, is how quickly most observers understood the looming problems associated with establishing a nation on land already inhabited by a people with a national identity of their own.
Steve Rubin, Ph.D. has written and lectured extensively both here and abroad on issues relating to Jewish culture and literature. He also moderates Federation’s popular Current Events seminar, which continues at Connecting With Community at Knesset Israel on Thursday, August 7.