An uncomfortable read but a sign of a well written book is that the author allows the reader to become caught up in the actions of the comic, Davaleh G.
I’m afraid this one will not become one of my favourites.

A disturbing read about one man's public unravelling. So, you go to see a stand-up comedian to laugh, to be cheered up, perhaps to be ridiculed about your hair style, or your cackle of a laugh - but you don't go to witness behaviour like that seen here, with Dovaleh falling apart in front of his audience.

Sometimes you feel so sorry for the audience - the poor, lone woman who is mocked for her size is a prime example. But by the end it's Dovaleh you feel sorry for, wondering how he has got to this stage in his life, delivering a public performance to his fans, only to get progressively worse throughout the evening.

This novel is clever. It offers a great insight into one man's psyche. It shows what can happen in a couple of hours while at the same time showing what has gone before and what, inevitably, is to come.

This one just wasn't for me. I found the writing difficult to read, it's not my style and it made me feel bombarded - as a result I constantly lost my way with it. I'm sure it is a work of genius. I could see the threads running through the dialogue, pacing to a conclusion.

An interesting read, a slightly different story to what I'd been expecting but nevertheless a good read and much enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing, Jonathan Cape for providing me with an ARC copy of this book that I freely chose to review.
This is the first book I’ve read by David Grossman. I hope it won’t be the last.
The description probably gives a fair idea of the plot. Yes, we are in Netanya, Israel, and we are spectators of the act of a stand-up comedian, Dovelah Greenstein (or Dov G.). He is 57 years old (as he repeatedly reminds us through the evening), skinny (almost emaciated), and seems to become increasingly desperate as the night goes. He tells jokes, anecdotes, makes comments about the city, the spectators, Jews (yes, the self-deprecation readers of Philip Roth, for example, will be familiar with), says some politically incorrect things, tells a number of jokes (some really funny, some odd, some quite old), and insists on telling us a story about his childhood, despite the audience’s resistance to listening to it.
The beauty (or one of them) of the novel, is the narrator. Yes, I’m back to my obsession with narrators. The story is told in the first-person by Avishai Lazar, a judge who was unceremoniously removed from his post when he started becoming a bit too vocal and opinionated in his verdicts. The two characters were friends as children, and Dov calls Avishai asking him to attend his performance. His request does not only come completely out of the blue (they hadn’t seen each other since they were in their teens), but it is also quite weird. He does not want a chat, or to catch up on old times. He wants the judge to tell him what he sees when he looks at him. He wants him to tell him what other people see, what essence they perceive when they watch him. Avishai, who is a widower and still grieving, is put-off by this and reacts quite rudely, but eventually, agrees.
Although the novel is about Dov’s performance and his story (his need to let it all hang out, to explain his abuse but also his feeling of guilt about a personal tragedy), that is at times light and funny, but mostly sad and even tragic, he is not the character who changes and grows the most during the performance (his is an act of exorcism, a way of getting rid of his demons). For me, the story, sad and depressing as it can be at times (this is not a book for everybody, and I suspect many readers will empathise with quite a few of the spectators who leave the performance before it ends), is ultimately about redemption. Many narrators have told us in the past (The Great Gatsby, Heart of Darkness) that in telling somebody else’s story, they are also telling their own. This is indeed the case here. The judge (at first we don’t know who is narrating the story, but we get more and more details as the performance advances) is very hostile at first and keeps wondering why he is there, and wanting to leave. But at some point, the rawness, the determination, and the sheer courage of the comedian, who keeps going no matter how difficult it gets, break through his protective shell and he starts to question his own actions and his life. If this might be Dev’s last performance, in a way it is a beginning of sorts, especially for the judge.
Readers become the ersatz club audience, and it is very difficult to stop watching something that is so extreme and desperate, but it is also difficult to keep watching (or reading) as it becomes more and more painful. It is as if we were spectators in a therapy session where somebody is baring his soul. We feel as if we are intruding on an intimate moment, but also that perhaps we are providing him with some comfort and support to help him go through the process. Although other than the two main characters we do not get to know the rest in detail, there are familiar types we might recognise, and there is also a woman who knew the comedian when he was a child and, perhaps, plays the part of the therapist (a straight faced one, but the one he needs).
The book is beautifully written and observed. Grossman shows a great understanding of psychology and also of group interactions. Although I am not an expert on stand-up comedy, the dynamics of the performance rang true to me. I cannot compare it to the original, but the translation is impressive (I find it difficult to imagine anybody could do a better job, and if the original is even better, well…).
As I said before, this is not a book for everybody. Although it is quite short, it is also slow and intense (its rhythm is that of the performance, which ebbs and flows). None of the characters (except, perhaps, the woman) are immediately sympathetic, and they are flawed, not confident enough or too confident and dismissive, over-emotional or frozen and unable to feel, and they might not seem to have much in common with the reader, at first sight. This is not a genre book (literary fiction would be the right label, if we had to try and give it one), there is no romance (or not conventional romance), no action, no heroes or heroines, and not much happens (a whole life happens, but not in the usual sense). If you are interested in characters that are real in their humanity (for better and for worse), don’t mind a challenge, and want to explore something beyond the usual, I recommend you this book.

I’d wanted to read this book since hearing an interview with the translator, Jessica Cohen. The book, written in Hebrew, won the International Man Booker Prize 2017. The prize is split equally between the author and the translator, recognising the skill and contribution of both.
The story is set over one evening in a comedy club in the Israeli city of Netanya. The comedian is Dovaleh G, an ageing performer who seems to have retained his ‘edgy’ image. His painfully thin appearance makes us suspect that he is suffering from an illness.
The narrator is a very old acquaintance of Dovaleh G, a former friend whom he has not seen for decades. Dovaleh tracks him down and pleads with him to watch this particular performance. The acquaintance, a retired Judge, agrees to go but regrets it almost immediately. He tries to leave but Dovaleh embarrasses him into staying. The Judge then shoves “handfuls of nuts into my mouth and grind them like they were his bones.” A vivid line.
Dovaleh builds up some rapport with the audience. He is endearing, insulting, frustrating, violent and unpredictable. Jokes are followed by random monologues and self-harm.
Dovaleh picks on a small lady who does not appear to be enjoying the show. It turns out that she knew him when he was young and says that he used to be a ‘good boy’. This is the catalyst for the disintegration of Dovaleh and the show. Outraged audience members leave, but some remain as they cannot resist “the temptation to look into another man’s hell.”
The comedy routine turns into a monologue on a painful incident in Dovaleh’s early life when he was faced with terrible circumstances, life-changing uncertainty, cowardice and indifference.
The writing in the translation is compelling. When Dov is remembering a particular member he is described as having “Sleepwalking terror on his face: he’s there. All of him is there.” It’s a line that took me to the heard of the story, I could picture him and felt like an audience member, needing to watch but feeling guilty for doing so when a man is falling apart.
This is an unusual story of a childhood tragedy, decades old guilt and confession told in a setting where you’d least expect it.

I didn't enjoy this book as I felt uncomfortable reading it. The narrative was too much like watching a man working out his neurosis in front of you. If it was real life, I'd walk away so I did much the same with this. There are some poetic moments and some beautiful writing but I didn't connect with the main character at all and I feel that is crucial to enjoying the book.

I was given a free copy of the book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

"I want you to see me, really see me"

A Horse Walks into a Bar tells the story of a stand-up comedian, Dovaleh Greenstein, through the eyes of an old friend, retired judge Avishai Lazar. After 40 years of no contact with each other, Dovaleh invites him to a show in Netanya that takes the entire audience by surprise.

This is my first David Grossman read, and it really blew me away. Unable to put this down, I was immediately gripped by the immersive narrative. You really feel like you are sitting in the audience, feeling their "temptation to look into another man's hell". With its melancholic undertones, and the physical and mental deterioration of Dovaleh onstage, the story is truly unexpected. It becomes more than a stand-up show, it's a raw, human story. I wasn't anticipating how emotional I'd feel as I reached the final page. This is really worth a read!

This was quite a tough one for me to gather my thoughts about in terms of a review as I don't quite know what to say. The premise is simple - a 57 year old man is doing a stand up comedy routine in Israel and has invited an old friend along to see the show. What follows from this premise however, is a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant and sometimes shocking monologue by Dov, the comedian, interspersed with his friend's memories of the events and his longing for his dead wife. The prose and translation are good and we really get a sense of who Dov is, but the key problem for me was that any enjoyment of the book comes from whether the monologue connects with the reader and it just fell a little short for me. The pacing was strange too. The book is definitely one of two halves, the first dealing with contemporary issues and the second dealing with one specific event from Dov's past and it was this second part that I struggled with. I appreciate that they may well have been the author's intent, but while I read the first half avidly, I felt my enthusiasm lagging through the second half. All in all, the book is good and will resonate with many - it just didn't quite work for me.

A clever and addictive read with wonderful prose that never falters.
I can definitely see why this was nominated for the international Man Booker prize and was pleased to see it win.
The translation was flawless as was every page.

Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2017 is this somewhat gregariously delivered account of a man with a string of messages to deliver in a twisted and uncomfortable manner. There is some humour, but it is really more about suffering and a boiling resentment.

It is set in an Israeli comedy club. What should be about a fun night with easy humour, becomes a wacky deranged display of life and its cruelty, wrapped in a guise of self depreciation and transference of guilt and blame. It is incredibly fast paced, and the dialogue comes at you like a machine gun. At first the audience find the skinny, odd comedian funny, even though he spends too much time abusing them. They go with it at first, but then their views are mixed. Some stay, some leave, intrigued by what this man is trying to say.

If I am honest that was what I felt like reading it. Perplexed, uncomfortable intrigued - do I continue reading this, as something all encompassing will be revealed in its denouement or do I stop and leave it there, feeling somewhat exhausted and baffled? But I continued. What transpires are that there are few people there that know the comedian. He seems to have a message for them...

I don't this book will be for everyone. It is powerful in its own right. There is a lot of layering in the canon fired dialogue, which is where its craft has been appreciated. It stirs up many emotions. Essentially it is about loss, both from a country's and an individual's perspective. To this end it seems to want to make us look at ourselves as an audience looking on, maybe participating... What are we buying into, what are we part of? Are we sucked into tolerating a malfunctioning system of governance? Should we accept it passively or ought we have a moral obligation to think about it and do more??

Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.

It's rare to find uniqueness in fiction, we've been making up stories for thousands of years after all, but David Grossman's A horse Walks into a Bar squarely hits the mark. The story is framed around Dovaleh G's stand-up routine in an industrial area of Israel, but as the night goes on, the comedy fades and the story of a parent's funeral prevails. The narrator is an old friend of the comedian, one who was close, but who didn't offer support when support was needed. The tale explores what it is to be bullied, how the mind creates tricks to avoid the pain, and how those decisions affect the rest of your life.

A brilliant book, and a worthy winner of the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.

This book won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. I can't honestly say why - it kept putting me to sleep! At around 200 pages I thought it would be a quick read, but took much longer because there are no chapter breaks (plus I kept falling asleep). The story takes place over 2 hours, where the comedian on stage essentially has a breakdown in front of a horrified audience. Glad it didn't go on much longer because I probably would've had one too. ⭐️⭐️/5

Not for me - I did read until the very last word and it didn't get any better. It's the first book I have read by this author and I would be prepared to read another in order to change my mind.

On reading this book, you can see why it won this year’s Man Booker Prize. This takes some mightily impressive emotional and stylistic risks.

Its set-up is remarkably simple – yet clever for it draws you in and creates a powerful narrative drive. We follow Dovaleh G., a rather unlikeable Israeli stand-up comedian during one of his routines. The book is a straight-through account of this one performance, this one-night show in the small Israeli town of Netanya.

In many ways, this should be unremarkable – a series of crude jokes, some with questionable levels of appropriateness in front of an audience who may be giving the show, what 60% of their attention? But actually what we witness is an unravelling – one that draws in both us the reader, and the audience in front of him.

For Dovaleh has invited a childhood friend to the show – one he has not seen for decades – and what follows is a form of reckoning as Dovaleh’s performance spirals out of control, outside of the normal boundaries of a comedy show, and instead becomes a piece of self-excavation as he revisits moments from his childhood and traumatic events from his past.

This book won’t make you laugh or cry – and I don’t think it is trying to. Everything here is shades of grey. We are meant to feel both repugnance and sympathy for this man, often at the same time. But it is demanding some form of introspection, that we examine ourselves and those around us. To be more aware of private battles others may be facing. That we won’t always be able to read, truly, what is happening with others and that, perhaps, we should not therefore be so quick to judge.

We’re all a bit of a mess, aren’t we? Deliberately uncomfortable but fascinating and a real page-turner.

I couldn't say I liked much about this book apart from the concept which was promising... until I read it.
Some of the jokes were funny but it was generally a very uncomfortable read.
I was hoping for something to redeem it for me but sorry to say that did not happen.

I found this book completely engrossing. I didn't want to put it down. The way the book is written, you can empathise with those in the audience (and question what you would have done - stay or leave). It would be wrong to say this is a wholly unpleasant read. Yes, it covers some upsetting issues - grief, bullying, childhood, loss, guilt, the Holocaust (to name but a few), but the writing is stunning. I was there with him in the audience and there again then he was in the truck be driven back to his home town. You want to intervene and help him some how.
This book willstay with me because any portrayal of bullying like this is quite haunting and dredges up memories from your own past.
It won't be for some (and I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I was in the mood for something light), but it's short, the writing is spot on and given the location and topics covered it gave me new insight that other authors haven't previously.
It's not 5 stars simply because although it moved me, I was ready for it to finish.

This review is based on a free copy provided to me by netgalley.

This is the first time that I have read anything by David Grossman and it is certainly different, but not to my taste. It was originally written in Hebrew and then translated by Jessica Cohen.

The setting is in Israel and it centres on the 'stand up’ comic Doveleh G, who suffers from his intense inner demons. I just found it so difficult to like this character, as he certainly is not funny! He seems to use his audience as a sounding board, spewing forth doom and gloom. No wonder many of them are heckling, plus some even walk out!

There is someone else in the audience who Doveleh G has specially invited and he plays a significant part.

It is interesting to note that there is a diverse variety of opinions from other reviewers, so it's individual appreciation at the end of the day. Sorry, it didn't work for me.

Galadriel

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

A horse walks into a bar…

It’s like those challenges to describe a novel in six words. In this case, the six word title perfectly encapsulates the subject matter, the narrative style, the vibe. We’re in a grim comedy cellar in Netanya – which Google tells me is a town 30km north of Tel Aviv. The comic on stage, Dovaleh G (G for Greenstein) is telling bad jokes about how grim and dangerous Netanya is. I presume this is part of an in-joke as Netanya appears to be a coastal resort some distance from Israel’s borders. And as the evening wears on, he starts some observational comedy based on his own life.

Like the title, Dov’s story is cheesy. Or perhaps that’s not quite fair – it is actually quite a sad (and short) story but covered in lashings of comic cheese.

The structure of the book is particularly striking. The story is actually told by Avishai Lazar, a former court judge whom Dov has invited – perhaps paid – to come along and pass judgement. So we actually have Avishai reporting Dovaleh’s routine, complete with his own memories and thoughts, and a running commentary on the state of the audience. Then, when Dov reports other people’s conversations, we have Avishai reporting Dov reporting someone else. And sometimes that someone else is telling a joke… It creates multiple layers, like a matrioshka.

The narrative voice is distinctive and never lets up. But after a while, it starts to get a little wearing. At one point in the novel, a member of the audience gets sick of the endless digressions from the story and when Dov threatens to tell another joke, shouts out for him to get on with the story. I know where that was coming from. By the end, we don’t need to know that Avishai has ordered too may tapas or that the bikers have sneaked out without anyone noticing. We just want to know how Dov’s story ends and whether there is actually a punchline to the horse walking into the bar. Even though we know the answer to both of these all along.

Dovaleh’s story is genuinely shocking but ultimately not that complex. It probably doesn’t deserve such a build up but, like most observational comedy stories, without the padding they would not be worth telling at all.

Overall this is a clever novel and has understandably won awards. But I’m not sure that it is a terribly entertaining book.