Meʾir Shalev Livres

Fontanel is de koosnaam van Michael Joffe, 55 jaar oud, getrouwd, vader van een tweelingzoon en –dochter, en naar zijn mening de enig normale in de grote familie Joffe. Zijn bijnaam Fontanel heeft hij te danken aan het feit dat de fontanel bij hem nooit is dichtgegroeid. Dat verleent hem een aantal bijzondere geestelijke en zintuiglijke gaven. Fontanel is het verhaal van de liefde tussen Michael en Anja, die ontluikt op Michael's vijfde verjaardag, wanneer Anja, een jonge vrouw van 21, hem redt uit een brand in een veld. Vanaf dat moment ontwikkelt zich tussen hen een romance die begint met alternatief moederschap, vervolgt met de liefde tussen een jongen en een volwassen vrouw, en uitloopt op Anja's verstoting uit het dorp. Het is ook het verhaal van de grote familie Joffe, een familie waarin veel tweelingen voorkomen, waarin de mannen hun geheugen verliezen als ze zaad lozen of bloeden en de vrouwen als ze zogen of bloeden.

Dans le mochav de Nahalal, une coopérative agricole de Galilée, on considere que l'oncle Yeshayahou est un traître. Car il est parti en Amérique et le pays du capitalisme est mal vu par cette communauté juive d'origine russe. Mais l'oncle Yeshayahou a un plan diabolique. Il connaît l'obsession pour la propreté de Tonia, la grand-mere du narrateur, et lui envoie le tout dernier modele d'aspirateur General Electric. Un sweeper qui deviendra le moteur des histoires familiales, des tensions intergénérationnelles et des anecdotes les plus folles. Il est des récits incroyables qui naissent pourtant d'un terreau réel. Avec un humour jouissif, Meir Shalev nous plonge dans son invraisemblable histoire familiale et nous dévoile les ambiguités de la société israélienne naissante.

"A joyful round of the seasons in the garden of the best-selling novelist, memoirist, and champion putterer with a wheelbarrow. On the perimeter of Israel's Jezreel Valley, with the Carmel Mountains rising up to the west, Meir Shalev has a large garden, "neither neatly organized nor well-kept," as he cheerfully explains. Often covered in mud and scrapes, Shalev cultivates both nomadic plants and "house dwellers," using his own quirky techniques. He extolls the virtues of the lemon tree; rescues a precious variety of purple snapdragon from the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway; does battle with a saboteur mole rat. He even gives us his superior private recipe for curing olives. The book will attract gardeners and literary readers alike, with its appreciation for the joy of living, quite literally, on earth, and for our borrowed time on a particular patch of it--enhanced, the author continually reminds us, by our honest, respectful dealings with all manner of beings who inhabit it with us"-- Provided by publisher

The absorbing first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers focuses on four idealistic early settlers of the modern state of Israel.Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the State of Israel, this funny and hugely imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they pioneer a new life in a new land over three generations. Narrated by Baruch, a grandson of one of the founding fathers of the village, this lyrical novel transcends time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, showcasing the skill of a master storyteller who never fails to entertain. 

From the author of the critically acclaimed  A Pigeon and a Boy , the extraordinary story of Zayde, his enigmatic mother Judith, and her three lovers When Judith arrives in a small, rural village in Palestine in the early 1930s, three men compete for her Globerman, the cunning, coarse cattle-dealer who loves women, money, and flesh; Jacob, owner of hundreds of canaries and host to the four meals which lend the book its narrative structure; and Moshe, a widowed farmer obsessed with his dead wife and his lost braid of hair which his mother cut off in childhood. During the four meals, which take place over several decades, Zayde slowly comes to understand why these three men consider him their son and why all three participate in raising him. A virtuoso performance of spellbinding storytelling, this is a deeply satisfying read—sensuous, hilarious, compassionate, and profound.

A mesmerizing novel of two love stories, separated by half a century but connected by one enchanting act of devotion—from the internationally acclaimed Israeli writer Meir Shalev. During the 1948 War of Independence—a time when pigeons are still used to deliver battlefield messages—a gifted young pigeon handler is mortally wounded. In the moments before his death, he dispatches one last pigeon. The bird is carrying his extraordinary gift to the girl he has loved since adolescence. Intertwined with this story is the contemporary tale of Yair Mendelsohn, who has his own legacy from the 1948 war. Yair is a tour guide specializing in bird-watching trips who, in middle age, falls in love again with a childhood girlfriend. His growing passion for her, along with a gift from his mother on her deathbed, becomes the key to a life he thought no longer possible. Unforgettable in both its particulars and its sweep, A Pigeon and A Boy is a tale of lovers then and now—of how deeply we love, of what home is, and why we, like pigeons trained to fly in one direction only, must eventually return to it. In a voice that is at once playful, wise, and altogether beguiling, Meir Shalev tells a story as universal as war and as intimate as a winged declaration of love.

From the acclaimed author of A Pigeon and a Boy comes a charming tale of family ties, meticulous housekeeping, and the art of storytelling set in Nahalal, the author's birthplace. The narrative centers on Grandma Tonia, who arrived in Palestine from Russia in 1923, perpetually battling what she considered the family's greatest foe: dirt. Always seen with a cleaning rag, she welcomed visitors outdoors, allowing only select guests into her immaculate home. The story humorously and poignantly unfolds around the arrival of a shiny American sweeper, a gift from Great-uncle Yeshayahu, who had emigrated to Los Angeles. To little Meir and his family, America represented hedonism and alluring progress, filled with tempting luxuries and painted fingernails. The sweeper, intended as a tool to introduce ease into their hardworking socialist household, symbolizes the family's conflicts and aspirations. The fate of Tonia’s “svieeperrr,” hidden for decades in a pristine bathroom after its first use, becomes a family mystery that Meir is determined to unravel. This delightful translation by Evan Fallenberg brings to life the obsessive yet loving Tonia, the pioneers who shaped Meir's childhood, and the humor and resilience of those forging new lives.

The absorbing first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers focuses on four idealistic early settlers of the modern state of Israel. Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the State of Israel, this funny and hugely imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they pioneer a new life in a new land over three generations. Narrated by Baruch, a grandson of one of the founding fathers of the village, this lyrical novel transcends time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, showcasing the skill of a master storyteller who never fails to entertain.

Baruch blickt zurück auf seine Kindheit in einer kleinen Siedlung in der Jesreel-Ebene, im heutigen Israel. Humorvoll werden die einzelnen Dorfbewohner charakterisiert: der konspirative Rilow, der am liebsten noch die Geburt seiner Tochter geheimhalten will; Fejge, um die sich die wildesten Gerüchte ranken; Baruch selbst, der Lauscher an der Wand, der von seinem Grossvater allein erzogen wird.