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Waking Lions
Dr. Eitan Green is a good man. He saves lives. Then, speeding along a deserted moonlit road in his SUV, he hits someone. Seeing that the man, an African migrant, is beyond help, he flees the scene. It is a decision that changes everything. Because the dead man’s wife knows what happened. When she knocks at Eitan’s door the next day, tall and beautiful, he discovers that her price is not money. It is something else entirely, something that will shatter Eitan’s safe existence and take him into a world of secrets and lies. Waking Lions is a gripping, suspenseful and morally devastating drama of guilt and survival, shame and desire.
409 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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About the author
Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
10 books492 followersAyelet Gundar-Goshen (Hebrew: איילת גונדר-גושן) was born in Israel in 1982 and holds an MA in Clinical Psychology from Tel Aviv University. Her film scripts have won prizes at international festivals, including the Berlin Today Award and the New York City Short Film Festival Award. Her debut novel, One Night, Markovitch, won the Sapir Prize in 2013 for best debut and is being translated into five languages.
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April 13, 2017
I actually finished his book several weeks ago but it presented me with quite a conundrum. I continually wavered in my thoughts, my rating and what to say in my review. There is no doubt that this is an important book, a brilliantly written one, but the book is so dense, slowly paced and one I didn't mind putting down. I never considered not finishing it though, as it is written about refugees in the country of Israel, and I never realized they were having their own refugee crisis.
On the surface it is about a good man, a doctor, a healer, who makes a terrible mistake which costs him dearly. After leaving the hospital one night, letting off steam he races down a dark road and hits and kills a man, he didn't see. Knowing the terrible cost to his life, he leaves the man, an African, and returns home. This will bring Sirkit into his life, the dead man's wife, who will blackmail him into providing medical care to other illegal African refugees,
This is about one man's awakening to the problems in his own country, the plight of these refugees, with few resources, no access to even basic care and the routes they take to earn a living. It will put him in danger, and show him things he never thought to see. An indepth and thorough view of a man in a moral crisis and the prejudice inherit in many countries confronted with refugees they do not want, nor care to acknowledge. Very grim, but eye opening. I guess every country has a share and opinion in this ongoing crisis. A good, worthy book that will provoke much thought and discussion.
On the surface it is about a good man, a doctor, a healer, who makes a terrible mistake which costs him dearly. After leaving the hospital one night, letting off steam he races down a dark road and hits and kills a man, he didn't see. Knowing the terrible cost to his life, he leaves the man, an African, and returns home. This will bring Sirkit into his life, the dead man's wife, who will blackmail him into providing medical care to other illegal African refugees,
This is about one man's awakening to the problems in his own country, the plight of these refugees, with few resources, no access to even basic care and the routes they take to earn a living. It will put him in danger, and show him things he never thought to see. An indepth and thorough view of a man in a moral crisis and the prejudice inherit in many countries confronted with refugees they do not want, nor care to acknowledge. Very grim, but eye opening. I guess every country has a share and opinion in this ongoing crisis. A good, worthy book that will provoke much thought and discussion.
July 28, 2022
SONO FORSE IO IL CUSTODE DI MIO FRATELLO?
Sono forse io il custode di mio fratello?
Genesi 4,1 – 15.25
Non ci sono buoni in queste trecentododici pagine firmate da Ayelet (che vuol dire gazzella) Gundar-Goshen.
Forse non ci sono neppure cattivi, ma sicuramente i buoni latitano.
Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen non divide il mondo in giusto e sbagliato, perché lei sa che a volte comportarsi umanamente è un privilegio.
Sono trecentododici pagine popolate di umanità come quella che conosciamo: un po’ buona, un po’ meno buona, qualche volta perfino cattiva – umanità poco eroica, piuttosto mediocre, per questo comune, normale, riconoscibile. Umana.
Non si riescono a definire buoni neppure i migranti, che anche in terra d’Israele non hanno miglior sorte che da noi o in Grecia o nelle onde del Mediterraneo. Questo spingerebbe a renderli i buoni della situazione: se non che anche loro messi alla prova sono tutto meno che stinchi di santo. I mariti picchiano le mogli, i capi tribù pretendono pagamenti in natura, le vedove garantiscono cure mediche solo in cambio di moneta e di appartenenza allo stesso gruppo etnico.
L’ospedale Soroka, di Beer Sheva, dove lavora il protagonista, il dottor Eitan Green.
Arrivano dall’Africa, qui sono soprattutto eritrei e sudanesi del sud, arrivano via Egitto. Gli egiziani sparano addosso ai migranti africani, i loro fucili hanno una gittata di 500 metri, e gli eritrei devono essere campioni a correre questa distanza, cinquecento metri, se non vogliono essere colpiti. Campioni delm ondo sui 500 metri di corsa.
L’unica frontiera via terra per arrivare in questo primo scampolo d’Occidente è quella tra il Sinai e Israele. Al deserto egiziano segue il deserto israeliano.
Gli ebrei fuggirono dall’Egitto e attraversarono il deserto del Sinai per arrivare in Israele, la terra promessa: è proprio nel deserto del Sinai che ricevettero le Tavole della Legge.
Arrivano in Israele (terra promessa anche per loro?) e diventano gli invisibili, quelli che lavano i piatti e puliscono per terra, quelli che gli israeliani neppure guardano negli occhi, quelli che stazionano al fondo della catena alimentare.
Beer Sheva, capitale del deserto del Neghev, a sud d’Israele, con poco più di duecentomila abitanti.
Eitan, il protagonista, medico neurochirurgo, sembrerebbe il buono e l’onesto della situazione: ha dovuto lasciare l’ospedale di Tel Aviv perché aveva scoperto che il suo professore era coinvolto in un giro di mazzette nel quale Eitan s’è rifiutato d’entrare. E quindi, via, esiliato nel sud del paese, nel deserto, a Beer Sheva dove tutto, tutto, è ricoperto di polvere, quella del deserto.
(Beer Sheva come Lampedusa per chi scappa da fame e guerra?)
Se non che nel fulminante incipit prologo di una pagina Ayelet Gundar-Goshen mette subito le cose in chiaro: Eitan investe un profugo eritreo, di notte, su una strada sterrata, mentre sta provando il suo nuovo SUV rosso fiammante – Eitan fugge, lascia che l’uomo muoia dopo due ore d’agonia, antepone la sua sicurezza e stabilità familiare al soccorso di un moribondo che avrebbe potuto forse salvare, ma a rischio di carriera e conseguenze penali. Caino uccide Abele anche oggi, nel terzo millennio.
Spencer Tunick è un fotografo statunitense di 44 anni specializzato nella fotografia di persone nude: qui ha portato circa 1200 persone, israeliani e turisti, sulla riva del Mar Morto.
No, Eitan non è un giusto, non è un eroe, non è buono: è soltanto umano. Ci assomiglia molto.
O forse no, non ci assomiglia affatto, perché Israele è un paese così diverso, così peculiare, che non è possibile fare confronti.
Eppure, nonostante tutto ciò, Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen non racconta Israele. O meglio, non solo.
Eitan sono io, sei tu, siamo noi, assomiglia a un medico italiano che di notte mette sotto qualcuno che un attimo prima era vivo come lui. Qualcuno che abbandona, lascia morire, omette il soccorso. E non serve che sia un invisibile, un rifugiato, un emigrato: potrebbe essere un ragazzino in bicicletta, un anziano che attraversa, un fornaio in motoretta.
Lilith, la prima moglie di Adamo, da lui ripudiata perché rifiutò sottomissione, considerata demone notturno, a sinistra vista da Dante Gabriele Rossetti, a destra di John Collier.
Se voglio indicare un difetto di questo buon romanzo è l’eccesso di storie, è quando chi scrive prende la tangente per raccontare un’infanzia (tante infanzie) che forse a lei con una laurea in psicologia sembrano indispensabili, a me lettore invece appaiono abbastanza inutili.
Ma, anche quando la temperatura cresce, e i morti aumentano, gli spari si moltiplicano, e in mezzo ci sono perfino le coltellate, Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen è brava a restare credibile, coi piedi per terra. Succede, secondo me, anche nel finale, la giusta conclusione di questa storia.
E tutti, più che leoni, ci svegliamo conigli, vigliacchi. Più umani.
La distanza tra chi ha fame e chi è sazio è maggiore della distanza da qui alla luna.
Un’opera di Jacob Lawrence.
Sono forse io il custode di mio fratello?
Genesi 4,1 – 15.25
Non ci sono buoni in queste trecentododici pagine firmate da Ayelet (che vuol dire gazzella) Gundar-Goshen.
Forse non ci sono neppure cattivi, ma sicuramente i buoni latitano.
Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen non divide il mondo in giusto e sbagliato, perché lei sa che a volte comportarsi umanamente è un privilegio.
Sono trecentododici pagine popolate di umanità come quella che conosciamo: un po’ buona, un po’ meno buona, qualche volta perfino cattiva – umanità poco eroica, piuttosto mediocre, per questo comune, normale, riconoscibile. Umana.
Non si riescono a definire buoni neppure i migranti, che anche in terra d’Israele non hanno miglior sorte che da noi o in Grecia o nelle onde del Mediterraneo. Questo spingerebbe a renderli i buoni della situazione: se non che anche loro messi alla prova sono tutto meno che stinchi di santo. I mariti picchiano le mogli, i capi tribù pretendono pagamenti in natura, le vedove garantiscono cure mediche solo in cambio di moneta e di appartenenza allo stesso gruppo etnico.
L’ospedale Soroka, di Beer Sheva, dove lavora il protagonista, il dottor Eitan Green.
Arrivano dall’Africa, qui sono soprattutto eritrei e sudanesi del sud, arrivano via Egitto. Gli egiziani sparano addosso ai migranti africani, i loro fucili hanno una gittata di 500 metri, e gli eritrei devono essere campioni a correre questa distanza, cinquecento metri, se non vogliono essere colpiti. Campioni delm ondo sui 500 metri di corsa.
L’unica frontiera via terra per arrivare in questo primo scampolo d’Occidente è quella tra il Sinai e Israele. Al deserto egiziano segue il deserto israeliano.
Gli ebrei fuggirono dall’Egitto e attraversarono il deserto del Sinai per arrivare in Israele, la terra promessa: è proprio nel deserto del Sinai che ricevettero le Tavole della Legge.
Arrivano in Israele (terra promessa anche per loro?) e diventano gli invisibili, quelli che lavano i piatti e puliscono per terra, quelli che gli israeliani neppure guardano negli occhi, quelli che stazionano al fondo della catena alimentare.
Beer Sheva, capitale del deserto del Neghev, a sud d’Israele, con poco più di duecentomila abitanti.
Eitan, il protagonista, medico neurochirurgo, sembrerebbe il buono e l’onesto della situazione: ha dovuto lasciare l’ospedale di Tel Aviv perché aveva scoperto che il suo professore era coinvolto in un giro di mazzette nel quale Eitan s’è rifiutato d’entrare. E quindi, via, esiliato nel sud del paese, nel deserto, a Beer Sheva dove tutto, tutto, è ricoperto di polvere, quella del deserto.
(Beer Sheva come Lampedusa per chi scappa da fame e guerra?)
Se non che nel fulminante incipit prologo di una pagina Ayelet Gundar-Goshen mette subito le cose in chiaro: Eitan investe un profugo eritreo, di notte, su una strada sterrata, mentre sta provando il suo nuovo SUV rosso fiammante – Eitan fugge, lascia che l’uomo muoia dopo due ore d’agonia, antepone la sua sicurezza e stabilità familiare al soccorso di un moribondo che avrebbe potuto forse salvare, ma a rischio di carriera e conseguenze penali. Caino uccide Abele anche oggi, nel terzo millennio.
Spencer Tunick è un fotografo statunitense di 44 anni specializzato nella fotografia di persone nude: qui ha portato circa 1200 persone, israeliani e turisti, sulla riva del Mar Morto.
No, Eitan non è un giusto, non è un eroe, non è buono: è soltanto umano. Ci assomiglia molto.
O forse no, non ci assomiglia affatto, perché Israele è un paese così diverso, così peculiare, che non è possibile fare confronti.
Eppure, nonostante tutto ciò, Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen non racconta Israele. O meglio, non solo.
Eitan sono io, sei tu, siamo noi, assomiglia a un medico italiano che di notte mette sotto qualcuno che un attimo prima era vivo come lui. Qualcuno che abbandona, lascia morire, omette il soccorso. E non serve che sia un invisibile, un rifugiato, un emigrato: potrebbe essere un ragazzino in bicicletta, un anziano che attraversa, un fornaio in motoretta.
Lilith, la prima moglie di Adamo, da lui ripudiata perché rifiutò sottomissione, considerata demone notturno, a sinistra vista da Dante Gabriele Rossetti, a destra di John Collier.
Se voglio indicare un difetto di questo buon romanzo è l’eccesso di storie, è quando chi scrive prende la tangente per raccontare un’infanzia (tante infanzie) che forse a lei con una laurea in psicologia sembrano indispensabili, a me lettore invece appaiono abbastanza inutili.
Ma, anche quando la temperatura cresce, e i morti aumentano, gli spari si moltiplicano, e in mezzo ci sono perfino le coltellate, Ayelet “Gazzella” Gundar-Goshen è brava a restare credibile, coi piedi per terra. Succede, secondo me, anche nel finale, la giusta conclusione di questa storia.
E tutti, più che leoni, ci svegliamo conigli, vigliacchi. Più umani.
La distanza tra chi ha fame e chi è sazio è maggiore della distanza da qui alla luna.
Un’opera di Jacob Lawrence.
March 27, 2022
[Edited for typos 3/27/22]
When I saw this book at a library discard sale I thought I’d give this obscure book and obscure author a try. I was then surprised to see that when this book came out in 2013 it was reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the major UK papers such as The Times and the Guardian, and in the US on NPR and even in Good Housekeeping! The story, set in Israel, is by a female author and translated from Hebrew.
The blurb tells us what the story is about. Eitan, a young Israeli doctor speeding on a deserted road at night, strikes and kills a pedestrian - an undocumented Eritrean immigrant. Knowing that medical help cannot possibly arrive in time to repair his split skull, the doctor flees the scene. He dropped his wallet and this sets up a blackmail scenario by the immigrant’s wife, Sirkit. She demands a lot to keep his secret.
The doctor’s wife, Liat, is a police detective. The tension builds because guess what case she has been assigned? Although her supervisors aren't really terribly interested in who struck and killed an illegal immigrant, she’s a crusader and she is determined to find who did it. Imagine the stress to their relationship when she comes home at night and discusses her progress on the case with her husband.
The story becomes one of morality, guilt and shame. It tells us a lot about the lives of undocumented immigrants in Israel. What the immigrant wife blackmails the doctor into doing shapes the rest of the story. It's not told in the blurbs but if you really want to know what most of the book is about, be aware that spoilers follow.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Sirkit demands that the doctor spend night after night treating medical conditions of the immigrants. They fear getting medical assistance from a hospital because they will be deported. The woman and the doctor set up a makeshift clinic in an abandoned garage. The patients come in an endless stream with a ghastly array of deadly diseases, infected injuries, intestinal diseases, tuberculosis and others.
The doctor tells no one about the situation that he is in, so his life becomes one of lies to his wife that he is working overtime at the hospital, and lies to his superiors at the hospital that he has all kinds of issues at home. His double life endangers both his marriage and his employment. We know what his wife thinks when he doesn't come home evenings and she discovers that he’s not working overtime at the hospital as he claims. He steals medical supplies and drugs from the hospital. This becomes a little drama in itself.
We don't get a pretty picture of human nature from any of these characters, other than the doctor's wife. Even though Sirkit appears to be doing good for her fellow immigrants, we have some shocking surprises there too.
And when I say the book does not give us a pretty picture of humanity, that applies to the doctor. The immigrants and their dire medical conditions disgust him. That word is used many times. He has no interest in their names and still can't tell them apart even after multiple treatments.
Nor do we get a pretty picture of life in Israel where, according to this book, illegal immigrants provide an underground workforce for all the low-paid jobs. The owner of the restaurant next to the garage clinic regularly rapes his undocumented female workers. Are there really bouncers outside fancy restaurants in Tel Aviv to keep the beggars out?
Because the doctor is a neurosurgeon, we get a lot of medical details about how stress, guilt, and lack of sleep affect the brain. We learn some about treatment of various diseases and medical procedures.
Sirkit is a beautiful woman. Night after night she works as Eitan’s assistant and in effect turns into a physician’s assistant able to stitch up wounds and so forth. They are attracted to each other. Where is this going to go?
There is good writing. Some examples:
“Men can fashion their eyes on you the way people put a collar on a dog.”
“There, in the village, the men used to get up before dawn to go fishing, and the women went with them because a person can't enter something big like the sea in something small like a boat without a pair of eyes watching him from the land.”
“Her grandmother always used to tell her not to get it wrong - you should never pay too much attention to what people tell you with their mouths. It's their bodies that tell you everything you need to know.” [A good skill for the doctor’s wife in her detective work.]
[Eitan think of Sirkit] “Moments when he looked at her and thought: She's like me. (But never: I'm like her.)”
We’re told most of the Eritreans come to Israel by foot across the desert through Egypt. Many are shot by Egyptian border guards on the way.
One other theme that comes through strongly in the book is basically this: morality and righteousness are concerns for those who are legally secure, safe from starvation and violence, and materially comfortable. If you're not in that category, pragmatism rules; you will do anything to protect your loved ones and keep your family from starving.
I thought this was an excellent storyline with very good writing. I give it a ‘4’ because of repetition that we could have done without. Perhaps six times we read a few pages of how the doctor goes over the hit and run incident in his mind. Six or so times we read about the terrible conditions of the patients who arrive in the makeshift clinic. Six times or so we learn of the mutual attraction between the doctor and the Eritrean woman. I think three or four would have done it in each case and there are some other themes that could use trimming. I also thought the shoot-em-up, made-for-TV-ending was a bit much, given the tone of the rest of the book. Still I highly recommend this book as a good read.
The author (b. 1982) studied psychology and teaches at Israeli universities. She has been a visiting prof at two universities in the US. She has written film scripts and four novels, all of which have been translated into English (and other languages). Waking Lions and The Liar appear to be the only two that have a good number of ratings on GR.
Top photo: Eritrean immigrants in Israel demonstrate against Israeli government plans to deport them. From timesofisrael.com
Map of the route taken by many Eritrean migrants from pbs.org
Beersheba where most of the story takes place from timesofisrael.com
The author from theguardian.com
When I saw this book at a library discard sale I thought I’d give this obscure book and obscure author a try. I was then surprised to see that when this book came out in 2013 it was reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the major UK papers such as The Times and the Guardian, and in the US on NPR and even in Good Housekeeping! The story, set in Israel, is by a female author and translated from Hebrew.
The blurb tells us what the story is about. Eitan, a young Israeli doctor speeding on a deserted road at night, strikes and kills a pedestrian - an undocumented Eritrean immigrant. Knowing that medical help cannot possibly arrive in time to repair his split skull, the doctor flees the scene. He dropped his wallet and this sets up a blackmail scenario by the immigrant’s wife, Sirkit. She demands a lot to keep his secret.
The doctor’s wife, Liat, is a police detective. The tension builds because guess what case she has been assigned? Although her supervisors aren't really terribly interested in who struck and killed an illegal immigrant, she’s a crusader and she is determined to find who did it. Imagine the stress to their relationship when she comes home at night and discusses her progress on the case with her husband.
The story becomes one of morality, guilt and shame. It tells us a lot about the lives of undocumented immigrants in Israel. What the immigrant wife blackmails the doctor into doing shapes the rest of the story. It's not told in the blurbs but if you really want to know what most of the book is about, be aware that spoilers follow.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Sirkit demands that the doctor spend night after night treating medical conditions of the immigrants. They fear getting medical assistance from a hospital because they will be deported. The woman and the doctor set up a makeshift clinic in an abandoned garage. The patients come in an endless stream with a ghastly array of deadly diseases, infected injuries, intestinal diseases, tuberculosis and others.
The doctor tells no one about the situation that he is in, so his life becomes one of lies to his wife that he is working overtime at the hospital, and lies to his superiors at the hospital that he has all kinds of issues at home. His double life endangers both his marriage and his employment. We know what his wife thinks when he doesn't come home evenings and she discovers that he’s not working overtime at the hospital as he claims. He steals medical supplies and drugs from the hospital. This becomes a little drama in itself.
We don't get a pretty picture of human nature from any of these characters, other than the doctor's wife. Even though Sirkit appears to be doing good for her fellow immigrants, we have some shocking surprises there too.
And when I say the book does not give us a pretty picture of humanity, that applies to the doctor. The immigrants and their dire medical conditions disgust him. That word is used many times. He has no interest in their names and still can't tell them apart even after multiple treatments.
Nor do we get a pretty picture of life in Israel where, according to this book, illegal immigrants provide an underground workforce for all the low-paid jobs. The owner of the restaurant next to the garage clinic regularly rapes his undocumented female workers. Are there really bouncers outside fancy restaurants in Tel Aviv to keep the beggars out?
Because the doctor is a neurosurgeon, we get a lot of medical details about how stress, guilt, and lack of sleep affect the brain. We learn some about treatment of various diseases and medical procedures.
Sirkit is a beautiful woman. Night after night she works as Eitan’s assistant and in effect turns into a physician’s assistant able to stitch up wounds and so forth. They are attracted to each other. Where is this going to go?
There is good writing. Some examples:
“Men can fashion their eyes on you the way people put a collar on a dog.”
“There, in the village, the men used to get up before dawn to go fishing, and the women went with them because a person can't enter something big like the sea in something small like a boat without a pair of eyes watching him from the land.”
“Her grandmother always used to tell her not to get it wrong - you should never pay too much attention to what people tell you with their mouths. It's their bodies that tell you everything you need to know.” [A good skill for the doctor’s wife in her detective work.]
[Eitan think of Sirkit] “Moments when he looked at her and thought: She's like me. (But never: I'm like her.)”
We’re told most of the Eritreans come to Israel by foot across the desert through Egypt. Many are shot by Egyptian border guards on the way.
One other theme that comes through strongly in the book is basically this: morality and righteousness are concerns for those who are legally secure, safe from starvation and violence, and materially comfortable. If you're not in that category, pragmatism rules; you will do anything to protect your loved ones and keep your family from starving.
I thought this was an excellent storyline with very good writing. I give it a ‘4’ because of repetition that we could have done without. Perhaps six times we read a few pages of how the doctor goes over the hit and run incident in his mind. Six or so times we read about the terrible conditions of the patients who arrive in the makeshift clinic. Six times or so we learn of the mutual attraction between the doctor and the Eritrean woman. I think three or four would have done it in each case and there are some other themes that could use trimming. I also thought the shoot-em-up, made-for-TV-ending was a bit much, given the tone of the rest of the book. Still I highly recommend this book as a good read.
The author (b. 1982) studied psychology and teaches at Israeli universities. She has been a visiting prof at two universities in the US. She has written film scripts and four novels, all of which have been translated into English (and other languages). Waking Lions and The Liar appear to be the only two that have a good number of ratings on GR.
Top photo: Eritrean immigrants in Israel demonstrate against Israeli government plans to deport them. From timesofisrael.com
Map of the route taken by many Eritrean migrants from pbs.org
Beersheba where most of the story takes place from timesofisrael.com
The author from theguardian.com
June 30, 2019
THE UNIVERSE WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS!!!
What’s the first thing a person will say after you’ve told him he has a brain tumor?
“Can’t be”!
Understanding denial, a coping mechanism that gives you time to adjust to distressing situations, has a purpose. But staying in denial can he harmful.
Making wrong choices only makes things worse.
Karma will definitely come back to smack you in the face over and over again!!!
It doesn’t make any difference how intelligent a person is... or how admirable their job is....
Life becomes “meaningless in the face of persistent refusal to look at what’s staring it in the face”.
Wrongdoings never go away. Family secrets damage others...withholds of important news- LIES - are DAMAGING. Denial and justifications play a roll.
....Denial, lies, secrets, withholds.....
sabotages others unfairly and hurts thyself.
A hit-and-run??? Whew!!!! That’s got to be one of the heaviest guarantees for suffering, ‘ever’.
Doctor Green? What have you done? His SUV of steel and iron killed a man - but why did Dr. Green, Israeli respected neurosurgeon/husband/ father of two young kids,...leave the African man to finish dying alone on the road?
Sirkit, the widow, knew Dr. Eitan bolted after his car killed her husband, Asum.
Sirkit shows up at Eitan’s doorstep the next morning to hand Eitan his wallet that he left at the crime scene.
The reader thinks about the situation- from many points of views. It’s not that we don’t understand Eitan’s thought process - we do. He couldn’t save the man. He was a neurosurgeon, he knew the man was dying -he-a skilled physician, but knew he couldn’t save the dying man.
So? Maybe? Dr. Green could at least save himself, - wife and two children from this tragedy and all the ongoing stress that would follow??
It’s insane -and wrong - but are there ever circumstances where rules broken make the most sense? Paul - my husband thinks so. But we both agree - the doctor made a huge mistake!
Besides the fact that a ‘hit & run’ is a felony - and even if the doctor never got found out ( but he does) - ‘every’ relationship in his life after his hidden truth would be damaged & jeopardize in some way. His personal perpetration would spill over into ‘all’ his relationship.
I think he forgot that “the-truth-will-set-you-free”. Coming forth with ‘the truth’ years later - is kinda ‘too late’!!
Dr. Eitan Green turned green when the dead man’s wife showed up at his door the next day, with his wallet in her hand. Obvious evidence was left at the crime scene.
Blackmail was coming.....
Extortion was coming after Eitan.
But what is fascinating to me ( Paul and I had several conversations), is the following question:
“Would the doctor make a bigger difference sitting in jail or helping sick people?”
If he’s not a harm to society and doesn’t need rehabilitating - then - what good would he do in jail?
The guy just made a BAD CHOICE ... but what should the punishment be?
I honestly was having such a good time with this book...so much to consider.
Paul and I were both hooked.
Dr. Green’s wife, Liat, was a police officer. If she ‘knew’ her husband was behind the wheel who killed a man and bolted...
what moral choice would ‘she’ make? She is, of course, the police investigating the hit-and-run case...
which only gets increasingly messy!
This is a FASCINATING- COMPELLING- THOUGHT PROVOKING STORY.
There was a little too much padding of the characters inner thoughts, but overall this was a terrific tale for both Paul and I, anyway!!!
Sirkit and Asum were immigrants: members of the Eritrean diaspora in the Negev..... which added elements of political themes.. with refugee issues...
but most of the story focused on the domestic quandary.
Sirkit was a beautiful savvy conniving woman. She had a plan for Dr. Green.
There was no reason to assume that Sirkit wouldn’t stop asking for money and a few weeks of work from Dr. Green to treat her community for free.
Sirkit told the Eitan that his days were his own… but during the evenings he was to return to an abandoned garage to treat sick Eritrean patients.
“Waking Lion”, takes place in the Southern Israeli town of Beersheva.
Eitan is trapped!!
*Sirkit* is ‘the walking lion’...
She’s got power over Eitan, and she’s not letting go.
A relationship develops between them.
MESSY.. twisty .. suspenseful...surprises...
with psychological thriller aspects that develop more towards the end.
We are introduced to a young Bedouin boy...
giving us a glimpse of what life was like for both Bedouin and Eritrean refugees...illegal migrants...( ha, the underdogs)
Great visuals of the landscape of Israel: the dusty sands... and the bright shining moon....
which illuminates the many social problems in Israel.
So many ‘what if’ moments contemplate.
Once this story gets in your head - with scenes that were unpredictable ...
it’s not easy to stop thinking about this story.
EXCELLENT!!!!
REALLY EXCELLENT!!!
I’m only sorry I waited 2 years to read it - when I’ve owned it all this time. Now ... I can’t get this book out of my thoughts.
“You could never really know what was happening inside someone else’s head.
But you could try. Watch the windows of the house patiently until a momentary gust of wind pushes the curtain aside. Then peer in. And fill the missing pieces in your mind”.
Great discussion book!!!
Written with much compassion!!
A+!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
What’s the first thing a person will say after you’ve told him he has a brain tumor?
“Can’t be”!
Understanding denial, a coping mechanism that gives you time to adjust to distressing situations, has a purpose. But staying in denial can he harmful.
Making wrong choices only makes things worse.
Karma will definitely come back to smack you in the face over and over again!!!
It doesn’t make any difference how intelligent a person is... or how admirable their job is....
Life becomes “meaningless in the face of persistent refusal to look at what’s staring it in the face”.
Wrongdoings never go away. Family secrets damage others...withholds of important news- LIES - are DAMAGING. Denial and justifications play a roll.
....Denial, lies, secrets, withholds.....
sabotages others unfairly and hurts thyself.
A hit-and-run??? Whew!!!! That’s got to be one of the heaviest guarantees for suffering, ‘ever’.
Doctor Green? What have you done? His SUV of steel and iron killed a man - but why did Dr. Green, Israeli respected neurosurgeon/husband/ father of two young kids,...leave the African man to finish dying alone on the road?
Sirkit, the widow, knew Dr. Eitan bolted after his car killed her husband, Asum.
Sirkit shows up at Eitan’s doorstep the next morning to hand Eitan his wallet that he left at the crime scene.
The reader thinks about the situation- from many points of views. It’s not that we don’t understand Eitan’s thought process - we do. He couldn’t save the man. He was a neurosurgeon, he knew the man was dying -he-a skilled physician, but knew he couldn’t save the dying man.
So? Maybe? Dr. Green could at least save himself, - wife and two children from this tragedy and all the ongoing stress that would follow??
It’s insane -and wrong - but are there ever circumstances where rules broken make the most sense? Paul - my husband thinks so. But we both agree - the doctor made a huge mistake!
Besides the fact that a ‘hit & run’ is a felony - and even if the doctor never got found out ( but he does) - ‘every’ relationship in his life after his hidden truth would be damaged & jeopardize in some way. His personal perpetration would spill over into ‘all’ his relationship.
I think he forgot that “the-truth-will-set-you-free”. Coming forth with ‘the truth’ years later - is kinda ‘too late’!!
Dr. Eitan Green turned green when the dead man’s wife showed up at his door the next day, with his wallet in her hand. Obvious evidence was left at the crime scene.
Blackmail was coming.....
Extortion was coming after Eitan.
But what is fascinating to me ( Paul and I had several conversations), is the following question:
“Would the doctor make a bigger difference sitting in jail or helping sick people?”
If he’s not a harm to society and doesn’t need rehabilitating - then - what good would he do in jail?
The guy just made a BAD CHOICE ... but what should the punishment be?
I honestly was having such a good time with this book...so much to consider.
Paul and I were both hooked.
Dr. Green’s wife, Liat, was a police officer. If she ‘knew’ her husband was behind the wheel who killed a man and bolted...
what moral choice would ‘she’ make? She is, of course, the police investigating the hit-and-run case...
which only gets increasingly messy!
This is a FASCINATING- COMPELLING- THOUGHT PROVOKING STORY.
There was a little too much padding of the characters inner thoughts, but overall this was a terrific tale for both Paul and I, anyway!!!
Sirkit and Asum were immigrants: members of the Eritrean diaspora in the Negev..... which added elements of political themes.. with refugee issues...
but most of the story focused on the domestic quandary.
Sirkit was a beautiful savvy conniving woman. She had a plan for Dr. Green.
There was no reason to assume that Sirkit wouldn’t stop asking for money and a few weeks of work from Dr. Green to treat her community for free.
Sirkit told the Eitan that his days were his own… but during the evenings he was to return to an abandoned garage to treat sick Eritrean patients.
“Waking Lion”, takes place in the Southern Israeli town of Beersheva.
Eitan is trapped!!
*Sirkit* is ‘the walking lion’...
She’s got power over Eitan, and she’s not letting go.
A relationship develops between them.
MESSY.. twisty .. suspenseful...surprises...
with psychological thriller aspects that develop more towards the end.
We are introduced to a young Bedouin boy...
giving us a glimpse of what life was like for both Bedouin and Eritrean refugees...illegal migrants...( ha, the underdogs)
Great visuals of the landscape of Israel: the dusty sands... and the bright shining moon....
which illuminates the many social problems in Israel.
So many ‘what if’ moments contemplate.
Once this story gets in your head - with scenes that were unpredictable ...
it’s not easy to stop thinking about this story.
EXCELLENT!!!!
REALLY EXCELLENT!!!
I’m only sorry I waited 2 years to read it - when I’ve owned it all this time. Now ... I can’t get this book out of my thoughts.
“You could never really know what was happening inside someone else’s head.
But you could try. Watch the windows of the house patiently until a momentary gust of wind pushes the curtain aside. Then peer in. And fill the missing pieces in your mind”.
Great discussion book!!!
Written with much compassion!!
A+!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
August 23, 2018
A book not very well written, with a mediocre subject and characters without salt and pepper....
October 17, 2017
La gente passa la vita sentendosi a disagio
La vita ci porta spesso a inserire il pilota automatico, ad assuefarci ad uno stato di cose che magari, sotto sotto, non ci è completamente confacente. Una sorta di torpore che ci impedisce di prendere il toro per le corna, di cambiare ciò che non ci piace, di reagire. Siamo appagati o sonnolenti? Rilassati o rassegnati?
"La nostra esistenza presuppone che quel che è stato è quel che sarà. Che anche oggi sarà come ieri, come ieri l’altro"
Ma basta poco. Può succedere qualcosa, un evento inaspettato, una causa fortuita. E il leone che può essere dentro ciascuno di noi si può risvegliare e iniziare a ruggire, a colpire, a sbranare. E ci possiamo ritrovare a fare cose che nemmeno ci immaginavamo in grado di affrontare. Siamo sicuri di conoscerci a fondo? E soprattutto di volerci conoscere a fondo?
Di cosa parla questo bel libro di Gundar-Goshen? Di immigrazione o di rapporti di coppia? Di razzismo o falsità dei rapporti matrimoniali?
"Emigrare significa lasciare un posto per un altro, trascinandoti attaccato alla caviglia con una catena d’acciaio il posto che hai lasciato. Se emigrare è difficile, è perché è dura camminare per il mondo con un intero paese legato alla caviglia."
Ma anche un matrimonio a volte può essere equiparato a una forma di emigrazione, dove si lasciano certe abitudini per prenderne altre. E a volte si può faticare, anche se si prova, ad accettare la nuova dimensione.
Una bella lettura, un romanzo intelligente, ricco di spunti di riflessione, imprevedibile e scritto con uno stile quasi cinematografico. E con un finale che, nonostante l'impressione immediata, ha il suo senso. I leoni, alla fine, ritornano sempre a sonnecchiare...
January 14, 2019
What in the heck did I just read?
This one is hard to explain, but it was good.
This one is hard to explain, but it was good.
March 12, 2018
While driving in the desert at night, distracted by the most beautiful moon he has ever seen, Dr. Eitan Green hits a man. A brain surgeon, he knows the man will not live. He makes the decision to drive on, leaving the dying man. He won't risk his career by reporting the accident.
He does not know he left behind a clue or that the dying man's wife Sirkit witnessed the accident. She blackmails the doctor: he will spend his nights at a makeshift clinic caring for her fellow Eritrean refugees.
A man who prefers to live in order, who shuns the blood and shit of human frailty, the doctor is thrust into the dirty, ugly side of life. But as he works with the tall, proud woman, he comes to admire her skill and to secretly lust for her.
Dr. Green's wife is a detective on the case of the hit-and-run victim. She struggles with her husband's absence, sure he is not cheating on her, yet sensing something is not right.
Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, beautifully translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston, is a remarkable novel that probes the complexity of our moral choices. People do bad things or good things, for bad reasons or good ones, culminating in earned or unearned outcomes. It is about power shifts, the prejudice between Israelis, Bedouins, and African Eritreans, the refugee experience, the mystery of never really knowing one another, and how the privileged class can turn away from the uncomfortable and live in a sterile world of their own making.
The story is told by an omniscient narrator who knows the thoughts of the characters, without dialogue. Twists create an unexpectedly propulsive, action, complication.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
He does not know he left behind a clue or that the dying man's wife Sirkit witnessed the accident. She blackmails the doctor: he will spend his nights at a makeshift clinic caring for her fellow Eritrean refugees.
A man who prefers to live in order, who shuns the blood and shit of human frailty, the doctor is thrust into the dirty, ugly side of life. But as he works with the tall, proud woman, he comes to admire her skill and to secretly lust for her.
Dr. Green's wife is a detective on the case of the hit-and-run victim. She struggles with her husband's absence, sure he is not cheating on her, yet sensing something is not right.
Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, beautifully translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston, is a remarkable novel that probes the complexity of our moral choices. People do bad things or good things, for bad reasons or good ones, culminating in earned or unearned outcomes. It is about power shifts, the prejudice between Israelis, Bedouins, and African Eritreans, the refugee experience, the mystery of never really knowing one another, and how the privileged class can turn away from the uncomfortable and live in a sterile world of their own making.
The story is told by an omniscient narrator who knows the thoughts of the characters, without dialogue. Twists create an unexpectedly propulsive, action, complication.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
October 20, 2020
Ein wirklich beeindruckender Roman,der mich sprachlich so begeistern konnte. Vielschichtige, besondere Charaktere und wirklich wichtige Themen,mit denen man sich als Leser auseinander setzt. Diese Geschichte werde ich so schnell nicht vergessen und die Autorin wird weiter verfolgt von mir.😉 Ein perfektes Buch für eine Leserunde....ich hab meine sehr genossen🥰
April 29, 2025
Fazit vorweg: viel zu lange, 200-250 Seiten wären ok gewesen, aber die über 400 Seiten waren einfach nicht notwendig.
Also, es passiert wirklich so einiges, es gibt etliche Tote, Lügenverstrickungen, Prügeleien, Drogenbanden-Konflikte, Flüchtlinge aus Eritrea, die das ganze Elend von Sklavenarbeit und unbehandelten Krankheiten erleiden.
Die Hauptfiguren sind ziemlich unerfreuliche Charaktere, der Neurochirurg, der sich ziemlich kleinliche Gedanken macht und Sirkit, die Erpresserin, die sich darin gefällt, vom Opfer zum Täter zu werden, aber beide entwickeln sich im Lauf des Romans und es bleibt bis zum Schluss spannend, wie weit sie sich (auch in ihrer Beziehung miteinander) entwickeln.
Sprachlich hat die Autorin gewisse Stärken, man findet sehr schöne Sätze und Formulierungen und besonders virtuos gelingt ihr manchmal der fließende Übergang beim Wechsel der Erzählperspektiven.
Insgesamt ist mir das ganze wie erwähnt zu lange. Dass der Roman wohl auch als Vorlage für eine TV Serie herangezogen wurde, ist in diesem Fall eher ein abschreckendes Argument, denn da geht es wohl um möglichst viel Content und den Eindruck hatte ich beim Lesen auch, dass manche Seitenverzweigungen und Rückblicke nicht notwendig waren.
Aber die Autorin, das muss ich leider bei all dem spürbaren Talent sagen, arbeitet auf manchen Ebenen etwas schludrig. Angefangen bei der teils ausschweifenden Textmenge, sind mir auch plottechnisch ein paar krasse Ungereimtheiten aufgefallen:
Der Medikamentendiebstahl fliegt nicht auf, obwohl Etan im geheimen Garagen-Krankenhaus ein ganzes Regal voll macht. Und die Ehefrau - bis die endlich misstrauisch wird, nachdem Etan wochenlang fast jede Nacht weg ist („Bereitschaftsdienst im Krankenhaus“), ist wirklich völlig unglaubhaft. Später wird dann eine aufgesetzte, mehr als fadenscheinige Erklärung nachgeliefert (und die wohl erst auf Hinweis eines Lektors, dass man das so nicht stehen lassen könne). Und es gibt zu viele Zufälle, die herbei geführt werden, um den Plot irgendwie spannend zu gestalten.
Also, ich hab nicht vor, noch etwas von der Autorin zu lesen. Zu guter Letzt war dieses Mal ok, aber mit insgesamt zuvielen Holprigkeiten für meinen Geschmack.
Also, es passiert wirklich so einiges, es gibt etliche Tote, Lügenverstrickungen, Prügeleien, Drogenbanden-Konflikte, Flüchtlinge aus Eritrea, die das ganze Elend von Sklavenarbeit und unbehandelten Krankheiten erleiden.
Die Hauptfiguren sind ziemlich unerfreuliche Charaktere, der Neurochirurg, der sich ziemlich kleinliche Gedanken macht und Sirkit, die Erpresserin, die sich darin gefällt, vom Opfer zum Täter zu werden, aber beide entwickeln sich im Lauf des Romans und es bleibt bis zum Schluss spannend, wie weit sie sich (auch in ihrer Beziehung miteinander) entwickeln.
Sprachlich hat die Autorin gewisse Stärken, man findet sehr schöne Sätze und Formulierungen und besonders virtuos gelingt ihr manchmal der fließende Übergang beim Wechsel der Erzählperspektiven.
Insgesamt ist mir das ganze wie erwähnt zu lange. Dass der Roman wohl auch als Vorlage für eine TV Serie herangezogen wurde, ist in diesem Fall eher ein abschreckendes Argument, denn da geht es wohl um möglichst viel Content und den Eindruck hatte ich beim Lesen auch, dass manche Seitenverzweigungen und Rückblicke nicht notwendig waren.
Aber die Autorin, das muss ich leider bei all dem spürbaren Talent sagen, arbeitet auf manchen Ebenen etwas schludrig. Angefangen bei der teils ausschweifenden Textmenge, sind mir auch plottechnisch ein paar krasse Ungereimtheiten aufgefallen:
Der Medikamentendiebstahl fliegt nicht auf, obwohl Etan im geheimen Garagen-Krankenhaus ein ganzes Regal voll macht. Und die Ehefrau - bis die endlich misstrauisch wird, nachdem Etan wochenlang fast jede Nacht weg ist („Bereitschaftsdienst im Krankenhaus“), ist wirklich völlig unglaubhaft. Später wird dann eine aufgesetzte, mehr als fadenscheinige Erklärung nachgeliefert (und die wohl erst auf Hinweis eines Lektors, dass man das so nicht stehen lassen könne). Und es gibt zu viele Zufälle, die herbei geführt werden, um den Plot irgendwie spannend zu gestalten.
Also, ich hab nicht vor, noch etwas von der Autorin zu lesen. Zu guter Letzt war dieses Mal ok, aber mit insgesamt zuvielen Holprigkeiten für meinen Geschmack.
October 31, 2016
Power is a valuable commodity, and can be purchased with many currencies – social standing, moral rectitude, force, sex, violence, blackmail, and so on.
Waking Lions starts out as an interesting meditation of the acquisition, use and misuse of power. Eitan, our principal, is an Israeli neurosurgeon, in high dudgeon after running afoul of his previous mentor, is "exiled" from his high-flying position in one of Tel Aviv's leading hospitals to a job in the dusty peripheral city of Beer Sheva. His wife, a police officer, bears the family's fall from grace (this is how it is portrayed, by the way: personally, I quite like Beer Sheva) out with fortitude; not surprising (she is a police officer, after all!) she counsels discretion from her husband. Rocking the boat of morality is not always as simple as one may think it to be. Not everything is black or white, after all...
One night, Eitan runs over an illegal immigrant and flees the scene. He has been seen, though, and leaves evidence of his crime at the scene. In short order, he becomes the victim of a blackmail. The extortioner and the extortioner's demands, though, are both unexpected and topical for modern day Israel.
Positives: Waking Lions grants all its principals agency, a sadly uncommon conceit in literary fiction. The privileged neurosurgeon, the migrant worker, an employer/exploiter of cheap labour who creeps into the narrative, the Bedouin Arabs who flit in and out of perspective; all to some point, are the beneficiaries (or victims) of their own choices, inasmuch as wider circumstances allow them the capacity for free choice. 'Waking Lions' negotiates this tension well.
Positives: In common with a lot (not all) Israeli high-brow art, there is the tendency to lump a multitude of social ills within a single, implausibly complex setting. There is a lot going on here, admittedly, but the tensions sit alongside one another very well. The principal issue, the continued occupation of the West Bank, is never specifically references. But I'd argue that the shadow it casts over Israeli society as a whole is a constant presence, not least in the tension between "good" and "bad," the constant insistence on "moral" behaviour – and when and why this lapses – is handled adroitly.
Positives: flashes of mordant humour. In the manner of the old joke about running faster than a bear, Eritreans migrants, we "learn," are world champions at the 500m dash - this being the range of the Egyptian weaponry deployed against them as they make the long, lonely and hazardous journey across the Sinai desert to Israel.
Negatives: Self-conciously "literary" in context and execution. The author believes in telling, rather than showing. And boy, does she tell. It isn't, as it happens, the usual literary failing of pointless purple prose, rather a determined tedium; the insistence on filling out the detail that gives the back story of all the principals. To be fair, this treatment is granted all the major characters; but one does feel bludgeoned by the tedium after a while. I think that this book could have easily lost 20 percent and be the better for it.
Negatives: An workmanlike translation. Some translation choices seemed a bit curious, some uninspired. That said, there is always the question: does the translator reproduce the author's words as faithfully as possible; seek to reproduce in the secondary language how the author would have written the book, were the author writing in the secondary language; or some point between two, with a bias towards the first or the second. I rather prefer tilting towards the latter. It is a delicate negotiation however.
Side issue: should the translator seek to preserve the author's voice, or look for an approximation in the secondary language? (For an interesting perspective on this, compare the two translations of Murakami's 'THe Wind Up Bird Chronicle - the "unofficial" translation used for a while in Japanese schools, and the official translation.) The translator here tries to retain the author's lyricism. Thing though is that it doesn't particularly work in English. Hebrew is an economic language, and often comes across as long-winded when translated directly into English. There are ways of negotiating this, but I don't quite think the translator manages it. (By way of comparison: The excellent translation of Alon Hilu's 'The House of Dajani/Rajani' retains the texture and visceral taste of the original Hebrew, yet has a character of its own in English.)
Negative: After gradually being lulled into a stupor by the author's soporific perambulations, the narrative suddenly, and most improbably ignites in the last quarter of the book. The sharp swerve is plausible - just about – but completely out of character with the rest of the book. And sets up a most dissatisfactory conclusion.
(That said, one must be fair: the ending isn't so much a tying up of loose ends into an untidy package as a reminder that life sucks, and on an epic scale. Some people will always retain the Power, regardless of the currency they need to use to acquire it. Some other people, from time to time, may taste of it, but only for a while.)
Waking Lions isn't a bad book; it's ambitious, which is something that is increasingly hard to say about fiction these days. And in that sense, failing to quite reach a satisfactory goal is no shame. But still, it fails.
(Whilst writing this, I changed my review from 2 stars to 3 stars. Star systems are hopelessly limited, of course. But, it wasn't the bad book that 2 stars would suggest, just a flawed book. In any case, credit should be given for a good try.)
Waking Lions starts out as an interesting meditation of the acquisition, use and misuse of power. Eitan, our principal, is an Israeli neurosurgeon, in high dudgeon after running afoul of his previous mentor, is "exiled" from his high-flying position in one of Tel Aviv's leading hospitals to a job in the dusty peripheral city of Beer Sheva. His wife, a police officer, bears the family's fall from grace (this is how it is portrayed, by the way: personally, I quite like Beer Sheva) out with fortitude; not surprising (she is a police officer, after all!) she counsels discretion from her husband. Rocking the boat of morality is not always as simple as one may think it to be. Not everything is black or white, after all...
One night, Eitan runs over an illegal immigrant and flees the scene. He has been seen, though, and leaves evidence of his crime at the scene. In short order, he becomes the victim of a blackmail. The extortioner and the extortioner's demands, though, are both unexpected and topical for modern day Israel.
Positives: Waking Lions grants all its principals agency, a sadly uncommon conceit in literary fiction. The privileged neurosurgeon, the migrant worker, an employer/exploiter of cheap labour who creeps into the narrative, the Bedouin Arabs who flit in and out of perspective; all to some point, are the beneficiaries (or victims) of their own choices, inasmuch as wider circumstances allow them the capacity for free choice. 'Waking Lions' negotiates this tension well.
Positives: In common with a lot (not all) Israeli high-brow art, there is the tendency to lump a multitude of social ills within a single, implausibly complex setting. There is a lot going on here, admittedly, but the tensions sit alongside one another very well. The principal issue, the continued occupation of the West Bank, is never specifically references. But I'd argue that the shadow it casts over Israeli society as a whole is a constant presence, not least in the tension between "good" and "bad," the constant insistence on "moral" behaviour – and when and why this lapses – is handled adroitly.
Positives: flashes of mordant humour. In the manner of the old joke about running faster than a bear, Eritreans migrants, we "learn," are world champions at the 500m dash - this being the range of the Egyptian weaponry deployed against them as they make the long, lonely and hazardous journey across the Sinai desert to Israel.
Negatives: Self-conciously "literary" in context and execution. The author believes in telling, rather than showing. And boy, does she tell. It isn't, as it happens, the usual literary failing of pointless purple prose, rather a determined tedium; the insistence on filling out the detail that gives the back story of all the principals. To be fair, this treatment is granted all the major characters; but one does feel bludgeoned by the tedium after a while. I think that this book could have easily lost 20 percent and be the better for it.
Negatives: An workmanlike translation. Some translation choices seemed a bit curious, some uninspired. That said, there is always the question: does the translator reproduce the author's words as faithfully as possible; seek to reproduce in the secondary language how the author would have written the book, were the author writing in the secondary language; or some point between two, with a bias towards the first or the second. I rather prefer tilting towards the latter. It is a delicate negotiation however.
Side issue: should the translator seek to preserve the author's voice, or look for an approximation in the secondary language? (For an interesting perspective on this, compare the two translations of Murakami's 'THe Wind Up Bird Chronicle - the "unofficial" translation used for a while in Japanese schools, and the official translation.) The translator here tries to retain the author's lyricism. Thing though is that it doesn't particularly work in English. Hebrew is an economic language, and often comes across as long-winded when translated directly into English. There are ways of negotiating this, but I don't quite think the translator manages it. (By way of comparison: The excellent translation of Alon Hilu's 'The House of Dajani/Rajani' retains the texture and visceral taste of the original Hebrew, yet has a character of its own in English.)
Negative: After gradually being lulled into a stupor by the author's soporific perambulations, the narrative suddenly, and most improbably ignites in the last quarter of the book. The sharp swerve is plausible - just about – but completely out of character with the rest of the book. And sets up a most dissatisfactory conclusion.
(That said, one must be fair: the ending isn't so much a tying up of loose ends into an untidy package as a reminder that life sucks, and on an epic scale. Some people will always retain the Power, regardless of the currency they need to use to acquire it. Some other people, from time to time, may taste of it, but only for a while.)
Waking Lions isn't a bad book; it's ambitious, which is something that is increasingly hard to say about fiction these days. And in that sense, failing to quite reach a satisfactory goal is no shame. But still, it fails.
(Whilst writing this, I changed my review from 2 stars to 3 stars. Star systems are hopelessly limited, of course. But, it wasn't the bad book that 2 stars would suggest, just a flawed book. In any case, credit should be given for a good try.)
October 18, 2017
Che ruggiscano questi leoni, diamine!
Tre stelle e mezzo.
È questo un romanzo interessante sotto molti aspetti. In primo luogo perché ci colloca, nella sua ambientazione, nel bel mezzo di quella frattura tra “primo mondo” e “terzo mondo”, in quella faglia dove si producono più attriti e scontri, dove le contraddizioni esplodono (purtroppo in senso letterale), e benessere e miseria si guardano in faccia più che mai da vicino; si tratta di Israele, un paese dove la violenza è sempre in agguato e si allunga a lambire le linde villette con le cucine dai ripiani di marmo levigato e acciaio inossidabile.
E dove esiste pure l’immigrazione clandestina e il suo sfruttamento, il razzismo, la facciata di buoni sentimenti e l’insofferenza, il rancore. Come in ogni bravo paese ricco, come in ogni isola di benessere che vorrebbe tenere fuori la sofferenza altrui.
Anche noi in fondo vediamo la miseria in faccia tutti i giorni e preferiamo non guardare. E così il protagonista di questo romanzo, che si sente al sicuro con la sua famiglia e nella sua villetta impeccabile (“come un’esposizione di mobili”), anche lui ha sempre preferito non guardare, ma a un certo punto della sua vita investe un uomo con la jeep, un eritreo, lo ammazza, e anche allora pensa di poter continuare a non guardare. Ma stavolta non potrà. Stavolta la sofferenza altrui arriverà a sporcare il marmo levigato e l’acciaio inossidabile. Stavolta i leoni si sono svegliati. E le certezze crollano, gli appigli di una vita si staccano. Anche se solo per un breve parentesi (il finale mi ha lasciato insoddisfatta).
Il romanzo parte con una tensione altissima, da thriller, poi rallenta dare maggior spazio all’analisi psicologica dei personaggi; anche questo è un elemento di grande interesse, soprattutto per il ritratto della famigliola tipo, quel luogo dove tutto dovrebbe andare bene ma che mostra invece crepe e fragilità, solitudine e incomunicabilità.
“una famiglia seduta a tavola è in realtà una collezione di momenti sbriciolati. Impossibile sapere di cosa si sono vergognati gli altri oggi, di cosa sono stati orgogliosi. Cosa hanno voluto, e cosa hanno detestato. Non se ne parla. Masticano purè e cotolette.”
Tuttavia mi pare che questo scavo psicologico talvolta sfugga di mano all’autrice, facendola perdere in divagazioni poco rilevanti.
Un po’ è anche per questo che penalizzo il romanzo togliendo mezza stella alle quattro che si meriterebbe per l’interesse dei temi trattati.
Ma è anche e soprattutto per il fatto che qui la scrittura (peraltro molto buona, efficace) andrebbe a mio parere assolutamente *asciugata* - non saprei come meglio esprimerlo.
Provo con un esempio: a un certo punto si dice che due persone parlano in modo forzato, “come se non fossero lui e Liat a parlare, ma le persone che avrebbero dovuto essere”; direi che è chiaro a sufficienza e non c’è bisogno di aggiungere “come i mobili comprati all’Ikea, che sembrano sempre un po’ strani quando si montano in casa, come se avessero nostalgia della stanza dove si trovavano prima, sul catalogo”, che peraltro, anziché chiarire, mi lascia alquanto perplessa.
Ecco, l’autrice indulge in questa tendenza a infarcire il racconto di pensieri e similitudini di pertinenza discutibile o che lasciano un po’ il tempo che trovano.
Nel complesso, comunque, un libro che sono contenta di aver letto, che non mi ha lasciato indifferente.
Tre stelle e mezzo.
È questo un romanzo interessante sotto molti aspetti. In primo luogo perché ci colloca, nella sua ambientazione, nel bel mezzo di quella frattura tra “primo mondo” e “terzo mondo”, in quella faglia dove si producono più attriti e scontri, dove le contraddizioni esplodono (purtroppo in senso letterale), e benessere e miseria si guardano in faccia più che mai da vicino; si tratta di Israele, un paese dove la violenza è sempre in agguato e si allunga a lambire le linde villette con le cucine dai ripiani di marmo levigato e acciaio inossidabile.
E dove esiste pure l’immigrazione clandestina e il suo sfruttamento, il razzismo, la facciata di buoni sentimenti e l’insofferenza, il rancore. Come in ogni bravo paese ricco, come in ogni isola di benessere che vorrebbe tenere fuori la sofferenza altrui.
Anche noi in fondo vediamo la miseria in faccia tutti i giorni e preferiamo non guardare. E così il protagonista di questo romanzo, che si sente al sicuro con la sua famiglia e nella sua villetta impeccabile (“come un’esposizione di mobili”), anche lui ha sempre preferito non guardare, ma a un certo punto della sua vita investe un uomo con la jeep, un eritreo, lo ammazza, e anche allora pensa di poter continuare a non guardare. Ma stavolta non potrà. Stavolta la sofferenza altrui arriverà a sporcare il marmo levigato e l’acciaio inossidabile. Stavolta i leoni si sono svegliati. E le certezze crollano, gli appigli di una vita si staccano. Anche se solo per un breve parentesi (il finale mi ha lasciato insoddisfatta).
Il romanzo parte con una tensione altissima, da thriller, poi rallenta dare maggior spazio all’analisi psicologica dei personaggi; anche questo è un elemento di grande interesse, soprattutto per il ritratto della famigliola tipo, quel luogo dove tutto dovrebbe andare bene ma che mostra invece crepe e fragilità, solitudine e incomunicabilità.
“una famiglia seduta a tavola è in realtà una collezione di momenti sbriciolati. Impossibile sapere di cosa si sono vergognati gli altri oggi, di cosa sono stati orgogliosi. Cosa hanno voluto, e cosa hanno detestato. Non se ne parla. Masticano purè e cotolette.”
Tuttavia mi pare che questo scavo psicologico talvolta sfugga di mano all’autrice, facendola perdere in divagazioni poco rilevanti.
Un po’ è anche per questo che penalizzo il romanzo togliendo mezza stella alle quattro che si meriterebbe per l’interesse dei temi trattati.
Ma è anche e soprattutto per il fatto che qui la scrittura (peraltro molto buona, efficace) andrebbe a mio parere assolutamente *asciugata* - non saprei come meglio esprimerlo.
Provo con un esempio: a un certo punto si dice che due persone parlano in modo forzato, “come se non fossero lui e Liat a parlare, ma le persone che avrebbero dovuto essere”; direi che è chiaro a sufficienza e non c’è bisogno di aggiungere “come i mobili comprati all’Ikea, che sembrano sempre un po’ strani quando si montano in casa, come se avessero nostalgia della stanza dove si trovavano prima, sul catalogo”, che peraltro, anziché chiarire, mi lascia alquanto perplessa.
Ecco, l’autrice indulge in questa tendenza a infarcire il racconto di pensieri e similitudini di pertinenza discutibile o che lasciano un po’ il tempo che trovano.
Nel complesso, comunque, un libro che sono contenta di aver letto, che non mi ha lasciato indifferente.
March 1, 2018
O carte pe care am citit-o cu sufletul la gură! Nu are o intrigă simplă de thriller, autoarea știind să dea o anume adâncime emoțională situațiilor și trăirilor personajelor. Ayelet Gundar-Goshen aștept cu neărăbdare și următoarea carte!!
”Poate așa se întâmplă întotdeauna. Doi oameni care se întâlnesc sunt de fapt patru. Fiecare poartă cu sine figura celuilalt, așa cum i-a rămas în amintire. O clipă de deziluzie, când amintirea e mai frumoasă decât cea pe care o reîntâlnim. O clipă de uimire, când cel pe care îl reîntâlnim e cu mult mai impresionant decât cel pe care ni-l amintim. O frântură de clipă de când ne despărțim, unul cu regret, celălalt cu bucurie, de omul care ne rămâne în minte. Un om își privește tatăl de care i-a fost frică, iubitul de care i-a fost dor, copilul pe care și l-a urcat pe genunchi. Și, chiar daca s-a despărțit de ei ieri, e deja suficient pentru ca tatăl să i se pară enervant de bătrân, iubitul înfricoșător de banal, iar copilul uluitor de mare. Așa că, înainte de întâlnire, omul din fața ta trebuie să-și ceară scuze pentru trădare, pentru faptul că și-a permis să fie atât de diferit de modelul din imaginația ta.”
”Poate așa se întâmplă întotdeauna. Doi oameni care se întâlnesc sunt de fapt patru. Fiecare poartă cu sine figura celuilalt, așa cum i-a rămas în amintire. O clipă de deziluzie, când amintirea e mai frumoasă decât cea pe care o reîntâlnim. O clipă de uimire, când cel pe care îl reîntâlnim e cu mult mai impresionant decât cel pe care ni-l amintim. O frântură de clipă de când ne despărțim, unul cu regret, celălalt cu bucurie, de omul care ne rămâne în minte. Un om își privește tatăl de care i-a fost frică, iubitul de care i-a fost dor, copilul pe care și l-a urcat pe genunchi. Și, chiar daca s-a despărțit de ei ieri, e deja suficient pentru ca tatăl să i se pară enervant de bătrân, iubitul înfricoșător de banal, iar copilul uluitor de mare. Așa că, înainte de întâlnire, omul din fața ta trebuie să-și ceară scuze pentru trădare, pentru faptul că și-a permis să fie atât de diferit de modelul din imaginația ta.”
August 18, 2017
Waking Lions, by Israeli-born Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, is one of the most moving books I've read this year. While its story is complicated – mostly but not solely told from the perspectives of an Israeli doctor and an Eritrean immigrant – it considers moral responsibility. While driving fast after a late surgery, Eitan hit and killed an illegal immigrant from Eritrea, then fled the scene fearing the consequences. Sirkit, the dead man's wife, went to Eitan's house to return his wallet, which had been left at the scene, and exact medical care for her people.
This is a timely book on several levels.
Eitan's had been a comfortable life, which was upended when he accused his boss of accepting bribes – only to be transferred to the dusty desert of Beersheba. Even in Beersheba, his was a quiet and privileged life. That is, until he fit and killed Asum. At that point he asked,
The question, I think, is why Eitan's mistake consumed and nearly destroyed him. Why was the hit and run more defining of who Eitan was than his careful, conscientious parenting, his brilliant surgeries, his good works? One answer is that his morality only went skin-deep, and in ways that were easy. When it counted, however, he went for what was expedient – at great cost:
Gundar-Goshen's book is an often-scathing condemnation of our daily failures in moral courage and empathy, the ease with which we slough off and excuse our responsibility for others, our inability to recognize privilege and oppression:
This is a timely book on several levels.
Eitan's had been a comfortable life, which was upended when he accused his boss of accepting bribes – only to be transferred to the dusty desert of Beersheba. Even in Beersheba, his was a quiet and privileged life. That is, until he fit and killed Asum. At that point he asked,
What defined him more— a full life of careful driving, of medical studies, of carrying an old lady’s groceries from the supermarket, or that single moment? (Loc. 2174-2175).For much of Waking Lions, it was the latter.
The question, I think, is why Eitan's mistake consumed and nearly destroyed him. Why was the hit and run more defining of who Eitan was than his careful, conscientious parenting, his brilliant surgeries, his good works? One answer is that his morality only went skin-deep, and in ways that were easy. When it counted, however, he went for what was expedient – at great cost:
But apparently, existential fears sometimes overcome moral imperatives, and their mortgage was undoubtedly an existential fear" (Loc. 767-768).Although Waking Lions is about deeply personal decisions, it also explores our moral decisions about immigration, leaving us (appropriately) uneasy:
A bank balance of 30,000 shekels would lose nothing if a mere 1,000 were taken from it. Many people could be saved with 1,000 shekels. Food for babies, purified water. Nevertheless, the money remained in the bank. That was where it belonged, and the moral discussion remained around the living room coffee table, where it belonged. They were no different from him. He had abandoned an injured Eritrean on the side of Route 40, while they left their Africans in the savanna. It was a clear option: 1,000 shekels for a person’s life. Any takers? No. Of course not. The issue wasn’t what you were running from, only whether you got caught. (Loc. 945-950)Eitan's crime was not only a hit and run or a failure to donate to charities, but a failure to see and empathize: Eitan "knew that [Sirkit] was beautiful, and he knew that if he were to see her in the street, he would not give her a second glance" (Loc. 1396) – even though he is consumed by her, alternately hating and lusting after her.
Gundar-Goshen's book is an often-scathing condemnation of our daily failures in moral courage and empathy, the ease with which we slough off and excuse our responsibility for others, our inability to recognize privilege and oppression:
He didn’t want her to be a saint. All he wanted was for her to be human (and it never occurred to him that there are times when being human is a privilege). (Loc. 3727-3728).This is a beautifully-written, complex, and moving story. I wish it was irrelevant and unnecessary. I am a "good person" but wish that I didn't see myself and the people who are close to me in Eitan.
November 13, 2017
i leoni possono essere svegliati ma riescono anche a riprender sonno
L’intensità della mia soddisfazione alla lettura è diretta conseguenza dell’impegno che deve aver dedicato Ayelet Gundar-Goshen nel tener sotto controllo la materia da lei trattata nel suo libro. E’ un romanzo dai molteplici aspetti, dai molteplici temi, colori, razze, interessi, bassezze, virtù, fatti e pensieri. E’ al tempo stesso un noir - e di livello -, una cronaca, un’accurata analisi psicologica, un report sociologico, una storia d’amore, anzi più storie d’amore, di diversi tipi di amore, e comunque un mosaico i cui tantissimi tasselli diversi formano l’insieme. Israeliani, eritrei, beduini, bianco e nero, Israele negli anni di Obama. Una famiglia più che benestante e istruita, un medico, un ispettore di polizia, due figli. E poi la storia familiare passata, gli ambienti di lavoro, il kibbutz e il turismo, i rifugiati, il male e il bene che coesistono spesso nella stessa persona e addirittura nella stessa azione, il crimine, trasversale a tutti i ceti sociali e culturali, il deserto, la sabbia e la polvere che ricopre Be’er Sheva. Ogni capitolo potrebbe dar vita a discussioni, ad analisi. Si può rimaner colpiti da fatti storici o sociali, o da quelli più impalpabili, relativi ai moti dello spirito e alle decisioni inattese del cuore e della mente.
E’ un bellissimo libro. Moderno e atavico.
L’intensità della mia soddisfazione alla lettura è diretta conseguenza dell’impegno che deve aver dedicato Ayelet Gundar-Goshen nel tener sotto controllo la materia da lei trattata nel suo libro. E’ un romanzo dai molteplici aspetti, dai molteplici temi, colori, razze, interessi, bassezze, virtù, fatti e pensieri. E’ al tempo stesso un noir - e di livello -, una cronaca, un’accurata analisi psicologica, un report sociologico, una storia d’amore, anzi più storie d’amore, di diversi tipi di amore, e comunque un mosaico i cui tantissimi tasselli diversi formano l’insieme. Israeliani, eritrei, beduini, bianco e nero, Israele negli anni di Obama. Una famiglia più che benestante e istruita, un medico, un ispettore di polizia, due figli. E poi la storia familiare passata, gli ambienti di lavoro, il kibbutz e il turismo, i rifugiati, il male e il bene che coesistono spesso nella stessa persona e addirittura nella stessa azione, il crimine, trasversale a tutti i ceti sociali e culturali, il deserto, la sabbia e la polvere che ricopre Be’er Sheva. Ogni capitolo potrebbe dar vita a discussioni, ad analisi. Si può rimaner colpiti da fatti storici o sociali, o da quelli più impalpabili, relativi ai moti dello spirito e alle decisioni inattese del cuore e della mente.
E’ un bellissimo libro. Moderno e atavico.
August 9, 2020
This is a good thriller. The writing style isn’t akin to what I usually like, however the book is phenomenal.
The anfractuous development of the doctor’s secret is engaging and the unfolding exploits of the antagonists in this novel are very captivating.
Prepare your mind for a thriller that challenges the ethics of right and wrong whilst morally guiding the heart of an accident gone totally wrong.
The anfractuous development of the doctor’s secret is engaging and the unfolding exploits of the antagonists in this novel are very captivating.
Prepare your mind for a thriller that challenges the ethics of right and wrong whilst morally guiding the heart of an accident gone totally wrong.
March 8, 2023
“Entre dois pontos estende-se apenas uma única linha, mas entre duas pessoas é possível estender um sem fim de mentiras e enganos.”
March 11, 2024
Waking Lions
Midway into this novel, a character observes that an awakened lion who tastes human flesh always will crave it. The symbol appears only once, but it aptly describes the cascading greed, fear and killing that characterize the story. The author, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (b. 1982) is an Israeli clinical psychologist and civil rights activist whose works have been highly praised. "Waking Lions" was my first experience with her writing.
This novel is set in various hospitals and cities in Israel and in the desert. The primary character, Dr. Eitan Green, 41, is an Israeli neurosurgeon, married to a lovely woman, Liat, a police detective. The couple have two small children. One dark night, after long stressful hours at the hospital, Eitan goes for a joy ride in his SUV. He hits a young black man and quickly realizes that the man's wounds are terminal. Eitan flees from the scene, thus committing a hit-and-run. The next day a lovely young black woman, Sirkit, comes to the home with Eitan's wallet. Thus begins a lengthy story of blackmail, lies, deception, drugs, and violence. as Eitan's life, marriage, and career are jeopardized by his act. Liat becomes involved in investigating the death. The story cascades as bad deeds and crime pile onto each other.
I disliked this book. While a novel of middle length, the writing made the work almost interminable. Pacing is the major problem. Even with a great deal of drugs, sex, and violence the book moves at a glacial pace. It has endless passages of introspection from the three main characters, the doctor, his wife, and the young woman, as the omniscient narrator seems privy to every detail of their hearts and minds. These passages told me little I needed or wanted to know and largely clogged up the novel. The story also meanders to little purpose in its many backstories of the lives of its principal figures together with many other minor characters. The wordy writing style alone made it difficult to stay with the book.
The writing and the lack of focus made me disengage from the stories and the characters. There is a sense of guilt and crime in the story in following the effect of Eitan's actions and his unravelling. I found much of the story implausible as it proceeded and there were many places where the characters could have recovered from an initial wrongful action to take a different course. In other words, I didn't find the long parade of horribles in the novel convincing.
The author is also after larger fare as she examines and is highly critical of Israeli immigration policy towards the many different kinds of illegals flooding its borders. I have no independent knowledge of this issue and wasn't sure what to make of the author's treatment or her views. The story left me unconvinced and unwilling to draw conclusions. As a matter of novel writing, the story left me cold and didn't fit well, in my view, with the story of Eitan.
There are a number of sharply drawn scenes in the book, but I was impatient with "Waking Lions" from the outset. My feeling intensified and I found the book a slog. I reluctantly read the book through. The overall effect was one of tedium and of wanting the novel to at last come to an end. The book has received critical acclaim, but I didn't like it.
Robin Friedman
Midway into this novel, a character observes that an awakened lion who tastes human flesh always will crave it. The symbol appears only once, but it aptly describes the cascading greed, fear and killing that characterize the story. The author, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (b. 1982) is an Israeli clinical psychologist and civil rights activist whose works have been highly praised. "Waking Lions" was my first experience with her writing.
This novel is set in various hospitals and cities in Israel and in the desert. The primary character, Dr. Eitan Green, 41, is an Israeli neurosurgeon, married to a lovely woman, Liat, a police detective. The couple have two small children. One dark night, after long stressful hours at the hospital, Eitan goes for a joy ride in his SUV. He hits a young black man and quickly realizes that the man's wounds are terminal. Eitan flees from the scene, thus committing a hit-and-run. The next day a lovely young black woman, Sirkit, comes to the home with Eitan's wallet. Thus begins a lengthy story of blackmail, lies, deception, drugs, and violence. as Eitan's life, marriage, and career are jeopardized by his act. Liat becomes involved in investigating the death. The story cascades as bad deeds and crime pile onto each other.
I disliked this book. While a novel of middle length, the writing made the work almost interminable. Pacing is the major problem. Even with a great deal of drugs, sex, and violence the book moves at a glacial pace. It has endless passages of introspection from the three main characters, the doctor, his wife, and the young woman, as the omniscient narrator seems privy to every detail of their hearts and minds. These passages told me little I needed or wanted to know and largely clogged up the novel. The story also meanders to little purpose in its many backstories of the lives of its principal figures together with many other minor characters. The wordy writing style alone made it difficult to stay with the book.
The writing and the lack of focus made me disengage from the stories and the characters. There is a sense of guilt and crime in the story in following the effect of Eitan's actions and his unravelling. I found much of the story implausible as it proceeded and there were many places where the characters could have recovered from an initial wrongful action to take a different course. In other words, I didn't find the long parade of horribles in the novel convincing.
The author is also after larger fare as she examines and is highly critical of Israeli immigration policy towards the many different kinds of illegals flooding its borders. I have no independent knowledge of this issue and wasn't sure what to make of the author's treatment or her views. The story left me unconvinced and unwilling to draw conclusions. As a matter of novel writing, the story left me cold and didn't fit well, in my view, with the story of Eitan.
There are a number of sharply drawn scenes in the book, but I was impatient with "Waking Lions" from the outset. My feeling intensified and I found the book a slog. I reluctantly read the book through. The overall effect was one of tedium and of wanting the novel to at last come to an end. The book has received critical acclaim, but I didn't like it.
Robin Friedman
February 25, 2018
„Durerea și mângâierea vorbesc aceeași limbă.”
July 7, 2018
Dr. Eitan Green, whose arrogance got him exiled to Beersheba from the premier Tel Aviv hospitals, races his SUV over the desert roads in the dead of night under the full moon, oblivious to everything except Janis Joplin’s screaming vocals. Invisible to him is the Eritrean man walking along the side of the road—that is, until he hits him. What to do? Call the police? Or just pretend he didn’t just kill a man? There isn’t any damage to the car, so guess which course of action he chooses?
Unfortunately, he dropped his wallet while checking to see if the man’s life could be saved. And when Sirkit, the victim’s wife returns it, he finds ‘a lion’ ready to blackmail him. She is not saddened by the loss of her husband—the man was an abusive, cruel man—but she wants the doctor to treat her fellow refugees in a makeshift hospital in a garage. So, begins a clandestine nighttime practice—hiding what he is doing from both his family and his hospital co-workers. This involves a high-wire act of lying to Liat, his Israeli police detective wife; and stealing drugs and medical supplies from the hospital where he operates. The good news is that the Eritrean refugees become ‘visible’ to him at last. Unfortunately, he also comes face-to-face with ruthless, smuggling Bedouins. Was the dead Eritrean part of this seedy, dangerous underworld?
Gundar-Goshen was trained as a clinical psychologist. Thus, it is not a surprise that she focuses considerable ink exploring the inner thoughts hovering in the minds of her characters. This does slow the momentum of the story a bit; but, invisibility is a major theme here—how we keep our inner selves invisible to others—even, or in particular, from the ones we love. Recommend.
Unfortunately, he dropped his wallet while checking to see if the man’s life could be saved. And when Sirkit, the victim’s wife returns it, he finds ‘a lion’ ready to blackmail him. She is not saddened by the loss of her husband—the man was an abusive, cruel man—but she wants the doctor to treat her fellow refugees in a makeshift hospital in a garage. So, begins a clandestine nighttime practice—hiding what he is doing from both his family and his hospital co-workers. This involves a high-wire act of lying to Liat, his Israeli police detective wife; and stealing drugs and medical supplies from the hospital where he operates. The good news is that the Eritrean refugees become ‘visible’ to him at last. Unfortunately, he also comes face-to-face with ruthless, smuggling Bedouins. Was the dead Eritrean part of this seedy, dangerous underworld?
Gundar-Goshen was trained as a clinical psychologist. Thus, it is not a surprise that she focuses considerable ink exploring the inner thoughts hovering in the minds of her characters. This does slow the momentum of the story a bit; but, invisibility is a major theme here—how we keep our inner selves invisible to others—even, or in particular, from the ones we love. Recommend.
August 27, 2023
"Man erkannte die Zeit nur, wenn man sie sah. Im Dunkeln sah man sie nicht, also existierte sie nicht. Im Dunkeln konnte man Dinge verrücken, Zukunft mit Vergangenheit und Gegenwart verquicken, Jahre von einer Seite auf die andere schieben wie bei Kartenspielertricks."
Etan überfährt nachts aus Versehen einen Mann. Dieser Unfall rüttelt das Leben des Arztes komplett durcheinander.
Autorin Ayelet Gundar-Goshen hat einen starken Roman über starke und auch schwache Menschen geschrieben. Ihr Erzählstil ist unglaublich eindringlich, intensiv und tief. Sie schafft Gefühle mit ihren Worten. Das Buch ist nicht ganz einfach, ich konnte es nicht einfach runterlesen sondern eher jede Seite, jede Szene genießen. Die Geschichte rund um den Arzt Etan, der eine folgenschwere Entscheidung trifft, macht nachdenklich und lässt mich selber mein eigenes Verhalten hinterfragen. Wie hätte ich gehandelt in dieser oder jener Situation? Was ist gut, was ist "böse"? Und was rechtfertigt eventuell das Handeln der Personen? Mit solchen Fragen wird man das ganze Buch über konfrontiert. Und auch wenn das Buch in Israel spielt, kann man gerade die Situation rund um illegale Einwanderer auch sehr gut auf Deutschland beziehen, so dass mir die Geschichte trotz der unterschiedlichen Kulturen nie fremd erschien.
Und ich mag es sehr, wenn Charaktere erschaffen werden, an denen man sich reiben kann, die einem nicht sympathisch sind, die aber als Buchcharakter einfach grandios dargestellt sind. Das hat die Autorin für mich mit ihren Charakteren geschafft.
Ich möchte unbedingt mehr von der Autorin lesen.
Etan überfährt nachts aus Versehen einen Mann. Dieser Unfall rüttelt das Leben des Arztes komplett durcheinander.
Autorin Ayelet Gundar-Goshen hat einen starken Roman über starke und auch schwache Menschen geschrieben. Ihr Erzählstil ist unglaublich eindringlich, intensiv und tief. Sie schafft Gefühle mit ihren Worten. Das Buch ist nicht ganz einfach, ich konnte es nicht einfach runterlesen sondern eher jede Seite, jede Szene genießen. Die Geschichte rund um den Arzt Etan, der eine folgenschwere Entscheidung trifft, macht nachdenklich und lässt mich selber mein eigenes Verhalten hinterfragen. Wie hätte ich gehandelt in dieser oder jener Situation? Was ist gut, was ist "böse"? Und was rechtfertigt eventuell das Handeln der Personen? Mit solchen Fragen wird man das ganze Buch über konfrontiert. Und auch wenn das Buch in Israel spielt, kann man gerade die Situation rund um illegale Einwanderer auch sehr gut auf Deutschland beziehen, so dass mir die Geschichte trotz der unterschiedlichen Kulturen nie fremd erschien.
Und ich mag es sehr, wenn Charaktere erschaffen werden, an denen man sich reiben kann, die einem nicht sympathisch sind, die aber als Buchcharakter einfach grandios dargestellt sind. Das hat die Autorin für mich mit ihren Charakteren geschafft.
Ich möchte unbedingt mehr von der Autorin lesen.
April 25, 2018
The New York Times called this a gripping thriller, but it's not. It's a weird combo of thriller and grim, introspective literary fiction. The endless internal monologues removed the urgency of the story (which had the potential to be actually interesting) and prevented the book from being a page-turner.
The execution really killed this for me. It really wasn't my cup of tea.
The execution really killed this for me. It really wasn't my cup of tea.
June 4, 2017
Blowing off steam after a hard day of work, a doctor hits an Eritrean man with his S.U.V. What he decides to do next changes everything. The next day, the victim's wife shows up at his doorstep. The protagonist is left with no other choice but to do as she says. And thus starts the thrilling Waking Lions, a powerful and masterfully translated story of secrets, surprise, and character.
I took my time with this story, as page-turning as it was. Ayelet Gundar-Goshen has accomplished something I seek and admire in fiction: the ability to blend intimate character driven complexities with a high stakes plot. As the perspectives shifted from each character, the intricacies emerged gradually to reveal raw and flawed people from vastly different privileges. By the end of Waking Lions I felt lucky to have seen the private facets of these characters. It's introversion demanded a contemplative attention. I'm happy I didn't let myself rush.
Many readers may feel relief during the novel's climax. As new characters are peppered in and connections are made, the buildup becomes intense. I wondered how the protagonists would handle the energy, if they could. Waking Lions is a unique and impressive novel, not to be missed.
I received my copy through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
I took my time with this story, as page-turning as it was. Ayelet Gundar-Goshen has accomplished something I seek and admire in fiction: the ability to blend intimate character driven complexities with a high stakes plot. As the perspectives shifted from each character, the intricacies emerged gradually to reveal raw and flawed people from vastly different privileges. By the end of Waking Lions I felt lucky to have seen the private facets of these characters. It's introversion demanded a contemplative attention. I'm happy I didn't let myself rush.
Many readers may feel relief during the novel's climax. As new characters are peppered in and connections are made, the buildup becomes intense. I wondered how the protagonists would handle the energy, if they could. Waking Lions is a unique and impressive novel, not to be missed.
I received my copy through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
July 25, 2018
"Niciodată nu poți ști cu adevărat ce se petrece în mintea altui om. Dar poți încerca. Să privești cu răbdare ferestrele casei, până când o pală ușoară de vânt mișcă o clipă perdeaua. Și atunci poți să arunci o privire. Înăuntru. Și să completezi, astfel, spațiile goale. Dar ce nu trebuie să uiți niciodată e că piesele-lipsă pe care le-ai adăugat provin de la tine, nu de acolo."
August 13, 2020
Un uomo guidando di notte investe per errore un clandestino. E' un medico, è un uomo qualunque, pensa di essere una brava persona. Il clandestino muore, il medico fugge. Il giorno dopo la moglie del clandestino si presenta a casa del medico e, in cambio del silenzio, gli chiede di andare a curare i clandestini malati di notte, in un'autorimessa abbandonata. Ma la moglie del medico è un poliziotto e indaga sulla morte del clandestino.
Sembra la trama di un thriller, ma non lo è (e forse per questo molti lettori di thriller sono rimasti delusi). E' un'indagine psicologica su chi siamo veramente e come il nostro vero io emerga negli autentici momenti di bivio, quando in gioco entra qualcosa di più. Ma è anche una denuncia dell'ipocrisia del mondo benestante nei confronti dei più deboli, dei clandestini, degli invisibili, di quelli che notiamo per davvero solo quando la loro presenza si impone a forza.
E' un romanzo che parla di onestà e di bugie, di chi siamo davvero come persone e come collettività.
La trama è orchestrata benissimo e anche i personaggi sono autentici, umani, fuori da qualsiasi cliché.
L'unico appunto che mi sento di fare a questo romanzo è che di tanto in tanto l'autrice si compiace un po' troppo della sua scrittura, divaga, inserisce storie, torna indietro con il tempo. A volte questo ritorno è utile, funzionale alla trama. A volte no, sarebbe stato meglio sfrondare, perché in quei casi la tensione narrativa scema precipitevolmente.
Sembra la trama di un thriller, ma non lo è (e forse per questo molti lettori di thriller sono rimasti delusi). E' un'indagine psicologica su chi siamo veramente e come il nostro vero io emerga negli autentici momenti di bivio, quando in gioco entra qualcosa di più. Ma è anche una denuncia dell'ipocrisia del mondo benestante nei confronti dei più deboli, dei clandestini, degli invisibili, di quelli che notiamo per davvero solo quando la loro presenza si impone a forza.
E' un romanzo che parla di onestà e di bugie, di chi siamo davvero come persone e come collettività.
La trama è orchestrata benissimo e anche i personaggi sono autentici, umani, fuori da qualsiasi cliché.
L'unico appunto che mi sento di fare a questo romanzo è che di tanto in tanto l'autrice si compiace un po' troppo della sua scrittura, divaga, inserisce storie, torna indietro con il tempo. A volte questo ritorno è utile, funzionale alla trama. A volte no, sarebbe stato meglio sfrondare, perché in quei casi la tensione narrativa scema precipitevolmente.
January 18, 2018
OOH MY GOD I HATED THIS BOOK
It is a testament to myself I finished it. This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read.
Shall I write 5 paragraphs on how much I hated this book? No actually, not even that. 5 paragraphs, 5 PAGES of anecdotes/metaphors and similes on one tiny aspect of the book I hated. Well if I did that - you’ve got this book. It really labours a point.
It also goes off on massive tangents and back stories about the characters and their families which is annoying enough in itself as a narrative device but the main problem is -
I
Just
Don’t
Care
None of the characters are likeable. In fact they are all incredibly annoying.
I skim read most of it in the end just to see how it ended.
To summarise: the writing is awful, the characters all horrible and it’s so so preachy. Don’t waste your time on it. Please.
It is a testament to myself I finished it. This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read.
Shall I write 5 paragraphs on how much I hated this book? No actually, not even that. 5 paragraphs, 5 PAGES of anecdotes/metaphors and similes on one tiny aspect of the book I hated. Well if I did that - you’ve got this book. It really labours a point.
It also goes off on massive tangents and back stories about the characters and their families which is annoying enough in itself as a narrative device but the main problem is -
I
Just
Don’t
Care
None of the characters are likeable. In fact they are all incredibly annoying.
I skim read most of it in the end just to see how it ended.
To summarise: the writing is awful, the characters all horrible and it’s so so preachy. Don’t waste your time on it. Please.
September 29, 2017
This book feels like it's desperately trying to make a worthwhile point on the power struggles between men and women, rich and poor, Jews and Arabs and African immigrants, but for me it failed miserably. The first 3/4 of the books is painfully tedious; filled with crude, abusive language it rambles on and on about Eitan and how he simultaneously hates and lusts after Sirkit as they spend night after night in the makeshift garage clinic as he patches up an endless string of illegal immigrants to avoid being turned in for the hit-and-run accident that killed Sirkit's husband.
In the second act, a car theft ring plot gets rammed into the story followed by the drug running plot, which finally adds a little more action and excitement.
Spoilers about the ending.
Spoilers around the crude and abusive language as I vent about all the issues I had with how this book was written (or possibly how it was translated).
In the second act, a car theft ring plot gets rammed into the story followed by the drug running plot, which finally adds a little more action and excitement.
Spoilers about the ending.
Spoilers around the crude and abusive language as I vent about all the issues I had with how this book was written (or possibly how it was translated).
June 12, 2018
After completing a long evening shift at the hospital, Israeli doctor, Eitan Green makes a last minute decision to drive on a dusty desert road to unwind before going home. This decision results in an accident which has long term repercussions that will change Eitan’s outlook on life.
This is a complicated, thought provoking story of love, lust, deceit, trust, race, immigration, and ethical/moral issues. At times, it begins to drag as the author includes excessive descriptions of the characters’ reflections about various issues. That being said, it is a story that is worth reading.
This is a complicated, thought provoking story of love, lust, deceit, trust, race, immigration, and ethical/moral issues. At times, it begins to drag as the author includes excessive descriptions of the characters’ reflections about various issues. That being said, it is a story that is worth reading.
February 25, 2021
Ein Buch über Ethik, Moral und Gut und Böse und die Erkenntnis, dass die Grenzen manchmal verschwimmen und alles in jedem von uns steckt..... über die Fragilität des Lebens und einen Gesellschaftsumbruch. Eine sehr eindrücklich erzählte Geschichte, die noch lange nachhallen wird .... auf so vielen unterschiedlichen Ebenen ......
August 28, 2017
This was an important story but it was so slow
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