הספר רומן רוסי מתאר 3 דורות של מתיישבים בעמק יזרעאל, החל מהעליה השניה ועד למחצית המאה ה- 20. הסיפור נמסר עי ברוך, נכדו של יעקב מירקין, ממקימי הישוב. ברוך בנם של אסתר (בתו של יעקב מירקין) ובינימין (עולה מגרמניה) שוכל את הוריו באירוע חבלני רצחני וגדל אצל סבו. כך סופג ברוך את סיפורי דור הזקנים על הקמת הישוב.
במרכז הסיפור עומדת קבוצת העבודה על שם פייגה, קבוצת חלוצים הכוללת את יעקב מירקין, אליעזר ליברסון, צירקין מנדולינה, פייגה ושלמה לווין.
יעקב מירקין שעל�� מאוקראינה, הותיר מאחוריו את אהובתו שולמית, ולאורך כל הסיפור רוחה שורה כצל מריר שממאן לעזוב. הוא נאת פייגה עימה הוא מוליד את אברהם, אפרים ואסתר. שלושתם כשלו ביעודם כממשיכי אביהם: אברהם שבתחילה מצליח בעבודת המשק ופרותיו נותנות חלב רב, עוזב עם אישתו לחול. אפרים מתגייס לצבא האנגלי, לאחר שנפגע באופן מחריד בפניו הוא חוזר לכפר אך בני הכפר מתעלמים ממנו ואינם מקבלים אותו. הוא עוזב את הכפר לטובת שיטוטים בעולם ודרכו לא נודעה. אסתר בוחרת בפועל הפשוט בינימין על פני דניאל בן ממשיך שהופך לחקלאי דגול. היא כאמור נהרגת בפיגוע רצחני.
הספר מתאר שלב אחר שלב את התפוררות החזון הציוני ההתיישבותי ואת כישלון כיבוש האדמה כאשר הנכד, ברוך, מביא את התהליך לשיאו המחפיר כשהוא הופך את האדמה מחקלאית לאדמת קבורה שם הוא קובר את סבו ובמשך הזמן את בני העלייה השניה השונים בתמורה לדולרים רבים.
הספר מתאר בלשון חיה את העקרונות, המאבקים, הרגשות העזים והקנאות הבוערות בתוך קבוצת המייסדים. מאיר שלו מגחיך את התחרות בין חברי הקבוצה כששלמה לווין, שהיה פקיד רוח במקצועו, מתנכל לאורך שנים לפרד הנאמן ומנסה להורגו באחת הסצנות המחרידות וההזויות בספר. הפרד לאחר שנוקם את נקמתו המזוויעה גם היא, שם נפשו בכפו ומתאבד תחת גלגלי משאית החלב.
בני הדור השני מתגלים רובם כחדלי יכולת ואישים ובני הדור השלישי נוטשים את החזון והאדמה למעט המספר הנשאר במושב לקיים את צוואת סבו.
חלקים מהספר כתובים ביד אומן. אנקדוטות עצובות ונוגעות ללב כמו הפרק שמתאר כיצד מורה הכפר, פינס, מתעד בפינקסו את חייהם הסודיים של משפחות הכפר דרך מה שהוא רואה אצל הילדים. מי מהילדים עובד קשה מידי במשק וקם מוקדם לפני הלימודים, מי מהם מקבל ארוחה חמה ומי לא, מי מקבל חיבוק ונשיקה ומי מגיע ליום הולדתו בלי עוגה כי אימו עסוקה עם פרנסי העיר. זה אחד מהפרקים המצויינים בספר שהעלה דמעות בעיניי. לצידן אנקדוטות משעשעות ופרועות כמו הסיפור על הרצען והבז האדום או הסיפורים על נסיונותיו של משולם להציף את האדמה.
לצד כל אלה, החזרות והמיחזור של הסיפורים והעדר עלילה קוהרנטית המתקדמת בקו ישר מעצבנים גם אם המחזור נעשה מנקודת מבט שונה בכל פעם או בנקודות זמן שונות הן מיותרות ופגמו לי בהנאת הקריאה. יחד עם זאת הספר מומלץ ולו בשל השפה והחוויה. 378 Another amazing book by Meir Shalev. I gave it four stars rather than five stars only to distinguish it from A Pigion and Boy (also by Shalev), which I felt was just so unique. Blue Mountain contains the story of a rural village in Palestine in the early 1900's, prior to the establishment of Israel. Not only are the personalities and relationships depicted fascinating. One also gets a flavor for the stubborn way in which many of the founders of Israel tried to live in accord with their ideologies, and how those ideologies often backfired to cause significant personal pain. Not an easy book to read, but well worth it. 378 The Blue Mountain
A brilliant novel about the legacy of Israel's pioneering tradition and foundation (originally published under the Hebrew title 'A Russian Novel' in 1988).
A small group of jewish Ukrainian pioneer immigrants settle in the Jezreel Valley in Ottoman Palestine in the beginning of the twentieth century, many years before Israel officially became a State.
It portraits three generations of people, who live in a farm community (a co-op or moshav), founded by these pioneers. All the stories are told by the grandson of one of these early pioneers, in no particular order. He jumps back and forth in time, between the many different characters, so it's not an easy, but a rewarding read. His characters live in deep connection with nature and are part of an extended family and a close-knit rural village community.
All the characters in the book are portrayed with immense richness and emotion, but also with a great deal of irony. These people are heroic and absurd at the same time. Nature, animals, farming and also elements of fantasy and myth are stylishly woven into the intriguing stories about the eccentric inhabitants of the village.
It's not surprising that Meir Shalev himself is a grandson of pioneering Ukrainian immigrants from Nahalal, the oldest moshav of Israel.
9/10 378 Maravilhoso.
“Nas noites de Verão, o Avô gostava de se sentar à mesa da cozinha com a camiseta desbotada e os calções azuis de trabalho, enchendo a sala de fumo e de cheiros suaves de madeira enquanto agitava as pernas torcidas pelo trabalho e revivia memórias e iniquidades. Tinha o hábito de rabiscar os seus pensamentos em pedacinhos de papel, que mais tarde flutuavam pela sala como enxames de borboletas em migração. Continuava à espera de quem quer que fosse que tinha perdido. «Vê-los de novo tornarem-se carne diante dos meus olhos», encontrei uma vez escrito numa nota que me veio parar à mão.”
“O Avô não quisera deixar a cabana. Plantador de árvores, era um amante da madeira.
- Uma casa de madeira respira, sua, e move-se – dizia-me ele. – Não há duas pessoas que façam o mesmo ruído ao entrar nela.”
“O Avô não se lembrava. Palavras como «Lembras-te…» deixavam-no indiferente. Além disso, eu sabia que ele não podia falar porque tinha uma azeitona na boca e a chupava lentamente enquanto sorvia o chá. «Ou comes ou te lembras», dissera-me ele uma vez. «Não podes mastigar tudo ao mesmo tempo.»”
“-Primeiro que tudo, fá-la rir – disse Liberson ao filho. – As mulheres gostam disso. Não conseguem resistir.
- O riso – dizia Bandolim – é o clangor da trombeta que derruba as muralhas de Jericó. É o abre-te sésamo para as cavernas do tesouro mágico, as primeiras gotas de chuva de Outono que caem na terra seca.
- Bem dito – aprovou Liberson com um olhar de surpresa ao seu amigo.
Mas, nessa altura, Daniel estava bem longe de qualquer possibilidade de riso. O seu sentido de humor, na verdade, fora a primeira vítima do seu amor rejeitado.
- Flores! Canções! Música! – declarou Bandolim.
- Basta, Tsirkin – disse Liberson. – E voltando-se para o filho perguntou: - De que gosta ela mais?
- De carne – respondeu o envergonhado Daniel.
Liberson e Tsirkin puseram-se a cozinhar.”
378 He must dream of giant Nazi radishes getting fat on protozoa shit.
The cow kicked Rilov in the head, and for half an hour he lay in manure with no sense.
Shalev is one of my most favorite living writers, and part of his charm comes from him being eminently unclassifiable and incomparable. I'd be hard pressed to give you parallels to convince you to read his stuff, so I won't bother. I can say his novels are lush, sensuous, and hilarious folk stories, usually centering on pre-independence Palestine and the Jewish immigrants trying to make good a new life on the land. Usually, there is a more contemporary component, wistfully observing the past. In this case, the story focuses on Baruch, caretaker for a graveyard of original pioneers, remembering stories of his grandparents' settling in a little valley below the titular mountain, their wacky neighbors and friends and all their shenanigans. Think a Wes Anderson film set in Mandate Palestine, maybe. Israel's land, you can't throw a stone in this country without hitting some holy place or madman, moans one character when the zaniness starts to reach its zenith.
Since the novel is largely patchwork, detective-like piecing together of the immigrants' lives, there isn't much of a plot to speak of, it's almost episodic and the mysteries only slowly evolve into shape (one character turns out to be a farm animal halfway through the book!).
Much loved, much recommended. 378
Am avut, de-a lungul întregului roman, senzația că nu știu cine povestește. Shalev a demonstrat că stăpânește foarte bine arta aceasta intrigantă și oferă cititorului un amplu arsenal de descrieri, întâmplări istorice, dar și multă magie în ceea ce privește întemeierea unei așezări omenești.
Noaptea aud marea vuind și spumegând, năvălind din afara ferestrelor temniței mele albe, și mă gândesc la toate zgomotele astea permanente, care nu încetează în veci. Sunete care cer urechii să se aplece înadins asupra lor ca să le audă. Vântul printre arborii casuarina, plesniturile stropitoarelor mecanice, clipocitul izvorului, molfăitul rumagatului, târșâitul târâtoarelor pe sub podeaua barăcii.
Inima mea de-acum nu mai e sensibilă la priveliștea mării. Nu-i mai aud zgomotul valurilor decât arareori, doar când vreau dinadins să aud. Și priveliștea valurilor a încetat de mult să mă hipnotizeze. Când e atât de aproape de tine, marea își pierde amenințarea care e ascunsă în ea. Pare moale și leneșă, se îmblânzește și se răsfață și se unduiește în soare, și chiar în zilele de iarnă, când devine cenușie și plină de amărăciune, iar ploaia o umple cu bășici mititele, pare că doar glumește.
378 Israeli magical realism. Now, I love me some magical realism, and this book is one of the finest examples I've come across in a long, long time. As a new resident of Israel - and one without previous ties to the country - I really didn't know that much about the early history of the state. The book is set in a moshav (the less famous type of Israeli farming commune), and introduces the history without the historical events...you get a feel for the period without the usual event-dropping that comes up a lot in historical fiction. There is a bit of name-dropping, but Israel is a small country...it's realistic that they would be interacting with the founding fathers of the state.
But Shalev isn't interested in the history of the period as much as the spirit. And he's read his Garcia Marquez - the feel of the book is very reminiscent of 100 Years of Solitude or Love in the Time of Cholera, but without being derivative. Heartily recommended, although I'm not sure how easy it is to find outside of Israel. I'm always glad to loan out my copy, though :) 378 [Edited, pictures added 2/12/22]
A story of an early Jewish settlement in Israel, beginning shortly after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 (during WW I), when thousands of immigrants arrived in Israel from Russia and Ukraine.
Our narrator is a contemporary young man who listens to old timer’s tales about the early days before the village declined in population. He tries to sort out fact from fiction in the heroic stories. The chapters go back and forth in time, foreshadowing, repeating, and adding to the major stories.
The young man, a big hunky guy, lives in an agricultural village co-op, but it’s not a kibbutz. Although the word is not used in the book, I believe his settlement is called a moshav. It is different from the communal land of a kibbutz because farmers in the co-op own their land.
The young man’s parents were killed by a terrorist firebomb and he was brought up by his grandfather, whom he idolizes. He also idolizes his older male teacher who just overflows with knowledge and enthusiasm and recognizes the youth as one of his best pupils in a lifetime of teaching.
So this bright young man devoted to two older men lives by himself on a farm. We learn nothing about his sex life other than that “women don’t interest him.” [Oddly, I quoted this exact phrase said by a young Moroccan man in a review I posted last week of The Simple Past by Driss Chraibi.]
One of his hobbies is spying on others in the village, so we learn a lot about what’s going on in the co-op that way. In another sense it’s a sad story of a boy who never grew up. He has the idea of creating a cemetery on his farm and discovers that he can make more money by selling burial plots than by farming. Families bring the bodies of former co-op residents from other areas of Israel and from New York and Europe to be buried where they used to live.
As the narrator learns, we also learn a lot about nature from the stories of the teacher and about farm techniques and agricultural experiments from both men, so in part this is a “nature book” with a lot of farm lore, information about the seasons, and naturalist stories about birds, animals and insects.
The Blue Mountain is an intriguing book and a pleasant read. Blue Mountain was the author’s (1948-) first novel and he has written a half-dozen others. All are highly rated (over 4.0) on GR’s rating system. He’s best-known for A Pigeon and a Boy, 2007, which won the National Jewish Book Award. He’s also a newspaper columnist and he writes non-fiction and children’s books.
Top photo of a moshav from wikipedia.com
The author from israeliamerican.org 378
I and the village - Marc Chagall
A brilliant novel about the legacy of Israel's pioneering tradition and foundation (originally published under the Hebrew title 'A Russian Novel' in 1988).
A small group of jewish Ukrainian pioneer immigrants settle in the Jezreel Valley in Ottoman Palestine in the beginning of the twentieth century, many years before Israel officially became a State.
It portraits three generations of people, who live in a farm community (a co-op or moshav), founded by these pioneers. All the stories are told by the grandson of one of these early pioneers, in no particular order. He jumps back and forth in time, between the many different characters, so it's not an easy, but a rewarding read. His characters live in deep connection with nature and are part of an extended family and a close-knit rural village community.
All the characters in the book are portrayed with immense richness and emotion, but also with a great deal of irony. These people are heroic and absurd at the same time. Nature, animals, farming and also elements of fantasy and myth are stylishly woven into the intriguing stories about the eccentric inhabitants of the village.
It's not surprising that Meir Shalev himself is a grandson of pioneering Ukrainian immigrants from Nahalal, the oldest moshav of Israel.
9/10 378 This is a fascinating book about European Jewish pioneers, building their lives in the Jezreel valley with the second aliyah. There is barely any plot as we become acquainted with a bunch of larger than life characters from three generations through various stories. While there is no main story, we get an overall feel of life in the village, and get to know intimately the few families associated with the Feyge Levin Workingman’s Circle. The stories move between the factual (I presume) and the purely entertaining. We get a big dose of cows, crops, agriculture, bees, etc. It is after all an agrarian society. But the stories are engaging and funny. We share in the characters triumphs and hardships, their hopes and fears.
The one common theme throughout is identity. Did the pioneers belong to a particular race, religion or nation? Where did their loyalties lie? What were their dreams and who did they want to be? They switched between Yiddish and their European languages. Even though they were from a race with very prominent religious history, some no longer saw the role of religion in their lives. Although they had different goals, the villagers shared a common desire to be buried in Grandfather’s plot of land and as such, to be recognized as pioneers.
The story is told through the eyes of Baruch, a physically imposing man, who is like a guardian of the village. A key figure was his Grandfather, Mirkin, the de facto Patriach of the village. He married fellow pioneer Feyge but it was a marriage born out of pragmatism rather than of love. His heart still belonged to Crimean whore Shulamit, like some kind of longing for the past or for the old country. I wonder if some of the relationships are allegorical. There were many other interesting characters like Pinness, the school teacher, who was like the scribe of their pioneer history. There was Uri, the Don Juan of the village, with his blunt observations and humorous quips. Even a human-like pioneer mule called Zeitser with a knack for exacting revenge.
Overall, not quite the level of writing as “A Pigeon and a Boy” but nonetheless an enjoyable read. 378
The absorbing first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers focuses on four idealistic early settlers of the modern state of Israel.
Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the State of Israel, this funny and hugely imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they pioneer a new life in a new land over three generations. Narrated by Baruch, a grandson of one of the founding fathers of the village, this lyrical novel transcends time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, showcasing the skill of a master storyteller who never fails to entertain. The Blue Mountain