A Horse Walks into a Bar – David Grossman (2014, trans. Jessica Cohen 2016) 198 pages
A Horse Walks Into a Bar is a novel about a comedian, but the fact that it won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize (there’s an interesting interview with translator Jessica Cohen on the Asymptote blog) is an indication that it has serious things to say. Its takes place in Israel and so it also forms my last stop this novella month on my Around the World in 80 Books reading challenge, hosted by Hard Book Habit.
Dovaleh Greenstein is a stand-up comic known as Dovaleh G, and the novel follows his set in a Netanya comedy club over two hours, from the point of view of his childhood friend Avishai Lazar, now a retired district court judge in his late 50s who barely remembers Dovaleh.
“From the minute he got on stage he’s been seeking my eyes. But I can’t look straight at him. I dislike the air in here. I dislike the air he breathes.”
Dovaleh G is not a pleasant man. He berates the audience, he insults their town, he has the style of stand-up that mixes old-fashioned jokes with barely concealed aggression.
“I swear to God, standing before you tonight is the first man in history to get post-partum depression. Five times! Actually four, ‘cause two of them were twins. Actually five, if you count the bout of depression after my birth.”
He’s offensive and at various points audience members walk out. They complain he is not giving them what they paid for – a night of laughs. Instead, Dovaleh recounts his childhood memories: living with his mother who was traumatised from the camps, and his father who beat him. He walked on his hands to escape neighbourhood bullies.
Onstage, he verges on being a bully himself. Someone else is in the audience who remembers him as a child: Azulai, a small woman and spirit medium, to whom he is absolutely brutal. Yet his most vehement aggression is reserved for himself:
“Somehow, on the phone, there was something attractive about his offer, and I can’t deny that he does have his moments on stage, too. When he hit himself, there was something there, I’m not sure what, some sort of alluring abyss that opened up. And the guy is no idiot. He never was”
Grossman captures brilliantly that tension that can exist in stand-up where the audience don’t feel entirely safe, and don’t exactly know where their laughter is coming from. He also exploits fully that a lot of comedy is born out of pain. Dovaleh G is not likable, but throughout the course of the novella he does become understandable, and it is possible to feel compassion for him.
The audience (and readers) become witnesses for Dovaleh G; to his life, his trauma and his anger. What humour there is, is very, very dark. There was a riff on Dr Mengele that actually made me wince – I’m not sure I’ve winced at a book before.
A Horse Walks into a Bar is a devastating read but not a destructive one. At the end I felt there was some hope, which given Grossman is a highly political writer has wider significance than the life of Dovaleh G and Avishai Lazar. I’ve not discussed the politics of the novella because I felt I didn’t know enough about Israel and Palestine to do it justice, but if you know about this in more depth then I’m sure A Horse Walks Into a Bar will have an extra resonance for you.
“How, in such a short time, did he manage to turn the audience, even me to some extent, into household members of his soul?
madame bibi lophile recommends 
I have had this on my TBR ever since it was shortlisted… I really should get round to reading it…
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Things languish in my TBR for years…
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I’ve not got on with Grossman’s work in the past but you’ve persuaded me to give it a try. It sounds very powerful, as novelllas so often are.
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This is the first I’ve read by him but I think it was a bit of a departure. It is powerful – I don’t think it could have been sustained over a longer novel but it works very well at this length.
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Your review of this has actually highlighted the discomfort I often feel when listening to Stand-up, and why it is not my favorite form of comedy, much as I’ve given it a fair few goes. I thought it was just me, but perhaps Grossman has actually hit on something, as much of Stand-up is actually not amusing at all, but formed from rage about tragic experiences. I’ve heard of this particular novella before, so I may try and read it sometime.
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I think stand-up can be really a tense, uncomfortable experience, especially with certain comics like Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks, and I think Dovaleh G is in that style. It’s a clever idea to take that tension and really push it like Grossman does here.
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I remember thinking how hard-hitting this sounded when it first came out. Stand-up – the good stuff – usually does take things to the edge, but that’s what makes it interesting.
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This is very edgy for sure!
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I’ve read just one of his early novels and I really loved it. But it does require a certain emotional investment. I wonder, given that you’ve said that you didn’t want to discuss the political angles of this story (not being well-informed on them), did you feel that you gained some insights, even without having a secure understanding in advance?
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I’d like to read more by him now. I think I did gain some insights, and certainly things I’d like to explore more. A while ago I downloaded a course on Middle Eastern politics from iTunesU because I felt I should know more, and promptly forgot all about it. This is a good incentive to get listening to it!
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That sounds fantastic. And I’m sure it, too, will lead to more reading! 🙂
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You manage to find such a huge variety of titles to explore. I don’t think I would naturally have gravitated towards this one, but I feel encouraged by your review!
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It’s not one I’d automatically pick up either but I wanted to try this author and as this won the IMBP I thought I’d try it. It’s an unusual read!
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This sounds like an interesting idea for a novel. It sounds like it would be almost painful to read. But good, too. I already feel bad for him.
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It is painful at times. What he says is very raw. It’s really well done.
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