Horse Walks into a Bar

I am not sure why I chose to respond to an emailed NetGalley invitation to read A Horse Walks Into A Bar. I previously read David Grossman's Be My Knife and didn't like it at all. I am also often underwhelmed by Booker prize winners. So the odds were set against this novel from the start which is why I was amazed to find myself completely taken over by it! I can't genuinely say that I enjoyed the read because I think its subject matter is too dark for that, but immersed, compelled, entranced. For me, A Horse Walks Into A Bar was one of those books where everything else around me ceased to exist while I was within its pages. It is not a particularly long novel and I read it in two intense bursts, emerging each time not exactly sure of how much time had passed or how I suddenly returned from an Israeli comedy club to a Welsh field (we're camping)!

Grossman evokes the dark oppressive nightclub so vividly that I could clearly see the desperate stand-up comedian, Dovaleh, in the spotlight, his unwilling audience in the shadows and his invited guest skulking by the door. Like the guest, as readers we don't initially know what Dovaleh is trying to achieve on this night or why we are there. Like the audience I found his early routine embarrassing and later sections uncomfortable to witness. Dovaleh is too personal, too upfront with his revelations, but it is impossible to look away.

I am sure my lack of knowledge of Israeli life and culture meant that several references were lost on me, but even without such insight I loved this book. It won't be for everyone certainly and there were moments when I almost couldn't bear Grossman's sadism towards Dovaleh. Phrases and images are still rolling around my brain and I think will do so for hours and days to come. A Horse Walks Into A Bar could well be my book of the month.

An award winning book and this time I can totally see why it won. The book is based in a small dive of a theatre as we watch a comedian falling apart on stage, the "sadness of a clown" is captured spot on. Dov is our comedian and what starts out as a standard show soon goes belly up as the hecklers kick off, Dov doesn't seem healthy either. As the show goes on Dov loses his grip more and more as his jokes become darker and the flashbacks to a scene in his early life become more prominent. This is where the book wins its award it stays inside the dive but somehow transports you elsewhere to experience Dov's tragic upbringing, with Dov telling the odd joke to keep you tethered in the dive.

The writing is top notch and Dov's meltdown is mesmerising, you really feel for the guy as people heckle or leave and as the story comes to the end you find yourself on the edge of your set with the few remaining audience members who are left. And as for the jokes Dov tells? They are not Christmas cracker friendly that's for sure. :-)

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/a-horse-walks-into-a-bar-by-david-grossman/