assafgavron.com: Media Archive

“With biting wit and impeccable narrative control, this satisfying, funny, and poignant novel excels in its portrayal of contemporary, day-to-day life in Israel.” Review by Phil Sandick in the Jewish Book Council website.

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“A witty, sarcastic gem of a novel about day to day life in Israel with mass chaos going ona witty, sarcastic gem of a novel about day to day life in Israel with mass chaos going on… Almost Dead will make you think for days after finishing it.” Review of Almost Dead by Amy Steele on the Entertainment Realm blog.

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Washington Jewish Week
August 12, 2010 Thursday

A slice of Israeli life

by Rabbi Rachel Esserman

The political and social situation in Israel is far more complex than usually portrayed in the American Jewish media. To understand the workings of Israeli society, one must accept a multitude of conflicting viewpoints. For many Israelis – including the younger generation of novelists – politics, religion and social customs cannot be understood in terms of black and white.

Almost Dead shows not only how the writers understand the Israeli psyche, but are able to empathize with those on the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian question. It reveals a slice of Israeli life few Americans ever see.

Almost Dead is a brilliant black comedy that not only manages to poke humor at the situation in Israel, but also reveals the heartbreaking conditions hidden below the surface. Alternating chapters of the novel focus on two characters: Eitan “Croc” Einoch and Fahmi Sabih.

Einoch, a 30-something businessman, becomes the focus of media attention after he survives several terrorist attacks. His life is unsettled even before the attacks: He’s debating immigrating to the United States, his girlfriend and he are unable to talk about rescheduling the date of their wedding and his work at a time management firm no longer sustains him.

Instead of rejoicing at his survival, he becomes obsessed with learning about a stranger he met minutes before the first bombing. His quest for an answer takes him to Jerusalem, where he lives through two other acts of terrorism, first an ambush on the road and then a bombing in a cafe.

The publicity surrounding his survival infuriates those responsible for the attacks, making him a symbol for both sides of the conflict, one the terrorists want to destroy.

While Einoch’s sections follow chronological order, Sabih’s are less focused, moving forward and backward through time. It takes a few pages for his situation to become clear: He is in a coma in a Jewish hospital, which is surrounded by protesters demanding he be taken off life support. The young Palestinian tries to remember the events before his arrival, thinking back on his life, including his decision to leave the village home he shared with his father and sister, and join his brother in a Palestinian refugee camp.

These two sides of his family struggle for his soul, leaving him wondering whether he should forget about the home lost to the Israelis and the treatment that led to the death of his mother, or fight with his brother, using terror against those they consider their oppressors. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Sabih and Einoch will meet, but the circumstances are hidden from view until the suspensefilled ending.

What is impressive about Almost Dead is that Gavron has created two believable and sympathetic characters. These are not straw men written only to espouse political dogma, but rather complex individuals who have serious doubts about the paths their lives follow. The author shows how they, and others, are caught in situations beyond their control, how each side mistrusts the other and how some on both sides refuse to compromise.

Yet for most of the novel, the humor is predominant, sometimes causing this reader to laugh out loud – an amazing trick for such a difficult subject. Then, during the final section, the suspense increases, turning the black comedy into a page-turning thriller as readers wait for the inevitable meeting of the two men.

The rush of emotion experienced at the novel’s conclusion was unexpected, but is just another indication of the work’s remarkable qualities.

“This darkly comic and profoundly moving novel should be compulsory reading for everyone who ventures an opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Review of Almost Dead by Sharon Chisvin in the Winnipeg Free Press,

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Fahmi gradually emerges as much more than a cipher. In fact, with Croc’s essentially apolitical nature, his relatively privileged social position and his more or less conventional response to his extraordinary situation, it’s finally “”Fahmi’s story that emerges as the more textured, complex and provocative of the two… this is precisely where Almost Dead’s deeper strengths and its pointed challenge lies.”

“With Almost Dead, not only did I read a fantastic story of survival and confusion, hatred and forgiveness, but I learned so much about a topic and a culture that I had no previous experience with or knowledge of before and I felt an intimate connection with the two main characters.”

Review of Almost Dead in The Next Best Book Blog.

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“an ambitious novel that succeeds in large part because of its brutal honesty and fearlessness, painting a vivid picture of the most insoluble conflict of our time with a master’s hand.” Review by Jonathan Papernick in The Globe and Mail, Canada.

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The review is quoted in wltx.com, timewarnercable.com, and for some reason gossip site americanidolizing.com.

“The fear in this piece is staggering and the questioning that goes along with that fear is incomprehensible to anyone living outside this state of existence.”

On Almost Dead in the Reviews From a Serial Reader blog.

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