_ But I did phone you, Mother, I most certainly did, on Wednesday evening from Jerusalem.
- Of course. I was still in Jerusalem Wednesday evening. Yesterday too.
- Yesterday too, Mother. And this morning too. But I left you a message.
- How could you not have got it?
- Oh, God, Mother, don't tell me that another message of mine got lost!
- How should I know... whoever picked up the phone...
- Some volunteer from Germany.
- But what could I have done, Mother! It's not my fault that no one in his right mind on the whole kibbutz will pick up the telephone in the dining hall after supper, because no one wants wants to have to go out in the cold and run around looking for whoever it's for."
Five conversations, each centring on the fate of a different member of the Sephardi Mani family, make up this profound, far-reaching and passionate Mediterranean novel which tells of six generations of the family, but in reverse chronology. In each conversation the responses of one person are absent, thus drawing in the reader as the story reaches back into the past, creating one of the most extraordinary reading experiences in modern literature.
On a kibbutz in the Negev in 1982, a student tells her mother about her strange meeting in Jerusalem with Judge Gavriel Mani, the father of her boyfriend whose child she is expecting.
On the occupied island of Crete in 1944, a German soldier relates to his adoptive grandmother his experiences there with the Mani family, whom he hunts down.
In Jerusalem, occupied by the British in 1918, a young Jewish lawyer serving with the British army briefs his commanding officer on the forthcoming trial for treason of the political agitator Yosef Mani.
In a village in southern Poland in 1899, a young doctor reports to his father his experiences at the Third Zionist Congress and his subsequent trip to Jerusalem with his sister, who falls in love with Dr Moshe Mani, an obstetrician.
In Athens, in 1848, Abraham Mani reports to his elderly mentor the intricate tale of his trip to Jerusalem and the death there of his young son.
***
Initially, the thought of reading a book full of one sided conversations was a little daunting. Potentially, it could be akin to reading the script of a play but with only the lines for one of the actors. However, in the hands of the very talented author, it became an exceptionally intelligent and original device, employed to transport the reader right into the very heart of each of the stories. Indeed, the more I read the more I realised that reading the responses to the conversation was completely unnecessary. I felt as though I was a third person, in the room with them, simply listening and observing as the conversations unfolded. I could positively see and hear the responses of the silent partner.
I found the reverse chronology easy enough to keep up with, even though the generations are not consecutive. There are some gaps between the generations of the Mani family, but each section did indicate their geographical movements so that the reader was not left questioning how the various Mr. Mani's got from A to B. The conversations were also constructed in such a way that the reader could understand the political and social background of the times.
I believe this fascinating book will stay with me long after my completion of it. There is so much to think about; from its structure to its themes. In fact, it is the highly unusual format of the book which totally engaged me and leads me to feel I would like to read it again. I suspect this is a book whereby the reader would gain so much more for it's re-reading.
I have previously read and enjoyed, Mr. Yehoshua's novel, The Tunnel. You can read my review by clicking on the link here.. I am looking forward to reading more of his writing.
ISBN: 978 1870015776
Publisher: Halban
***
Born in Jerusalem in 1936, A. B. Yehoshua is the author of eight novels and a collection of short stories. He is one of Israel's pre-eminent novelists, is widely translated and has won innumerable international prizes. In 2005, he was shortlisted for the first Man Booker International Prize.
He lives in Haifa where he taught comparative literature for many years.
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