Maror

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Maror blends the page-turning wit of a hard-boiled detective noir with the stirring intrigue of a multi-national political epic. She's working for (the very real) Uri Avnery and his outrageous left-wing tabloid This World, and in a memorable line, Genghis threatens Avnery: "You won't breathe in this country" (yes, this is a real life quote). In the extended first part – which reads like a stand-alone noir procedural – he and Avi try to figure out who has set off a bomb that, instead of killing Rubenstein, has killed a girl at the elementary school next door.

Benny nurses this against Nir for decades, and eventually he does kill Nir, almost dispassionately - a balancing of the books - at the end of Nir's mercenary story. Maror' is the story of a war for the soul of Israel - a dazzling spread of narrative gunshots across four decades and three continents. I wanted to give the novel 4 stars for its faults and its remorseless if implicit criticism of Israel, but I enjoyed reading it too much. Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century. Nearly every character is corrupted in some way - cops, criminals, politicians, journalists, bystanders.Benny is at one stage tricked by Cohen into entering southern Lebanon during the first Israel-Lebanon war, to make a lucrative drug deal (of course). Radiant with […] the richly nuanced complexity and style of Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings … Will catch your breath as it presents the history of Israel from unique points of view, with dazzling multi-generational scope. If you like your crime stories sleazy, seedy and sordid, full of drugs, criminals and explosions this maybe for you. And it has the edge over Ellroy that where he's riffing on generations of other books and films about bad shit going down in LA, relocating all those damaged veterans and drug deals and shady land trades to the far end of the Mediterranean instantly changes the story, even before you factor in the suicide bombs and the long wars and the differences in culture. Un coche bomba a principios de nuestro siglo nos introduce a Cohen, un inspector de policía al más puro estilo Villarejo español, cuyas redes se extienden más allá del cuerpo policial israelí al que pertenece.

Either way, if you have any interest in Israel as a nation, or just like the author's style, it's a must read. Me han gustado mucho las diferentes voces que propone y la estructura en relatos con saltos temporales. He has travelled extensively since he was a teenager, living in South Africa, the UK, Laos, and the small island nation of Vanuatu. In conclusion, "Maror" is a masterclass in speculative fiction, and Lavie Tidhar's talent shines brightly in every page. Tidhar juxtaposes these criminal events (with only a little detective work, enough episodes can be corroborated to make the rest credible) with the turbulent politics of the post-1967 war era.And the noir form excels in taking us to root causes: the corruption of power and the chaos that it engenders. And it all seems to go back to one man - Cohen - not quite a Police Chief but he's always been there, and he's always been involved (and no-one likes him). I’m still digesting the many strands of the story and think it’ll require a re-read to fully appreciate the wealth of characters and events, most of which actually happened. But Cohen is always there, slowly becoming more resigned to the ever-darkening grey areas within which he operates. I can see what the author was trying to do but it feels like trying to be clever with connections and twists backfired on this occasion.