Meir Šalev Books

The absorbing first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers focuses on four idealistic early settlers of the modern state of Israel.Set in a small rural village prior to the creation of the State of Israel, this funny and hugely imaginative book paints an extraordinary picture of a small community of Ukrainian immigrants as they pioneer a new life in a new land over three generations. Narrated by Baruch, a grandson of one of the founding fathers of the village, this lyrical novel transcends time and place by touching on issues of universal relevance, showcasing the skill of a master storyteller who never fails to entertain. 

From the author of the critically acclaimed  A Pigeon and a Boy , the extraordinary story of Zayde, his enigmatic mother Judith, and her three lovers When Judith arrives in a small, rural village in Palestine in the early 1930s, three men compete for her Globerman, the cunning, coarse cattle-dealer who loves women, money, and flesh; Jacob, owner of hundreds of canaries and host to the four meals which lend the book its narrative structure; and Moshe, a widowed farmer obsessed with his dead wife and his lost braid of hair which his mother cut off in childhood. During the four meals, which take place over several decades, Zayde slowly comes to understand why these three men consider him their son and why all three participate in raising him. A virtuoso performance of spellbinding storytelling, this is a deeply satisfying read—sensuous, hilarious, compassionate, and profound.

Auge um Auge, Zahn um Zahn – ein Roman über Leidenschaft und Untreue, über Verlust, Rache und deren Sühne. Die Familie Tavori betreibt im Norden Israels in der dritten Generation eine Gärtnerei. Sie sind Menschen, die ihren Instinkten und Emotionen folgen: ihrer Liebe ebenso wie ihrem Hass. Eine erschütternde Familiensaga und ein unkonventioneller literarischer Thriller von archaischer Wucht.

A mesmerizing novel of two love stories, separated by half a century but connected by one enchanting act of devotion—from the internationally acclaimed Israeli writer Meir Shalev. During the 1948 War of Independence—a time when pigeons are still used to deliver battlefield messages—a gifted young pigeon handler is mortally wounded. In the moments before his death, he dispatches one last pigeon. The bird is carrying his extraordinary gift to the girl he has loved since adolescence. Intertwined with this story is the contemporary tale of Yair Mendelsohn, who has his own legacy from the 1948 war. Yair is a tour guide specializing in bird-watching trips who, in middle age, falls in love again with a childhood girlfriend. His growing passion for her, along with a gift from his mother on her deathbed, becomes the key to a life he thought no longer possible. Unforgettable in both its particulars and its sweep, A Pigeon and A Boy is a tale of lovers then and now—of how deeply we love, of what home is, and why we, like pigeons trained to fly in one direction only, must eventually return to it. In a voice that is at once playful, wise, and altogether beguiling, Meir Shalev tells a story as universal as war and as intimate as a winged declaration of love.

Dans le mochav de Nahalal, une coopérative agricole de Galilée, on considere que l'oncle Yeshayahou est un traître. Car il est parti en Amérique et le pays du capitalisme est mal vu par cette communauté juive d'origine russe. Mais l'oncle Yeshayahou a un plan diabolique. Il connaît l'obsession pour la propreté de Tonia, la grand-mere du narrateur, et lui envoie le tout dernier modele d'aspirateur General Electric. Un sweeper qui deviendra le moteur des histoires familiales, des tensions intergénérationnelles et des anecdotes les plus folles. Il est des récits incroyables qui naissent pourtant d'un terreau réel. Avec un humour jouissif, Meir Shalev nous plonge dans son invraisemblable histoire familiale et nous dévoile les ambiguités de la société israélienne naissante.