Book Club - Israeli intimacies with Zeruya Shalev
Zeruya Shalev
Brought up in a world filled with storytelling, Zeruya drew on a family tradition in which reading was not asilent activity. The oral nature of reading is indeed at the heart of her work.
In this previously unpublished interview, Zeruya Shalev opens up about her childhood memories, in which she recalls being lulled by her father's voice, recounting the epic adventures of the Bible and the Odyssey ... From now on, it is through her own works that the writer extends her father's echoes.
For Zeruya doesn't write, she tells. In Stupeur, she tells the story of Atara, the young woman trying to piece together the family puzzle. For the first time, it seems that her dying father is confusing her with a mysterious Rachel. But who is this woman ? What influence has she had on this solitary, forbidding father ? At all costs, young Atara sets out to find this enigmatic figure, even if it means crossing the desert.
In the course of the interview, the author also stresses the importance of the dialogues that punctuate the pages of her novel, revealing a complex web of relationships : men and women, men and men, women and women... In this way, Zeruya wishes to draw the listener's attention to the intergenerational encounter that takes shape over the course of the novel. Enthralled by the lives of her multiple characters, the author does not hesitate to adopt each perspective without judgment, so as to contemplate every facet of existence. For Zeruya Shalev, being an author is like being an actress. It's about taking on a role, lending her pen to each of her characters.
But despite the liveliness that emanates from the author's style, an intriguing aspect emerges from the discussion of her book. Stupeur presents subtle holes, similar to the notes of Yael Naïm's song "DesTrous” (Holes). Mischievously, Zeruya confides that these "little holes" will remain, offering the reader the freedom to complete the partially revealed answers for themselves.
Another attempt to establish dialogue ?
Sources :
https://akadem.org/fiche_conferencier.php?id=1581
http://evene.lefigaro.fr/celebre/biographie/zeruya-shalev-23179.php
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeruya_Shalev
