A Guide to the Perplexed
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.84 (792 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1852428260 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-03-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
But too many of Atzmon's satirical riffs-on the vengeful pleasure of sex with German women, on Israel's meager cultural and intellectual contributions, on the ironic thrill of a Jew preferring Germany to Israel-have been given voice in Roth's novels with more acuity. He leaves in the 1980s, believing that "the people around me were becoming more stupid, more blind, more credulous, more pious and less and less in touch with reality." He resettles in Germany, where he becomes an esteemed expert in voyeurism and takes advantage of Holocaust guilt to seduce Aryan women. Atzmon clearly wants to provoke, but his approach is so familiar that few readers will take the bait. Atzmon's tone and premise may remind readers of Michel Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles, as well as Philip Roth's novels about Israel. From there, he observes the demise of Israel and its rebirth as the State of Palestine. Gunther's account of the unraveling of Israeli socie
The year is 2052, and the state of -Israel has been defunct for 40 years, the majority of its citizens having become refugees overseas. It is an angry rant on the effects of ethnic cleansing both our bodies and our minds.Gilad Atzmon was born and grew up in Israel. An outspoken anti-Zionist, he now lives in London.. Gunther loves European, especially German, women and soon leaves Israel to find fame, fortune and fornication in Germany, whose collective guilt-trip is a goldmine for the licentious professor. A darkly funny reflection on the dangers of racial purity and the position of the outsider in Western Europe,A Guide to the Perplexed marries the playfulness of Nabokov with the sexiness of Philip Roth
. He now lives in London where he is a prominent jazz saxophonist, playing with the Orient House Ensemble. Gilad Atzmon grew up in Israel, National Service in the army made him a convinced anti-Zlonist. Since 1998 Atzmon has toured with the late Ian Dury's legendary backing band, The Blockheads
"Picaresque Dystopia" according to E. L. Megel. It's a screed - and like many, one should pay attention - but be on guard.This novel is not what it promises. The title is taken from Maimonedes, the great 12th Century Jewish Physician/Philosopher/Talmud Chochom (wise man) - but this novel has nothing to do with the style or substance of The RAMBAM (as Maimonedes is affectionately known in the Jewish world). It is the picaresque tale of one Gunther Wunker who escapes a latter day (but near term) Israel before it falls - the author's loathing of this state is palpable and unredeemed. What he does give us is a fitfully amusi. Amazingly funny dry sense of humor Ronnie Lavon Although this is a very political book, it manages to discuss everything from sex to food, and does it in a very funny and entertaining way. This book reminded me very much of Gunther Grass's "stream of consciousness" novels in the way it connects politics and bodily functions in the most amusing way.As to the central theme that Israel (or rather, the "Zionist Experiment") has failed totally and its end is near - this conclusion, no doubt, will anger many Zionists (just like Gunther Grass's books angered many a Christian Democrat in Germany).The "Guide To The Perplexed" is . Karin M Hussain said Sex, Philosophy, Politics,. This is a book that I could not put down. It is a treasure. I would have to say it is the best book I have ever read. The story is complex and subtle, and written with deep intelligence camoflauged behind what appears to be crude humor. Atzmon's philosophy of the psychology of the human being, and how the soul flounders helplessly between being consumed by desires and reaching for the divine is devastatingly poignant as political connections are made between this and the pleasure-obsessed consumer culture as the sublimation of denial and anger into a zen experience of lust.