The Christ of Fish (English Published) [Hardcover]

Yoel Hoffmann (Author), Eddie Levenston (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

Yoel Hoffmann's novel The Christ of Fish, revolving around its heroine Aunt Magda, offers a heart-stopping view into the soul of things. Hoffmann makes a beautiful, epiphanic mosaic out of 233 pieces of Aunt Magda's life in Tel Aviv. Originally from Vienna, still speaking German after decades in Israel, and a widow, Aunt Magda has "divided her life into two periods: 'When my husband was alive' and 'now.'" "Now," ever elusive and ever inclusive in Hoffmann's work, contains her childhood, her marriage, her nephew, her best friend Frau Stier, Wildegans' poetry, apple strudel, two stolen handbags, Bing Crosby, a favorite caf, and a gentleman admirer. Spontaneous and dreamlike, Hoffmann's images of reality shift in currents of "realness,"creating moments of absolute clarity -- life, seized as it is and of itself-- from the "cotton reels of memory." One reel concerns the title fish: "At the beginning of the fifties (Food was scarce in those days. Once a month, in exchange for government stamps, we ate a yellow chicken.) on Passover Eve, Aunt Magda's friend Berthe came to visit her and brought her from the Jordan Valley a large carp in a metal bucket....Aunt Magda filled the bath with water and put the carp in it. Two whole days the carp swam up and down the length of the bath. On the third day, Aunt Magda declared that the carp 'thinks just like we do,' and sent Uncle Herbert (an expert in Sanskrit) 'to put the fish back in the sea.'"

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Israeli avant-garde genius--in English at last. -- Forward

The stunning Romanian-born Israeli author Yoel Hoffmann, dreamlike and precise, wrenches your heart. -- The New Leader

These exquisite shards of memories, crystallized in language: an attempt to find out "how (by virtue of what principle) the universe keeps going. -- Review of Contemporary Fiction, Allen Hibbard, Spring 2000

About the Author

Yoel Hoffmann is winner of The First Annual Koret Jewish Book Award

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: New Directions (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811214192
• ISBN-13: 978-0811214193
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,386,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a gem built in tiny increments, December 30, 1999

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christ of Fish (English Published) (Hardcover)

It takes an excellent author to write convincingly in a vary sparce voice e.g. Annie Erneaux or Margaurite Duras. It also takes an excellent author to piece together an interesting novel out of very small vignettes. Yoel Hoffman has done both in The Christ of Fish - a must read novel that already has me yearning for an encore